A man returns from the United Arab Emirates with a golden cage in his hand. It’s decorated with roses and diamonds, and has a parrot inside. The man is real; the parrot, the gold, the roses and diamonds, are not. But it’s the thought that counts.

The cage, in addition to housing the parrot, has three little lights and is meant to be a gift. The man will hang the cage in the bedroom and every day will see the roses illuminated, the crystals shine, and the parrot sparkle within its golden cage, and he will be content.

The woman will also be content with the sparkling lights and the colors, and will brighten up when she notices that the parrot, if it were real, would no doubt recognize that the cage was open at the bottom and could thus fly away at any moment.

The last time I was in the UAE a well-informed woman told me how the divorce rate had skyrocketed.

Women aren’t what they used to be. Or maybe it’s that the cages aren’t either.

( Translated by Alexander Booth )