The Tale of Desperaux2008

Smudge:
[whistles to the other rats] Lads, let's go, on the double.

[Gregory wakes up and the rats flee to the grates]

Gregory:
[picks up his lamp] Who is that? Who goes there? Who is that?

Despereaux:
Despereaux Tilling.

Gregory:
Are you a man or are you a mouse? [his lamp shines onto Despereaux]

Despereaux:
I...am a gentleman [Gregory picks him up by his tail]

Pack Rat #1:
It's a mouse!

Pack Rat #2:
I'm hungry!

Smudge:
Shh! Quiet, lads. Patience.

Gregory:
[as he sits down] And what makes you...a gentleman?

Despereaux:
A code... A code of honor.

Gregory:
Ah-ha! You're a strange little mouse, aren't you? And where'd you find this "code of honor"?

Despereaux:
[as he partly slips out of Gregory's knuckle] Well, in a legend. A legend that I read.

Gregory:
Fine. Well, tell me this legend of yours. I could do with a good story right now.

Despereaux:
Well, it's about a princess and a knight. And his quest to save her honor.

Gregory:
Ah, it was the princess who took away my soup.

Despereaux:
She didn't take it. In fact, she misses it too!

Gregory:
How'd you know all this?

Despereaux:
I've seen her.

Gregory:
[gasps] Seen her?

Despereaux:
I've talked to her.

Gregory:
Talked to her?

Despereaux:
That's why they sent me down here.

Gregory:
Hmm. And what did this princess tell you when you had your little audience? Eh? [laughs briefly] Oh, you must be a royal mouse. Is that it?

Despereaux:
She told me that she missed the soup. And the rain. And, most of all, the sunlight. And that she just wanted it all to come back again.

Gregory:
[pause] Well, I don't wanna hear your little stories about princesses and sunshine. [stands up] Go tell them to the rats! [throws Despereaux to the floor, walks out]

Smudge:
Alright, boys, c'mon! [him and the other rats went after Despereaux, except Roscuro who stayed behind]