Tales of the Riverbank

1

Ah. Tales of the riverbank.

Hello there. Sorry for

flying in unannounced,

but I'm sure I felt

a drop of rain outside,

so I thought I'd pop in

and watch the film with you

until the weather improves,

if that's all right.

Hmm.

Looks peaceful enough

now, doesn't it?

It wasn't always like...

oh! Oh, look!

That's where I live.

Just on that oak tree there.

What?

So as... as... As I was saying,

the river wasn't always

like that, you know.

I shall now a tale unfold

that will make

your feathers curl.

I do realize that some of you

don't have feathers.

It's just an expression;

I'm not stupid.

I've passed exams, you know.

Some.

This is a story

of heroes and villains,

battles and bravery,

laughter and tears,

explosions and romance,

boats, cars, planes,

even helicopters.

But above all,

it's about never giving up,

no matter what.

Well, now, it all started

with a few spots of rain.

The spots became

heavier and heavier,

until they seemed to join up

into one great blob of water.

Once it started,

it never stopped.

Day after day,

night after night,

rain, rain, rain.

The river

got deeper and deeper,

and overflowed its banks,

flooding everywhere.

The animals ran for the hills

as their homes were swept away

and crushed by

the onrushing water.

By the time the rain stopped,

not a living soul

remained on the riverbank.

Well, apart from

hammy the hamster.

He's very young,

and hamsters aren't

the brightest.

Got a lot to learn.

The first thing being

that if he doesn't

move very soon,

he's gonna be squashed

by a falling tree.

Oh, ferrets!

Sorry about the language.

So little hammy found himself

adrift and lost

with no food, shelter,

or hope of ever seeing

his home again.

Scared and alone on a vast...

ahoy there!

Well, perhaps

not totally alone.

Ahoy there!

This is a Guinea pig

called g.P.

G stands for Guinea,

and the p stands for...

Well, you can

work it out yourself.

He's a decent enough sort, g.P.

Likes to be in charge,

tell everyone what to do,

but then, show me

a Guinea pig who doesn't.

Hmm, hmm?

- Ahoy there.

- Hi.

Are you all right

there, youngster?

Yeah, yeah. No problem.

Just thought I'd take the log

here for a bit of a spin.

You don't need any help at all?

- No. No, I'm fine, thanks.

- Even though you're sinking?

Ooh, right.

So I am. Into the water.

Hop aboard, young hamster, before you drown.

Plenty of room.

- I'll be fine, thanks.

- Nonsense.

How long ago since

you ate something?

Um... what time is it now?

- Midday.

- A week then.

You must be starving!

Tuck in, fellow

rodent adventurer.

So hammy got some food.

But he was still

no nearer getting home.

Neither of them was.

Still, at least, now they were

lost with someone else.

Easy there, hammy,

save some for later.

Afraid there might be

lots and lots of later.

Especially now it looks

like it's just me and you.

- Just you and me?

- Could be, hammy.

Everything else

is gone in the flood.

What was that?

I thought you said, g.P.,

it was just two of us.

We do seem to have,

um, a visitor.

Ahoy there.

Obviously doesn't

speak English.

He doesn't look very friendly.

You don't think it might be...

What?

One of those kinds of

visitors who eats hamsters.

I doubt it. No, if you ask me,

it's probably more frightened

of us than we are of it.

I wish people wouldn't say that.

It is so untrue.

Where are you going?

It's just a pile of old junk.

Told you it was

nothing to worry about, hammy.

- Run for it!

- There's nowhere to run.

- Swim for it!

- I can't swim.

- Then panic!

- At last, something I can do.

Blow me! I thought I would

never get out of there.

One moment, I'm chattin' up

a pretty young dormouse,

and the next moment, whoosh!

Someone turns the taps on,

and I was best mates

with a scrap heap. Et cetera.

Nice to meet you, gents.

Life on the ocean waves, eh?

So, as they say,

all the nice girls

love a sailor, don't they?

That is roderick the rat.

He's a bit flashy,

but a good rodent to have along

in an emergency like this.

Oh, do I spy

nibbles, by any chance?

Be my guest... oh, you have.

Don't mind if I do.

And if you fancy a bit of

rubber tube, just tuck in.

So now,

there were three of them.

It was getting dark,

and all a bit scary.

G.P. Came up with a plan

to keep them busy,

so they wouldn't have any time

to think about

being frightened.

Everyone knows that,

in a crisis,

it's all hands to the pump.

This is a crisis,

so we need a pump.

Right. Good idea. Great.

What's a pump?

You're a hamster, aren't you?

Yes, yes, I'll

speak slowly then.

It's a machine that gets

water to come, then go away.

It seems a bit pointless.

I'm sure there's a pump

somewhere inside my head.

Hmm. Hmm.

It's not actually

in his head, hammy.

Right. I knew that.

It's just a question of...

Got it! I know how to do it.

Trial and error. Right, you

two, follow my instructions.

- What's trial and error?

- A lot of work.

So they started to make a pump

to get rid of all the water.

Every time they finished one,

g. P. Rejected it on some

technicality or other,

like, it didn't work,

for example.

- Who tossed the...

- Can we have a break?

- Ah, that's what I want.

- You're standing on my paw.

But they didn't give up hope,

and that was the most

important thing of all.

Stop mucking about.

I need a little bit

of help with this.

This went on and on and on,

long into the night

until they all fell asleep,

totally exhausted.

They were so tired

that they didn't notice

that the clouds had blown away,

and the flood

was dropping anyway.

Wake up, g.P.

Your pump's worked.

- The water's gone down!

- It has, yes.

The old mark 17 was the one.

Well, I never. I'd have put

a week's worth of worms

on that contraption

not working.

It's a gift I have, roderick.

It's only fair that I share it

with the rest of the world.

Good to feel a bit

of solid ground again.

Hello, hello, what's this?

Hamster looks

down in the dumps.

Oh, dear.

Oh, dear, oh, dear.

I'm not sure we'll ever get

back to where we came from.

We will, my friend.

G.P. Will get you there

safe and sound.

Hello.

This is a bit tasty.

G.P., you don't know,

by any chance,

what it is, do you?

Unless I'm very much mistaken,

that is a... A chair.

- A chair.

- You sit there.

There seems to be a lot of

chair and not much seat.

Probably foreign.

Boat. That's it.

This... is a boat.

A boat? No, no, no.

Boats float on water.

That chair has been stuck in the

mud from the moment I saw it.

Look, it's one of those...

Et ceteras.

Oh, no. That chair

doesn't move at all.

It makes the right noise.

Hammy made the same noise

after eating beans last night.

He's not a boat either.

Sorry about that.

It was the slugs.

You don't think it could

be a sort of a chair boat?

- Chair boat?

- It's a boat. Right?

Just wait till

it gets in the water.

Look out!

For what? I'm sliding backwards

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