Chapter 3
JAZZ, the retired Circus monkey, could never sit still. He usually knew what was going on around Our Pond, and he tried to be there to help NOZZLE with whatever was needed.
There was something else very special about JAZZ. Suppose POSEY needed to be hooked up to her Chariot. They called JAZZ. Or, someone needed a rope woven out of reeds--JAZZ could do it. He was the only one who could because he had clever little fingers, and had learned how to use them. He was very creative and was always interested in doing something new.
One day JAZZ happened to find HIDE, the smaller of the two kangaroo children, drawing a picture of the COMMANDER with a hard pebble on a piece of slate. HIDE had become very important to the Word Teaching Program. She was often working with the cleverest of the White Cloud Birds, who had taken the “mint cure” and were now normal and friendly. As JAZZ was watching, one of the Advanced Birds picked up a pebble in its beak and tried to draw something on the slate. The pebble fell out. JAZZ picked up a longer pebble and showed the White Bird how to best hold it in its beak. Some other Advanced White Birds came over to learn how to do it, and before long there were ten birds drawing on slate for the first time--all by using their beaks. JAZZ was so pleased to see the birds’ interest. He also had an important question on his mind. Could he teach these Birds to weave? He had seen that they often stood around balanced on only one foot while they ate something. This left the other foot free to help weave. Also, they were very quick with the movement of their beaks--their heads would go back and forth quicker than fingers, and made a “buzz, buzz” sound.
JAZZ dashed off to find some thin reeds and small leaves. He wanted to find out if he could teach the Birds to weave ropes. He wondered if they could learn to tie rocks together with woven reeds? By the time JAZZ got back, he had all these wonderful ideas going through his mind. When he saw that there were about twenty Birds standing there waiting to learn what he could teach them, he knew this was going to be a very important part of the cooperation between the Birds and the Friends of Our Pond. Working together is very powerful!
As more and more White Birds drank from their little umbrellas with the mint in it, they had become Wise and Friendly. An ever-greater number of them taught each other things to do with their beaks and feet. They did it even when JAZZ was not there.
HIDE, BOING’s youngest kangaroo child, became part of the fun. She even told her friend, the COMMANDER of the White Birds, all about the new, wonderful things that the Wise White Cloud Birds were learning. He was so pleased, and wondered how the White Cloud Birds could ever repay the Friends of Our Pond for their constant help.