Spark a blaze

A folktale from Australia tells how the crane and kangaroo rat discovered fire.

Long ago, in the bush country, there was no fire. Everyone ate their food raw. Or they left it in the sun to dry. It was slow, chewy and not very tasty.

One day, Bootoolgah the crane rubbed two dry sticks together and, suddenly, a tiny spark jumped out. This was followed by a thin line of smoke. “Look,” he said to Goonur, the kangaroo rat, “see what comes when I rub these pieces of wood together: smoke! Would it not be good if we could make fire for ourselves with which to cook our food, so as not to have to wait for the sun to dry it?”

Goonur’s eyes grew wide. “Put some dry grass and bark inside the split stick,” she said. “Even one spark might catch.”

Bootoolgah did as he was told and WHOOSH! A small flame flickered to life. They had made fire! They laughed and danced around it. Then they cooked their fish. It smelled wonderful and tasted even better. “This is our secret,” they whispered. “We’ll cook our food in the scrub where no one can see.”

So they hid their fire sticks in seed pods, carried one hidden in Goonur’s little bag called comebee, and went off to the scrub to cook their fish.

When they returned to camp with their fish, the others stared.