Dinewan the Emu and Goomblegubbon the Bustard (Campfire Story)

Long ago, in the Dreaming, Dinewan the Emu was the queen of all the birds. She was the biggest bird in the land, and she could fly higher than anyone else, and she was very proud of her long, strong wings.

Goomblegubbon the Bustard, the plains turkey, was jealous. Goomblegubbon was smaller, and slower, and she couldn't fly half as well. Every day she watched Dinewan swooping through the sky, and every day she grew more jealous. 'I'll find a way,' Goomblegubbon said to herself, 'to take her down a peg.'

One day, Goomblegubbon saw Dinewan coming. Quickly, she tucked her own wings tight against her back, so close that you couldn't see them at all. Then she strutted out to meet the emu.

'Dinewan,' she said, 'why do you still have wings? Haven't you heard? All the most beautiful birds are cutting their wings off. Look at me! I've cut mine off, and I've never felt lighter. Big wings are so old-fashioned.'

Dinewan looked at Goomblegubbon's back, and saw no wings at all. 'Really?' she said. 'All the best birds?'

'All of them,' said Goomblegubbon.

Now, Dinewan wanted very much to be the most beautiful bird. So she went off and got a sharp stone knife, and she cut off her wings, close to her body. Then she came running back. 'Look, Goomblegubbon! Now I'm beautiful too!'

Goomblegubbon laughed. She spread out her own wings, which had been there all along, and flew up into a tree. 'Ha! I tricked you, Dinewan! Now you'll never fly again, and I'll be the queen of the birds!'

Poor Dinewan. She tried to fly. She flapped the little stumps where her wings had been, and ran, and jumped. But she couldn't leave the ground. And she was so ashamed that she went away into the scrub and wouldn't come out.

But Dinewan was clever too. And she waited.

Time passed. Dinewan had twelve chicks, and Goomblegubbon had twelve chicks too. One day, Dinewan took just two of her chicks and went to visit Goomblegubbon, who was busy running after all twelve of hers.

'Goomblegubbon,' said Dinewan, 'why do you have so many children? They eat so much! They make so much noise! You'll be thin and tired from looking after them all. That's why I only kept two. Look how big and strong and well-fed my two are. Now I have time to rest.'

Goomblegubbon looked at her own twelve noisy, hungry chicks. And she looked at Dinewan's two, big and fat and happy. And the jealousy rose up in her again. So she sent ten of her chicks away, off into the far scrub to fend for themselves, and kept only two.

Then she ran back to Dinewan. 'Look! Now I have only two as well!'

Dinewan smiled. She gave a call, and out of the bushes came running ten more emu chicks, all twelve together. 'I tricked you, Goomblegubbon, just like you tricked me. You took my wings. I took your children. And ever since that day, Goomblegubbon has had to lay only two eggs, while Dinewan lays twelve.'

And it's true. Go to the plains of New South Wales, and you'll find that the bustard lays only one or two eggs. But the emu lays a big clutch of dark green eggs, sometimes a dozen or more. And the emu, the biggest bird in Australia, still can't fly. Though if you look closely, under her feathers, you'll see she still has two little stumps of wings.

The Yuwaalaraay people tell this story to show what jealousy does. It made both birds do foolish things, and both of them lost something they couldn't get back.

Storyteller tips: let both birds be big, proud characters. Afterward, ask: who was worse, Goomblegubbon or Dinewan? Was getting even worth it?