Story The Legend of the Kangaroo: adaptation of the ancient Australian legend.
An ancient Australian legend tells that, in their origins, kangaroos had four legs like today, but all four of the same length. Like cats, dogs or lions, they used all their legs at the same time to walk and run.
This was the case for many years, until one day a hunter appeared on the plains where the kangaroo families lived. The man, whose skin was tanned by the sun, was armed with spears and searched the terrain looking for animals to eat.
A kangaroo that was resting under the shade of a tree saw him appear in the undergrowth. Even though he had never been in front of any human, his instinct told him that the intentions he had were not exactly good: his face was tense, he moved slowly trying not to make noise, he looked stealthily from one side to the other, and He carried the deadly spear high, ready to attack the moment he saw an animal he could catch.
The kangaroo became alert. He had him very close and his only option was to escape as soon as possible. Deep down, he thought he would have it easy. The man had two legs and he had four, so there was no doubt that he would run much faster! He got up from the ground and on three, started running at full speed. The human heard a noise and discovered the animal taking off. Without hesitation, he began to chase him.
The kangaroo ran and ran without stopping, but the man was hot on his heels. Yes, he had four legs, but his enemy’s two legs were longer and more muscular. Things were getting difficult!
The chase lasted at least two hours and the kangaroo couldn’t take it anymore. Luckily, night fell on the plain and, in an oversight on the part of his stalker, he managed to camouflage himself among some bushes. There he remained, motionless, waiting for the two-legged enemy to move away. But no… Instead of returning to his home, he decided to gather some branches and light a bonfire to warm himself and wait there until dawn.
The poor kangaroo knew that he had to come out of his hiding place because as soon as the first rays of sun appeared, the hunter would resume his search and in the end, he would fall into his nets. He had learned that running had been of no use to him, so the best thing would be to try to escape slowly, without making noise. It occurred to him to raise his front legs and he walked away in absolute silence, walking on tiptoe with his two back legs.
When he was well away from danger, he realized that this way it had been very easy for him to slip away. Walking on her hind legs was great, but what if she tried jumping? He tried it and at first, every time he jumped, he fell on his butt, but he knew it was a matter of practice and with determination he made his jumps big and precise.
It felt wonderful! From now on, she could escape from anyone who tried to harm her. No man, no matter how fast, could compare to an expert jumping kangaroo like him.
He returned to the plain very happy and told the kangaroo families what he had discovered. Following his advice, everyone began rehearsing to achieve a perfect jumping mechanism.
The initiative was very successful! Gradually, kangaroos throughout Australia stopped using their front legs to walk. Over time, their body evolved and they became shorter, while their hind legs became strong and elastic like springs.
Today, kangaroos have so perfected their jumping system that they are capable of traveling long distances at speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour. Incredible true?