The Leathery Purse Old Jack's Boat

Go on, Salty!

# Come with me, we're off to the sea

# To where I used to play

# Looking back when I was a boy and the fun we had each day

# Over the cobbles and through the streets

# Playing in the sun

# Friends to meet With games and treats

# Adventures just begun

# Stories from a magical world Washed in by the sea

# Meet the rockpool creatures there It's amazing what you see

# Looking back when I was a boy

# Shrimps and starfish Crabs and snails

# In twinkly Rockpool Tales

Ha-ha! # Those lovely Rockpool Tales. #

Good girl. Get in your bed. Get in there. Go on.

Good girl, you sit there. Hello, how are you?

Listen, I've just found this. Do you know what that is?

SALTY WHINES

I know you want to know as well, Salty, girl.

Yes, look at that. That's a marble. Well, I never. I remember this.

That is a very special marble.

It was my favourite marble when I was a little boy. Isn't it lovely?

Look. Yes.

And I remember very well a time when Little Ernie almost won it from me.

Oh-ho-ho!

It all happened when I was a boy,

in a twinkly time long, long ago.

I used to run down to the beach as often as I could,

meeting up with my best friends, Little Ernie and Little Sailor Sue.

One day, we all took our marbles down to the beach.

You know, children loved to play marbles in those days.

We ran down to the sand and I drew a big circle with a twig.

I threw my favourite orange marble first, my best shooter,

and then Sue and Ernie tried to hit it with their marbles.

Sue got quite close with her green marble

and then Ernie threw his blue marble.

Bash!

It hit my marble hard and then it rolled off towards the rocks.

"I've won your marble!" Ernie cried,

picking up my orange marble gleefully.

Then, we all raced off after his blue one.

It was heading for a rockpool and, uh-oh, "PFFTT." It plopped in.

And as we gazed deep down into the glittery waters,

a magical world appeared before our eyes.

On this particular day, Sally the Starfish was looking

for a safe place to store her shell collection.

You see, she usually kept them all on the rockpool floor

but they seemed to be getting in everybody's way.

And just then, Belinda the Blenny swam by.

"I think I know exactly the place to store your shells,"

Belinda told Sally. "Follow me."

So, Sally followed Belinda and there, amongst the wriggly seaweed,

was a rather large and unusual

leathery purse.

"It must have washed into the rockpool on the last tide,"

said Belinda. "Do you like it?" "I love it!" said Sally.

"It's perfect for storing my shells."

But when she looked at the purse more closely,

she noticed a big bulge inside it.

"I think there's already something inside," she said.

"I wonder what it is."

The two friends wanted to open the purse to see what was inside

but they couldn't find a zip or a button.

"I don't know how to open it," said Belinda,

and just then, the purse started

to jiggle and joggle and bop about.

"Ooh," said Sally, giggling.

"It looks like there's a jiggly dancer inside."

All the rockpoolers gathered around to look

at the mysterious jiggly purse.

"It looks like a dancing bubble," said Bertrum the Butterfish.

Buster the Crab thought he knew what it was

but he couldn't quite remember,

so Sidney the Snail touched it very gently with his feelers.

"What does it feel like?" asked Sheila the Shrimp.

"Squidgy like jelly," said Sidney.

"Wait!" said Buster. "I've remembered what it is.

"It isn't a purse. It's an egg sac, with a baby creature growing inside."

And just then something amazing happened.

The jiggly egg sac burst open

and out wriggled a little fish.

"Hooray! I'm born at last!" it cried.

SALTY BARKS Yes, Salty,

it was very exciting indeed, and unexpected.

"Fin-tiddly-tasmo!" muttered the little fish.

"I've been trying to get out of there for ages."

And then it spotted the rockpoolers.

"Oh. Oh, hello," it said.

"Welcome to our rockpool," said Sally.

"What sort of creature are you?"

The little fish swam in a circle, trying to look at its tail.

"I don't know what creature I am. I can't see myself," it said.

"Can you tell me?"

Most of the rockpoolers looked puzzled,

but Buster sidled forward. "Hm, I think I know what you are,"

he said, his eyes spinning around on their stalks.

"I've seen a fish like you before. You're a baby shark."

"Oh, goody, a shark," said Sheena. "Can we call you Mark?"

"Yes, please," said the baby shark.

