After a few days, the old woman came and knocked on Mariquita's door.
Mariquita happily showed the old woman the things that her brother had got.
She said finally, “All you are lacking now is the white parrot.”
Mariquita's father and brother came home that night. Naturally, Mariquita looked very glum this time too.
The brother finally promised to get her the white parrot.
As the boy had gone some distance, he met the old man again and told him of his quest to get the white parrot.
This time the old man was even more worried. “This is a very dangerous quest. You will have to go on and on until you come to a lovely garden. It will be the most beautiful garden that you have ever seen. You will see many wonderful birds flying about among the trees in the garden. Do not pay any attention to them. You will see a white parrot, an exceedingly beautiful white parrot, and it will come and sit on the round stone in the middle of the garden. The parrot will turn slowly around and after a while it will put its head under its wing and go to sleep. You will have to wait patiently for the white parrot to do that because only if the parrot does that it means that the bird is sound asleep. Only after the bird is sound asleep will you be able to seize it.” The old man looked worriedly at the young boy. “If you do not follow these instructions, you will be turned into stone.”
The boy followed the old man's directions and came to the beautiful garden. He saw the most beautiful white parrot and even saw it land on the stone.
However, in his eagerness to obtain the beautiful bird, the boy forgot to be cautious. He seized the bird as soon as it landed on the stone.
It was because of this that Mariquita's brother was turned into Stone.
Adapted from Spanish Folk Tales
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