long ago, kari, the emu, was superior to all other birds. she was so superior that she would not live on the earth. instead, she had a home up in the clouds, and from there she used to look down at the earth and the queer antics of all the things that lived there. it gave her much food for thought.
at that time there were no human beings at all. all the earth was inhabited by animals, birds, and reptiles, and they lived very happily together, as a rule. there were no wars, and every one had enough to eat. while there were no men, fear did not live on earth either. all the world was a big feeding-ground, where even the smallest and weakest could find a peaceful home.
kari, sitting in her great nest up in the clouds, watched the animals below, both night and day. she thought them strange creatures, and wondered very much how they could be so contented with so many other creatures about them. she was so used to living alone that it seemed to her rather unpleasant to have one's solitude broken upon by others, all of whom might be peculiar enough to think their little affairs as interesting as one's own. kari thought that nothing could possibly be so interesting as her great lonely nest in the clouds. in reality, it was a very dull old nest, and she was a big, dull bird. she knew no one, and spoke to no one, and thought only her own queer thoughts. but she did not know she was dull, and so she was quite happy.
one day she sat in her nest, watching the cloud-masses drift about between her and the world. they cleared away after a while, and she looked down upon a great forest over which she found herself, for, as her nest was in a cloud, it used to float about, and so she never knew what country she might see when she looked down. sometimes it was a lake, sometimes a mountain, and sometimes the great, rolling sea, which always made her feel rather giddy, because it would not keep still for a moment.
but on this day it was a wide forest, green and peaceful. kari's sight was very keen, and she looked through the tree-tops to the ground below and saw all the animals. it was really almost as good as a circus, but then kari knew nothing about such a thing as a circus. she watched them with great interest, leaning her long neck over the edge of the cloud in which her nest was built.
suddenly she saw a sight that made her lean forward so far that she very nearly overbalanced and fell out. far below her was an open space near a bright spot that she knew was water in a little swampy place in a hollow. the grass there was green and soft; there were trees all round it, and it was a very secluded place, except for anyone looking from above, like the inquisitive kari.
but kari was not looking only at green grass and shining water. she saw a little group of birds that had come out of the swamp, where they had been wading, and had begun to dance. they were native companions—puralkas—but kari did not know that. all she knew was that they were very beautiful creatures, the most beautiful, she thought, that she had ever seen: and they were doing the most interesting things.
very gracefully they danced to and fro on the patch of green grass. they were tall, slim birds, looking a kind of dim grey colour when seen so far away. their legs were very long and thin, for they belonged to the tribe of birds called waders, who get their food by walking in swamps and morasses, and they had neat bodies, not fluffy like some of kari's own feathers—with which she immediately felt very dissatisfied. their queer thin heads, with long beaks, were carried on long necks, which twisted about as they danced. they pranced up and down, giving little runs backwards and forwards, marching and stepping in the most curious manner. never had kari seen so charming a sight. it made her suddenly envious. until now, she had regarded all the animals and birds as so much beneath her in every way that it never occurred to her to wish to be like them, or to do anything that they did. but this was the first time that she had seen the native companions dance.
kari's cloud drifted away presently, and she could no longer see the queer grey company of long-legged birds prancing on the green spot in the forest. but nothing that now came within her sight interested her at all. she saw the lyre-birds building their mounds in the bush, and making them gay with all sorts of odd things: bright stones, bits of quartz, gay feathers; and they also danced on their mounds, but it did not please kari as much as the dance of the puralkas. the moon showed her the animals that come out at night—wombat, wallaby, wild dogs, and opossums; native bears climbing up the highest trees, and flying-foxes that trailed like clouds between her and the tree-tops. she saw the lizards that live in rocks and on the ground, and the hideous iguanas that run up the trees. great flocks of screaming cockatoos made the air white, as they flew, the sun gleaming on their yellow crests. there were snakes, too, in the bush: great carpet-snakes, evil-looking brown and black fellows, and the wicked tiger-snake, with its yellow-patterned back and its quick cruel movements. once it had amused kari very much to see the jackass, merkein, swoop down upon a snake and carry it, struggling, back into a tree. the jackass was a silent bird then, and never made any fuss over his captures: still, it was exciting to see him catch snakes. but now kari found that none of these things interested or amused her any more. all she wanted to see again was the puralkas come out of their swamp and dance upon the grass.
she watched for a long time, hoping always to catch sight of them again; but though her cloud drifted over all kinds of country, she could not find the puralkas until at last, one day, as she leaned out, to her great joy the little green space came below her again; and there were the long-legged birds, dancing backwards and forwards as they had done before.
she watched them breathlessly, until her cloud began to float away; and then she decided in her mind that she could not bear to let them go again. indeed, she knew now that unless she could do as they did, she would never feel happy any more. "i have seen all there is in the world," she said, "and nothing is half so beautiful as dancing. i know i could dance far better than the puralkas, if i only knew the way. i will go down and get them to teach me how to dance. then i can fly back to my cloud, and for ever after i shall not need to look at the world, for i shall be too happy dancing on the clouds."
so kari spread her great wings and floated down the sky until she came over the little green space among the trees. then she dropped gently, and finally landed in the swamp, which she did not like at all, because she had never before had her feet wet, nor were they made for wading in the soft mud of a swamp. she scrambled out as quickly as she could, folding her wings over her back.
the puralkas had run back to the edge of their little dancing-ground when they saw the great brown bird coming down from the sky. at first they were inclined to fly away, but they were inquisitive birds, and they waited to see what she would do, though they were quite prepared for flight if she proved to be alarming. but the emu looked so simple and meek, and she was so comically upset at getting her feet wet, that the puralkas saw at once that there was no cause for fear. as they were not afraid, they became rather angry, for they did not like strangers to see them dancing. so they clustered together and watched her with unfriendly eyes as she struggled out of the mud and wiped her feet upon the grass.
