Flea to Be You and Me Arthur

# Every day you walk down the street Everybody that you meet

# Has an original point of view

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day We can learn to work and play

# And get along with each other

# You gotta listen to your heart Listen to the beat

# Listen to the rhythm of the street Open your eyes! Open your ears!

# Get together, make things better By working together

# It's a simple message And it comes from the heart

# Believe in yourself For that's the place to start

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

-What a wonderful kind of day

# We can learn to work and play And get along with each other

# What a wonderful kind of day, hey! What a wonderful kind of day, HEY! #

-Hey, DW!

-Hey...

Oh, phooey! Kate! Kate!

Pal, what happened?

I've got this terrible itch in the middle of my back.

-I was trying to scratch it, but I got stuck.

-So I see.

Here. Let me help.

A little to the left. No, to the right. Down. Down. Yes! Perfect.

There it goes again.

-There you are, Kate.

-Hey, Mom, have you noticed Pal?

-Uh?

-Blah-blah, blah-blah, ITCHING.

-Bleep, bloo-bloo,

bloo-bloo, BATH!

I'm telling you, try rubbing up against the Herlihys' wood pile.

-It's heaven!

-What are you doing in here, Pal?

You heard them. Unless I get rid of this itch...it's shampoo city!

Let me have a look.

Whoo, hoo-hoo, hoo-oo-oo!

That's better.

Pal, it's a flea.

Buongiorno, signora e signore.

A pleasure to meet you.

-You know, there's only one way to get rid of a flea.

-No, wait!

I beg of you. I have been through too much to be squished now.

Hmm. Maybe you shouldn't, amigo.

These fleas - they travel in packs.

You let him go, we'll all be scratching till our fur falls out.

If you will only hear how I've suffered,

then I know you will find the space for mercy in your canine heart.

-Sorry, but a flea is a flea.

-No!

Let him speak.

Grazie, signorina. My name is Pepe.

The famous Pepe. One half of the great Pepe and Sale -

stars of Italy's most acclaimed flea circus.

I told you they travelled in packs.

Sale is probably eating your tail at this moment.

Alas, no. You see, I have lost him -

Sale, my co-star, my partner, my brother. He's gone.

Oh, how sad. What happened to him?

We used to perform every afternoon at the Piazza Navona in Rome...

-THEY ALL TALK AT ONCE

-Come and see Sale and Pepe -

the strongest, smartest, most agile fleas on earth!

Bravo!

-Bravissimo!

-Watch them lift 160,000 times their own weight.

I ask YOU, sir, can you lift 11 million kilos?

Watch these fleas jump over 150 times their own height.

'At that moment, a sudden gust of wind changed my life for ever.'

Aaa-aargh!

Ooh! Oh!

Sale! Sale!

-Sale, my brother, where are you?

-Look out!

This is no time for someone as small as you to be out.

-Hop aboard.

-Thanks.

-My name is Pepe.

-Alessio.

What were you thinking, coming out during passeggiata?

Pass...whatever you said?

It's when Romans take their evening walk and look at the shop windows,

and at each other. It's a dangerous time for us.

-Aaargh!

-We must get out of here.

-Where are we going?

-To the best restaurant in Europe.

During the day, the open-air market

is filled with people selling vegetables, fruit, flowers,

and my personal favourite - cheese!

But why do they leave behind all the best stuff?

Humans! Go figure.

Never had I had such a feast.

For a moment, I even forgot my dear brother,

and with my thorax full of complex sugars, I went to sleep.

When I awoke, something had happened.

The whole earth was wobbling.

For a moment, I thought I was back flying on the trapeze.

-Alessio, where are we?

-I have had enough of city life.

Humans make things so difficult with their traps,

and their poisons and spiky shoes,

-so I am taking us to Africa.

-What's Africa?

Africa is a vast land of many nations across the sea from Italy.

I have always wanted to visit it.

'I realised at once I was further than ever from my brother Sale.'

Poor Pepe!

-You must have been so sad.

-Oh, please! He's making it all up.

If he's got a long-lost brother,

-then I'm an Irish setter.

-Hmm!

