NOT ANY BIRD OF PARADISE 107 
mother has promised not to wear in her hats, not in 
any hat that she buys or has given to her, whether 
it has the whole skin of one in it, or only just a few 
feathers, or even one. She will not buy such a hat, 
and she will not go into a shop to ask the price of it. 
She will have nothing to do with it whatever, because 
she has promised. 
But now, do you not see that, as your dear mother 
has only promised about six kinds of Birds of Paradise, 
and as there are some forty or fifty kinds in the 
world, she might easily buy a hat that had some 
kind of Bird of Paradise in it, without its being any of 
these six? How much better it would be, then, if 
your dear, déar mother were to promise never to wear 
a hat that had any kind of Bird of Paradise in it. 
And I am sure she will, now that you have explained 
to her about the wicked little demon, and how much 
more beautiful these Birds of Paradise are when they 
are alive, and how happy they are, too, and how their 
wives want them, to look at, and how there will be 
no more of them left, soon, if people keep on killing 
them, just to put into hats. Just talk to her about 
it a little, and then throw your arms round her neck 
and say: ‘Oh mother, do promise never to wear a 
hat that has the feathers of avy Bird of Paradise in it.” 
There! And now she has promised. Well, you see 
how easy it is. 
