The Parrot That Killed His Owner

0:00 Speaker 1: The parrot that accidentally killed his owner, Washington, d C.

0:04 Speaker 1: Eighteen ninety nine. On the cold night of September eleventh,

0:08 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety nine, a twenty three year old woman named

0:11 Speaker 1: Alice Not sat quietly inside her small bedroom in a Washington,

0:15 Speaker 1: d C. Boarding house. Like most knights, she was surrounded

0:19 Speaker 1: by books, papers, and notes. Her entire world had become

0:23 Speaker 1: this room. For months, Alice had been preparing for an

0:27 Speaker 1: important civil service examination, an exam that could change her

0:31 Speaker 1: life and finally give her the stable government position she

0:34 Speaker 1: desperately wanted. But studying was not the only reason Alice

0:38 Speaker 1: rarely left her room. Alice had always been a quiet

0:41 Speaker 1: and private person. She struggled with several health problems, including

0:45 Speaker 1: a weak heart and poor circulation. She often became sick easily,

0:50 Speaker 1: and the outside world felt exhausting and overwhelming. Staying inside

0:54 Speaker 1: felt safer and inside that room, she had one constant companion,

0:59 Speaker 1: her pet Polly. To everyone else in the boarding house,

1:03 Speaker 1: Polly was a nightmare. The bird was loud, aggressive, and unpredictable.

1:09 Speaker 1: He would scream at people, bite anyone who got too close,

1:12 Speaker 1: and make strange, threatening noises that disturbed the entire building.

1:16 Speaker 1: The other residents had complained about him countless times. They

1:20 Speaker 1: told Alice that she needed to get rid of the bird,

1:23 Speaker 1: but Alice refused because to her, Polly was not just

1:26 Speaker 1: a pet. Polly was family. Alice had already lost almost

1:31 Speaker 1: everyone close to her. Her parents and her brother had

1:34 Speaker 1: all passed away, leaving her alone in the world. The

1:38 Speaker 1: little parrot was the only living thing that was always

1:41 Speaker 1: there for her, and strangely enough, Polly loved Alice just

1:44 Speaker 1: as much. He was only aggressive toward everyone else. That night,

1:49 Speaker 1: as Alice sat studying, a cold breeze entered through her

1:53 Speaker 1: open window. The weather was unusually chilly, and because she

1:56 Speaker 1: was prone to illness, she decided she could not risk

1:59 Speaker 1: catching a cold. She stood up and walked over to

2:02 Speaker 1: close the window. As she turned back toward her desk,

2:06 Speaker 1: she noticed Polly sitting on his usual perch attached to

2:09 Speaker 1: the room's gas light fixture. The moment the bird saw her,

2:12 Speaker 1: he became excited. He started screaming loudly. Then he began

2:17 Speaker 1: pecking at the metal frame of the fixture. Alice knew

2:20 Speaker 1: exactly what that meant. The other residents would probably complain again.

2:25 Speaker 1: The noise was unbearable and worse, Polly was damaging the fixture.

2:30 Speaker 1: The landlord had already warned Alice about him, but Alice

2:34 Speaker 1: simply walked over calmly. Stop that, Polly, she said, and

2:38 Speaker 1: almost immediately the bird became quiet. She gently stroked him

2:43 Speaker 1: for a moment before returning to her desk. For several

2:46 Speaker 1: more hours, Alice studied. Eventually, exhaustion took over. She climbed

2:51 Speaker 1: into bed and fell asleep. But while Alice slept, Polly

2:56 Speaker 1: was awake, and Polly had a dangerous habit, a habit

2:59 Speaker 1: Alice knew about. The bird had learned that if he

3:02 Speaker 1: pecked at the gas lamp fixture, he could open the

3:05 Speaker 1: valve and inhale the gas. The gas made him dizzy,

3:09 Speaker 1: it gave him a strange sensation that the bird seemed

3:12 Speaker 1: to enjoy. Alice had stopped him before. Whenever Polly tried it,

3:16 Speaker 1: she would either close the valve, move him away, or

3:19 Speaker 1: leave the window open so the gas could escape. But

3:22 Speaker 1: tonight was different. The window was closed because of the cold.

3:26 Speaker 1: Alice was asleep, and Polly began pecking. The valve opened,

3:31 Speaker 1: the gas started leaking slowly silently. The room began filling

3:37 Speaker 1: with poisonous fumes. Hours passed. Alice never woke up until

3:42 Speaker 1: sometime during the night, she suddenly stirred. Something was wrong.

3:46 Speaker 1: Her chest felt heavy, her head was spinning. She tried

3:50 Speaker 1: to stand. She tried to reach the door for help,

3:53 Speaker 1: but after only a few steps her body gave out.

3:57 Speaker 1: She collapsed onto the floor. The next afternoon, just before

4:01 Speaker 1: one pm, the boarding house landlord prepared lunch. He called

4:05 Speaker 1: everyone downstairs. One by one the residence arrived except Alice first.

4:11 Speaker 1: Nobody was too worried. Alice often stayed up late studying,

4:15 Speaker 1: but one pm was unusually late, even for her. The

4:19 Speaker 1: landlord decided to check on her. He walked down the

4:22 Speaker 1: hallway toward Alice's room and knocked. No answer. He knocked again,

4:27 Speaker 1: still nothing. Finally he tried the handle. The door opened,

4:32 Speaker 1: and immediately he began coughing. The smell hid him instantly.

4:36 Speaker 1: The room was filled with gas. Inside he saw Alice

4:40 Speaker 1: lying motionless near her bed, and near the bottom of

4:44 Speaker 1: the door was Polly. The parrot was lying on the floor,

4:47 Speaker 1: his beak pressed against the crack underneath the door. Unlike Alice,

4:51 Speaker 1: Polly had survived after opening the valve and passing out

4:55 Speaker 1: from the gas. The bird had eventually woken up and

4:58 Speaker 1: crawled toward the door, where he was able to breathe

5:01 Speaker 1: fresh air. Alice was gone, Her beloved companion had accidentally

5:06 Speaker 1: caused the tragedy she never saw coming, but the strangest part.

5:10 Speaker 1: After recovering, Polly continued trying to inhale gas whenever he

5:14 Speaker 1: got the chance, a habit that nearly killed his owner.