.MOONEVl HOW TIIK WILDCAT CAUGHT THK (loHJiLKK 269 



i8. WHY THE POSSUM'S TAIL IS BARE 



Tho, Possum used to have a lon^-. Imsliy tail, and was so jji-ond of it 

 tiiat ho combod it out cvorv Miorniiij;' and sati<;' about it at the dance, 

 until the Kabhit, who had iiad no tail since the Hear ])ulled it out. 

 becanu> very ]'eaU)us and made up his unnd to phiy the I'osstini a trick. 



There was to l)e a great council and a dance at which all the animals 

 were to be present. It was the Rabbit's business to send out the news, 

 so as he was passing the Possum's place he stopped to ask him if he 

 intended to be there. The Possum said he would come if he coidd 

 have a special seat, "'because I have such a handsome tail that I ought 

 to sit where everylxxly can see me." The Rabl>it jjromised to attend 

 to it and to send some one besides to cond) and dress the ]*ossum"s tail 

 for the dance, so the Possum was very nmcli pleased and agr(>ed to 

 come. 



Then the Rabbit went over to the Cricket, who is such an expert hair 

 cutter that tlie Indians call him the barber, and told him to go next 

 morning and dress the Possum's tail for the dance that night. I le toUl 

 the Cricket just what to do and then went on about some other nuschief. 



In the morning the Cricket went to the Possum's house and said he 

 had couK' to get him ready for the dance. So the Possum stretch(?d 

 himself out and shut his eyes while the Cricket cond)ed out his tail and 

 wrapped a red string around it to keep it smooth until inght. Hut all 

 this time, as he wound the string around, he was clipping oti' the hair 

 close to the roots, and the Possum never kiunv it. 



When it was night the Possum went to the townhoiisc where the 

 dance was to be and found the best seat ready for him, just as the Ral)- 

 l)it had promised. When his turn came in the dance he loosened the 

 string from his tail and stepped into the middle of the floor. The 

 drummers began to drum and the Possum began to sing, "See my 

 beautiful tail." Everybody shouted and he danced around the cii-cle 

 and sang again, "See what a fine color it has." They shouted again 

 and he danced around another time, singing, "See how it sweeps the 

 ground." The animals shouted more loudly than ever, and the Possum 

 was delighted. He danced around again and sang, "See how fine the 

 fur is." Then everybody laughed so long that the Possum wondered 

 what they meant. He looked around the circle of animals and they 

 were all laughing at him. Then he looked down at his l)eautiful tail 

 and saw that there was not a hair left upon it, but that it was as bare as 

 the tail of a lizard. He was so nuich astoinshed and ashamed that he 

 could not say a word, but rolled over helpless on the ground and 

 grinned, as the Possum does to this day when tak(?n l)v siu-prise. 



19. HOW THE ^A/ILDCAT CAUGHT THE GOBBLER 



The Wildcat once caught the Rabbit and was a})out to kill him. when 

 the Rabbit begged for his life, saying: "I'm so small 1 would make 



