before pund-jel, maker of men, peopled the earth with the black tribes, and very long before the first white man came to australia, the animals which inhabited the land fell into a great trouble. and this is how it happened. old conara, the black chief, told it to me while we were fishing for cod in the murray one hot night; and he had it from his father, whose mother had told him about it; while to her the story had come from her grandfather, who said he was a little boy when his grandfather had told him, saying he had had the story from conara, the magpie, after whom he was named. and the magpies learn everything, so you see he ought to know.
conara said that once in the long-ago time, all the animals were living very cheerfully together, when suddenly all the water disappeared. they went to sleep with the creeks and swamps full, and the rivers running; and when they woke up, everything was dry. of course, this was the most terrible thing that could happen to the animals, for though they can manage with very little food in australia, at a pinch, they must always have plenty of water. they searched everywhere for it, through the scrub and over the plains; and the birds flew great distances, always seeking with their eyes for a gleam of water. but it had quite gone.
so the animals held a council of war, and mirran, the kangaroo, spoke to them. at a council, some one must always speak first, to tell those present what they know already; and mirran did this very thoroughly, so that little kur-bo-roo, the native bear, went to sleep and began to climb up the legs of the emu in his sleep, thinking she was a tree. this led to a disturbance, and it was some time before mirran could go on again with his speech. then he found he had forgotten the rest of what he meant to say, so he contented himself by asking them all what they meant to do about it, and remarking that the matter was now open for discussion. this is a remark often made at meetings.
then mirran sat down thankfully, but in his relief at finishing his speech he sat on kowern, the porcupine; and kowern is the most uncomfortable seat in the bush. mirran got up more quickly than he had sat down, and again there was disorder in the meeting, especially as the jackass was unfeeling enough to laugh.
when matters were more quiet, kellelek, the cockatoo, made a long speech, but it was hard to understand what he said, because all his brothers would persist in speaking at the same time. every one knew that he wanted water, but as every one was in the same fix, it did not seem to help along matters to have him say so. booran, the pelican, was even more troubled about it than kellelek, for of course he lived on the water, and he wanted fish badly. all the fish had disappeared, and the eels had buried themselves deep in the soft mud of the beds of the rivers and creeks, and none of the water-fowl had any food. the red wallaby, waat, and old warreen, the bad-tempered wombat, made speeches, and so did meri, the black dingo, and tonga, the 'possum, and a great many other animals. but not one could suggest any means of getting water back, or form an idea as to how it had gone away.
they were all talking together, getting rather hot and excited, and very thirsty, when they heard a sudden whirr of wings overhead, and a bird came dropping down into their midst. it was tarook, the sea gull, and though at first they were inclined to be angry at his sudden appearance, they soon saw that he had news to communicate, and so they crowded round him and begged him to speak. tarook was a proud bird, and did not often leave his beloved sea; so they knew that something important must have brought him so far inshore.
he stood in their midst, dainty and handsome, with his snowy feathers and scarlet legs, and carefully brushed a fragment of grass from his wing before replying.
"waga, the fish-hawk, came along this morning—in a shocking temper, too—and told me of your difficulties," he said. "well, we of the sea know what has caused them!"
there was an instant hubbub. all the animals and birds cried out at once, saying, "what is it?" tarook looked at them all calmly.
"if you make such a clatter, how can i tell you?" he asked crossly. "i have not much time either, because my mate and i have youngsters to look after, and it is nearly time i got back to find their dinner."
the animals became silent at once, and looked at him anxiously.
"three nights ago," said tarook, "tat-e-lak, the big frog, came out of the sea. every one knows he lives there, but none of us had ever seen him—and he is as large as many wurleys. all the sea was troubled at his coming, and big waves rolled in and beat upon the shore, so that we could scarcely see the rocks for spray. a hollow booming sound came from under the sea, and all our young ones were very much alarmed. then a wave larger than all the rest put together crashed into the beach, and when it began to roll back we saw tat-e-lak waddling up the shore. most frogs hop, but he is so huge that he gets along in a kind of shuffle."
"but where did he go?" cried kadin, the inguana-lizard.
"he waddled away into the plains beyond, and when i flew in to look for him, for awhile i could not find him. then i heard a strange noise of water sucking, and i flew to where it came from. there was a hollow in the creek bank, and tat-e-lak was sitting there, with his head in the water, sucking it all up; and as he sucked, he swelled. it was not a nice sight, and soon i flew away."
"but where is he now? and what did he do?" asked the animals anxiously.
