The Moon Maiden Old Jack's Boat

Ha! Oh!

A good day to you.

# This is the place to be

# For Salty Dog and me

# Down by the harbour We'll be there

# Round every corner There's something to share

# Give us a cheer Our friends are here

# Just Salty Dog and me. #

Ha-ha! Come on, Salty!

# This is the place to meet

# Down at the end of the street

# Seagulls flying up in the blue

# There's always a cup of tea waiting for you

# Out in the sun Having some fun

# Just Salty Dog and me

# Haul away, haul away

# Sing the song of the sea

# Hoist the sail I'll tell you a tale

# Of Salty Dog and me

# This is the place to go and these are the people we know

# The village is busy with things to see

# And there's the Rainbow down by the quay

# There's stories to tell Join us as well

-# Just Salty Dog and me. #

-PHONE RINGS

-Morning, Ernie!

-Morning, Sam.

-Are you looking for...

-Fish? No.

-No, I actually meant...

-Lobsters? No.

-I mean...

-Crabs? No.

-Someone! Are you looking for SOMEONE?

-I'm looking for Jack.

-He borrowed some of my tools.

-Jack, you won't catch him today.

-It's boiler day.

-Boiler day?

-FOGHORN BLARES

-Aye. He's down at the Rainbow,

fixing the valve on the boiler.

FOGHORN BLARES

-He could be some...

-Time.

Oh! All right, all right. All right, old girl, all right.

Let me get some of Sam's tools and see

if we can stops sending great clouds in the air.

Here, here, Salty.

Do you remember the time we had to deal with a great cloud in the air?

Yeah, let me tell you that story.

You'll like this. It involves a moon maiden.

Once upon a twinkly time, we set off from Staithes,

waved goodbye to Whitby and headed off over the horizon.

And as we sailed, we sang.

# Just Salty Dog and me

# A-sailing on the sea

# Singing a song to our favourite tune

# Watching the sun chased away by the moon

# Drifting away to the end of the day

# Just Salty Dog and me. #

Salty and I, we sailed off into the night.

All we could see was the white foam of the water

and the light from a lovely, big, full moon.

That's it, up there. You see it, yeah.

"Look at that," I said to Salty.

"The moonlight's reflected on the water,

"heading all the way to the horizon, straight as a Roman road."

But then Salty barked.

-Woof!

-"Can you see what I see?"

I ran to the prow of the boat and stared out into the night.

There was someone walking towards us, across the sea.

It was a lady.

A tall, beautiful lady.

And then I realised, "Salty, she's not walking on the water,

"she's walking on the moonlight."

And that's exactly what she was doing.

The moonlight twinkled like diamonds in between her toes

as she got closer and closer and closer.

She walked right up to the boat

and I could see her clothes were like silk and clouds woven together.

Her hair was filled with stars

and her skin was mottled like the moon itself.

She said "Hello, Jack."

I said, "Hello!

"But how did you know my name?"

She said, "We've been watching you, Jack. And you, Salty.

"We always watch the adventures of the Rainbow from my home, up there."

And she pointed up at the sky. She pointed at the moon.

I said, "The moon? Are you from the moon?" She said, "Indeed.

"I am a moon maiden. Once every full moon,

"one of the moon people is allowed down to earth to make new friends.

"Will you be my friend?"

I said, "Yes! Of course! I love making new friends!"

"Thank you," said the Moon Maiden. "May I come aboard the Rainbow?"

I said, "Oh, yes, it's an honour. Welcome aboard."

And the Moon Maiden stepped off the path of moonlight and onto the boat.

But just in that second, a cold wind blew

and big dark clouds rolled in front of the moon, blotting it out.

And the moonlight disappeared too,

its reflection on the water just twinkled away to nothing.

And it was gone.

Suddenly, the Moon Maiden moaned and she looked all faint.

She had to sit down on an old coil of rope. She said, "Oh dear."

I said, "What is it, Moon Maiden? What's wrong?"

She said, "Oh, Jack, I'm sorry, but I feel pale and weary.

"I've lost the moonlight. And moonlight keeps me strong.

"I should go back home but I can't." I said, "Why not?"

"The only way home is to walk along the moonlight

"all the way to the horizon, and then it's just a small step up

"back to the moon.

"But now the clouds had covered the moon so the moonlight path is gone."

"Never mind," I said. "You can stay here and wait with me.

"Then maybe the weather will be better tomorrow night."

"No," she said. "I can't wait until tomorrow. As soon as the sun rises,

"I'll fade away. Oh, Jack, oh, Salty, whatever shall I do?"

And I said, "Don't you worry, Moon Maiden. I'm your friend.

"That's what you said. Your friend on earth.

"And friends always help each other. Isn't that right, Salty?

And Salty barked "Yes, yes, yes!"

But the Moon Maiden looked up at the night sky.

It was filled with huge purple and black storm clouds.

She said, "Those clouds are bigger the mountains.

"You're a very clever man, Jack, but even you can't move the sky."

