The Opossum of the Future

One day, an opossum, who had gone to sleep hanging from the highest branch of a tree by his tail, awoke to find a large snake coiled around the limb, positioned between him and the trunk of the tree.

"If I hold on," he thought to himself, "I shall be swallowed; if I let go, I shall break my neck." The opossum was in a precarious situation, feeling the weight of his dilemma heavily upon him. But suddenly, he had an idea.

"My esteemed friend," he began, trying to charm the snake, "my parental instinct recognizes in you a noble example of the theory of development. You are the opossum of the future, the ultimate 'Fittest Survivor' of our species. You embody the peak result of progressive prehensility—all tail!"

However, the snake, proud of his ancient significance in Scripture, was strictly orthodox and did not accept the scientific perspective the opossum was presenting. The opossum's clever attempt to flatter the snake fell on deaf ears, leaving him in a perilous position.