Adventures from the Book of Virtues

[first lines]

Annie Redfather:
[sticks her tongue out him and opens the window after he tossed a snowball at it] Hey, no fair sneaking up on me like that!

Zach Nichols:
[both laugh] I was just seeing if you were there! You better get movin'.

[bends down and forms a snowball but one hits him from above]

Zach Nichols:
Hey - where'd *that* come from?

Annie Redfather:
[laughing] My freezer. I've been savin' it since last year. Be right down!

Zach Nichols:
[she runs from the window] And, Annie?

[she runs back]

Zach Nichols:
Dress warmly; it's colder than it looks out here.

Annie Redfather:
Hey, that's very considerate, Zach. Thanks.

Zach Nichols:
[she runs off again] Wait, wait, Annie, just one more thing.

[she runs back and gets hit in the face with a snowball, he laughs]

Zach Nichols:
Fresh snow beats freezer snow!

Annie Redfather:
[comes over to the mound of snow they've built for a snowman's body holding a tiny snowball decorated with a carrot and rocks for a face] I don't think this is gonna cut it, Zach. [both laugh]

Sock:
[over the hole with a snowball] I got a special delivery for ya!

[a wave of snow is unleashed on him from above]

Sock:
Hey - !

Ari:
[shaking with laughter, holding his empty basket on a ledge] Gotta mail earlier than *that*, Sock!

Ari:
[laughing as he starts to dig through the pile of snowballs from the mound he dumped on him] So, do you surrender? Socrates!... Sock?

Sock:
[towering behind him with a jumbo snowball raised] BOMBS AWAY!

Ari:
[gulps] Uh-... oh...

Plato:
[Sock slams the snowball down on him and laughs, he chuckles] Never a dull moment with those two around, eh, Zach? Annie?

Zach Nichols:
[glumly] Yeah...

Annie Redfather:
I guess.

Plato:
All right, what is it? You two are about as cheerful as a pair of wet cats.

Ari:
[emerges from the snowdrift] You mean cheerful as a wet prairie-dog! Brrrr!

Brother Pedro:
Why do you turn away, my son?

Guillermo:
I cannot beg from you, Brother Pedro; you - you're as poor as I.

Brother Pedro:
[smiles] No, no, I think perhaps I am even *poorer* than you.

Guillermo:
Look! He carries a golden bell.

Brother Pedro:
[chuckles] No - not gold. It is cheap brass.

Guillermo:
But you clutch it so tightly. Surely it must be worth something.

Brother Pedro:
It is not the bell that has value, but the song that it sings. I ring it to remind others to thank God for their blessings, and to share those gifts with others.

Brother Pedro:
As you open your hands, open your heart.

Plato:
Sometimes we're leery of people who may sound or look different.

Sock:
[in the midst of yawning, Sock jumps as the spot Ari happens to rise from causes him to be jolted from the ground atop of Ari's head] WHOA!

Ari:
Ha! Like I don't understand bobcats. Sleep, sleep, sleep, all they do is sleep!

Sock:
And digging holes all day is better? [Ari jerks back underground, causing Sock to lose his balance]

Plato:
A famous playwright once wrote mercy "is twice blessed. It blesses him that receives..."

Aurora:
"And him that takes."

[sings a note and flies off the rock to his shoulder]

Plato:
[chuckles] Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice".

Aurora:
[clears throat] Act 4, Scene 1.

Plato:
[good-naturedly] Show-off.

Plato:
If we all somehow pull together, we'll build a better world.

Zach Nichols:
[laughing] Scared ya, didn't I?

Plato:
Well, uh... Careful with that mask. It's very old. A find, if I may say so.

Zach Nichols:
Yeah, well, it sure found *you* scared!

Sock:
[comes up while both are laughing] Did somebody say scared? I don't know the meaning of the word. Nothing, I repeat *nothing*, scares me.

[the ground beneath him rumbles and he jumps as the earth shoots up spiarling toward him]

Sock:
*Ahhh*! Earthquake!