"Oh, is that right?" I said.

"You just watch me cause if there's one thing I like in this life,

"it's a challenge. Especially when one of my friends is in trouble."

So I fired up the motor on the Rainbow and we sailed top speed

all the way back to Staithes. "Hold on tight," I said.

And Salty barked with joy as we zoomed along.

Faster and faster we went! "Hurry up, Jack," said the Moon Maiden.

She got paler and paler

and the stars in her hair began to disappear.

The Rainbow sailed up to the village but all the houses were in darkness.

It was the middle of the night. Everyone was asleep.

"I can soon wake them up," I said.

I began to blow on the Rainbow's foghorn.

It went "Baaaaaaaah," again and again.

"Baaaaaaah," echoing across the night!

"Baaaaaah!" And Salty began to bark, "Woo-woo-woo-woof!"

And I sounded the foghorn again and again, "Baaaaaa!

"Baaaaa!" "Wooo-woof!" Lights came on, windows lit up,

sleepy faces appeared round doorways. Well, I kept going.

"Baaaaaaaa!"

Jack! You old nuisance. Be quiet!

-We're trying to sleep.

-..said Miss Bowline-Hitch.

But I shouted out, "I need your help!

-"Or this poor lady will fade away!"

-What are we supposed to do?

..called Shelly. I shouted out, "I need you to blow,

"I need you to huff and puff and blow with all your might.

"I want you to blow into the air

"because if we blow together we might be able to move those clouds."

-Don't be daft!

-That won't work!

This sounds like one of your tall tales, Jack.

"No, no, it's true," I said.

"We need to move those clouds and find the moon

"so this poor Moon Maiden can walk on the moonlight.

"Please, please help me! Oh, please. You've got to believe me!"

And then...one little voice said:

I believe you.

It was Pip, the tailor's son, bright red hair, still wearing his pyjamas.

But he was the bravest lad I've ever seen.

As he lifted his face up to the sky, took a deep breath and blew.

-And then his sister, Olive, she said:

-I can do that.

And she started blowing, too. She went "Whhhhhhhhhhh!"

And Pip went "Whhhhhhhhhh!"

And then all the children began to join in.

They all faced the sky and took a deep breath in and then blew out

with a great big whhhhhhhh,

again and again they went. "Whhhhhhhh!"

"That's it," I said. "Keep blowing!"

And then one of the grown-ups said, "Let's help."

And they all began to join in. Everyone blew.

The mums, dads, shopkeepers, the schoolteacher,

the lollipop lady, Ernie, Emily, Sam, Shelly

and Miss Bowline-Hitch, all of them blowing into the night sky.

And I was blowing too, whhhhh! And Salty - "Whhhhhhhh!"

We all went "Whhhhhhh!"

And then the clouds began to move. "More!" I shouted, "More!"

And now the whole village lined up on the shore

and everybody went "Whhhhhh!"

And the Moon Maiden cried out, "It's working!"

Slowly, the huge clouds rolled back

and the whole village kept going, "Whhhhhhh, whhhhhhhh!"

And then the curve of the moon appeared

and we all blew some more until the final clouds rolled away

and there was the full moon shining in the sky.

And the moonlight appeared on the water like a glittery road,

heading towards the horizon.

"My way home," said the Moon Maiden,

with tears of joy in her eyes.

And then everyone in the village clapped and cheered.

"Yay, yay!" And the Moon Maiden turned to face all of us.

"I will never forget this," she said.

"You are the best friends I could ever hope to make."

Then she stepped over the edge of the boat

and onto the moonlight path. She looked back one last time.

"Goodbye, Jack," she said.

"And remember, whenever the moon is in the sky,

"that means I am looking down and watching you.

"And I will always keep you safe."

"Thank you, Moon Maiden," I said.

"Bye-bye."

And then I watched and Salty watched

and the whole village watched from the shore

as the beautiful Moon Maiden walked over the water,

along the twinkling path of moonlight,

towards the horizon,

until she was gone.

I've never seen her since that day.

But every night, when we sail out to sea, Salty and I,

we look up, because we know there's not just a man in the moon,

but a beautiful maiden too.

You look up tonight, you might see her.

FOGHORN BLARES

Oh, right. I better get back to that old boiler valve.

-FOGHORN BLARES

-Yes, all right. Oh, dear.

-Oh, you're back soon, Sam.

-Yes, Jack's still using my tools.

FOGHORN BLARES

He'll be working on the boiler for a while.

So how about some fish? What can I do you for?

I think I'll have a nice piece of... FOGHORN DROWNS HER OUT

-..for my dinner.

-A nice piece of what?

A nice piece of... FOGHORN DROWNS HER OUT

-What was that?

-A nice piece of... FOGHORN DROWNS HER OUT

BOTH: Jack!

What? Was that somebody calling, Salty? No?

FOGHORN BLARES

-This could take a very long...

-FOGHORN DROWNS HIM OUT

A very long what?

-I said, a very long...

-FOGHORN DROWNS HIM OUT

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd