Two Scales In Play

Wittgenstein awakes to the sound of a boiling kettle, and voices.

Are they back yet, with my Mazda? asks Wittgenstein.

Not yet, says Gaius. I'm just boiling a kettle.

Good, says Wittgenstein, sitting up.

Terence, Roo-kai and the Screaming Tree Frog are looking at a scrap of note paper.

They've made a map, says Gaius. The top dot is Queensland.

Is someone going? asks Wittgenstein.

We are, eventually, says Gaius. But this map is merely to help the Screaming Tree Frog get some idea of the distance.

It doesn't look all that far, says the Screaming Tree Frog.

There are two different scales in play here, says Gaius. The distance between here and your tree is on a different scale from the distance between here and Queensland.

Is it? says Terence.

You've lost me, says the Screaming Tree Frog.

And me, says Wittgenstein. Has that kettle boiled?

Yes, says Gaius. Now, did I bring tea bags?

He searches for tea bags.

Arthur would know where they are.

Drat! says Gaius. What do you say to a mug of hot water?

It's best to pass over the lack of a tea bag in silence, says Wittgenstein.

Does that mean you'll have it? asks Gaius. The hot water?

Wittgenstein indicates that he will.

What I'd like to know, says the Screaming Tree Frog, is how we got mixed up in the first place, if the Slender Bleating Tree Frogs live way up in Queensland?

Your loud calls, says Gaius. 

And that was enough? says the Screaming Tree Frog. What do they look like?

Slender, says Gaius. 

Are you saying I'm fat? asks the Screaming Tree Frog.

A white line down the side, and a black vocal sac, continues Gaius.  

Unbelievable, says the Screaming Tree Frog. 

Indeed. Your vocal sac is bright yellow. Hard to know how the two species were conflated, says Gaius. But the difference has been noted now.

I'd like to meet one, says the Screaming Tree Frog.

Me too, says Terence. You could have a competition.

That's what the Screaming Tree Frog had been thinking.

To see who's the fattest, adds Terence. You'd win.

That would be an unfair competition, says Gaius, sipping his hot water.

This hot water lacks something, says Wittgenstein.

Try adding a few eucalyptus leaves, says Gaius. 

Wittgenstein goes outside, just as a red Mazda pulls up in front of the camper