Why the Opossum’s tail is bare

A Cherokee Legend

Many, many years ago, the Possum had a long, bushy tail. He was so
proud of it that he combed it every morning. He sang about it whenever
the animals held a dance.

The Rabbit, who had had no tail since the Bear pulled it out, became
very jealous. She made up her mind to play a trick on the Possum.

A great council meeting had been planned. There was to be a dance and
all the animals were to be present. It was the Rabbit’s task to send
out the news to everyone. As the Rabbit was passing the Possum’s house,
she stopped to ask him whether he would be at the dance. The Possum
said yes, but he would come only if he could have a special seat.

“I have such a handsome tail,” he said. “I ought to sit where everybody
can see me.”

The Rabbit promised to take care of the Possum’s special seat. She also
promised to send someone to prepare the Possum’s tail for the dance.
The Possum was very much pleased and agreed to attend.

The Rabbit immediately went off to see the Cricket. Now, the Cricket
was such an expert hair cutter, the Indians called him “the barber.”
The Rabbit told the Cricket to go the next morning and get the Possum’s
tail ready for the dance. She told the Cricket exactly what to do.

In the morning the Cricket went to the Possum’s house. “I have come to
get you ready for the dance, Possum,” he said.

This pleased the Possum very much. He stretched himself out and shut
his eyes. The Cricket began to work on the Possum’s tail. First he
carefully combed it. Then he quietly began to clip the Possum’s hair
close to the roots! As he clipped, the Cricket wrapped red ribbon
around the tail to hold the loose hair in place. The Possum, eyes
tightly shut, didn’t know what the Cricket was doing.

When night fell, the Possum went to the hall where the dance was to be
held. There he found the best seat was ready for him, just as the
Rabbit had promised. When the Possum’s turn came to dance, he stepped
into the middle of the floor, grinning from ear to ear.

The drummers began to drum and the Possum began to sing, “See my
beautiful tail!” Everyone shouted. This pleased the Possum, so he
danced around the circle again and sang, “See what a fine color my tail
is!” Everyone shouted again and the Possum danced around the circle
once more. As he danced he sang, “See how my tail sweeps the ground!”

The animals shouted more loudly than before. The Possum was delighted.
Now, to really show off his fur, he untied the ribbon. Then around and
around he danced, singing, “See how fine is the fur on my tail!”

Suddenly everybody started to laugh. They laughed so long that the
Possum wondered why they were laughing. He looked around the circle of
animals. They were laughing at him! Then he looked down at his tail. He
saw that there was not a hair left upon it. It was as bare as the tail
of a lizard! He was so surprised and embarrassed he could not say a
word. He dropped to the ground, rolled over, and played dead.

That is why the Possum’s tail is bare and why he plays dead when taken
by surprise.