"i did not watch him any more. but the west wind knows all about him, and he told me when i was out fishing last night. it seems that tat-e-lak lives under the sea, because of his former sins, and that is why he has grown so huge. but he always wants to come back to land, and sometimes he breaks away from his prison under the sea and gets up to the surface—and a great stir his coming makes: it's very annoying if you're fishing, for it scares all the fish away into the farthest corners of the rocks. but the salt water he has drunk for so long makes him terribly thirsty, and unless he can get fresh water to drink he has to go back to his sea-prison."
"then that is why he has drunk all of ours!" cried the animals.
tarook nodded very hard.
"yes," he said. "it is very seldom that he gets a chance of coming up; and his last three landings have been made in the desert, where he has had no water at all, and has been forced to hurry back meekly to the sea. so he is now more thirsty than he ever was before. the west wind says he did not stop drinking until this morning—and now there is no water anywhere, as you know."
"then how shall we ever get any more? are we to die of thirst?"
"well, that i do not know. i have told you all that i know," said tarook. "tat-e-lak is somewhere on shore, and so far as i can tell, all the water is inside him. but i do not know where he is, nor if you can do anything. now i must go back to my young ones, for they will certainly be hungry, and my mate will be cross." he bowed to the kangaroo, and flew up into the air. then he went skimming over the forest to the sea.
when he had gone, the animals talked again, but there was great grief among them, and they did not know what to do. at last it was agreed that malian, the eaglehawk, should fly to the shore and find out anything he could about tat-e-lak. so huge a frog, they thought, could not hide himself from the eyes of an eaglehawk, which can see even a little shrew-mouse in the grass as he flies. so mirran, the kangaroo, bade malian be as quick as possible, and he flew off, while all the people awaited his return as patiently as they could. but they were too thirsty to be very patient.
it was evening when malian returned. the day had seemed very long, and he was tired, for it is not easy to fly for a long while without water.
"tat-e-lak is the most terrible frog you could imagine," he said. "he is squatting on a rise not far from the sea, and he has drunk so much that he cannot move. his body is swelled up so that he is bigger than anything that ever existed: bigger than the little hill on which he sits. nothing could possibly be so large as he is. he does not speak at all."
"but what is to be done?" cried the other animals.
"i asked every one i met, but they could not tell me. so at last i found old blook, the bullfrog, for it struck me that he would know more of the ways of other frogs than anyone else. i found him with great difficulty, and for a long time he was too angry to speak, for he has now no water to remain in, and none to drink. but he knows all about tat-e-lak. he says that now he has inside him all the waters that should cover the waste places of the earth, but that we shall never have water unless he can be made to laugh!"
"to laugh!" cried the animals. "who can make a frog laugh?"
"blook knows he cannot, so that is why he is angry," answered malian. "but that is the only way. if tat-e-lak laughs, all the water will run out of his mouth, and there will once more be plenty for every one. but unless he laughs he will sit there for ever, unable to move; and soon we shall all die of thirst."
the animals talked over this bad news for a long time, and at last they agreed that every one who could be at all funny must go and try to make tat-e-lak laugh. a great many at once said that they could be funny; but when they were tried, their performances were so dull that most of those who looked on were quite annoyed, and refused to let them go near the frog, for fear he should lose his temper instead of laughing. however, every one was too thirsty to wait to try all those willing to undertake to make him merry: and they set off through the bush in a queer company, the animals running, hopping or walking, the snakes and reptiles crawling, and the birds flying overhead. "the water will run back to you before we do!" they cried to the wives and young ones they were leaving behind. but that was just a piece of brave talk, for in reality they did not feel at all sure about it. they hurried through the scrub, getting more and more scattered as they went along, for the swift ones would not wait for those who were slower. in the early morning the leaders came out of the trees, and found themselves on a swampy plain leading to the sea. all the water had dried up, and a creek that had its course through it was also dry. it was a very dreary-looking place.
not far from the beach there was a little hill; and, sitting on it, they saw the monster frog. he was a terrible creature in appearance, for he was so immense that the hill was lost under him, just like a hugely fat man sitting on a button mushroom. he was so swelled up that it seemed that if anything pricked him he would burst like a balloon; but when they came near him they saw how thick his skin was, and knew that no prick would go through it. his beady eyes were bulging out, and though they tried to attract his attention, he only gazed out to sea and took no notice of them at all.
"well, he has certainly had a great drink, but he does not look as if he had enjoyed it," remarked mirran, hopping round him.
"i should think he would find himself more comfortable under the sea than sitting on that poor little hill!" said merkein, the jackass.
"he will probably go back to the sea," the native companion answered. "let us hope he will not take all the water with him."
"how uncomfortable he must be!—why, he is like a mountain!" hissed mumung, the black snake. "may i not go and bite him?"
