“Oh do tell us about these wonderful creatures,” cried all the young fairies at once; and, though the old folks were silent, they were just as eager to hear.
“Well, the four-legged creature is the opossum, and lives in America. The mother carries a whole family of her cubs in a chatelaine pocket, which she wears in the front of her dress. She can even climb up a tree with her family.
“Who can believe that?” whispered one fairy to another. “And the other?” she asked, hardly believing such a thing was possible.
“Let me tell you, then, about the kangaroo, that lives in Australia. She has a wallet, or [[185]]travelling bag where, or in which, she stows away her little folks, and there they are as cozy as if they were riding in a wagon. Yet, all the time, they can look out and see what is going on in the world. In this way, both the young opossums and the kangaroos are kept warm, and are fed until they are grown. No wolves, or bears, or foxes can catch and run away with them.”
“Can a kangaroo climb a tree?” asked a fairy, whose fancy had been greatly taken with the idea of a whole family being up a tree at once, and free from the wolves.
The old fairy felt insulted, or thought the questioner was trifling, and made no answer. So there was quiet for the space of three minutes.
“Well then,” asked still another fairy, “can you furnish us with a vegetable kangaroo?” This was asked in a tone of contempt, as if she believed it were not possible to protect anything from Jack Frost and the giants, even though the sun helped with all his might.
“Well, not exactly the Australian jumper, or the American tree-climber; but, if we can persuade the sun to help us, we may get a plant to become more mother-like, and keep her babies at home, until they are weaned and warmly clothed. Then, when they grow up, they will [[186]]be able to find food, and set up housekeeping for themselves.”
So it came to pass that the sun and earth, and the fairies, all agreeing together, they invited a plant, named the Poa, to come in their country to live and raise children, that could stand the cold.
As fast as the glaciers or ice rivers melted, the fairies coaxed the Poa family to multiply and come up higher. This the plants always did, increasing in numbers like a great army. They climbed higher and higher, until they formed acres upon acres of meadow land, for the cows and goats, that enjoyed the delicious taste of the ripened grass. When the glaciers had retreated and melted away, the Poa covered the land. Then the cows multiplied. They were fat and sleek, because of rich food, and men won wealth by making butter and cheese. The young fairies watched how the Poa grew and cast its seeds, and they called it the kangaroo plant.