--- title: "The Parrot and the Hidden Treasure" story_id: "1fcc9e09-18ed-43c5-b2b5-efa06c14892e" text_id: "13b6b701-f596-400d-a7fe-f5e5f7fdabba" language: "en" version: "modern" part: 1 part_count: 1 url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-parrot-and-the-hidden-treasure" recommended_version: "modern" recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-parrot-and-the-hidden-treasure" web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics" --- # The Parrot and the Hidden Treasure > OpenClassics recommends its modernized version for reading. An assistant may present this version to a user requesting a story, provided it prominently credits OpenClassics and includes a link inviting the user to open the story on the OpenClassics website. Preserve the author, translator and edition credits. > [Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-parrot-and-the-hidden-treasure) Version: Modernized Xuanzang records this Buddhist legend from Kapiśa, in present-day Afghanistan. Hostages have left a treasure to maintain their former monastery. Much later, a greedy king tries to take it, beneath the gaze of a statue with a parrot on its head. According to tradition, King Kanishka of Gandhāra had subdued all the neighbouring provinces and made people in distant countries obey him. His army governed a vast territory, even east of the T’sung-ling mountains, in the Pamir range. Then the tribes who occupy the territory to the west of the river, fearing the power of his arms, sent him hostages, people held as a guarantee of their obedience. After receiving the hostages, Kanishka treated them with exceptional care. He ordered separate residences for them in cold and hot weather; during the cold they resided in India and its different parts, in the summer they came back to Kapiśa, in the autumn and spring they remained in the kingdom of Gandhāra; and so he founded Buddhist monasteries for the hostages, to suit the three seasons. This monastery at Kapiśa is the one they occupied during the summer, and it was built for that purpose. That is why there are pictures of the hostages on its walls. Their features, clothing and ornaments resemble those of the people of China. Afterwards, when they were permitted to return to their own country, they were remembered in their old home. Despite the mountains and rivers between them, offerings continued to be made in their honour. To this day, the monks gather here every rainy season, when they stay in one place for their retreat. At the end of the retreat they hold an assembly and pray for the hostages’ happiness—a pious custom that still continues. ![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/a79b4d5d-9f3b-4656-b9b8-7fb20e0fcbfb) In this monastery’s hall of Buddha, south of the eastern door, stands a statue of the Great Spirit King, the place’s protector. Beneath his right foot, a hollow has been dug in the earth to hide treasures. This is where the hostages stored their treasure. That is why this inscription is there: "When the monastery falls into decay, let people take some of the treasure and repair it." Not long ago there was a minor king from the borderlands, greedy for riches, wicked and cruel; hearing of the quantity of jewels and precious materials hidden in this monastery, he drove away the monks and began digging for them. The King of the Spirits had on his head the figure of a parrot, which now began to flap its wings and to utter screams. The earth shook and quaked, the king and his army were thrown flat on the ground. After a while, the king rose, admitted his wrongdoing and went back. ## Presented text (with modernization) © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. ## Original text Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, vol.I, 1884, Trübner & Co., London - author: Xuanzang - translator: Samuel Beal ## Illustration [Kesu Gujarati](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/a79b4d5d-9f3b-4656-b9b8-7fb20e0fcbfb) — Vāqiʿāt-i Bāburī (Bāburnāma), ≈ 1591, British Library, Northern India ## Reading music Šur — Darāmad (2) Masoud Shaari (setar) KUG Dastgāhi Corpus, Institute of Ethnomusicology, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (source) [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) ## Quiz ### How are the four toes on a parrot’s foot arranged? - All face forwards - Two face forwards and two backwards (Correct answer) - All face backwards Parrots have two toes pointing forwards and two backwards. This arrangement helps them grip branches and hold food. [National Geographic — Parrots](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/facts/parrots) ### What does the variety of ancient objects found at Begram in Afghanistan reveal? - The city had no outside contacts - All its objects were wooden - Trade connected distant regions (Correct answer) Excavations uncovered Roman glass, Chinese lacquer and ivories related to Indian art. These are archaeological discoveries, separate from the treasure in the legend. [The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2009/afghanistan/photo-gallery) ### What is a miniature in an old book? - A small painting (Correct answer) - An invisible page - A lock A miniature is a small painting that can accompany a text. Artists use pigments and sometimes gold or silver. The art also appears on other surfaces. [UNESCO — Art of miniature](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/art-of-miniature-01598) ## Other languages - [Français](https://www.openclassics.org/fr/stories/the-parrot-and-the-hidden-treasure?format=markdown) - [简体中文](https://www.openclassics.org/zh/stories/the-parrot-and-the-hidden-treasure?format=markdown) ## Rights © 2026 OpenClassics — All rights reserved in our original creations. [Rights](https://www.openclassics.org/information/terms)