"certainly not!" said mirran hastily. "it might make him angry; or he might die, and we do not want the water poisoned. unless you can make him laugh, you had better get into your hole!" so mumung subsided, muttering angrily to himself.
then the animals began to try to make the frog laugh. it was the first circus that ever was in australia. they danced and capered and pranced before him, and the birds sang him the most ridiculous songs they could think of, and the insects sat on his head and told him the funniest stories they had gathered in flying round the world: but he did not take the smallest notice of any of them. his bulging eyes saw them all, but not a word did he say.
it is very hard to be funny when nobody laughs, and the animals soon became rather disheartened. but mirran would not let them stop. he himself did most wonderful jumps before the frog, and once hopped right over the emu, who looked so comical when she saw the great body sailing over her that all the animals burst out laughing; but the frog merely looked as though he would like to go to sleep. then menak, the bandicoot, brought his brothers, and performed all kinds of antics; and the 'possums climbed up a little tree and hung from its boughs, and were very funny in their gymnastics; and the dingo and his tribe held a coursing match round the hill on which the frog sat, going so fast that no one could see where one yellow dog ended and the next began; but none of these things amused the frog at all. he stared straight in front of him, and, if possible, he looked a little more bulgy. but that was all.
the animals held another council, and tried to think of other funny things. mirran remembered how the jackass had laughed when he had sat down on kowern, the porcupine, and though that had been a most unpleasant experience for him, he bravely offered to do it again. kowern, however, did not like the idea, and scuttled away into a hole, and they had great difficulty in finding him—and when they did find him, it was quite another matter to make him come out. at last they induced him to appear, and to let mirran sit on him. but it was not a successful experiment. perhaps mirran was nervous, for he knew how it felt to sit on kowern's quills; and so he let himself down gently, and kowern gave a heavy groan, but no one even smiled. as for the frog, he was heard to snore. it was all rather hard on mirran, for the experiment hurt him just as much as if it had been quite successful.
so the day went on, and when it was nearly evening, the animals could do no more: and still tat-e-lak sat and stared stupidly before him, and looked more and more huge and bulgy in the gathering darkness; and waat, the red wallaby, declared that the little hill he sat on was beginning to flatten under his weight. they were quite hopeless, at last. all were so tired and thirsty that they could not have attempted more antics, even had they known any, but, indeed, they had done everything they knew. they sat in a half-circle round the great frog and looked at him sadly; and the frog sat on his hill and did not look at anything at all.
just about this time, noy-yang, the great eel, woke up. he was lying in a deep crack in the muddy bed of the creek, and when the mud dried and hardened it pinched him, and he squirmed and woke. to his surprise, there was no water anywhere. noy-yang wriggled out of his crack, very astonished and indignant.
he found all the creek-bed dry, as you know; so he wriggled across it and up the bank, and came out on a little mud-flat by the sea. there he looked about him. on one side the sea rippled, but noy-yang knew that its water was no good for him. on the other was only dry land—the swampy ground he knew and loved, but now there was no water in it. it was very puzzling to a sleepy eel.
he looked a little farther and saw the great frog sitting on his hill. but he looked so huge that noy-yang thought the hill had simply grown bigger while he slept; and though that was surprising, it was not nearly so surprising as finding no water. then he saw all the animals sitting about him, but he took no notice of them. all he cared for was to get away from this hot, dry mud, and find a cool creek running over its soft bed.
so he wriggled on, making very good time across the flat. nobody saw him, for all the animals were looking miserably at the frog.
kowern, the porcupine, had felt very sore and bruised after mirran had sat on him for the second time. he was a sulky fellow, and he did not want to be sat on any more, even if it were for the good of all the people. "mirran will be making a habit of this soon," he said crossly; "i will get out of the way." so he hurried off, and got into the nearest hole, which happened to be near the edge of the mud-flat. there he went to sleep.
noy-yang came wriggling along, hating the hard ground, and only wanting to get to a decent creek. he was in such a hurry that he did not see kowern, and he wiggled right across him—and it seemed to him that each of kowern's spines found a different place in his soft body.
noy-yang cried out very loudly and threw himself backwards to get off those dreadful spikes. he was too sore to creep at all: the only part of him that was not hurt was the very point of his tail, and he stood up on that and danced about in his wrath and pain, with his body wriggling in the air, and his mouth wide open. and when the monster frog caught sight of the eel dancing on his tail on the mud-flat, he opened his mouth and let out such a great shout of laughter as had never been heard before in the world or will ever be heard again.
then all the waters came rushing out of the frog's mouth, and in a moment the dry swamp was filled with it, and a sheet of water rushed over the mud-flat where noy-yang was dancing, and carried him away—which was exactly what noy-yang liked, and made him forget all his sores. it was not so nice for kowern, the porcupine, for he was swept away, too, and as he could not swim, he was drowned. but he was so bad-tempered that nobody cared very much.
tat-e-lak went on laughing, and the water kept pouring out of his open mouth; and as he laughed he shrank and shrank, and his skin became flabby and hung in folds about him. he shrank until he was only as large as a few ordinary frogs put together: and then he gave a loud croak, and dived off into the water. he swam away, and none of the animals ever saw him again.
at that moment the animals were much too busy with their own affairs to think much about tat-e-lak. when the water first appeared they rushed at it eagerly, and each drank as much as he could. then they felt better, and looked about them. mirran, the kangaroo, was the first to make a discovery.
