My brother and I, although twisted in our own peculiar ways, both love literature and drama, and some of this can surely be traced to three recordings given to us by our parents as a joint birthday present, along with a portable record player, in 1970 or 1971. They were from a series called Tale Spinners for Children which was produced in the 1960's and which was basically a number of dramatic theater presentations of classic stories combined with orchestral music.
We received Robin Hood, William Tell and Sleeping Beauty. We also had Peter and the Wolf, but it was from another series and entirely too scary for me to listen to. Robin Hood and William Tell, in particular, caught our imaginations and we learned them by heart and acted them out as our favorite way to play together. If you can remember what it was like to be a child, check out this link and take a listen to William Tell or Robin Hood.
http://www.artsreformation.com/talespinners/
Age and time have done nothing to reduce their magic for me.
I've indulged myself by reproducing below a scene from each of them that my brother and I loved to reinact over and over again.
From Robin Hood
Robin: (Whistling and talking to himself) Ho, ho! What can that be? I’ve never seen such a big man in my life. (To Little John) Hey, you! Over there on the other side of the river!
Little John: Yes?!
Robin: Your legs are so long that you could cross this river in a couple of strides!
Little John: Ah, that may be. All the same, I’m going to walk across this tree trunk here. Everybody uses this as a bridge.
Robin: You’ll have to wait for me! I was here first.
Little John: Oh, come on, now. That’s not quite true. We arrived at the same time.
Robin: All right, then! I’m going to cross first.
Little John: Why should I give way to you?
Robin: Because I’m the stronger man!
Little John: Oh, ho! Just wait until I get near you. Then I’ll give you a taste of my stick!
Robin: Come on, then, and have a taste of mine!
Little John: Ha-ha! I like your reply, bantam! There seems to be quite a lot of courage in that little frame of yours!
Robin: Ha! Listen to me, then. We’ll fight it out between us, standing on the tree trunk! And I know who’s gonna find himself in the river!
Little John: Oh, right! A fight let it be! Come on, what are you waiting for?!
Robin: Um, I’m not waiting for anything, I’m just choosing the spot where I’m going to strike you. (A beat.) There you are, take that!! (Bap!)
Little John: Ha! Ha! Ha! You don’t get me like that! See how you like this!
Robin: Ah! (Bap!) Ha-ha! My stick was there to parry your blow, even before you struck! Come on, let me pass!
Little John: Never! Never!
Robin: Make way, I’m coming!
Little John: I’m going to split your head open!
(Cries and splashing)
(Both are laughing)
Robin: Who’s gonna pass first now?
Little John: Let’s forget all that. The scores are even! The best thing you and I can do is to swim to the bank again, and let the sun dry us.
Robin: Yes, I think you’re right.
From William Tell
Lackey 1: William Tell’s running away worries me a lot, Your Grace.
Lackey 2: I’m sure he’s turning up a revolt.
Gestler: I’ll soon master him. I didn’t come here to flatter the people, but to grind them down.
Peasant Woman: Pity, Your Grace! Pity!
Gestler: Get behind, you! What do you want?
Peasant Woman: My husband’s in prison and my children are hungry! Pity, I beg you!
Lackey 1: This is neither the time nor the place to present a petition. Come to the castle tomorrow.
Peasant Woman: And my husband did no wrong! Set him free!
Gestler: Get rid of this woman, would you?
Peasant Woman: I won’t move! I want justice!
Gestler: Get out of my way or my horse will trample you down.
Peasant Woman: Trample me down, then! All you’ll be doing will be to add one more to your list of crimes!
Gestler: I am the master, here, and you must bow to my wishes!
Peasant Woman: Oh, if only I weren’t a woman! But one day, someone will come to square the accounts with you! And that person, whoever he may be, will have the whole country behind him!
Gestler: Oh-ho-ho! Nonsense, woman! Nobody has the courage to do such a thing!
Tell: I have.
(Gasps and whispers by peasants all around.) It’s Tell! William Tell!
Gestler: William Tell.
Tell: The hour has come for you to pay for your crimes, Gestler. Prepare to die.
Lackey 2: Take him!
Lackey 1: Too late!
(Fwwwwp!)
Gestler: Arrrrrrrgh!
Lackey 2: The arrow has struck him right in the heart.
(The music, Rossini’s William Tell Overture, swells)
Great stuff.
3 comments:
Thanks.
As you, no doubt, have noticed, I returned to my earlier format in response to my discussion with you and Tim in Albuquerque regarding the weirdness of my white blog format. For the benefit of those not present, I did not realize that my white blog looked so different on others' computers - on mine, the font was "Chiller," which looks like it's written in blood and is much smaller than the huge print apparently visible on others' computers.
I haven't had a chance to restore the counter and my links, but I will do so, soon, I promise.
What about Sleeping Beauty?? You probably don't remember the seminary student who was working at our church the summer you were about 2 or 3 years old. His name excapes me, but he spent a lot of time at our house....we felt sorry for him because he was very shy and some of the people he stayed with didn't feed him very well so we fed him a lot that summer.
For some reason, even though you would never talk to anyone else, you weren't afraid of him and would often quote the story from the Sleeping Beauty recording. He would say "lay some Sleeping Beauty on me, Cindy" and you would do the whole story word for word.
It was pretty cute!
Mary
Well, we must have gotten those records in 1968 or 1969, then. I remembered when we got them, so I was thinking it had to have been later.
It seems to me that, during those years in Golden, there was often somebody living with us, whether it was my uncles, who were actually or practically teenagers, or someone else. I don't have any memory of the seminary student, but the story seems familiar, so I've probably heard you tell it before.
Sleeping Beauty was not Dan's thing - pretty girly, so we didn't reinact it that I remember. I listened to it yesterday, though, and it was quite a trip down memory lane.
Post a Comment