Ari:
[Sock finally falls over, he emerges] What's going on?

Zach Nichols:
[laughing with Plato] Sure, nothing scares *you*!

Ari:
Talking brave and being brave - they're too different things.

Plato:
Aristotle, you're as eloquent as your namesake, the great philosopher.

Sock:
[Gasps] I just had an awful thought. Think there'll ever be a time when Zach and Annie *won't* need to hear Plato's stories anymore?

Ari:
Sssssh. Not so loud.

Annie Redfeather:
What time is it?

Zach Nichols:
Eleven o'clock. [amused] Why? You gotta be somewhere?

Annie Redfeather:
What time is it now?

Zach Nichols:
[good-naturedly] When we get out of this, I'm buying you a watch.

Zach Nichols:
Sock! Ari!

Annie Redfeather:
[sees it's actually a pair of chipmunks who flee] Oops. When we get out of this, I'll get a watch if you get glasses.

Zach Nichols:
[they laugh] Gee, I guess when you get lost like this, the first thing you start doing is seein' things.

Annie Redfeather:
[touching his shoulder] Aw, you just missed our buddies.

Plato:
I want to watch them, until they're out of sight.

Plato:
Diligence means doing things even when they don't turn out to be particularly enjoyable. Zach, you're not always going to like an assignment. But an artist takes pride in his work and does the best he can, no matter what the job is.

Annie Redfeather:
[laughing] Even if it means trying to take a flattering picture of Sock?

Annie Redfeather:
The last thing we did together was plant blueberries together, just like we've done every spring, and we saw this beautiful sunset. Ruth used to tell me no one could make a sunset, or a tree, or a flower. Only God could do that. She really had this - deep faith... What good did it do her? It didn't keep her from falling, or dying when her head hit that rock.

Ari:
[sneezes before clambering out of the barrel with a scroll] You know, ah, you really oughta dust these once every century or so!

Daniel:
I will do my best, O King. I will pray to God for guidance.

Daniel:
I must do what is right. And trust God to take care of *me*.

Daniel:
God of our fathers, bless us this day.

Daniel:
I will pray to God as I have always done.

Nathaniel:
It's your faith, or your life.

Daniel:
My faith *is* my life. And my life is in the hands of one far greater than King Darius. [starting to pray] O Lord our God...

Daniel:
Did I not tell you I would ask God's help in serving you well?

Daniel:
My faith will see me through.

Mamuken:
I'll put *my* faith in the lion's appetite.

Ari:
I guess Daniel had a *lion's* share of faith.

Annie Redfeather:
So, how come an angel saved Daniel but Ruth had to die all by herself?

Plato:
Eventually, Daniel *did* have to face death. We all do. But when we have faith, we don't feel alone.

Annie Redfeather:
Ruth loved that poem. She said it comforted her. You know, she had a lot of problems. She lost a child... Her husband died... She never had much money. And she had to raise her other kids alone. But she said because of her faith, she never *felt* alone. She always believed God was with her.

Harriet Tubman:
The children of Israel made it to *their* Promised Land, and these children will too.

Bessie:
I don't know how you keep goin'.

Harriet Tubman:
See the North Star up yonder? Years ago, I set out for freedom by the light of that star. I had no human guide, or companion. But, I had my faith. And I followed my star, and my faith kept me going. And it's kept me going ever since.

Harriet Tubman:
The Lord'll direct us.

Henry:
No one even knows we're here.

Harriet Tubman:
The Lord knows.

Sock:
[of Waukewa's eagle] I wish *I* had a friend like that.

Ari:
[after he pulled him free from spinning with the globe after he stuck his arm in the stand] Hey - who'd you think got your tail out of the equator?

Plato:
All those things we call virtues, they're a part of being a good friend.

Sock:
[precariously balancing cans over his head in the shape of its letters] Hey, look, everybody. I spelled my name too.

Ari:
Wow, that's great, Sock. There's just one thing wrong.

Sock:
What's that?

Ari:
That's impossible.