"ky! it will be a flood!" said he.
"a flood—nonsense!" said warreen, the wombat. "why, ten minutes ago it was a drought!"
"yes, and now it will be a flood," said mirran, watching keenly. "look!"
the water had run all over the plain, filling up the swamp, and already the creek showed like a line of silver where but a few moments ago there had been only dry mud. but it was plain that the water could not get away quickly enough. all the plain was like a sea, and there were big waves washing round the little hills.
"save yourselves!" cried mirran, to the people. "soon there will be no dry land at all!"
he set off with great bounds, thinking of his mate and the little ones he had left in the forest. behind him came all the people, running, jumping and crawling; and behind them came the water, in one great wave. some reached the high ground of the forest first, and found safety, and others took refuge on hills, while those that could climb fled up trees. but many could not get away quickly, and the waters caught them, and they were drowned.
next morning the animals who were saved gathered at the edge of the forest and looked over the flood. it stretched quite across the plain, and between it and the sea was only the yellow line of the sand-hummocks. nearer to the forest were a few little hills, and on these could be seen forlorn figures, huddling together for warmth—for the air had become very cold.
"there are some of our people!" cried mirran in a loud voice. "how are we to rescue them?"
no one could answer this question. none of the animals could swim, and if they had been able to do so, they had still no way of getting the castaways to dry land. they could only look at them and weep because they were so helpless.
after awhile, booran, the pelican, came flying up, in a state of great excitement.
"have you seen them?" he cried. "waat is there, and little tonga, the 'possum, and old warreen, and a lot of others; and soon they will die of cold and hunger if they are not saved. so i must save them."
"you!" said all the animals.
"there's no need to say it in that tone!" said booran angrily. "i can make a canoe and sail over quite easily. it will please me very much to save the poor things."
so booran cut a big bark canoe, which he called gre. he was very proud of it, and would not let anyone touch it or help him at all; and when it was finished he got in and paddled over to the little islands where the animals shivered and shook, with soaked fur and heavy hearts. they grew excited when they saw booran coming, and when he arrived, with his canoe, they nearly tipped it over by all trying to get in at once. this was repeated at each island, and at last booran lost his temper altogether and threatened to leave them all where they were. this dreadful idea made them very meek, and they were quite silent as booran paddled them towards the shore.
now, booran had not a pleasant nature. it did not suit him to find people meek, for it at once made him conceited and inclined to be a bully. he felt very important, to be taking so many animals back in his boat; and so he began to say rude things to them, and in every way to be unpleasant. the animals bore this quietly for a time, for they were too cold to want to dispute with him, and besides, they were really very grateful for being saved. but after a while, he became so overbearing that waat, the red wallaby, answered him back sharply, and others joined in. before they got to shore, they were all quarrelling violently, and when they had only a few yards to go booran suddenly stopped paddling, and jumped out so quickly that he upset the canoe, and threw all the animals into the water. he swam off, chuckling, and saying, "that will help to cool your bad tempers!"
the water was not deep, and the animals escaped with only a ducking. they struggled to the dry land, very wet and miserable.
"that was a mean trick to play on us," said little tonga, his teeth chattering. "i would like to fight booran, if only he would come ashore. but he will keep out of our way now."
"ky! look at him!" said waat.
they looked, and they saw booran coming in rapidly, as though he were floating on the water, and had no power to stop himself. his eyes were fixed and glassy, and his great beak wide open. a wave brought him right up on the shore, and blew over him in a cloud of spray. when the spray had gone, booran had gone, too; and where he had lain on the bank was a big rock, shaped something like a pelican.
that was the story old conara told me, as we fished for murray cod together. he said that all his people knew the rock, and called it the pelican rock; and it stood on the plain long after booran and his children's children's children were almost forgotten. to-day the plain is dry, and no water ever lodges there; but when the blacks see the pelican rock they think of the time when it was all in flood, when tat-e-lak, the great frog, nearly caused all the animals to die of thirst, and when noy-yang, the eel, saved them by dancing on his tail on a mud-flat by the sea.