"I like the name Mark because it rhymes with shark."

Buster looked a little bit worried. He scuttled from side to side.

"The trouble is, a rockpool isn't big enough for a shark.

"You are going to grow to be ever so big," he told the baby shark.

"You need to be in the shark nursery, a special area out at sea,

"where baby sharks live while they're growing up."

"I'd like that," said Mark. "Can you help me get there?"

SALTY WHIMPERS Yes, Salty.

It wasn't going to be easy.

The rockpoolers needed to think of a way to get Mark

out of the rockpool and into the sea.

"Of course we'll try to help you," said Sally,

but she wasn't really sure what to do.

"I know," said Sheena the Shrimp.

"Mark could bounce out of the rockpool on my seaweed trampoline."

"Fin-tiddly-tasmo! That sounds like fun!" cried the little shark.

So, off they went to Sheena's seaweed trampoline.

"Jump on," said Sheena,

and soon Mark was bouncing.

Little bounces at first and then bigger

and bigger until...

"BOING!"

..he bounced out of the rockpool, high into the sky!

"I can see the sea!" he cried.

He seemed to hang in the air for a moment

and then... "Waaaaah!"

..he splashed back down into the rockpool.

HE SPLASHES

The rockpoolers needed another idea.

Then Andrew the Anemone said, "We could use my seaweed slingshot."

"Oh!" cried Mark.

So Andrew fetched his slingshot and Mark fixed himself into position.

"OK, ahem, ahem. Here goes," said Andrew,

pulling the slingshot back and then he let go and...

"PA-WOW!

..off zoomed Mark, up through the water, high into the sky.

"I can see the sea!" he cried.

He seemed to hang in the sky for a moment and then... "Waaaaaah!"

..he splashed back down into the rockpool again.

"Aaah, I'll never get to the nursery now," said Mark the shark, sadly.

Then Belinda spoke up.

"Why don't we ask Reginald what to do?" she said. "He knows everything."

That was a brilliant idea.

So they made their way up to where the water meets the sunshine

and there, on his favourite rock, sat Reginald.

"Oh, Great Wise Limpet," said Sally.

"Could you tell us

"how to get our new friend, Mark the baby shark,

"back to the big white sea?"

Reginald rolled his great eyes

and then he spoke.

"The sea comes in and the sea goes out.

"It does the hokey cokey and it shakes us all about.

"Getting to the sea is a hard thing to do

"but when the tide turns, the sea will come to you."

"Of course," cried Sheena. "If we wait for the tide to come in,

Mark can swim out to sea quite easily."

SALTY BARKS Yes, Salty,

it was a brilliant idea, wasn't it?

The rockpoolers thanked Reginald, then they went back

to their rockpool floor to wait for the tide to come in.

And while they were waiting, Sally the Starfish asked Mark

if she could have his little leathery egg sac.

"It would make a perfect purse

"to store my shell collection in," she told him.

"Of course you can. I've finished with it now," said Mark.

Everyone helped to store the shells neatly in the purse

and when they'd finished,

Mark nudged something blue and shiny with his nose.

"Is this one of your shells, too?"

"No, but it's very pretty," Sally replied.

"It would look great in my collection."

So in it went.

The rockpoolers had fun playing with Mark and telling him stories

to take to his new home in the nursery.

We left the rockpool and made our way back up the beach.

Ernie was a bit sad about losing his favourite marble

but he had lots more - two pockets full, in fact,

and he didn't mind showing them off either.

I could see my favourite orange marble amongst them.

"Come on, Ernie, I want to win back my shooter," I said.

So, we played all afternoon till the waves came in

and covered the rock pools like a great seaweedy blanket.

So, Salty, that was the day I lost my favourite orange shooter.

Ha-ha! But I won it back later.

-Hi, Ernie.

-Oh, hello, Jack!

Ohhh. Yeah, I've got something to show you.

Look at that. That's my favourite shooter, that is. Do you know what?

-A long time ago, your grandfather won it off me but I won it back.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-It must be very precious.

-Oh, it is, yeah.

-Too precious for a game, I expect?

-Well...

-It just so happens...

-Ernie!

-Do you fancy a game?

I never say no to a game of marbles, Ernie, especially with you.

So, why don't you join us again for some more Rockpool Tales next time?

Goodbye.

Come on then, Ernie.

Subtitles by Ericsson