The Opossum of the Future
one day an opossum who had gone to sleep hanging from the highest
branch of a tree by the tail, awoke and saw a large snake wound
about the limb, between him and the trunk of the tree.
"if i hold on," he said to himself, "i shall be swallowed; if i let
go i shall break my neck."
but suddenly he bethought himself to dissemble.
"my perfected friend," he said, "my parental1 instinct recognises in
you a noble evidence and illustration of the theory of development.
you are the opossum of the future, the ultimate fittest survivor2 of
our species, the ripe result of progressive prehensility3 - all
tail!"
but the snake, proud of his ancient eminence4 in scriptural history,
was strictly5 orthodox, and did not accept the scientific view.
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