Not much was undertaken in Koalaville the next day. Almost everybody slept well into the afternoon, as the all-night festivity had left them in dire need of recuperation. Later that evening, Chashibu and Chosay, who inhabited two trees next to Grandaddy's, suggested to him that they plan another council meeting for the following morning, since there were going to be many issues that had to be settled within the next few weeks.
'I was thinking the same thing,' Grandaddy said to his two old friends. 'Exactly what is on your minds, though?' he asked them.
'Well,' Chosay began, 'the way I see it, as far as the upcoming migration is concerned, there are several matters that should be decided as soon as possible.'
'For example?' Grandaddy asked.
Chashibu explained, 'Above all, it seems to us that there could be a problem as far as the choice of trees in the new grove is concerned. Imagine: all the koalas will want to have the very best trees in Eucalyptus Grove, and there may be a heap of arguments over who gets which tree.'
'Full-fledged fights might even break out,' Chosay continued. 'It is up to us to see that things are decided fairly, and that the transition goes smoothly.'
'Yes, I do see what you mean,' Grandaddy agreed. 'I will call a meeting of the Council for tomorrow at noon, and we'll discuss the matter thoroughly.'
'Fine, Grandaddy,' Chashibu said. 'As for now, how about if we three make ourselves a cup of hot eucalyptus tea, and get in a few hands of cards?'
'Now that is a fine suggestion!' Grandaddy smiled. 'Let's go over to our table and get started!'
The three old koalas went to the council table, lit a little oil lamp that had a metal grid fixed to the top of it, then set a kettle of water on the grid to heat it up. Chashibu took a deck of cards out of his pocket, and began to shuffle them. They were going to enjoy a few rounds of 'Lost Koala Found,' their favorite game. Official matters could wait till tomorrow's meeting, for after all, a life without a bit of relaxation and enjoyment is hardly worth the trouble of living it.
***
Bright and early the following morning, a lone koala could be heard knocking on the King's tree.
'Sire – Prestigious Koala King – I have a message for you.'
Sticky, who still had one foot in Dreamland, was wondering why somebody was bothering him at this hour. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was the King.
'Uh, yes, sorry, I was asleep.'
'Oh, no Your Majesty, it is I who am sorry in that case,' Queezy apologized, 'but Judge Grandaddy told me to tell you there is a council meeting at noon.'
'Oh, yes, fine. Tell him I will be there well ahead of time.'
'Of course, Sire. Have a nice day!' said Queezy as he walked away.
All ten of the councilmembers arrived at the meeting punctually. Or perhaps we should say all nine councilmembers, and the King.
'With His Highness's permission, I will state the order of business for today,' Grandaddy began, looking over to the King.
'Why, of course, Grandaddy,' the new monarch assented.
'First of all, I would like to move that there shall henceforth be only nine councilmembers, since the King will naturally hold a position superior to that of any member. Furthermore, I believe this new rule should be duly noted in the Koalaville Book of Laws. Any objections?'
Everyone agreed to this proposal, though Kashy presented a detail to be considered.
'About the Book of Laws,' he began, 'since we shall soon be moving to the other grove, obviously the Koalaville Book of Laws will no longer be completely valid.'
'What? You lawyers always want to complicate things!' old Chosay retorted. 'Law is law.
Why can't we use the same laws in Eucalyptus Grove that we have been using here for decades?'
'Well,' Kashy began to explain, 'officially, it would not be proper – and perhaps not even legal – to apply laws designated as belonging to Koalaville, once we are living in Eucalyptus Grove. At the very least, therefore, we must officially change the name to the 'Eucalyptus Grove Book of Laws'.'
'Sounds simple enough,' Handy remarked. 'Let's just change the name, then.'
'Not so fast,' lawyer Gruffy joined in. 'It's not as simple as that. Certain laws in our present book pertain to the specific situation of Koalaville. For example, Article 14, Section 3, which expressly forbids allowing privately owned emus to… just a second, I want to be sure I get it straight,' he said, opening the Book of Laws to the relevant page, '...that forbids privately owned emus to wander more than one thousand yards over the field to the east of the grove.'
'So?' Handy asked.
'So, the field to the east of Eucalyptus Grove, that is, the field between there and here, is not more than five hundred yards wide, so obviously such a law would make no sense.'
'Or for instance,' Kashy added, 'the law that forbids any koala to take up residence in Eucalyptus Grove. That law made sense when it didn't belong to us, but now it does, and unless we change it, that very law would prevent any of us from moving over there, even though we own the grove.'
Sticky listened in silence, hoping he was displaying a royal demeanor. In truth, he found all of this somewhat boring. He could now fully understand why it is said that the devil is in the details.
'You've both made your points,' Judge Grandaddy said. 'What do you suggest, Sire?'
'Well, it would seem to me that these fine koalas have thought about the matter at length.