Sock:
[letting go in surprise] It is? [they tumble to the ground around him]

Aurora:
Plato, it sounds like our friend here is suffering from The-Grass-Is-Always-Greener Syndrome.

Sock:
Aw, c'mon, Plato, c'mon. Can't you just give us a little hint?

Plato:
Here's a hint: sit back and enjoy the rest of the story.

Sock:
[chuckles] Good hint, big guy.

Sock:
I think that cat got a bad rap. Not all of chase mice, you know. [everyone laughs]

Aurora:
Everyone's life looks good on a postcard, Annie.

Sock:
You think Susie's made any friends out there, who she can play catch with?

Zach Nichols:
[watching him miss the ball he threw] Even in the catcher can't catch.

Ari:
I've got a joke. Why'd the bobcat cross the road? To bother somebody else for a change!

Plato:
Zach...

Zach Nichols:
Plato, I *learned* my lesson.

Plato:
Which is?

Zach Nichols:
Uh... Don't touch the cameras?

Plato:
Zach, I think you're missing the *big* picture.

Sock:
[laughing] "Big picture"? Camera joke, right?

[Plato glares at him]

Sock:
[sighs] Guess not.

Annie Redfeather:
He'd sell his soul for a bag of cookies.

Sock:
I would not! But I'd definitely rent it out.

Aurora:
It's just not fair.

Plato:
That's what the badgers of Hamelin thought about the deal they made with the Pied Piper.

Ari:
Oh, was that the fellow who picked a pack of pickled peppers?

Aurora:
[laughs] No. That was *Peter* Piper.

Plato:
The town of Hamelin had a serious rat problem. But the real rats in town weren't vermin. They were town officials wearing ermine.

Sock:
Uh... what's ermine?

Plato:
A special kind of fur. In the Old World, in the old days, it was used to trim fancy robes, like the mayor and councilmen wore.

Sock:
You mean - these badger officials wore someone else's fur?

Plato:
Oh, that's not all they did.

[Sock screams and waves his arms in horror]

Aurora:
Sounds like Zach's having some fun in the spotlight.

Plato:
And if he's not careful, he's going to get burned by that light.

Plato:
When a leader only hears his or her own voice, but is deaf to others, she is doomed to fail.

Zach Nichols:
That's it; exactly, Plato! Who said that? Einstein? George Washington?

Plato:
[chuckles] No. I just made it up.

Plato:
His advisors were at a loss, until one of them got - well, let's just call it... [laughs] a hair-raising idea.

Plato:
[laughs after Sock drags over the book with him still sleeping on it] OK, Ari, move along.

Zach Nichols:
Loyalty can be very powerful.

Plato:
To tell you the truth, Plato, I don't even know what it means.

Zach Nichols:
Well, it's when you're devoted to someone else. The way kids are devoted to their parents.

Ari:
[strides over holding the book he just dug up to where Sock holds the binoculars watching him laughing] Oh, you're just a laugh-*riot* today!

Plato:
[grinning] Or like when friends know they can rely on each other. [the two look at each other and grin good-naturedly]

Zach Nichols:
Man. Loyalty is such a strong... emotion.

Annie Redfeather:
That prairie dog's turning into a real pack-rat.

Sock:
It's a miracle he gets in or out without starting an earthquake. [yelps in startlement as a crack shows up in the ground then Ari airs, dislodging several things with him] See what I mean?

Plato:
Not at the moment. [Sock and Annie laugh at the handkerchief that landed on his face]

Annie Redfeather:
You can have a garage-sale.

Ari:
But I don't have a garage.

Plato:
You can get too much of anything.

Zach Nichols:
Even stories?

Plato:
Yes, even stories. If I told you too many at once, you'd get sick of them. But if I tell them in moderation, they stories stay with you.

Plato:
Well, there's one thing you can't overdo.

Zach Nichols:
What's that?

Plato:
Thanking parents for helping you learn things.

Ari:
Tryin' to teach you's like - like - like tryin' to teach the buffalo the backstroke!

[Plato clears his throat]

Ari:
Oh... sorry, pal. I was just tryin' to make a point.

