Mooregoo the Mopoke, proud of his handmade weapons and opossum rugs, refused to lend or give any to Bahloo, the moon, who sought shelter on a cold night. Bahloo built his own shelter, and a relentless rain flooded the land. Mooregoo drowned, his creations scattered or ruined. The tale warns against selfishness and the consequences of hoarding one’s creations.
Source
Australian Legendary Tales
collected by Mrs. K. Langloh Parker
London & Melbourne, 1896
► Themes of the story
Divine Intervention: Bahloo, representing the moon, influences mortal affairs by causing a flood.
Conflict with Nature: Mooregoo faces the devastating force of a relentless flood.
Moral Lessons: The narrative warns against selfishness and the consequences of hoarding one’s creations.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Aboriginal Australians
Mooregoo the Mopoke had been camped away by himself for a long time. While alone he had made a great number of boomerangs, nullah-nullahs, spears, neilahmans, and opossum rugs. Well had he carved the weapons with the teeth of opossums, and brightly had he painted the inside of the rugs with coloured designs, and strongly had he sewn them with the sinews of opossums, threaded in the needle made of the little bone taken from the leg of an emu. As Mooregoo looked at his work he was proud of all he had done.
► Continue reading…
One night Babloo the moon came to his camp, and said: “Lend me one of your opossum rugs.”
“No. I lend not my rugs.”
“Then give me one.”
“No. I give not my rugs.”
Looking round, Bahloo saw the beautifully carved weapons, so he said, “Then give me, Mooregoo, some of your weapons.”
“No, I give, never, what I have made, to another.”
Again Bahloo said, “The night is cold. Lend me a rug.”
“I have spoken,” said Mooregoo. “I never lend my rugs.”
Barloo said no more, but went away, cut some bark and made a dardurr for himself. When it was finished and he safely housed in it, down came the rain in torrents. And it rained without ceasing until the whole country was flooded. Mooregoo was drowned. His weapons floated about and drifted apart, and his rugs rotted in the water.
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