Budapest Bábszínház
Hungarian Puppet show. The most magical thing I have ever seen. In a small theater on the fourth floor we sat in a folding chair in the back row, on a little riser so we had an excellent view. The puppets all spoke Hungarian, of course, but the movements were so expressive we understood everything. Here is the story:
[darkness] Fireflies: This is a story about what happened once upon a time.
[dawn] Jungle birds: It’s true. It happened. We were there. We saw the whole thing.
Little Tiger plays with his friend, wild pig girl. you can tell she is a wild pig because of her green mohawk. They play hide and go seek. He counts. She hides under a big jungle plant. Little Tiger looks for his friend, but he can’t find her. He starts to feel scared and call her name. She sneaks out of the bushes, still hidden by a leaf. He is worried. She sneaks right up behind him and startles him.
His daddy tiger comes home, swinging on vines. He kisses the mommy tiger on her belly. She is going to have another baby. Little Tiger will be a big brother soon. His momma tiger tells him that he will always be her baby, no matter what, but he has to grow up and be a brave big brother too.
Little Tiger wants to play something else with his wild pig friend. They kick a soccer ball around, but a butterfly almost lands on him and that scares him too. He accidentally kicks the ball way into the jungle bushes. He is too scared to go and look for it. His daddy tiger loves him, but is frustrated that he is always so scared of everything. He tells Little Tiger that he does not deserve to wear a tiger suit, and takes it away. Then daddy tiger goes into the jungle again.
Wearing just his striped pants, Little Tiger is very sad. His wild pig friend tries to cheer him up, and rescues their ball from the bushes herself. But he doesn’t want to play anymore. So wild pig girl goes home. Little Tiger is alone.
Soon, his momma comes out and hugs him. She tells him that she knows he is scared to go into the jungle, but she needs him to be brave and go get his daddy and the lady elephant doctor to help her have the baby now. He loves his momma, and even though he is frightened, he will go get help for her.
Meanwhile, Daddy Tiger has run across old gypsy tiger woman in the jungle. Her caravan has a lot of trap doors and silly things that pop out unexpectedly from all directions. Daddy tiger is big and brave, but even he is startled by all the unusual things that are happening. He learns a valuable lesson, that even when you are very brave, it is ok to be nervous when there are a lot of new and different things going on. Then he swings off again into the jungle.
A little while later, Little Tiger comes to the caravan of the old gypsy tiger woman. She shows him a puppet show. Some of the new things he sees startle him a little, but Little Tiger is getting braver all the time. After watching the puppet show, he continues through the jungle til it is time to rest. He falls asleep curled up on a big leaf. The moon and stars come out and it looks like outer space.
While he sleeps, the river comes up and up and up. Little Tiger’s leaf floats like a boat. When he wakes up he is surprised to be in the middle of the river. He overturns the leaf and hops from one waterlily to another til he comes to an island.
To pull himself up out of the river, Little Tiger grabs a vine hanging from a tree. The vine says, “OW!” This is unexpected and he drops the vine. He tries to pull himself up again. The vine says, “Hey! Let go!” So he does. But he has to get out of the river. So he grabs the vine again, and the snake says, “Quit pulling my tail!”
Little Tiger is scared of the snake. But then he sees she has the medical bag belonging to the lady elephant doctor. She will need her bag to help his momma have the baby. He tells the snake to give him the bag. She won’t.
Snake: It’s mine. I found it.
Little Tiger: It’s NOT yours. Give it back!
Snake: Finders keepers!
She holds the bag up with her tail so Little Tiger cannot reach it. He decides to go find an adult to help him, and leaves snake island. Soon he comes to the lady elephant doctor’s place. Daddy Tiger is there. The doctor is telling him that without her bag there is nothing she can do.
Little Tiger tells them where the bag is, but no one wants to go to snake island. It is too dangerous. Even daddy tiger is scared of the snake. Little Tiger realizes it is up to him to help his momma. He has an idea.
He goes back to snake island and starts trying to reach for the bag. The snake is very sneaky and starts coiling around him. Just as she is about to eat him up, Little Tiger wiggles free. the snake dives after him and puts her head through the loops of her own coils and ties herself in a knot.
His plan worked! Little Tiger grabs the medical bag and he and the lady elephant doctor fly back home on a magic umbrella belonging to the old gypsy tiger woman. She and daddy tiger follow behind them, swinging on vines.
They are just in time. Momma tiger has a healthy baby with help from the lady elephant doctor. Little Tiger holds the baby. Daddy Tiger is so proud of his son. He says, “You are Big Brother Tiger now. You were so brave to fight the snake and help your momma. You have earned your stripes.” He helps him back into his tiger suit.
Everyone is happy. Momma tiger rests with the baby. Little Tiger and wild pig girl go off to play. Daddy tiger helps the elephant lady doctor back home. And the old gypsy tiger woman drives her caravan back to snake island.
That bad old snake is tied in a knot, dying very dramatically.
Snake: Help me! Help me! I am tied in a knot!
Gypsy tiger woman: Did you learn a valuable lesson?
Snake: Yes. We don’t take things that do not belong to us. Also, we can’t play if we bite our friends.
Gypsy tiger woman: Good. Then if you will play nice, you can come with me and we will be friends.
She lifts the snake on to her caravan and they ride off into the sunset.
[darkness, spotlights] Jungle birds: And they all lived happily ever after. It’s true. We were there. We saw the whole thing.
The End
