How kangaroo got his tail (I)

a long time ago, some animals looked different to the way they look now. kangaroos had no tails and wombats2 had high, round heads.

mirram the kangaroo and warreen the wombat1 were good friends. they lived together in a hut that warreen had built from tree bark. they liked being with each other, but mirram liked to sleep outside at night and he made fun of warreen who always wanted to sleep inside.

"come, warreen, sleep outside with me" said mirram. "it's much better to look up at the stars at night and listen to the fresh wind in the trees."

"it's too cold outside" snuffled warreen, "and sometimes it rains. i might get wet! i like sleeping in my hut with a nice fire to keep me warm."

mirram the kangaroo would not accept this. "your bark hut is dark and smelly. it is much better to sleep out in the clean air under the bright stars!"

"no, thank you" said warreen. "i will stay in my hut where i am comfortable."

mirram was impatient. "you are too scared to sleep outside with me. you are frightened to feel a little wind."

"i'm not frightened" snuffled warreen. "i just like sleeping in my bark hut!"

mirram kept on taunting3 warreen, until one night the wombat agreed to sleep outside. during the night he got really cold and waddled4 back inside the hut. kangaroo laughed at him.

all summer they played together as friends, but mirram sometimes still made fun of warreen's hut.

things changed when winter came. the wind became colder at night while mirram slept outside. at first he didn't mind. he snuggled up to a tree to protect himself, and laughed at the thought of warreen in his smelly hut. "wombat would not brave the wind like me" he said to himself.

the wind became stronger and colder. mirram curled himself into a tight ball, hugging his tree. he told himself that the wind couldn't hurt him - he wasn't afraid. when it began to rain, he muttered5 "a little wind and rain won't hurt me. i'm not afraid."