Why Do Humans Walk On Two Legs?

A woman and her son were on their way to buy groceries. The child fidgeted in the stroller, refusing to be distracted by toys or snacks. Finally, the woman lifted the child out and let him walk beside her.

"Hold on to the side of the stroller and don't let go. You can only walk if you hold on and keep up with me."

Very little time passed before the child saw a rabbit hopping across a grassy yard. He let go of the stroller, got down on all fours and hopped across the lawn in pursuit of the rabbit. His mother scooped him up and buckled him back into the stroller. The boy cried and flailed his arms and legs in protest.

After a time, the mother asked him if he would like another chance to walk like a big boy. He nodded tearfully, then held onto the stroller and walked nicely. They passed by a pond where a man was fishing. They stopped to ask the man what kind of fish he was catching. The boy peered into a bucket of tan fish and watched intently as the man pulled in another fish on the end of his line. The fish wiggled and wriggled before the man grasped it and dropped it into his bucket. Without warning the boy ran into the water, laid down, and wiggled and wriggled like the fish he had just seen. Both the man and his mother hurried towards the wriggling and now coughing boy, each grabbing him by an arm. The mother hugged her son tightly, then shoved him into the now dripping stroller, and thanked the fisherman before heading back towards home.

She strode in aggravated silence as her son tried to turn towards the pond. A block away she stopped and stood in front of the boy.

"Why would you do such a thing?" she demanded. The distraught child stared up miserably.

"I want to swim like a fish."

"But you are not a fish. You are not a rabbit. You are a boy- a human."

The boy just frowned and sulked all the way home. When they got home, the mother pulled off his wet clothes, put them in the washing machine, and carried him upstairs to the bathtub. After scrubbing him and toweling him dry, she took clean clothes from the dresser and helped him into them.

"Now, just give me a minute to get change my own clothes. Then we have to try again to go shopping."

She took some blocks off the shelf and sat him on the floor to build a tower until she was ready. The boy started stacking blocks but was distracted by movement at the window. He jumped up to investigate. In the tree he saw a bird in a nest with three tiny open mouthed babies. The boy cranked open his window and started talking to the mama bird.

The bird regarded the boy's request to come sit in her nest and eat worms with her hatchlings.

"Young human, even if I said yes, how would you get out here?"

"I can jump to your branch?"

"You would not make it. You would fall to the ground and get hurt."

The boy thought a moment. "Can you teach me to fly?"

The bird chuckled. "You are a human. You are not able to fly."

"That's not fair," the boy complained. "I can't hop like a rabbit, swim like a fish, or fly like a bird. What can I do?"

The bird finished feeding her young and settled them down for a story.

"A long time ago, all the animals of the earth could come and go as they pleased. All animals could roam the world and eat whatever they wanted. But the Earth Spirits saw that things were not working well. The smaller animals were being trampled by the lions and the zebras. The fish were too slow to get to their worms and birds were stealing their food. Monkeys got tired running for miles through the forest as their long arms dragged behind. Humans weren't strong enough or fast enough to defend themselves or get food. The Earth Spirits had a meeting to see if they could work things out. They decided that every kind of creature needed it's own space and it's own type of food. They determined that all kinds of fish and the greatest of whales would be surrounded by water and they created the oceans and rivers for them to thrive in. Birds will be granted a haven high in the trees where they will be safe to nest and eat. Land animals will be divided by climate so they do not get in each other's way. Monkeys to the rain forest, giraffes by the high trees of the savannah, camels to the desert.

Then there was the matter of the humans. The Earth spirits spent a great deal of time on this. Humans, they said, are too small and weak to graze with the elephants and hippos. They can not breath in the water nor fly through the air. They will freeze in the cold and perish in the heat. They are not built to sprint for food like the cheetah or bite their prey with their small teeth. They can not defend themselves with poison or stingers or claws. We will enlarge their brains so they can figure out how to make tools, build fire, and erect shelters. We will give them language so they can speak to each other for they will not survive on their own. We will have them walk upright on their feet so they can travel and still carry their tools with their hands. Then humans will not only survive, but will thrive."

The bird looked at the boy.

"You are a human child. You will not be able to hop, swim, or fly, but you are able to think, learn, talk, walk on two feet, and help other humans with your hands. Do you understand now?"

The boy nodded and thanked the bird. He built a sturdy tower with his blocks. When his mother came to get him he took her hand.

"My stroller is all wet, but I know we have to go to the store. I will walk on my own feet and I'll help you carry the groceries on the way home."