``Perhaps we can help,'' said a large wahn (crow) who had arrived with several hundered others.

``What can you do?'' a mari (wallaby) asked defensively. ``You will simply fly to safety and return later to pick out bones.''

``Yes. We could quite easily do that,'' said the wahn, ``but what good would that be? We would gorge ourselves in one large feast only, whereas, by saving you, there will always be feed for us.''

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Excerpt from The Wahns and the Kimba (The Crows and the Bushfire), an Australian aboriginal folk tale.