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Reader's Theater
Adaptation
ROLES: Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Narrator 3, Narrator
4, Narrator 5, Mimbi, Pimbi, Timbi, Agama Man, Eagle NARRATORS 1-5: Hot, hot, hot! NARRATOR 1: The three little dassies were almost grown up and it was time for them to find their own place. NARRATOR 2: Mimbi, Pimbi, and Timbi waved good-bye to Mommy, Daddy, aunties, uncles, and all their cousins and set out for the distant mountain. 3 DASSIES: Good-bye! Come and visit us! MIMBI: A place cooler! PIMBI: A place less crowded! TIMBI: A place safe from big eagles! NARRATOR 3: The sisters traveled all day and all night across the Namib Desert, arriving at the foot of the mountain the next morning. 3 DASSIES: This is where we will live! NARRATOR 4: Out from the scree came a handsome smiling lizard with a squeaky voice. AGAMA MAN: Welcome! No one has lived here for a long time. Just me and a family of eagles up on the mountain. 3 DASSIES: Eagles? NARRATOR 5: The three little dassies shivered in the hot, hot sun. NARRATORS 1-2: Where would they build their houses? NARRATOR 1: Mimbi eyed the long grasses that grew there. MIMBI: Look at these long grasses. They will make a lovely cool house. NARRATOR 2: Mimbi set to work cutting, twisting, braiding, and bundling. She finished in no time. MIMBI: Be near and dear sisters. NARRATORS 3-5: She crawled into her grass house for a nap. NARRATOR 3: Pimbi spotted pieces of driftwood, silver from the sun, lying in the sand of the dry riverbed. PIMBI: These will make a fine wooden house. NARRATOR 4: She set about collecting as many pieces as she could find. NARRATOR 5: When it was finished, Pimbi hung up a hammock. PIMBI: Be near and dear, sisters, while I rest my eyes. NARRATOR 1: Timbi looked at the rocks around their mountain. TIMBI: I will make a stone house, but it won’t be as easy to build as one made of grasses or sticks. NARRATORS 1-5 And it wasn’t. NARRATOR 2: She had to work all day in the hot sun to get it finished in time to sleep in it that night. NARRATOR 3: Agama Man had been watching them. AGAMA MAN: I am so happy the three dassie sisters are staying on. I have missed having company. NARRATOR 4: The three little dassies slept late into the morning as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. NARRATOR 5: The big old eagle who lived up on the mountain stretched his wings and flew down. EAGLE: I need to find a meal for my hungry chicks. NARRATOR 1: Mimbi woke up hungry and went outside. NARRATOR 2: Suddenly a long-winged shadow passed over her. MIMBI: Oh, no! It’s the eagle! NARRATOR 3: Mimbi hurried back into her grass house. EAGLE: I see you, dassie! I’ll flap and I’ll clap and I’ll blow your house in. NARRATOR 4: The eagle beat the air with his wings until the grass roof sailed off. NARRATORS 1-5: The eagle grabbed Mimbi and lifted her up, up, up to his nest. AGAMA MAN: Oh, no! The eagle has Mimbi! NARRATOR 1: But the eagle was greedy. NARRATOR 2: No sooner had he dropped Mimbi into the nest than he spotted Pimbi in front of her stick house far below. EAGLE: Two dassies would be double delicious! NARRATORS 1-5: Down he went, feathers flying. NARRATOR 3: Pimbi looked up and saw him coming. PIMBI: Oh, no! It’s the eagle! NARRATOR 4: She turned and ran back inside. EAGLE: I see you, dassie! I’ll flap and I’ll clap and I’ll blow your house in. NARRATORS 1-2: Twigs flew, sticks rattled, until Pimbi’s stick house fell apart. NARRATOR 5: Then, just like Mimbi, Pimbi felt herself being lifted high in the sky and plunked down in the eagle’s nest. AGAMA MAN: Oh, no! Now the eagle has Pimbi, too! I have to help them! NARRATOR 1: Agama Man started climbing the rocks to reach the eagle’s nest at the top of the mountain. NARRATOR 2: Down below, at the bottom of the mountain, Timbi looked out of her stone house. TIMBI: Sisters! Where are you? I’m making tasty seed porridge for your breakfast! NARRATOR 3: Instead of a grass house and a stick house, she saw a long shadow streaking across the rocks. TIMBI: Oh, help! It’s the eagle! NARRATOR 4: Timbi darted her head back inside. EAGLE: I see you, dassie! I’ll flap and I’ll clap and I’ll blow your house in. NARRATORS 1-5: He flapped and clapped and beat his wings. NARRATOR 5: Dust and sand blew everywhere. NARRATORS 1-5: But the stone house didn’t move. EAGLE: I’ll try harder this time. NARRATORS 1-5: He flapped and clapped and beat his wings even harder. NARRATOR 1: Dust and sand got in his eyes. NARRATORS 1-5: But the stone house didn’t budge. NARRATOR 2: In the meantime, Agama Man climbed up the rocks of the mountain, higher and higher until he reached the eagle’s nest. NARRATOR 3: There he found the sisters, Mimbi and Pimbi, in between the eagle’s two chicks. AGAMA MAN: Sisters, you are safe! Thank goodness! MIMBI & PIMBI: Brave Agama Man! You found us! AGAMA MAN: Quick, I know the way down. Let me help you out of here. MIMBI & PIMBI: We are saved! NARRATOR 4: The three raced down the rocks. NARRATOR 5: Meanwhile, down below, when the dust settled, the stone house was still standing. EAGLE: (coughing and sneezing) Just look at my wing feathers! They’re bent. That one’s broken! Oh, no! I’m missing tail feathers, too! NARRATOR 1: Knowing when to quit, the eagle hopped his way up to his nest. EAGLE: (still coughing and sneezing) At least I have two dassies waiting for my dinner! NARRATORS 3-5: When the eagle reached his nest, he could see the dassies were gone. EAGLE: Where did they go? (peers down the mountain) There they are, heading for the stone house. This is my last chance, but I’ll catch them now! NARRATOR 2: The eagle streaked down toward the open chimney of Timbi’s stone house as the three dassies raced inside. NARRATOR 3: Inside the house, the three dassies hugged each other. 3 DASSIES: There’s nothing like a stone house when there are eagles abundant! NARRATOR 4: Just then, the eagle tumbled down the chimney. EAGLE: I’ll flap and I’ll clap and I’ll . . . NARRATORS 1-5: WHOOSHH! NARRATOR 5: A hot blast from the fire hit him. EAGLE: I’ll fly home for a nap! NARRATOR 1: As fast as he could, he squeezed back up the chimney and flew home, all black and singed from the smoky fire. 3 DASSIES: Hooray! He’s gone! NARRATORS 1-5: And Mimbi, Pimbi, and Timbi never saw so much as a tail feather of that eagle ever again. NARRATOR 2: Mommy, Daddy, aunties, uncles, and all their cousins — AGAMA MAN: And Agama Man, too! NARRATOR 3: . . . came to celebrate. 3 DASSIES: Welcome! MIMBI: To a place cooler! PIMBI: To a place less crowded! TIMBI: To a place safe from big eagles! NARRATOR 1: And if you travel to Namibia today, you will see dassies living in stone houses with handsome agama men looking out for them. NARRATORS 1-5: As for those pesky eagles, they are easily spotted, for their feathers are as black as soot.
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