One Christmas Eve, a frenzied young man ran into a pet shop
looking for an
unusual Christmas gift for his wife. The shop
owner suggested a parrot, named
Chet, which could sing famous
Christmas carols. This seemed like the perfect
gift. "How do I
get him to sing?" The young man asked, excitedly. "Simply
hold a
lighted match directly under his feet." was the shop owner's
reply.
The shop owner Chet began to sing: "Jingle Bells! Jingle
Bells! ..." The shop
owner then held another match under the
parrot's right foot. Then Chet's tune
changed, and the air was
filled with: " Silent Night. Holy Night..."
The young man was so impressed that he paid the shop-keeper and
ran home
as quickly as he could with Chet under his arm. When
the wife saw her gift
she was overwhelmed. "How beautiful!" She
exclaimed, "Can he talk?" "No," the
young man replied, "But he
can sing. Let me show you." So the young man
whipped out his
lighter and placed it under Chet's left foot, as the
shop-keeper
had shown him, and Chet crooned: "Jingle Bells!
Jingle
Bells!..." The man then moved the lighter to Chet's right foot,
and
out came: "Silent Night. Holy Night..."
The wife, her face filled with curiosity, then asked, "What if
we hold the
lighter between his legs?" The man did not know.
"Let's try it." He answered,
eager to please his wife. So they
held the lighter between Chet's legs. Chet
twisted his face,
cleared his throat, the little parrot sang out loudly (like
it
was the performance of his life): "Chet's nuts roasting on an
open
fire...."