Oolah the Lizard and the Galah

Misadventure in the Sun Oolah the Lizard and the Curious Galah

The moral of this Dreamtime story is how pride and carelessness can lead to unintended harm, with lasting consequences. Oolah’s desire to show off his boomerang skills out of vanity results in injury to the Galah, and both are marked permanently by their actions. It teaches the lesson that foolishness and arrogance can cause damage that cannot be undone, affecting both the victim and the one who caused the harm.

Oolah the lizard grew bored of lazily basking in the sun day after day. Deciding to entertain himself, he grabbed his boomerangs and began practicing his throwing skills. As he hurled the special curved bubberahs that return to the thrower, a curious Galah approached to observe Oolah’s technique.

The lizard’s pride swelled at having an audience. Showing off, he gave the bubberah an extra spin and launched it with all his strength. The boomerang whizzed through the air before arcing back. But as it returned, it struck the top of the Galah’s head, slicing off both feathers and skin.

The Galah let out a horrendous shrieking croak and flew about erratically, periodically slamming her bleeding head against the ground like a deranged creature. Terrified by what he had done, Oolah tried to glide away to hide under a spiky bindeah bush.

However, the Galah spotted him. Relentlessly screeching, she pursued the lizard. Upon reaching the bush, she seized Oolah in her beak and rolled his body across the prickly bindeahs until every spine had punctured his skin. She then viciously rubbed her own bloody head against his wounds.

“From now on,” she cawed, “you shall always bear the marks of the bindeahs and the stain of my blood!”

Oolah hissed in agony as the barbs stung his flesh. “And you,” he retorted, “shall forever have a bald patch from my bubberah as long as I remain a prickly red lizard!”

And so it remains to this day – beneath the Galah’s crest lies a featherless scar from Oolah’s boomerang. And in the Galahs’ native lands roam reddish-brown lizards covered in spikes, a reminder of Oolah’s recklessness and the Galah’s wrath. Pride and foolishness often lead to painful consequences that endure through the ages.

Adapted from Australian Legendary Tales. Buy the eBook