This story is about a rabbit and a possum that each want a wife, but can't seem to find one. They decided that their best bet was to go to the village over and pretend to be on a council. They were going to tell them that they all must marry at once in a hope that they themselves will become married.
As they traveled to the next town together, the rabbit moved much quicker and outran the possum. He tried to wait, but the people in the village noticed him and took him to the council lodge. The rabbit went on to deliver his news to the chief and he passed the message along to the people.
Immediately, everyone, including the rabbit, found a mate. By the time the possum got to the village, there were to wives left for him. So, the rabbit traveled on to the next village. This time, he told the chief that there must be peace at once. The animals all began to fight, but the rabbit got away quickly. The possum reached the lodge and all the animals began to gang up on him and they hit him so hard that he just decided to play dead.
This is the reasoning behind why possums play dead.
I found this story to not flow very well. I think I might use it to create my own so that I can make it how I was imagining. I was imagining the possum to show up to the lodge in the first village to find out that all the wives were taken, At that point, I thought he was going to play dead and maybe one lone animal was going to come out of hiding to try and save him and then end up getting married.
(Photo by Flickr.)
Great Plains unit: Why the Possum Plays Dead by Katharine Berry Judson.
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