The Parrot Talks Better

Mastery of an instrument doesn’t guarantee mastery of your tongue. The English cellist Lindley was famous on stage—but off stage he stuttered badly.

Walking through London with friends, he stopped at a shop window where a parrot was for sale. Pointing at the bird, he asked the shopkeeper, stuttering: “C-c-can he t-t-talk?”

The dealer, assuming it was simple curiosity, replied: “Yes—and a lot better than you do. If he didn’t, I’d wring his neck.”