The Sing-song Of Old Man Kangaroo

: Just So Stories

NOT always was the Kangaroo as now we do behold him, but a Different

Animal with four short legs. He was grey and he was woolly, and his

pride was inordinate: he danced on an outcrop in the middle of

Australia, and he went to the Little God Nqa.



He went to Nqa at six before breakfast, saying, 'Make me different from

all other animals by five this afternoon.'



Up jumped Nqa from his seat on th sand-flat and shouted, 'Go away!'



He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced

on a rock-ledge in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Middle

God Nquing.



He went to Nquing at eight after breakfast, saying, 'Make me different

from all other animals; make me, also, wonderfully popular by five this

afternoon.'



Up jumped Nquing from his burrow in the spinifex and shouted, 'Go away!'



He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced

on a sandbank in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Big God

Nqong.



He went to Nqong at ten before dinner-time, saying, 'Make me different

from all other animals; make me popular and wonderfully run after by

five this afternoon.'



Up jumped Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan and shouted, 'Yes, I

will!'



Nqong called Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, dusty in the

sunshine, and showed him Kangaroo. Nqong said, 'Dingo! Wake up, Dingo!

Do you see that gentleman dancing on an ashpit? He wants to be popular

and very truly run after. Dingo, make him so!'



Up jumped Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--and said, 'What, that cat-rabbit?'



Off ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, grinning like a

coal-scuttle,--ran after Kangaroo.



Off went the proud Kangaroo on his four little legs like a bunny.



This, O Beloved of mine, ends the first part of the tale!



He ran through the desert; he ran through the mountains; he ran through

the salt-pans; he ran through the reed-beds; he ran through the blue

gums; he ran through the spinifex; he ran till his front legs ached.



He had to!



Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, grinning like a

rat-trap, never getting nearer, never getting farther,--ran after

Kangaroo.



He had to!



Still ran Kangaroo--Old Man Kangaroo. He ran through the ti-trees; he

ran through the mulga; he ran through the long grass; he ran through the

short grass; he ran through the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer; he ran

till his hind legs ached.



He had to!




Different Animal with four short legs. I have drawn him grey and woolly,

and you can see that he is very proud because he has a wreath of flowers

in his hair. He is dancing on an outcrop (that means a ledge of rock) in

the middle of Australia at six o'clock before breakfast. You can see

that it is six o'clock, because the sun is just getting up. The thing

with the ears and the open mouth is Little God Nqa. Nqa is very much

surprised, because he has never seen a Kangaroo dance like that before.

Little God Nqa is just saying, 'Go away,' but the Kangaroo is so busy

dancing that he has not heard him yet.



The Kangaroo hasn't any real name except Boomer. He lost it because

he was so proud.]



Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--hungrier and hungrier, grinning like

a horse-collar, never getting nearer, never getting farther; and they

came to the Wollgong River.



Now, there wasn't any bridge, and there wasn't any ferry-boat, and

Kangaroo didn't know how to get over; so he stood on his legs and

hopped.



He had to!



He hopped through the Flinders; he hopped through the Cinders; he hopped

through the deserts in the middle of Australia. He hopped like a

Kangaroo.



First he hopped one yard; then he hopped three yards; then he hopped

five yards; his legs growing stronger; his legs growing longer. He

hadn't any time for rest or refreshment, and he wanted them very much.



Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--very much bewildered, very much

hungry, and wondering what in the world or out of it made Old Man

Kangaroo hop.



For he hopped like a cricket; like a pea in a saucepan; or a new rubber

ball on a nursery floor.



He had to!




afternoon, when he had got his beautiful hind legs just as Big God Nqong

had promised. You can see that it is five o'clock, because Big God

Nqong's pet tame clock says so. That is Nqong, in his bath, sticking his

feet out. Old Man Kangaroo is being rude to Yellow-Dog Dingo. Yellow-Dog

Dingo has been trying to catch Kangaroo all across Australia. You can

see the marks of Kangaroo's big new feet running ever so far back over

the bare hills. Yellow-Dog Dingo is drawn black, because I am not

allowed to paint these pictures with real colours out of the paint-box;

and besides, Yellow-Dog Dingo got dreadfully black and dusty after

running through the Flinders and the Cinders.



I don't know the names of the flowers growing round Nqong's bath. The

two little squatty things out in the desert are the other two gods that

Old Man Kangaroo spoke to early in the morning. That thing with the

letters on it is Old Man Kangaroo's pouch. He had to have a pouch just

as he had to have legs.]



He tucked up his front legs; he hopped on his hind legs; he stuck out

his tail for a balance-weight behind him; and he hopped through the

Darling Downs.



He had to!



Still ran Dingo--Tired-Dog Dingo--hungrier and hungrier, very much

bewildered, and wondering when in the world or out of it would Old Man

Kangaroo stop.



Then came Nqong from his bath in the salt-pans, and said, 'It's five

o'clock.'



Down sat Dingo--Poor Dog Dingo--always hungry, dusky in the sunshine;

hung out his tongue and howled.



Down sat Kangaroo--Old Man Kangaroo--stuck out his tail like a

milking-stool behind him, and said, 'Thank goodness that's finished!'



Then said Nqong, who is always a gentleman, 'Why aren't you grateful to

Yellow-Dog Dingo? Why don't you thank him for all he has done for you?'



Then said Kangaroo--Tired Old Kangaroo--'He's chased me out of the

homes of my childhood; he's chased me out of my regular meal-times; he's

altered my shape so I'll never get it back; and he's played Old Scratch

with my legs.'



Then said Nqong, 'Perhaps I'm mistaken, but didn't you ask me to make

you different from all other animals, as well as to make you very truly

sought after? And now it is five o'clock.'



'Yes,' said Kangaroo. 'I wish that I hadn't. I thought you would do it

by charms and incantations, but this is a practical joke.'



'Joke!' said Nqong from his bath in the blue gums. 'Say that again and

I'll whistle up Dingo and run your hind legs off.'



'No,' said the Kangaroo. 'I must apologise. Legs are legs, and you

needn't alter 'em so far as I am concerned. I only meant to explain to

Your Lordliness that I've had nothing to eat since morning, and I'm very

empty indeed.'



'Yes,' said Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo,--'I am just in the same situation.

I've made him different from all other animals; but what may I have for

my tea?'



Then said Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan, 'Come and ask me about

it to-morrow, because I'm going to wash.'



So they were left in the middle of Australia, Old Man Kangaroo and

Yellow-Dog Dingo, and each said, 'That's your fault.'



THIS is the mouth-filling song

Of the race that was run by a Boomer,

Run in a single burst--only event of its kind--

Started by big God Nqong from Warrigaborrigarooma,

Old Man Kangaroo first: Yellow-Dog Dingo behind.



Kangaroo bounded away,

His back-legs working like pistons--

Bounded from morning till dark,

Twenty-five feet to a bound.

Yellow-Dog Dingo lay

Like a yellow cloud in the distance--

Much too busy to bark.

My! but they covered the ground!



Nobody knows where they went,

Or followed the track that they flew in,

For that Continent

Hadn't been given a name.

They ran thirty degrees,

From Torres Straits to the Leeuwin

(Look at the Atlas, please),

And they ran back as they came.



S'posing you could trot

From Adelaide to the Pacific,

For an afternoon's run--

Half what these gentlemen did--

You would feel rather hot,

But your legs would develop terrific--

Yes, my importunate son,

You'd be a Marvellous Kid!