creatures

Peter and the Wolf

The story of Peter and the Wolf takes place in Russia over a hundred years ago

in a meadow behind Peter's grandfather's house. Peter was staying with his

grandfather, and in his room he had a view of the wide green meadow that

overlooked a mysterious forest. Early one morning as the first rays of light

crept in the window of Peter's room, Peter woke up and got dressed as fast as he

could. He was full of energy and couldn't wait to go outside and play. In his

grandfather's backyard was a gigantic tree that Peter loved to climb and a tall

stone wall with a strong metal gate that kept Peter safe from the dangers that

lurked in the forest beyond the meadow.

As soon as Peter was dressed he ran outside into the backyard to climb his

favourite tree. The tree hung over the large meadow, which Peter found very tempting. In the middle of the meadow was a crystal clear pond. Peter thought that it

would be lots of fun to run around and sing and play in the meadow. He was

aware, however, of the numerous warnings from his grandfather not to go into the

meadow. Peter wasn't afraid of the dangerous animals in the forest so he went

anyway.

Peter opened the gate and ran into the meadow, quietly singing a song to himself. After a while Peter heard someone else singing a song. It was a bird, chirping along while flying graciously through the sky. "Hello bird," Peter said. "Isn't it a lovely day outside?" Peter was very happy to have someone to sing with. He and the bird sang together while approaching the cool pond in the middle of the meadow.

At the pond they met a little yellow duck. The duck and the bird immediately

began to quarrel as they tried to decide which one was a better bird.

"What kind of bird are you if you can't fly?" chirped the bird, and "What kind of bird are you if you can't swim?" quacked the duck.

They continued to argue, not paying attention to anything that was going on around them. Peter was paying attention however and he saw the cat creeping out into the meadow, ever so quietly. The cat spotted the bird and started to think about lunch. The cat crept closer and closer to the bird, and was getting ready to pounce when, "Look out!" cried Peter, and the bird quickly flew out of the reach of the cat and onto a branch of the tree in Peter's backyard.

"What are you doing out here in the meadow?" asked Peter's grandfather. "I have

told you time and time again that it is no place for you to play. There are

dangerous animals in the forest just beyond the meadow. Do you want them to eat

you?" Peter wasn't afraid of any animals, but his grandfather dragged him back

behind the safety of the wall and locked the gate.

Just as Peter got onto the other side of the gate a wolf came stealing out of the

forest. The cat lay dozing on the ground, for he knew it wasn't worth the trouble

of climbing the tree to catch the bird because the bird would fly away before he

could get there. The wolf crept closer and closer. The bird suddenly noticed the

wolf and chirped a warning to the cat and duck. The cat quickly awoke and

climbed up into the safety of the tree. The duck, however, quacked frantically with fear, jumped out of the pond and started to run for Peter's backyard. The duck waddled as fast as she could but the wolf was much faster. The wolf came closer and closer and finally "gulp." - he swallowed the duck in one mouthful!

Peter had seen the whole thing, and quickly ran outside. On his way to the tree he grabbed a nearby rope so that he could catch the wolf. He climbed up the tree with the rope draped around his shoulders. When he reached the branch that hung out over the meadow he crawled out onto the end of it. He asked the bird to distract the wolf as he set his trap. The bird flew straight at the wolf's nose, and just as the wolf was about to catch it, it flew away. The bird kept doing this as Peter was setting his trap. Peter tied one end of the rope to the tree branch and the other end into a loop. He lowered the loop very slowly until it was around the wolf's tail. Peter quickly tightened the loop around the wolf's tail and screamed for the hunters. The hunters came very quickly and were about to shoot the wolf when, "No, don't shoot him!" Peter cried. "We can take him to the zoo for everyone to see." The hunters agreed.

Peter led a procession through the town on the way to the zoo. They were

followed by the hunters who where dragging the wolf along, and Peter's

grandfather, who was happy for Peter but worried that something worse might have happened. The bird flew overhead and chirped excitedly that they had caught

the wolf. Meanwhile, you could still hear the poor little duck quacking inside the wolf’s stomach.

The Song of the Creatures

For Scott and Jason Ward

We are the creatures, large and small

We’ve come to take over the Civic Hall

Feathered or furred or scaled or hairy

Some of us are cute but some are hairy.

Don’t move a muscle, sit quite still

We don’t want to frighten you, we mean no ill

We have only come to say hello

And make a little music in the show.

We fly and flutter, we crawl and creep

We sniff and snuffle through forests deep

We slide and slither, we gobble and crunch

We nibble and slobber and munch.

We eat to live, we live to eat

And some of us are fond of human meat

And although you seem like a very nice bunch

You’ll be glad to know we’ve already had our lunch!

Tempus fugit – time moves on

We must join the Orchestra of the Swan

Each of us is such a well-bred creature

We would like to say it’s nice to meetcha!

One final thing before we start –

We’ve come to the moment where you all take part

Everyone get ready 1-2-3

We’re gonna sing the Forest Symphony.

Group 1: Ssssssss quack quack

(stamp) ribbit (stamp) ribbit

Group 2: (stamp) ribbit (stamp) ribbit

Ribbit ribbit hooowwwlll!

Group 3: Grunt grunt ribbit ribbit

hooowwwlll!