BLUE-TONGUE LIZARD. Blue-Tongue Lizard and his wife camped near a swamplong ago. One day Blue-Tongue Lizard went to get some food, and while he was
down at the swamp, he left his wife sitting under a shady tree. He had not been
gone very long when Taipan the Snake passed by Blue-Tongue Lizard's camp.
Taipan saw Blue-Tongue Lizard's wife sitting under the tree, and he decided he
would steal her away from Blue-Tongue Lizard. He made her come with him and
together they ran a long way away. Taipan the Snake did not know that Black Bird
had been watching him, and as soon as he ran away with Blue-Tongue Lizard's
wife, Black Bird began singing out to Blue-Tongue Lizard. "Your wife is gone,
Taipan has taken her away, he cried, Blue-Tongue Lizard was still at the swamp
getting food when he heard Black Bird's call. He went back to the shady tree
where he had left his wife and saw she was gone. He put down his bag which was
full of food and made a fire. He cooked his food and after he had finished eating
it, he went to get his spears. He found they had all been broken by Taipan. Then
he found the tracks of his wife and Taipan, and he followed them. Blue-Tongue
Lizard followed their tracks until he came to a tree in which a freshly killed emu
had been hung. It had been killed by Taipan and left there to be eaten that night.
Blue-Tongue Lizard knew that Taipan and his wife must be nearby and he soon
found them near a river. When Taipan saw Blue-Tongue Lizard he ran to get his
spears but Blue-Tongue Lizard had already broken them. 'We can fight with our
teeth', said Blue-Tongue Lizard. Taipan agreed and the two of them fought wildly,
each of them trying to get a hold of the other. Until finally Blue-Tongue Lizard
caught hold of Taipan's body in his powerful jaws, and bit him in half. With Taipan
the Snake dead, Blue-Tongue took back his wife and together they returned to
the swamp. What was Blue-Tongue Lizard doing when Taipan took his wife?