Alessio meant well, but he could never understand

how much I missed my brother. When we landed in Alexandria,

I began to search for a way back home.

Er, scusi, would any of you by chance be heading for Italy?

Sorry. Never heard of it. But if you want a ride to the Serengeti,

Nasra wouldn't notice one more.

'So I parted ways with Alessio and took a ride.

'The sand fleas told me that in some parts of Africa,

'there are thousands of kilometres where there are just all animals.'

I'm going to find a giraffe to live on. I always wanted to be tall.

So many beautiful animals, so little time.

My decision was made.

Oh, no. That won't do. Zala hates anything that itches.

I was just looking. Oh, who is this Zala, anyway?

Zala is my host - the hippo,

and it's my job to keep him free of bugs and wounds.

I eat flies, leeches and fleas, so that means YOU.

Wait! Wait! I am not just any flea.

I am a circus flea.

-What's a circus?

-What's a circus?!

A circus is a place where animals do all kinds of tricks.

If you've never seen one,

-you should watch my act before you eat me.

-This better be good.

OK, kid. You can stay.

'I thought I had found a home - a place where I could be happy,

'and even forget how much I missed my brother.'

But what...? What happened?

Alas, another disaster overcame me.

If you think that was good, watch this, my friends!

Bath time!

All clear!

'Without Zala I was lost again.

'Fortunately, there are a lot of tourists who come to the Serengeti

'to look at the animals.'

'I heard them speaking Italian, and, immediately,

'I knew the perfect way to get home.

'I was bound for Italy,

'and my long-lost brother.

'To this day, I don't know what happened,

'but, somehow, I ended up on the wrong aeroplane.

'By chance, or by fate,

'I ended up in the most serene place in the world -

'Japan'.

I come from a long way away, and I have heard and seen many things,

but never have I heard any sound

-so beautiful to my auditory receptors.

-I am flattered.

-What is happening?

-Here in Japan, crickets are often kept as pets

because our singing is so pleasant.

We may be stuck in this jar for some time.

-What I'd give for a salami right now.

-I consider pickled cucumber

-and ginger to be quite delicious.

-Ugh! Suit yourself!

-How about some music to cheer us up?

-I am sorry.

I have lost my will to sing.

Lost the will?! Nonsense! Come on. We'll sing together.

# Fi-i-igaro! Fi-i-igaro! Figaro! Figaro! Figaro! #

I don't have my chorus, or my conductor,

or my view of the rice paddies.

All I have is this tiny little jar.

I decided something had to be done.

The world could not be deprived of this creature's wonderful song.

'Using my powerful legs,

'I jumped out of the jar through an air hole, and then...'

You... You gave me my freedom.

How can I ever repay you?

You already have with your beautiful music.

'I bummed around for a couple of months

'on the family's dog. But one day he caught me with his hind leg,

'and I landed kerplunk in a bottle of some funny-smelling water.

'For some reason, the bottle was sent across the ocean.'

Home-made rice vinegar from my old pen pal Tatsui.

You sure can't get this stuff at Savemart, can you, Pal?

'And that, my friends, is my long and sorry tale.'

You never found Sale?

-I am afraid not.

-Don't worry, Pepe. We'll help you find him.

-But how?

-I know. We can mail him to Rome.

-Yes.

-I can carry him to the mailbox.

-No, I'll do it. There's a mailbox

-on the corner that I've marked with my scent.

-So?!

-I've marked that mailbox, too.

-Well, I marked it first!

-Maybe we should e-mail him.

-It would be faster. He's MY flea!

You didn't even know about fleas...

-I should be the one to take him to the...

-Hey, he's gone!

Arrivederci, my friends! Thank you for not squishing me!

I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of him.

You're not scratching, Pal. Maybe we were wrong about the fleas.

But it's been a while since you had a bath, anyhow.

PAL WHINES

Bills, bills, bills, bills.

What's this? Dottore Pulce's Amazing Flea Circus?!

Featuring the world-famous Pepe and Sale, reunited at last.

I specifically asked the museum not to give our address out...

Subtitles by Sally Davies BBC Broadcast 2004

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