*

Crocodile Man was married to Whistle Duck and they had two daughters…

“We’ll have fish tomorrow night,” said Crocodile Man, “I’ll go out early in my bark canoe.”

So next morning Crocodile Man set off, and his two daughters went to collect swamp grass to go with the fish.

Whistle Duck also left camp making sure her daughters did not see her.

The two sisters collected the swamp food and returned to camp.

The younger of the two girls saw their father returning and called out to him, “Father we will come and collect the fish!”

“No!” said Crocodile Man, “just send your elder sister to collect the fish.”

So the elder daughter went down to her father who had beached his canoe at the edge of a creek. When she started to unload the fish Crocodile Man copulated with her. The girl’s younger sister saw this and so did her mother who remained hidden, watching.

The fish was cooked and eaten and Crocodile Man and his family fell asleep.

The next morning Crocodile Man again set out in search of fish whilst his daughters went to collect swamp food.

This time, while they were gone, Whistle Duck collected dried grass and began to roll it on her thigh in order to make a rope.

Upon the return of her daughters to camp with swamp food Whistle Duck hid the rope she was making in a hole and covered it with paperbark.

All proceeded as before with Crocodile Man returning to the creek  fish-laden and calling for his eldest daughter with whom he then copulated.

Before eating the communal meal Whistle Duck set aside some of the food that her daughters had collected.

On the third day Crocodile Man and his daughters again set out in search of food as before.

Every day they were going farther and farther afield to find food and it was taking them much longer to return to camp.

Whistle Duck worked on her dried grass rope while they were gone and on the return of her daughters she again hid it and added lily roots, which was some of the food they had collected, to her growing store.

Crocodile Man returned late, called for his eldest daughter and copulated with her before they all sat down to eat.

The next morning after Crocodile Man had set out in search of fish, Whistle Duck  sent her daughters to pull up a banyan tree and return to her when they had done so.

“What are we to do with the banyan tree?” asked the younger daughter upon their return.

Continue reading here.