Plato:
[Chuckles] Point well taken.

Annie Redfeather:
I feel like giving up.

Zach Nichols:
Whoa. *You*, Annie? You're the one who races me even if you have a flat tire *and* a sore toe. You never give up.

Annie Redfeather:
Well, I am now.

[first lines]

Zach Nichols:
Wow. I can see why they *call* it Plato's Peak.

Annie Redfeather:
Let me see. [takes the binoculars] Whoa. That's incredible.

Sock:
[comes over] *What's* incredible?

Zach Nichols:
Plato's Peak. It looks just like Plato.

Sock:
Yeah, right. Next you'll be tellin' me there's a mountain in South Dakota that looks like four presidents!

Annie Redfeather:
[hands over the binoculars] Here, Sock. See for yourself.

Sock:
[holds them up and adjusts the dial; as he does Plato steps in front of him and after a moment he sees him] It's all blurry... Oh, wait a sec, here we go... Yeah, there it is. That's amazing. It looks just like...

Plato:
Hi, Sock. What're you looking at?

Sock:
AHH! [jumps back and lands in Zach's arms while Annie catches the binoculars]

Plato:
Didn't mean to startle you.

Sock:
That's OK, I... I just thought you were a talking mountain.

Sock:
I got plans for tomorrow morning. Like sleeping in 'til tomorrow afternoon.

Zach Nichols:
Well, learning the guitar is hard, you know? There's so many notes and strings and - and it hurts my fingers.

Plato:
Weell, I don't have fingers, but I'm sure you're right.

Annie Redfeather:
The trail's so much steeper up here.

Plato:
It's often like that; the higher you climb, the tougher the trail.

Annie Redfeather:
Admit it, you hid all this stuff for us to find, didn't you?

Plato:
[grinning innocently] Would we do that?

Annie Redfeather:
Say, you think maybe they'd let me back in karate-class?

Plato:
Well, let's put it this way: I don't think they'd *kick* you out.

Sock:
[sees the title of a book about to fall he landed against when he hit the shelf] Hmm, Gravity. [falls]

Sock:
Look who's callin' the canary yellow.

Plato:
Sock, that's "pot calling the kettle black."

Plato:
John's Please, well, was not pleased.

Plato:
Being polite is the first step toward being respectful.

Aurora:
Well, looks like *those* two are having fun.

Ari:
[shoots out from underground] Fun? Where? Where?

Annie Redfeather:
My new bike!

Plato:
It can be fixed in time, Annie. Just be thankful that Sock was in time to save *you*.

Annie Redfeather:
But what about my mother's cakes?

Sock:
[licking the icing of the one that fell on him] Give her my compliments. They're delicious.

Sock:
[Ari shoots up from underground with the book, spraying him with sand] Ptooey! Talk about irresponsible!

Daedelus:
[explaining the banging that was Icarus crashing into the wall to the guard] Just a nightmare. I dreamed I was flying and fell out of bed.

Icarus:
Look! King Minos has discovered his caged birds have flown!

Plato:
[after he reads The Chest of Broken Glass] Beautifully told, Ari.

Sock:
[crying] Yeah. Not bad for a prairie-dog.

Annie Redfeather:
You know what I like about fishing?

Zach Nichols:
What?

Annie Redfeather:
Everything.

Annie Redfeather:
[after she and Zach end up in the water trying to reel in a fish] I even like *this* part of fishing. [both laugh]

Annie Redfeather:
Weird. He controlled armies, but he couldn't control his own temper.

Peter:
[seeing her at his wedding] Mother. You look so... so...

Peter's Mother:
The word is "old", my dear.

Peter:
When did this happen?

Peter's Mother:
I know. It seems like only yesterday that you were a boy.

Plato:
[quoting Ben Franklin] Remember: "He that can have patience can have what he will."

Sock:
Who said that? Some doctor?

Annie Redfeather:
[sighs in contentment extending her arms] Don't you wish these spring days could last forever? [it starts to precipitate again]

Aurora:
[amused] Yes. Even if it *does* rain.

