The Story of Herbert's Watermelons 64 Zoo Lane

# 64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane

# 64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane... #

Hello, I'm Lucy. I live at 64 Zoo Lane

and I have some very special neighbours. Look.

# There's one with a hump And one who can jump

-# And who is a little bit plump

-64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane

# Some like it hot and some like it chilly

# And some like it both ways and that's a bit silly

# 64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane

# Some are friendly, some are scary

# But one thing is sure Not one is ordinary

# 64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane

# Some are spotty, some are stripy

# They're prickly and woolly and furry and slimy

# Some are quite big and some are very small

# And the last one's Georgina

-# Who's incredibly tall

-64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane

# 64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane. #

-Bedtime, Lucy.

-OK, Mum.

Whee-ee!

-ALL: Hello, Lucy!

-Hello, everyone. Look what I've got, Molly.

-What is it, Lucy?

-A present for you. Ta-da!

-Dead flowers!

-I don't understand.

They were beautiful when I picked them this morning.

But flowers need water, Lucy. All plants do.

Never mind. I'm sure we can save them.

I hope so.

This reminds me of a story of my nephew Nigel

and Herbert's watermelons. Nigel had come over for a visit,

so I decided to take him for a walk along the Zambam River.

-Found you, Toby!

-Hello, there!

Hello, Nelson.

Does Nigel want to come and play hide and seek with us?

Maybe later, Kevin. Come on, Nigel, follow me.

-I'd like you to meet another of my friends.

-Ohh!

Here we are.

-This is my good friend Herbert the warthog.

-Hi!

-Hello, Herbert. Keeping busy, I see.

-Oh, hello, Nelson.

Quite right - busy, busy. One for you...

and one for you.

What's he doing, Uncle Nelson?

Today is ripening day,

-the busiest day in the gardening year.

-But it's worth it.

-I'll have perfect, ripe watermelons tonight if I do it properly.

-Wow!

Just got time for a quick tune.

Agh, my musical rock!

This is a disaster. Rocks, watermelons,

rocks, watermelons, rocks, watermelons,

-rocks...

-What's the problem?

-Herbert loves playing his musical rocks.

Rocks... I've got to go and find another one,

but if I leave the watermelons without water, they'll be ruined.

BOTH: Hmm... Oh!

I'll give a whole basket of yum-yum fruit

to anyone who will look after my watermelons while I'm away

-looking for a new rock.

-Me, me, me! Mmm!

Are you quite sure, Nigel?

-Watermelons are a lot of work on ripening day.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Easy-peasy!

-Really?

-I can do it!

Terrific. Thank you, Nigel. The important thing is to water them

little and often to keep them juicy and green.

Little and often, yeah, yeah, yeah.

If they turn even a little bit yellow, they are completely ruined.

Yeah, just leave it to me.

Good lad. Right, see you later.

Oh, yum yum! This is great!

Lots of delicious fruit for a bit of watering.

Time to get started, Nigel.

-Remember the watermelons need water.

-Little and often.

I know, Uncle Nelson.

Hello, Nigel. Want to play snakes and ladders with us?

Whee!

Yeah! ..Oh, I've just got to do something for Herbert first.

Don't miss all the fun! Whee!

Nigel watered as quickly as he could,

but it still took a long time.

Ohh, at last!

Nigel had only just finished

and it was nearly time to start watering again.

Ohh, there's got to be a quicker way.

There! That should last for ages.

Play-time, here I come!

Meanwhile, after a long walk,

Herbert reached the musical rock mine.

Got to find one with just the right sound.

Too clunky.

Too clinky.

Hmm, this is going to take longer than I thought.

ALL LAUGH

Got you!

How's the watering going, Nigel? Are you doing as Herbert said?

Don't worry, Uncle Nelson, everything's under control.

I've invented my own system for watering the plants more quickly.

-Nigel is a very clever boy, you know.

-Oh!

Herbert wasn't having much luck finding a musical rock.

Oh, too clanky. Not a single good rock in the whole mine.

Well, at least I've got my watermelons to look forward to.

As Herbert started the long walk home,

Nigel decided he'd better just check that the watermelons were all right.

Oh! OHH-OHH-OHH!

OHH-OHH-OHH!

-That sounds like...

-Nigel!

-NIGEL SOBS

-What's the matter, Nigel?

I promised Herbert I'd water them and...look!

Dried out like a stone.

You're going to get into so-o-o much trouble.

Ohh, what am I going to tell Herbert?

I know who might be able to help,

but we'll have to tell her what happened.

You mean...tell the truth?

Mm-hmm.

NIGEL GULPS

So you didn't water Herbert's plants like he told you to?

I didn't think it would matter if I watered them all in one go.

Maybe I can help. You can have some of my watermelons, Nigel.

Can I really?

Of course you can. We all make mistakes.

The only trouble is, my watermelons are not as big as Herbert's.

They'll need extra watering to grow in time.

I can do that.

Little and often?

Little and often, I promise.

And we'll help, won't we?

Nigel and his friends got to work,

and soon Georgina's watermelons had grown big and juicy.

Thanks, everyone.

It was time for Nigel and I to push the watermelons to Herbert's home.

Wow! Look at the watermelons! They're perfect.

-Oh, thank you, Nigel.

-You like them?

-I couldn't have done better myself.

-Thanks, Herbert.

I did just as you said.

A-hem!

In the end. But these are from Georgina's garden.

She gave them to me to ripen because...well, look.

My watermelons!

They're rock hard!

I'm sorry, Herbert.

-Not bad. Not bad at all.

-You're going to EAT them?

Eat them? Not in a million years. They'd break my teeth.

-No, I'm going to PLAY them.

-Huh?

Oh.

And a one, a two, a one, two, three, four.

-Great sound.

-And great watermelon. Another slice, anyone?

Don't mind if I do.

And so we all celebrated ripening day with a grand watermelon concert.

That was a great story, Nelson.

Look!

The flowers I got you, Molly - they're alive!

MOLLY CHUCKLES

There you are. They just needed a bit of a drink.

Ahh.

And you need a bit of sleep.

Good night, everyone.

ALL: Sweet dreams, Lucy.

# 64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane... #

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