District Attorney: For the court record, your name, sir?
Witness, Parrot: Polly.
D.A. Is
that your full name? Don’t you bear a longer appellation?
Parrot: If
you’re suggesting Wannacracker, no.
Judge (to Parrot): Answer the question directly, please.
Parrot: I
am Polly Z. Psitlaciformes, according to the book.
D.A.: What’s
the Z stand for?
Parrot: Zygodactyl,
meaning pair-toed, unlike, say, the stork or the rook.
D.A.: That
is a mouthful, if I may say so.
Parrot: I
don’t see why: you’re here to ask a series of predictable dumb questions, not
to say anything in particular.
D.A.: Your
Honor—
Parrot: Withdrawn.
D.A. (to Parrot): You have been accused, among other things, of complete,
off-the-wall smart-ass remarks that frequently deviate into sense.
Parrot: That
may be. It depends.
