Hatching a What?

                                                      Wingla Dada

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The whole Dreamtime story can be read in this Aboriginal picture.The Platypus is, indeed, a very strange creature.It lays eggs and it has a beak, but suckles its young! In fact, when the first dried specimen was sent home to England in 1798, it was treated as a hoax!

HATCHING A WHAT?

Once, in the far-off dream-time some ducks lived in a pond.

They dared not venture out too far into the world beyond,

For Mulloka, the Water-Devil always lay in wait.

If Mulloka should catch them, how dire would be their fate!

But one small duck was restless and she paddled far away,

Intending to swim home again at the closing of the day.

At mid-day she was tired so she found firm ground and sat,

Not knowing she was sitting very near a Water Rat!

In fact, right on his roof she sat, as happy as could be,

But the Water Rat soon hove in sight to see what he could see!

The Water Rat was overjoyed to see the pretty duck,

For he'd been lonely all his life and this was a bit of luck!

'I want to marry you' he said, looking masterful and tough;

'Move into my watery nest with me and we'll do well enough!'

'No! No!' the little duck replied, crying great tears of woe,

'I cannot live my life with you! I beg you, let me go!'

'If you will not stay' said the Water Rat, 'Your remaining hours are few,

For Mulloka is a friend of mine and who knows what he will do!'

The poor duck simply had no choice; she became an unwilling wife

And living with the Water Rat she led a dreadful life.

One day she saw the Water Rat had fallen in a doze,

Nothing, not even quacking, could wake him from repose!

She dared the wrath of Mulloka and quickly swam away

Back up-stream to her family; that was where she'd stay.

They welcomed her ecstatically, so glad that she was found,

And, as time went on, the hatching time for duck-eggs came around.
And all her siblings waited round to see her babies hatch;
They remembered their own ducklings and expected hers to match.

And what was this! Her ducklings were as odd as odd could be!

They had webbed feet but four of them! The strangest sight to see!

True, they had beaks, as all ducks do, but they were wide and flat,

And the little beady eyes were those of her mate, the Water Rat!

Where were their feathers? They had fur, more like a rat or mouse,

They could see she had been married to a very mammalian spouse!

To top it all, on their legs were spurs that they didn't care to test!

It was decided that little duck should find another nest.

And so, with her offspring, she went off, derided and all alone,

To find a place where she could be with her family, on her own.

Thus started the tribe of the Platypus, a very odd tribe indeed.

And today there are many 'Gay-dari' for they found that they could breed.

But still they are suspicious and always try to hide.

So now you know the story of Water Rat and his Bride!