Reading Notes: Week 9, Part B (Why the Possum Plays Dead)

There was a possum and a rabbit who each wanted a wife but neither one of them could find a woman to marry them. They both talked together and came to the conclusion that they would not be able to find wives in their village and that they should go over to the neighboring village in hopes of finding women there. Their plan was that the rabbit would pose as a member of the council and demand that everybody must get married at once. They thought that this would be a sure way they would find wives and get married. Then they set off to the next village. While they both left at the same time, the rabbit traveled faster and therefore made it to the next village first. Once he arrived, he waited outside the town for the native people to notice him and invite him into the council lodge. When he finally made it inside, the chief asked what he was doing in their village, and the rabbit replied with everyone in the village must immediately get married. The chief then called together all of the people of the village into a great council. Every animal took a mate at once, therefore rabbit ended up with a wife. Because the possum traveled so slowly, by the time he made it to the town, every man had already had a woman, and there was nobody there left for him. The rabbit pretended to be sorry and said he would go to the next village to spread the news. When he got there, he did the same thing as before, but this time instead of the message of marriage, he spread the message that the village must be under war. So immediately the village people began to fight one another. By the time the possum arrived at the town, the people began to beat him. The possum then went into a corner, curled up and closed his eyes. That is now why possums begin to play dead when hunters come after them.

Photo of a rabbit

(Taken by Jason Leung on Unsplash)

"Why the Possum Plays Dead," Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson