and is informed by the seller that it is a pretty old bird and that it picked up a terrible swearing habit from a previous owner. When the man gets the parrot home, he discovers this to be true. Not wanting his parrot to be seen as some reprobate, he begins to try to change the bird's habits of speech.
He speaks to it only in a moderate and gentle tone. He reads to it. He even sings to it. But he never yells at it or swears at it. All with no luck. The parrot continues to swear like a sailor.
A few months later, the man has a special lady-friend over to dinner. He cooks a great meal, and sets the appropriate ambience. At first his date is impressed. However, midway through the meal his parrot begins to swear noisily. He can tell that his date is NOT impressed by the parrot. He tries to smooth the moment over, and even takes the parrot into another room. However, the parrot cannot be silenced, and eventually, his date leaves, looking quite offended.
This is the last straw for the man, and in something of a rage he grabs the parrot by the neck. Unsure what else to do with it, he throws it into the freezer and slams the door shut. For a while, he can hear it squawking and flapping, trying to get out. But the man is very upset, still, and he doesn't let it out. Eventually, though, the squawking (and swearing) and flapping calm, and then it is very quiet. The man is now a bit concerned. He did not mean to kill the parrot, he just wanted it to understand.
Cautiously, now, the man opened the freezer door a bit. A few feathers drift out, but otherwise it is very quiet and still. Slowly, he opens the door the rest of the way and holds out his arm. He is quite relieved when the parrot hops out onto his arm, looking more or less unharmed.
"I'm sorry, buddy" the man says.
"Think nothing of it, my friend" says the parrot. "In the future, I shall endeavor to obey your wishes and use only language suitable for polite company."
Shocked at the bird's change in demeanor, the man thanks the bird and puts it back on its perch. As he walks away, the bird calls after him, "I have just one question! What did the chicken do?"