| The scene opens in a small section of the Brazilian rainforest. The
toucan
and the howler monkey are in their trees. The three-toed sloth is hanging from a
branch. |
|
|
| Narrator |
The Flooded
Forest of the Amazon is just waking up - deep in the forest we can hear the
first sounds of the birds. Loudest of all are the macaws. |
| Macaw |
(flying in) What a
beautiful day. It smells like there is a Brazil nut tree around here. |
| Toucan |
Keep off! Private!
These are my Brazil nuts. |
|
Macaw |
But there are enough nuts for everybody. |
| The birds argue in the tree. |
| Narrator |
Silly birds! Now if we listen carefully we
can hear the arrowana splashing about in the water. |
| In the water - schoal of tetras |
| Arrowana
|
There's a nice,
juicy fly - my favourite breakfast - up I go! |
Launches itself into the air to take the insect.
Tetras move off. |
| Arrowana
|
Its only when the forest is flooded that I
can reach the bugs in the trees. |
| Enter River dolphin and Bôto dolphin. |
|
|
| Bôto Dolphin |
What a
lovely morning! We'll have to hurry if we want to catch some tetras before they
are frightened away. |
| Pipa toad |
(waking up) What's
all that splashing? You just scared away all the tetras. |
|
Green kingfisher |
(hovering above the water) Too
true! I have an empty hole to fill and little ones to feed back in the nest. |
| The birds are still arguing. Some seeds drop in the water. |
| |
| Tambouqui |
Thank you
birds for sending these seeds down - a nice delivery! Those birds are always
fighting and I'm usually the one that wins the prize. |
| Bôto
dolphin |
Now that the river has flooded the
forest the humans are taking a lot of our fish. |
|
River Dolphin |
We are
lucky that the humans do not harm dolphins - they seem to believe that it is bad
luck to kill us! |
| Bôto
dolphin |
I suppose you're right for once. Why
don't we swim up the Rio Negro? There are more fish there and the humans do not
usually visit that far. |
| The dolphins exit. |
|
|
| Macaws |
(flying off to another tree) I've
had enough of that Toucan. Let's try another type of tree. We might be luckier. |
|
Toucan |
And I've had enough of you, macaws. Thank
goodness you've moved away and left me alone. |
|
Macaws |
'Bye 'bye, Toucan. |
| Howler monkey |
(Appearing in tree) Get
out and leave me alone. I'm enjoying my breakfast and I'm in no mood to be
interrupted. You are always disturbing me with your daily squabbles. |
| Three-toed sloth |
Oh stop
being greedy, Howler and let the Macaws have some fruit. |
| Howler monkey |
Alright but you must leave me alone, Macaws.
I'm going to the upper canopy where the best fruit is, so you keep away. |
| Three-toed sloth |
Why do
these animals waste their energy on fighting? They should take life in a more
relaxed way, like sloths. |
|
Narrator |
Look - more animals are arriving in the
flooded river. |
| Enter electric eel |
|
Electric eel |
There are
lots of animals to eat - which one shall I shock? |
| Big-headed turtle |
Not me
because I've a lovely shell to protect me from your electric shocks. |
|
Electric eel |
I might not
be able to shock you, turtle but that Tambouqui is definitely shockable and well
within my range. |
| Tambouqui |
What's that strange feeling? |
| Noise of electric shock. Small fish scatter. Shock stuns Tambouqui who falls down & off stage.
Eel follows. |
| Pipa
Toad |
Thank goodness the eel didn't stun me or the
babies I am carrying on my back might have been injured. |
| Big-headed turtle |
My
shell is heavier than your babies, toad. That's why I move so slowly. |
| Arrowana |
You turtles at least have a shell to protect
you from the eel's shock. I'd better get out of here before he comes back. |
| Pipa
Toad |
Good thing that the arrowana's left - he
won't scare away the smaller fish now. |
|
Narrator |
And what is this? I can see an agouti coming
to the water's edge. |
| Enter agouti |
| Agouti |
I need to find
food quickly - I haven't eaten in ages. Now that the forest is flooded all the
seeds fall into the water and I have to swim to get them. |
| Three-toed sloth |
I may be
lazy but at least I know how to swim and climb trees. I'm never hungry - Ha! Ha! |
|
Macaws |
(Squawk!) Help!
Squirrel monkey alert! |
|
Toucan |
I'm safe because of my size but I'll stay
sitting on my eggs to protect them. |
| Enter squirrel monkey, followed by ukari |
|
|
| Squirrel monkey |
Never
mind - there are plenty of fruits and insects around in the trees. |
| Ukari |
Don't touch those
red fruits over there - I've got my eye on them. |
|
Howler Monkey |
Not my fruits, you haven't. I'll have to
start charging these animals if they keep coming to my tree like this. |
| Ukari |
But that's not fair! This tree and its fruits
belong to everybody, so stop being selfish. |
|
Howler Monkey |
But I fought for this tree and now its
mine. There are plenty of trees in the forest and I've already got macaws
lodging here. |
| Ukari |
But I was here before the macaws so it's you
that should get out. |
|
Agouti |
You're so stupid - you squabble over fruit when
its everywhere. seeds are much harder to find at this time of year. |
| Macaws |
If that Toucan would only fly away we'd be able
to steal one of its eggs. |
| Toucan |
There are too many predators after my eggs -
I'll stay here all day if I need to to protect them. |
| Arrowana |
I'm annoyed that the squirrel monkey has
shown up. It'll eat most of the insects in the trees over the water. |
| Pipa
Toad |
You and your insects! I have to go and hide
- my babies are hatching. |
| Three-toed sloth |
Its
late. It will be dark soon - I have to find a safe place to sleep. |
|
Agouti |
Oh bother! The day's almost over and I've only
found a few seeds. |
|
Narrator |
And now, as darkness falls, let's say good
night to the animals. |
| Each animal comes into the light and takes a bow |
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