Thus, I would like to request that they both collaborate in studying the existing laws, and that they re-write any passages which need to be changed, modified, deleted, or whatever. Further, that they then present the new version – one that is adequate for regulating legal matters in our new home – to Judge Grandaddy for his perusal, and to the other councilmembers, as well as to myself. We shall all then study the modifications, and adopt them by Council vote if we see fit.'
Most of those present thought this was a fine idea, maybe because it meant they wouldn't have to deal with any further legalistic details that day. Only Gruffy and Kashy seemed somewhat less delighted, since they realized that their suggestions meant that they would now be in for several weeks of rather intense study, for the Koalaville Book of Laws had, over the years, grown to a rather formidable size.
'There's another matter we must attend to,' Chosay then spoke. 'Chashibu, Grandaddy and I were talking about it yesterday. The issue of how we decide which koalas get which trees when we move to Eucalyptus Grove.'
'Doubtlessly a difficult subject,' Tecky said. 'This could be the source of a lot of tension.
After all, everybody will be scrambling to get the very best trees, and it will be impossible for everybody to be satisfied.'
'Hmmm, how can we settle this matter peacefully?' Claire asked. 'Some koalas will be content with what they are given, but others may well feel they got a bad deal, and envy can easily lead to fighting.'
After a few minutes of expressing their concerns, Sticky, or rather, the Prestigious Koala King, who had been silent during this part of the discussion, suddenly spoke up.
'I wish to offer a suggestion,' he announced.
'Of course, Your Majesty,' Grandaddy said.
'I think the problem isn't as serious as we have been fearing. Why don't we simply assign a tree to each koala that corresponds to the geographical position of the tree he or she already has in Koalaville?'
'I don't believe I follow you, Sire…' Handy said.
'It's simple,' the King continued. 'I will give you an example. Grandaddy, for instance, lives in one of the southernmost trees in the western part of Koalaville. Therefore, when we move to Eucalyptus Grove, he should have a tree in the southwest there as well. Tecky, your tree is in the north-central part of our grove, on the eastern edge, I believe. Thus, in Eucalyptus Grove, you would get a tree in the same geographical location there: in the easternmost part of the upper central sector.'
'Hmm,' Chosay pondered, 'that sounds very good to me.'
'Indeed,' Grandaddy added, 'I would say it's a very wise decision.'
'I do believe the number of trees over there is greater than the number we have here,'
Gruffy said, 'which means that there will be a wider choice: each koala can get the best tree in the corresponding sector.'
'Yes, of course,' Handy agreed. 'Koalaville is smaller than Eucalyptus Grove, which also has a higher density of trees; there are certainly a lot more of them over there. More trees, more choice.'
'I was afraid this issue was going to take us all day to settle, but thanks to our King's astuteness, we may already have our solution,' Chashibu remarked.
'I believe both Gruffy as well as I myself agree,' Kashy spoke up. 'Nonetheless, perhaps we could refine our plan a bit.'
'Please, Kashy,' the King requested, 'say what you think.'
'Well, the first thing we need is a sort of census. We should send out some koalas to take note of exactly where everybody lives here, and also of the approximate geographical position of their trees. Then, we should commission a map of Eucalyptus Grove, to determine the corresponding positions of the trees there, so that we can assign each and every koala a tree in that grove that corresponds most precisely to the one he has here.'
'Of course,' Grandaddy said, 'that makes perfect sense. We should find a number of koalas to whom we can give these tasks, and get them working on it right away, for they will need many days to complete the work.'
'Naturally,' opined the King. 'It's settled: between ten to fifteen koalas will be recruited, today if possible. Some will visit all the trees here, and make note of the koalas' names, and also of the geographical positions of the trees in which they live. Others will visit Eucalyptus Grove daily and prepare a map of the entire grove, making sure they include all the trees there.'
'But we haven't yet received word from Mr. Johnson that the grove has been purchased and signed over to us!' Chosay said.
'No matter,' replied the King. 'We should know that within a day or two, and the koalas who go to Eucalyptus Grove will only be there during the day. I see no harm in that.'
All agreed it was a good plan, yet Handy had something else that they had to consider.
'Not every koala can make a map. That takes drawing skill. May I suggest that Nory be assigned to that job? As a carpenter, he is used to making detailed technical drawings.'
'Oh, yes,' Doctor Koala added, 'and Nory is the father of Maki, who is also skilled at drawing. They can work on the project together. I'm sure that they will be able to produce an excellent map of our new home.'
No-one could deny that this was a splendid idea. The pressing business having been tended to, and important decisions having been made, the King and his councilmembers poured themselves some warm, refreshing eucalyptus tea, made with fresh spring water. Nibbling on some leaves, and occasionally popping a berry or two into their mouths, they enjoyed an appetizing lunch while conversing about lighter matters.