The king of Siam had nine daughters, The Queen used to find it difficult to remember so many names, so the King named his daughters after the name of the months of the year. Therefore, the eldest was called January and the youngest was named September.
The King had a peculiar habit of giving gifts to his daughters on his birthday. One year he gifted a green and yellow parrot in a golden cage to each of his daughters. The daughters loved their gifts and were proud of their parrots. They taught their parrots to say 'God save the King' and 'Pretty Polly.'
Princess September's Parrot Dies
one morning when Princess September went to say good morning to her parrot, she saw her parrot lying dead at the bottom of its golden cage. The Princess burst into a flood of tears. Nothing that her Maids of Honour said comforted her. The Queen found all this non-sensual and ordered the Maid of Honour to put the Princess in her bed, without serving her any dinner.
The Little Bird
While the Princess lay in her bed, crying in grief of her dead parrot, a little bird came hopping into her room. As the Princess saw him, he began to sing a beautiful song, about the lakes, the trees and the willow and so on . When he had finished singing, the Princess was not crying anymore and she had forgotten that she was hungry. The little bird asked her to take him in place of the parrot.
Next morning with great delight, the Princess showed the little bird to all her sisters. For each of the sisters, the bird sang a new and beautiful song. Then, the Princess showed her new friend to the King and the Queen. The King was delight to see the bird, for the bird sang beautifully and was unlike the parrots of the eight sister who just knew how to say, 'God save the King' and 'Pretty Polly.'
The Sisters Grew Jealous of September
Seeing the King speaking favourable of the little bird and hearing him sing beautifully, the eight sister grow jealous of September. The sister decide to plan a strategy to get rid of the little bird. They made an offer to September; to give their pocket money in helping September to buy a new parrot. When September refused they questioned the freedom of the bird by pointing out to his absence every now and then, making September insecure. They also advised her not to take any risks and put the bird in the cage.
September Begins to Worry
On realising that the bird had been away too long, September begins to worry about the safety of her bird. She fears hawks and snares might have harmed it. She also begins to fancy ideas like the bird might have forgotten her and become a pet to someone else. All these ideas greatly disturb her.
When the bird returns, on being asked behind his delay, the bird unknowing of the circumstances honestly tells her that his father-in-law was giving a party and he intended not to come back. Hearing this, September makes up her mind and puts the bird in the cage. Initially the bird thought that September was putting him temporarily in the cage, but when he realised he was being caged forever he becomes very unhappy.
The Bird Stops Singing and Later on it was Freed
The bird could not sing any further as he was unable to feel the beauty of lakes, trees, willows and so on. He also refused to have food. The next morning, he lay lifeless at the bottom of the cage. September thinks that the bird had died.
The bird tells the Princess that he could not sing if he cannot fly and if he doesn't sing he would die. September feels very sorry for what she had done and therefore frees the bird. The bird promises that he loved her would keep coming to meet the Princess. The Princess, though sad, puts the bird's happiness on priority and frees him forever. She always kept the windows of her room open for the bird to come whenever he pleased to.