A Word of Warning from the Wise
Uncle Do was a wise old dodo. He was not in great shape as he happened to be the oldest in his neck of the woods. His bones creaked, his jaws hurt when he chewed, but he was the only one of his flock who could still fly. Which made the younger rock with laughter. Uncle Do, they said, not unkindly, we don’t mean to be rude, but you should take things easy, you’re tiring yourself needlessly, there’s no point flying. Everything we need is within walking distance. There’s a large variety of stuff to eat, tambalacoque seeds and what not; so why can’t you be just like us? Enjoy life, the good weather, the sun, and thank God there are no predators to flee away from.
Do shook his head. Listen to me, you youngsters, you’re right about there being food everywhere, about not having to struggle to feed ourselves, you’re also right in that we’re blessed in not having enemies bent on eating us. But I will ask you one question: Are you sure that this situation will never change? Without waiting for their response he said, I think a time might come when this will change, so I urge you not to allow one of the gifts we were born with disappear. The time might come when rats or wild cats and dogs might suddenly appear and change all that. You haven’t seen Man, but I saw a few once many years ago, and I will tell you that I felt very insecure, even if I didn’t know why. I quietly flew away because I didn’t want to take the risk. Just imagine that some day some Men suddenly appeared in our midst, and we have no means of avoiding them. What will be our fate then?
The young birds shook their heads. Uncle Do, we’ve never seen Man, Rat or Dog. Do they even exist? No, you’re being over-cautious. What they really meant was that he was losing his marbles. Nobody kept up with flying.
When Do passed, no one could even stay in the air for a count of three. One, two, threeeeeeee.
Over the years their wings grew smaller and smaller through lack of use.
Then one day, they caught sight of a Dutch ship approaching the port at Mahébourg …