Plato:
How else do you get rainbows?

Plato:
What is it, Zach? You seem kind of, lost.

Zach Nichols:
Hey, I can find my way around, Plato.

Plato:
Not that kind of lost, Zach. Lost in confusion. As if something was troubling your mind.

Plato:
You see, Zach, life isn't all fun and games. Though there once was a king and his people who thought so. That's your cue, Ari.

Ari:
Good fortune smiled upon them, and maybe it would've kept smiling, if it weren't for all the celebrating. It seems the easy life was contagious. And so, singing and dancing became their national pastime.

King:
Do you know what the Romans do for fun? [Ludicrus shakes his head] They throw their citizens to the lions. We wouldn't want to resort to that now, would we?

Plato:
It's like the summer, Zach. A carefree time when the deer run free and the fish jump high. But if we are not prepared for the occasional storm, then the fun will be no more.

: But how did you know it was gonna rain?

Zach Nichols:
Uh... a little bird told me. [winks at Annie]

Guard:
Who goes there?

Spy:
[walking like a beggar] Me? Oh, I'm a spy for the Crotoniate army.

[the guards laugh and let him pass]

Spy:
Fools them every time...

Annie Redfeather:
But how did you know it was gonna rain?

Zach Nichols:
Oh, a little bird told me. [winks]

Sock:
[chuckling] Aw, come on, Annie. Even I can be more selfless than that.

Ari:
Oh, yeah? Then why don't you sit on that nest and give Aurora a break?

Sock:
[backing away] Wait, let's not go off the deep end. [falls over the ledge]

St. George:
[singing] If I can help, I'll be there soon,/send any villain to his doom... /A knight must fight that noble fight... /A knight does doing what is right,/a knight does doing what is right.

St. George:
[singing] A night must go to those in need,/a knight must do that noble deed... /A night must fight with all his might... /A knight does doing what is right,/a knight does doing what is right.

Zach Nichols:
[looks inside the paper bag Annie returned to him after he gave it to her to make sure Sock wouldn't get into it] Hey - where's my lunch?

Annie Redfeather:
Well, I was *awfully* hungry, and it was only a *sandwich*, and I knew you wouldn't starve.

Zach Nichols:
Oh, yaah? Tell it to my stomach! Besides, that's *not* the point! I *counted* on you!

Annie Redfeather:
Yeah, I know. Which is why I didn't *eat* it. [takes out his bag with the sandwich in it from behind her back] Even though it's "no big deal"?

Zach Nichols:
[taking and unwrapping it] OK, OK, I guess the small stuff *is* a big deal. Guess I gotta dust chairs after all... Unless, I can get someone *else* to do it. Yeah! I'll get someone else and tell Mrs. Mathers I'm freed up for something more important. Like that football demo. "Zach Nichols backs the throw - " [flings his sandwich fowarrd, Sock catches it in his mouth and falls over] Oops.

Ari:
[is pushed out from underground on a rise of water] Either it's raining or my waterbed sprang a leak.

Ari:
Nice weather... if you happen to be a catfish!

Plato:
Sock! Get down from there! Don't you know a tree's the worst place to be during an electrical storm?

Sock:
Are you kiddin'? This is the safest tree in the forest! It's never been hit by lightning!

[the tree is struck and splits]

Aurora:
Watch out!

Sock:
[Ari dodges and he falls where he was standing] Of course, there's a first time for everything!

Ari:
[tries to drag one of the logs by his teeth and quits in disgust] Man. How do beavers stand it?

Annie Redfeather:
Sock is still struggling with the concept of *working for a common goal*.

Ari:
Uh, she means he's a lazy bum.

Sock:
Can I help it if cats don't swim? Why should I care if the Rainbowl's cleared out or not?

Annie Redfeather:
He conveniently forgets how much he likes to drink from the stream down below it.

The Dog:
[the camel eats what he asked for back] What did you do that for? That stick belonged to the Man. Now I've got to pay for it. Sticks don't grow on trees, you know.