Possum Portions
By Louisa John-Krol
In Emerald, between mountains where mighty ash trees spear the mist from a bed of green ferns, there lived two mice. Both were very fond of cheese, especially the kind that melts while cicadas rattle and buzz in a blaze of sunshine. So as luck would have it, at a barbeque a big blob of cheese slid off a plate and rolled under a log. Nobody noticed the two mice creep out the nudge the cheese hungrily.
Then came the problem of dividing it equally. How would they be certain that neither would eat more than the other? They eyed each other with suspicion, both thinking that the other would be sure to grab the largest portion. By nightfall they were still nudging the cheese greedily.
Night is when Perry the possum likes to take his stroll along the telegraph wires. On this night he glanced down, but pretended not to notice the cheese.
“Hey what’s up down there?” he asked the mice, “Can I be of help?”
“Why of course! You can divide the cheese for us!” The two mice sniffed and twitched their noses eagerly. Perry agreed.
“Very well, fetch me a wattle twig to cut this silly clump of goo.”
So the two mice did, dragging the twig at each end by their sharp little teeth.
Yet despite an impressive display of concentration, the possum failed to divide the cheese evenly. One portion was clearly much bigger than the other.
“Dear me!” he muttered, his dark eyes glowing, “This will never do. I shall eat part of the larger piece so that it equals the size of the other.”
Before the mice could object, Perry ate part of the cheese and, of course, ate too much.
“Oh dear! Now this piece is the smaller one. I shall have to trim the other piece to match it.” By this time it was clear that Perry intended to polish off the lot.
“Do not bother with our affairs further,” grumbled the mice, “We’ll divide the rest of the cheese ourselves!”
“Oh I could never do that!” replied the possum, “You would start quarrelling for sure. No, I must continue nibbling this bit and that, until they are exactly the same. If in my efforts all the cheese is eaten, that is fate and we must accept it.”
With that, the mice saw that Perry had no intention of returning the cheese. Sadly they turned away. The clever possum laughed and called after them:
“You have learned a lesson, my little nibblers. Never let greed lead you into foolishness!”
He swallowed the last lump of cheese with a grin.
From Swag of Yarns winter 2004
In Emerald, between mountains where mighty ash trees spear the mist from a bed of green ferns, there lived two mice. Both were very fond of cheese, especially the kind that melts while cicadas rattle and buzz in a blaze of sunshine. So as luck would have it, at a barbeque a big blob of cheese slid off a plate and rolled under a log. Nobody noticed the two mice creep out the nudge the cheese hungrily.
Then came the problem of dividing it equally. How would they be certain that neither would eat more than the other? They eyed each other with suspicion, both thinking that the other would be sure to grab the largest portion. By nightfall they were still nudging the cheese greedily.
Night is when Perry the possum likes to take his stroll along the telegraph wires. On this night he glanced down, but pretended not to notice the cheese.
“Hey what’s up down there?” he asked the mice, “Can I be of help?”
“Why of course! You can divide the cheese for us!” The two mice sniffed and twitched their noses eagerly. Perry agreed.
“Very well, fetch me a wattle twig to cut this silly clump of goo.”
So the two mice did, dragging the twig at each end by their sharp little teeth.
Yet despite an impressive display of concentration, the possum failed to divide the cheese evenly. One portion was clearly much bigger than the other.
“Dear me!” he muttered, his dark eyes glowing, “This will never do. I shall eat part of the larger piece so that it equals the size of the other.”
Before the mice could object, Perry ate part of the cheese and, of course, ate too much.
“Oh dear! Now this piece is the smaller one. I shall have to trim the other piece to match it.” By this time it was clear that Perry intended to polish off the lot.
“Do not bother with our affairs further,” grumbled the mice, “We’ll divide the rest of the cheese ourselves!”
“Oh I could never do that!” replied the possum, “You would start quarrelling for sure. No, I must continue nibbling this bit and that, until they are exactly the same. If in my efforts all the cheese is eaten, that is fate and we must accept it.”
With that, the mice saw that Perry had no intention of returning the cheese. Sadly they turned away. The clever possum laughed and called after them:
“You have learned a lesson, my little nibblers. Never let greed lead you into foolishness!”
He swallowed the last lump of cheese with a grin.
From Swag of Yarns winter 2004
posted by Sarah Johnstone | 3:50 PM
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