The Story of the Husband and the Parrot 

THERE was a certain merchant, of an exceedingly jealous disposition, having a wife endowed with perfect beauty, who had prevented him from leaving his home; but an event happened which obliged him to make a journey; and when he found his doing so to be indispensable, he went to the market in which birds were sold, and bought a parrot, which he placed in his house to act as a spy, that, on his return, she might inform him of what passed during his absence; for this parrot was cunning and intelligent, and remembered whatever she heard. So, when he had made his journey, and accomplished his business, he returned, and caused the parrot to be brought to him, and asked her respecting the conduct of his wife. She answered, Thy wife has a lover, who visited her every night during thy absence,—and when the man heard this, he fell into a violent rage, and went to his wife, and gave her a severe beating. 

The woman imagined that one of the female slaves had informed him of what had passed between her and her paramour during his absence: she therefore called them together, and made them swear; and they all swore that they had not told their master anything of the matter; but confessed that they had heard the parrot relate to him what had passed. Having thus established, on the testimony of the slaves, the fact of the parrot’s having informed her husband of her intrigue, she ordered one of these slaves to grind with a handmill under the cage, another to sprinkle water from above, and a third to move a mirror from side to side, during the next night on which her husband was absent; and on the following morning, when the man returned from an entertainment at which he had been present, and inquired again of the parrot what had passed that night during his absence, the bird answered, O my master, I could neither see nor hear anything, on account of the excessive darkness, and thunder, and lightning, and rain. Now this happened during summer: so he said to her, What strange words are these? It is now summer, when nothing of what thou hast described ever happens.—The parrot, however, swore by Allah the Great that what she had said was true; and that it had so happened: upon which the man, not understanding the case, nor knowing the plot, became violently enraged, and took out the bird from the cage, and threw her down upon the ground with such violence that he killed her. 

But after some days, one of his female slaves informed him of the truth; yet he would not believe it, until he saw his wife’s paramour going out from his house; when he drew his sword, and slew the traitor by a blow on the back of his neck: so also did he to his treacherous wife; and thus both of them went, laden with the sin which they had committed, to the fire; and the merchant discovered that the parrot had informed him truly of what she had seen; and he mourned grievously for her loss. 

(1001 Nights)

There are so many problems written into this story.  If he had believed the Parrot’s words the second time, would the outcome have been any different?  These short stories in 1001 Nights are more Fables than simply stories to entertain.  They teach lessons.  This one seems to reinforce the value of not being adulterous.

The wife wanted to maintain her relationship with her husband but wasn’t satisfied, the husband wanted to keep his beautiful wife to himself and probably suffocated her as a result, the paramour was happy with a casual lover.  Every last one of them could only think of themselves in this whole episode.

Divorce isn’t really a topic we talk about in the Jedi Community.  But maybe it is something that we should address.  Is it okay for Jedi to Divorce?

Believe it or not, the philosophy can provide an answer to this question- and the answer is “Yes, a Jedi can get divorced.”  I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to fight for your relationship- but at some point you need to recognize when fighting for it is going to bring more harm to you and your spouse than letting them go free.

Divorce is a compassionate answer when the problem is something that cannot be changed.  Sure your vows said “until death do us part”, but there are some hardships that we never know how we will respond to them.  Being constantly abused (emotionally, physically, spiritually and/or financially) is not something a person should be subjected to.  It is important to always think of the feelings of both parties before making such a huge decision.

By giving a person a divorce when the relationship is clearly irreparable, you are manifesting Positive Regard and Compassion for your spouse, and for yourself.