"how are you?" she said, rather breathlessly. "i have been watching you all from my home in the clouds, and i think you are nice little birds!"
now, this made the puralkas exactly seventeen times more angry than before. they believed that they were quite the most beautiful birds that ever wore feathers, and it made them furious to be addressed in this patronizing manner. who was this awkward brown monster of a bird, to drop out of nowhere and talk to them as if she were a queen? they chattered among themselves in a whisper.
"she is as ugly as a jew-lizard," said one.
"did ever anyone see such great coarse feet?" another whispered. "and her legs!—he-he! why, they are as thick as the trunk of a tree-fern!"
"and what a great silly head!"
"she is larger than a big rock, but she is more foolish than a coot," said another. "one look at her will tell you that she has no sense."
"and what is that ridiculous thing she said about a home in the clouds?" one asked. "as if we did not know that there is nothing in the clouds except rain!"
"why, the big eagle flew up nearly to the sun the other day; and yet he saw nothing of nests in the clouds," said another. "she must think we are very simple, to come to us with such a tale."
"no one could possibly think us simple, unless she were mad," said another. "every one knows that we are the wisest birds in all the bush. she means to insult us!" and they all glared at the emu, much as if she were a tiger-snake.
poor kari felt very puzzled and unhappy. she felt that she had done a kind and condescending thing in coming down to earth and talking so sweetly to these smaller birds; and she could not make out why they should look at her with such angry eyes. she rubbed her muddy feet on the grass, and began to wish that she had never left her nest in the cloud.
"do you not speak my language?" she asked at last. "why do you not answer me?"
the puralkas put their heads together again, and whispered. finally an old puralka stepped forward with mincing steps and looked her up and down, so that kari actually blushed.
"we know what you say, but we do not know why you say it," said the old puralka. "why should you want to know how we are? and how dare you call us nice little birds? we do not know what you are—you are something like a bird, to be sure, but in most ways you are a kind of freak. at any rate, we have no love for strangers."
the unfortunate kari moved her big head from side to side, and looked at the bad-tempered old puralka in amazement. her beak opened slowly, but she was too surprised to speak. nothing like this had ever occurred to her when she lived in the sky.
"as for your extraordinary remark about a home in the clouds, we would like to remind you that we were not hatched yesterday," went on the old puralka. "not even the swallows nest in the clouds. you are only wasting your time, and we have none to waste on you. would you mind going away? we want to get on with our dancing."
kari did not know what to say. her bewildered eyes glanced from one puralka to another, and, finding no friendly face, came back to the old bird who stood waiting for her to answer or go away. she had never dreamed of anything like this, among her drifting clouds, and her first instinct was to spread her wings and fly back until she found her own peaceful nest. but the puralka's mention of dancing reminded her of what had brought her to earth, and she felt again all the old longing to watch the grey birds dance. so she summoned up her courage, of which she possessed surprisingly little, considering her size.
"i'm sure i don't know why you should be so annoyed," she said meekly. "i mean well, and it grieves me that i have offended you. it was because i thought you were nice little birds that i called you so, but of course i do not think so now—that is, i mean, i——" she broke off, for the old puralka had uttered something like a snort, and was regarding her with a fixed expression of wrath, and all the other puralkas had bristled alarmingly. "oh, i don't know what i really do mean!" said poor kari helplessly. "you all look at me so unpleasantly. and it is quite true that i have a nest in the clouds—if you will come up, i will show it to you. i live there always, and i have only come down because i hoped that you would teach me to dance!"
there was silence for a moment, and then all the puralkas began to laugh. they laughed so much that they could not stand—they went reeling round the little green patch, and at last they sat down, with their legs sticking out straight in front of them, and laughed more and more. meanwhile, kari stood looking at them stupidly. she felt that it was not pleasant laughter.
at last they ceased to laugh, and, putting all their heads together, began to whisper. this went on so long that after a while kari grew tired of standing, and so she sat down and watched them, feeling very unhappy. overhead a jackass perched on a big gum-tree, and looked at the group, with his wise old head on one side.
when they had whispered for a long time, the puralkas got up and stood in a row, with their wings tightly folded over their backs. the old puralka came forward.
