LYREBIRD THE MIMIC (Dreamtime)

In the Dreamtime, all the birds and animals spoke the same language. This meant that all the birds and animals could talk to each other, and understand each other, and there were no fights. There was plenty of food to eat, and at this time no animal ever hunted another. They had nothing to fear. Even the tiny Whip Snake and the Kookaburra were friends. One day, all the animals and the birds decided that they would hold a huge corroboree, with lots of singing and dancing. The corroboree was to last for several days, so a great quantity of food was collected, and all the animals and birds in the whole land were to attend. The Brolga, being the best dancing bird in the land, was to be in charge of the dancing and the Dingo and Kookaburra were going to sing. Everyone was looking forward to it.

On the day it was to start, all the animals began to gather at the waterhole near the camp of the Lyrebird. The Native Cat, slinking in from the bush, was the first to arrive, and then the Crows, the Eagles, the Galahs and the Magpie Geese flew in. The old wombat waddled in, the Kangaroo and the Wallaby hopped in together, and the Frog arrived with the Platypus. It was the largest gathering anyone could remember. They set up their camps, and readied themselves for the corroboree. It was a splendid affair. Never before had they enjoyed themselves so much. The Kookaburra told some jokes, and laughed much louder than anyone else!

The Frog, who was the greatest mimic in the whole land, then copied the Kookaburra's voice, and told some more stories. All the animals, even the Kookaburra, roared laughing. They all agreed that the Frog was certainly a very clever mimic. Then the Brolga danced, and all the animals and birds joined in, even the Old Wombat. The Frog thought that the wombat looked so funny, dancing beside the graceful Brolga. Then the Frog had an idea. he would really have some fun! He copied the Brolga's voice, and called out to the Wombat.
'You look so stupid! Fancy a fat little roly-poly like
you, trying to dance!'
The wombat stopped and looked at the Brolga. No one had ever been rude to him before! Not even the nasty Crows. The Frog, seeing how well his trick had worked, took on the voice of the Brolga, and called out to the Emu.

'Hey, Emu, why are you trying to dance. Emus can't dance, they can't even fly!'
The Emu was furious. No one had ever teased her about her small wings before. The Emu ran towards the Brolga. The Frog, thinking that this was great fun, began calling out all sorts of rude remarks. he imitated the Kangaroo and the Kookaburra, he insulted the Platypus, who thought it was the Eagle being nasty. Soon all the animals at the corroboree were hurling insults at each other. And in the middle, sat the Frog. He was having great fun. There were animals and birds quarrelling and fighting all around him. Then the Frog, using he voice of the Wombat, yelled,
'To battle! Let's fight! come on, to battle!'

A huge fight broke out, and as the animals fought, the Frog hopped quietly up on to a high rock, to watch the whole fight. Only the Lyrebird took no part in the fight. Fanning his beautiful tail feathers, he went from quarrel to quarrel, pleading with the animals to stop. But stop they wouldn't! The Kookaburra was fighting with the Whip Snake. The Crows were chasing a Lizard. The Lyrebird pleaded,
'Please, please stop! We are all friends. It is
senseless to fight. Please stop!'
But no one took any notice of the Lyrebird. In fact the fighting grew even worse! The noise was deafening. Shouts and groans filled the air. The Frog was jumping around on his rock, yelling more insults, urging on the fighting. Now, the noise of all this woke the Spirits. Seeing what had happened, they became so annoyed that they put an end to the battle. The animals were very embarrassed. They had never fought before. To punish them, the spirits took away the creatures' common language, and gave each animal and bird a language of its own. The wicked Frog, who had the most beautiful voice, was given an ugly croak as punishment for having started the fight. The Lyrebird was to be the only animal who would be able to talk to all other animals. Even to this day, the lyrebird is the only animal that is able to imitate all other animals. And to this day Aboriginal people have a special respect for lyrebirds because of their role as peacemakers. Today, frogs still talk in an ugly croak. And still today, no animal or bird can talk to a different animal or bird. They can only talk with their own kind.