This Parrot Is… Stolen from Ancient Greece?

WANTED: Those conniving thieving English bastards known as Monty Python. Their crime: Stealing a sketch from the ancient Greeks.

Reuters reports that a proto-dead parrot sketch first appeared in a 4th century Greek joke book titled "Philogelos: The Laugh Addict." Well, it's not exactly the same. Taking the hysterical issue of slavery by the reigns, the joke features a man who complains that a slave he just bought has died.

"By the gods," answers the slave's seller, "when he was with me, he never did any such thing!"

I can't even remotely understand why Python would have changed a joke about slaves to a joke about parrots. Hacks! Or were they just making a point about oppressed parrots?

The book, which is available online, has lots of lolz about other fun topics like chariot mechanics and dying accidentally from the ingestion of Hemlock. Expect the Pythons  to get a lawsuit from Philogelos the Younger, long-lost Descendant of Philogelos the Elder and Acropolis the Groper.

Oh wait, I checked at Yudu, which was supposedly selling the book, but it has expired. Returned to the Happy Hunting Grounds. Posted the 404 Error from the Sky. Flashed the Blue Screen of Death.