Swiss Family Robinson Page #2

Look out, Ernst, there's another.

- No, it's a turtle.

- We disturbed him with our shots.

I think we scared them away.

It's pulling us!

Better to use your head

than break your back, I always say.

Francis, see if you can find the...

Where are you?

Here, Duke, Turk. Here, boys.

Where's Francis? Go find him.

Now you wait just one minute and I'll

have some sugarcane for you.

Now, come along, little fella.

I won't hurt you.

Now, just let me fix this.

Here, little elephant. Come here.

That's right.

Come on, little elephant.

I wouldn't hurt you.

Come on, little fella.

I wouldn't hurt you.

I have some nice fresh sugarcane

for you.

Come on.

Come on. Just a little closer.

That's right.

Come on, little fella.

Francis, where are you?

Now you just put your foot...

right there.

Come on, little elephant.

A little closer.

Just a little bit closer.

Right...

Now stop pulling!

What's the matter?

You get out of here!

Francis, where are you?

You get away from my elephant.

Get out. He's my elephant.

Duke, Turk, come on!

You bit him enough.

Good old Duke.

Did I tell you

you could leave the beach?

You might have been eaten, wandering

off that way!

What do you have to say

for yourself?

- I'm sorry but...

- But what?

Can I keep the baby elephant,

anyhow?

Now I'll keep you.

Come on, Rocky, get going.

Alright, Francis, hold it.

Slack off a bit.

Come on, Rocky, back up.

Good little fella, back up.

- Right.

- Hold it.

- That was a good idea, Ernst.

- Thanks, Fritz.

Come on.

Fritz, no more full planks,

just some odds and ends.

I think we've got enough.

Well? What do you think of it?

I'd like it a lot better if I knew

tigers couldn't climb trees.

They won't climb this one.

You probably won't have seen

such a house.

I'm sure of that.

The world is full

of nice, ordinary little people

who live in nice, ordinary

little houses on the ground.

But didn't you ever dream of having

a tree house?

No. Mostly I dream of having a house

in New Guinea.

You think we're going

to be here for a long time.

This I have no way of knowing

but we can't sit on the beach

just waiting for a ship.

- But there could be a ship?

- Of course.

Then I think we ought

to try to light the signal fire.

And just forget about the pirates?

Maybe they won't come back.

Maybe we could get away with it.

We can't chance it. Being alive is

more important than being found.

- Don't look down.

- Alright, Mother. I've got you.

- What do you think?

- Fritz, can I sleep with you?

- What an idea!

- It's not built for two.

- But I'll give you a swing.

- Be careful. Take this rope.

Tie it around his waist.

Mother?

- Getting on, aren't we?

- Yes.

Here, I want to show you something.

Faster!

Look. This is our room.

You won't to get me to go up there,

- not without some sort of railing.

- It'll be like a house, enclosed.

This is your own circular stairway.

Let's go back down

before someone falls off the edge.

- Come on, Francis.

- He'll be alright. I'll go first.

Come on, little fella. I wouldn't

hurt you. I just want to pet you.

Come on.

- Hold him, Ernst.

- I've got him.

- He caught it.

- Are you alright?

Yes. He's my new pet. Don't let him

go.

- Feel his heart beating!

- Mine could match his beat for beat!

Supposing I hadn't insisted that he

had this rope tied around his waist?

Until you get a railing put up,

I don't want Francis back up here.

And I assure you I won't be up here

either!

I'm sorry, dear.

I don't blame you for being upset.

But you don't seem to understand

what we have in mind.

No, but won't you trust us?

Do what you like,

just see Francis is on the ground.

I assure you I won't be back up here.

Alright, we'll do that.

You stay back in camp and when

we've got everything as we want it,

then we'll bring you back,

see how you feel.

Don't you think you can talk to me

like that.

- How much further?

- Hurry! You'll love the new house.

This way, Mother. Wait till you see

what we've done.

There's all sorts of things inside.

You just wait.

- We must be there now.

- Take off the blindfold.

Just a moment, please.

Old Swiss custom.

Carry the bride

across the threshold.

Father!

Duke, Turk, get out of my way.

How's this?

All the latest innovations.

Running water.

Genuine imported tortoiseshell.

And not forgetting the cooler.

This is Ernst's contribution.

He invented it.

He and Fritz built it.

See how it works, Mother? Look.

Big wheel turns the little wheel

up there,

the cup pours the water

into the shell,

it runs down the bamboo

and feeds the sink and the cooler.

I... can't believe it.

Darling, thank you.

I'm second. I go after Mother.

- Thank you.

- Up you go.

Up there's the boys' room.

And look.

This is something I worked out. When

in for the night, turn the wheel,

pull up the stairs.

Keeps out wild animals and neighbours

who may become a nuisance,

always wanting to borrow something.

We'll be troubled so much by them!

Get me down!

Remember this? I built it for us.

Don't tell me, you pull this

to ring for the butler.

Here, I'll show you.

You can lie and look at the stars.

Don't you remember?

That summer we went to Interlaken.

You said that some day,

if you could have your wish,

you'd sleep each night

so you could see the stars.

What is it? What's wrong?

These curtains don't belong here.

They're from the Captain's

cabin. We thought you'd like them.

It's so wonderful. I don't deserve

it. I can't believe it.

Don't worry about the curtains.

If you don't like them, I know

a woman who can fix anything.

Here it is. Tiger.

"Panthera tigris,

a native of Asia,

ranges north to Siberia

and south to India

and the Malay Peninsula."

Only with a land bridge

could there be so many

different animals on one island.

How do you know it's an island?

Why couldn't it be a peninsula?

Well, why don't you let us

try and sail around it?

You know how your mother feels

about that.

I think there used to be a

land bridge between here and Asia.

This is all that's left.

That's why so many different

types of animals are trapped here.

What do you think, Fritz?

Do you agree?

I suppose there could have

been one, a long time ago.

There's only one way to find out.

Ask Mother again.

Maybe she'll change her mind.

Mother wants to get to New Guinea

too. There might be a village

or some place where ships come in.

If the occasion presents itself, I

might bring it up again. What's this?

A spelling competition?

"Tiger, bear, elephant."

That's a list of animals

we've identified so far.

"Hyena, monkey, lizard."

Ostrich.

Help!

- Francis, let go!

- I can't let go

- or he'll get away.

- Let him go anyway. We'll catch him.

- Are you alright?

- Yes, I'm alright.

Are you alright?

Not a mark on him

that won't wash off!

- Grab his neck.

- We can learn to ride him.

Let me try. Help me out.

We'd better get him

trained a bit first.

- Let me try it, then.

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