"you must excuse us for laughing," she said. her voice was not rude now, but there was something in it that made kari feel as uncomfortable as she had felt when she had been rude before. "we did not mean to hurt your feelings—but we all thought of something funny we saw last month, and so we had to laugh."
if kari had been less simple, she would have known that this was only said out of politeness, but she was very anxious to make friends, so she looked gratefully at the old puralka and said, timidly, that she was glad they were so merry.
"quite so," said the puralka. "it is a poor heart that never rejoices. but about dancing—that is a different matter. you see, you have wings."
"eh?" said the emu stupidly. "why, of course, i have wings. why not?"
"well, that is the difficulty," said the puralka. "dancing like ours is the most beautiful thing in the world, of course. but no one with wings can learn it. you see, we have none ourselves."
the emu gave a quick look at the puralkas, standing in a row. they had folded their wings so tightly over their neat bodies that it looked as though they had really none at all; and she looked so hard at their bodies that she did not notice how cunning their eyes were.
"why, i never noticed that yours were gone," she said. "dear me! how sad! do you not find it very uncomfortable and awkward?"
"no; why should we?" snapped the puralka. "wings are really not much use when you once get accustomed to doing without them. dancing is much better."
"but why cannot one have both?" asked kari.
"simply because," said the old puralka crossly. "we do not know why these things are, and we never ask foolish questions about them. but if you wish to learn our beautiful dancing, you must give up your wings first."
"give up my wings! i could never do that," cried kari.
"well, dancing is better. but it is for you to say," said the old puralka.
as she spoke, she made a sign to the others, and they began to dance, swaying forward until they almost touched kari, and then backwards again. then the line broke up into circles and figures, and they danced round the emu until her head grew dizzy with their movements, and she felt that to dance so well was even better than to have wings. to and fro they went, faster and faster, until she could scarcely distinguish one from another, and their long thin legs she could hardly see at all. then, quite suddenly, they all stopped; and kari blinked at them, and could not speak.
"well?" asked the old puralka, watching her closely. "do you not think that wings are only a small price to pay for such dancing?"
"could you teach me?" kari asked.
"easily, if you give up your wings."
kari gave a great sigh.
"very well," she said. "i cannot live without knowing how to dance as you do."
"then, spread your wings out on this stone," said the puralka.
so kari spread her great wings across the stone, and the puralkas cut them off quite close to her body with their sharp beaks.
then they said,
"stand up."
kari stood up, feeling very naked and queer without her wings. then the puralkas began to dance again, faster and faster; and they danced upon her wing-feathers that had been cut off, scattering them with their feet until there were not two left together, and the wind came and took the feathers, so that they floated away over the tops of the trees and mounted out of sight. then the puralkas laughed again, just as they had laughed before, until kari's head rang with the noise of it.
"when will you teach me?" she asked timidly.
"teach you!" cried the puralkas. "what a joke! what a joke!" they burst out laughing again. then, to kari's amazement, they unfolded their wings and shook them in her face. the whole green patch of grass was full of the fluttering of the long grey wings.
"you said you had none!" she cried.
"what a joke! what a joke!" screamed the puralkas, flapping her with their wings. they spun round and round her, their long legs dancing madly, and their wings quivering and fluttering. then they suddenly mounted into the air, circled about her once or twice, and flew away through the trees. the sound of their wicked laughter grew fainter and fainter until it died away.
kari sat down and put her head down on the ground. after a while she got up and tried to fly, but the little stumps of her wings would not raise her an inch from the earth, and very soon she ceased to try. she sat down again.
later on, she stood up and began to try to dance as the puralkas had done. she moved her great feet in the same way, and tried to sway about; but it was useless. she looked so comical, hopping round on her thick legs, that the jackass, which had all the time sat in the gum-tree overhead, broke into a great shout of laughter, and all the bush rang with the sound. "ha-ha-ha-ha!—ho-ho-ho-ho!" screamed the jackass. "kari is trying to dance—look at her! there never was anything half so funny—ha-ha-ha! ho-ho-ho!"
then kari knew that she had lost her wings for nothing; that she could never dance like the puralkas, and that—worst of all—she could never go back to her nest in the clouds. she could not bear the harsh laughter of the jackass, and so she ran away, her long legs taking great strides, crashing into the undergrowth of the bush. then the jackass flew away, still chuckling to himself that anyone could be so stupid. soon the little green patch of grass was quite deserted; until the sun set, when the cruel puralkas came flying back to it and danced again. but kari never came to it.
so the emu lives on earth, and has forgotten all about the nest she once had in the drifting clouds. she has no friends among the birds, for though she is a bird herself, she has no wings, and cannot fly. she has taught herself to run very fast, and to kick with her big feet, so that it is not wise to make her angry. because she used to live in the clouds and had no proper training, she will eat the most extraordinary things—stones, and nails, and pieces of iron and glass, which the blacks have brought into the bush—but they never seem to disagree with her. she is not a very happy bird, for all the time she keeps hoping that her wings will grow long again and that she will be able to fly back to find her cloud-nest. but they never grow.
always since then, merkein, the jackass, has been able to laugh. he is called the laughing jackass, because of this. he has been a merry fellow ever since he sat on the gum-tree and watched kari trying to dance, after the cruel puralkas had robbed her of her wings and left her far away from her nest in the white clouds.
