--- title: Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 6: The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 6: The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo», a lesson of the books course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Once the Kangaroo was a grey, woolly animal with four short legs and far too much pride, and he went --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/) / Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 6:… # Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 6: The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo Lesson 81 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 21 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/0/) — Once the Kangaroo was a grey, woolly animal with four short legs and far too much pride, and he went to three made-up gods in turn, asking to be made "different from all other animals" by five o'clock that afternoon. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/1/) — The Little God Nqa and the Middle God Nquing both shout "Go away!", but the Big God Nqong says "Yes, I will!" and calls the always-hungry Yellow-Dog Dingo to chase him. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/2/) — The chase goes on all day across Australia, through deserts, mountains and grass; at a river with no bridge the Kangaroo stands up on his back legs and hops, and his hind legs grow longer and stronger with every bound. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/3/) — At five o'clock Nqong stops the race; the Kangaroo is now different from every other animal, and "run after" in two ways, but he is cross and hungry, and so is Dingo. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/4/) — It is told like a song, with lines that come round again and again ("He had to!"), and it ends with the two tired runners blaming each other: "That's your fault." - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/5/) — The Kangaroo was "a Different Animal with four short legs. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/6/) — He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate" ("inordinate" = far too much). - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/7/) — He went to Nqa "at six before breakfast", to Nquing "at eight after breakfast", and to Nqong "at ten before dinner-time", who was sitting in his bath in the salt-pan; these gods are made up by Kipling for the story. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/8/) — Each time he asked for more: first "Make me different from all other animals", then also "wonderfully popular", then also "popular and wonderfully run after", all "by five this afternoon". - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/9/) — Nqong called "Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, dusty in the sunshine", who said "What, that cat-rabbit?" and ran after him "grinning like a coal-scuttle". - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/10/) — The joke: to be "run after" can mean to be popular, wanted by everybody, but Nqong makes it come true the other way: Dingo literally runs after him. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/11/) — The Kangaroo ran through "the desert", "the mountains", "the salt-pans", "the reed-beds", "the blue gums" (eucalyptus trees) and "the spinifex" (spiky grass), till his front legs ached. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/12/) — At "the Wollgong River" there was no bridge and no ferry-boat, "so he stood on his legs and hopped": "First he hopped one yard; then he hopped three yards; then he hopped five yards; his legs growing stronger; his legs growing longer." - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/13/) — He hopped "like a cricket; like a pea in a saucepan; or a new rubber ball on a nursery floor", and "stuck out his tail for a balance-weight behind him". - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/14/) — At five o'clock the Kangaroo sat with his tail "like a milking-stool behind him" and said "Thank goodness that's finished!"; Dingo, now "Tired-Dog Dingo" and "Poor Dog Dingo", sat down, hung out his tongue and howled, and wanted something for his tea. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/15/) — He complained that Dingo had "altered my shape so I'll never get it back; and he's played Old Scratch with my legs" ("Old Scratch" = an old name for the Devil, so "played Old Scratch with" = ruined). - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/16/) — Nqong teased him: "Why aren't you grateful to Yellow-Dog Dingo?" The Kangaroo called it "a practical joke" (a trick played on someone), then quickly said sorry when Nqong threatened to whistle up Dingo and "run your hind legs off"; Nqong said "Come and ask me about it tomorrow, because I'm going to wash", and went, and Kangaroo and Dingo "each said, 'That's your fault.'" - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/17/) — The song at the end calls him "a Boomer" (Australian for a big male kangaroo), says his back legs worked "like pistons", "Twenty-five feet to a bound", and that they ran "From Torres Straits to the Leeuwin", the far north and far south-west corners of Australia. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/18/) — Real biology: kangaroos are marsupials, carrying their babies (joeys) in a pouch; their long back legs have springy tendons that store energy, so hopping is a very cheap way to travel far. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/19/) — Real biology: a big red kangaroo can cover about eight metres (around twenty-five feet) in one bound, so Kipling's number is about right; the tail balances it when hopping and props it like a fifth leg when it moves slowly. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/81-justso-old-man-kangaroo/20/) — Real biology: dingoes are Australia's wild dogs, which came with people thousands of years ago and really do hunt kangaroos; but kangaroos got their long legs over millions of years, not in one afternoon's chase. - ← previous: [Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 2 (the tug-of-war and the trunk)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/80-justso-elephants-child-2/) - next →: [Just So Stories, The Beginning of the Armadillos, part 1: Painted Jaguar and the muddled advice](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/82-justso-armadillos-1-painted-jaguar/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/)