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The Rabbit, who had had no tail since the Bear pulled it out, became
very jealous. She made up her mind to play a trick on the Possum.
A great council
meeting had been planned. There was to be a dance and all
the animals were to be present. It was the Rabbit's task
to send out the news to everyone. As the Rabbit was
passing the Possum's house, she stopped to ask him
whether he would be at the dance. The Possum said yes,
but he would come only if he could have a special seat.
"I have such a
handsome tail," he said. "I ought to sit where
everybody can see me."
The Rabbit promised to
take care of the Possum's special seat. She also promised
to send someone to prepare the Possum's tail for the
dance. The Possum was very much pleased and agreed to
attend.
The Rabbit immediately
went off to see the Cricket. Now, the Cricket was such an
expert hair cutter, the Indians called him "the
barber." The Rabbit told the Cricket to go the next
morning and get the Possum's tail ready for the dance.
She told the Cricket exactly what to do.
In the morning the
Cricket went to the Possum's house. "I have come to
get you ready for the dance, Possum," he said.
This pleased the
Possum very much. He stretched himself out and shut his
eyes. The Cricket began to work on the Possum's tail.
First he carefully combed it. Then he quietly began to
clip the Possum's hair close to the roots! As he clipped,
the Cricket wrapped red ribbon around the tail to hold
the loose hair in place. The Possum, eyes tightly shut,
didn't know what the Cricket was doing.
When night fell, the
Possum went to the hall where the dance was to be held.
There he found the best seat was ready for him, just as
the Rabbit had promised. When the Possum's turn came to
dance, he stepped into the middle of the floor, grinning
from ear to ear.
The drummers began to
drum and the Possum began to sing, "See my beautiful
tail!" Everyone shouted. This pleased the Possum, so
he danced around the circle again and sang, "See
what a fine color my tail is!" Everyone shouted
again and the Possum danced around the circle once more.
As he danced he sang, "See how my tail sweeps the
ground!"
The animals shouted
more loudly than before. The Possum was delighted. Now,
to really show off his fur, he untied the ribbon. Then
around and around he danced, singing, "See how fine
is the fur on my tail!"
Suddenly everybody
started to laugh. They laughed so long that the Possum
wondered why they were laughing. He looked around the
circle of animals. They were laughing at him! Then he
looked down at his tail. He saw that there was not a hair
left upon it. It was as bare as the tail of a lizard! He
was so surprised and embarrassed he could not say a word.
He dropped to the ground, rolled over, and played dead.
That is why the
Possum's tail is bare and why he plays dead when taken by
surprise.
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