0:00:10 > 0:00:13Here they come, my two intrepid explorers -
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Charlotte and Elliott.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18I'm their great aunt Lizzie, you see.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21And I wonder, which one is coming to see me today?
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Ah! So it's Charlotte's turn.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27Here she comes,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31racing to hear another tale from an epic adventurer.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34CLINK CLINK CLINK!
0:00:44 > 0:00:48And what wonderful adventures they were.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51So long ago, and so far away.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57I collected a few souvenirs along the way.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04But my most precious possession of all
0:01:04 > 0:01:08is my extraordinary collection of tea cups.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27You've still got your coat on, Charlotte!
0:01:27 > 0:01:29Come on, no time to count the clouds.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31We've stories to tell!
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Now, let's have a lovely cup of tea.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41But first, we need...
0:01:41 > 0:01:42A teacup!
0:01:46 > 0:01:47Which one?
0:01:59 > 0:02:01That one.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02Hmmm.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08The jade flute.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10What a choice, Charlotte.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12I do really love that story.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24This will be just perfect to drink, now.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31So...are you ready?
0:02:31 > 0:02:32Ready!
0:02:32 > 0:02:37Then let me tell you the story of great aunt Lizzie
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and the adventure of the jade flute.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Ahem!
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Oh! Yes, of course.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Let me tell you the story of Charlotte
0:02:47 > 0:02:50and the adventure of the jade flute!
0:02:50 > 0:02:53It all started long, long ago,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56in the magnificent Empire of China,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59with its towering Himalayan mountains,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03lush scented fields and thick, green forests.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28As the sun burned away the morning mist, Charlotte crossed a wide,
0:03:28 > 0:03:33flat valley and the sound of music came floating by.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36She followed the tune to a rather grand house,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40where a young man called Shing and an old man called Gao
0:03:40 > 0:03:44sat playing on a pair of bamboo flutes.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48They played almost as one, until Shing's mother arrived.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Ah, what beautiful music.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Gao just taught it to me, I love it.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58- Shing, I have a present for you. - A present?
0:04:00 > 0:04:03A jade flute! It's beautiful.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05It's the best money can buy.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08It sounds like the wind in the cherry blossoms.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10They are beautiful, Master Shing,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14but playing a jade flute is not the same as a bamboo one.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Nonsense.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Perhaps you should get back to work now.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20But, Mother, Gao was teaching me!
0:04:20 > 0:04:23The plums on those trees need picking,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26the branches on that buddleia need pruning,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29- and afterwards, feed the fish. - Yes, mistress.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Shing, I have told you before,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38I don't like you playing your flute with the gardener!
0:04:38 > 0:04:42- Gao's my music teacher. - No, he's not. He's the gardener.
0:04:46 > 0:04:53Show me, son, how beautiful the Jade flute sounds.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55TOOT!
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Oh, well.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Keep practising.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Hello. That's a beautiful flute.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13But not if you can't play it, and your teacher
0:05:13 > 0:05:17has to spend all his days picking plums and pruning bushes.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Maybe if you practice in the garden,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24- your friend could teach you while he works.- That's a good idea!
0:05:29 > 0:05:33TOOT-GROAN-WHISTLE
0:05:35 > 0:05:39- It's really difficult. - Keep going, Shing.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Blow more like this.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46GENTLE TOOTING
0:05:46 > 0:05:47Nearly.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52It's very different from the bamboo flute. I can't get it right.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55- Can you show me? - Do you think that's a good idea?
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- Um, I'm not sure that your mum... - It'll be fine.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03If you hold it like this, breathe slowly, and...
0:06:03 > 0:06:10PLAYS MELODY
0:06:10 > 0:06:14I told you to work, not play the flute!
0:06:14 > 0:06:16I've had quite enough.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I want you to leave the house, right now!
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Charlotte felt awful.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26It was her idea to play the Jade flute in the garden, after all.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Gao bowed and left the house in silence.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39With Gao gone, Shing had lost the instruction of his master.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42The house fell as quiet as the night.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45How different it was to when Charlotte
0:06:45 > 0:06:47had first come to a house full of music.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50You haven't slept for days!
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Why don't you play the nice flute I bought for you?
0:06:53 > 0:06:55It's horrible.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58It's too difficult. I think I'll stick to the bamboo one.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02No, Shin. Try, try, try again!
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I'll go and pick some delicious, fresh plums -
0:07:05 > 0:07:07they'll cheer you up.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12- SHE SIGHS - Oh, dear.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15Is there anything I can do to help?
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Not unless you can teach my son to make the jade flute
0:07:19 > 0:07:22sound like the wind in the cherry blossoms.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- I think only Gao can do that. - That Gao?
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Why couldn't he just do what he was told?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Perhaps he's a better music teacher than a gardener.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35- But we need a gardener.- I think you need a music teacher, too.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38You could get a new one, who loves to garden!
0:07:38 > 0:07:42- That is an excellent idea.- You mean it? I'll go and get him at once!
0:07:42 > 0:07:46You can't go now. You haven't eaten properly for days.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50'Never one to miss the opportunity to help, Charlotte stepped forward.'
0:07:50 > 0:07:52I could go and get him for you.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55That would be wonderful. Thank you.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00- Could you give him this, please? - The jade flute?- Yes, mother.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Please tell him to come back and play this.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06When I can hear the jade flute being played,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10- I will know my friend is back. - Charlotte wasn't sure what to do.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15She held the cool, heavy flute, and waited with bated breath.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22Very well. Take the jade flute to Gao, wherever he is.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Charlotte put the flute carefully in her bag,
0:08:25 > 0:08:30sure that finding Gao would be as easy as falling off a log.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Of course, it was never going to be as easy as that.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35I think I know where he'll be.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38There's a new estate, on the other side the mountain,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40looking for a new gardener.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45It wasn't even tea-time and already it was all out of tune.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Charlotte had listened to Shing and Gao
0:08:47 > 0:08:50as they have played their flutes.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53She had suggested that Shing play near the plum trees
0:08:53 > 0:08:56and managed to persuade Ji to ask Gao to come back
0:08:56 > 0:09:00- as a music teacher. - That is an excellent idea!
0:09:00 > 0:09:04And she had thought finding Gao would be a doddle.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10But she couldn't just leave Shing without a teacher, could she?
0:09:10 > 0:09:12There was nothing for it,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15but to set off over the mountain to find Gao.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26So, off went Charlotte in her old, battered boots.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30She scrambled up the misty mountain paths until,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34when she was almost out of breath, the path ran out!
0:09:37 > 0:09:40RUSHING WATER
0:09:40 > 0:09:44There was only one way to get to the other side.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Charlotte took a deep breath.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Safely across, Charlotte set off once more, and soon
0:10:13 > 0:10:18came to a valley full of pink cherry blossoms and swirling mist.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25But there was no time to be awestruck.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Charlotte had to find Gao.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34- Hello. I've come from Shing's house.- How is he?
0:10:34 > 0:10:37- He wants you to come back. - But I have a new job here, now.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39He asked me to give you this.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41His jade flute!
0:10:43 > 0:10:46- And his mother? - She wants you to come back, too,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50- to be a music teacher for Shing. - A teacher?
0:10:50 > 0:10:55I'll teach him to play like the wind in the cherry blossoms.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58But...the people have been very kind to me, here -
0:10:58 > 0:11:00I can't just leave them.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Oh, I see.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05I'll wait until they return to explain.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09You go ahead and thank Shing for the flute, and tell him
0:11:09 > 0:11:13he'll hear his jade flute playing near the plum trees very soon.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Bye, then. See you soon!
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Back came Charlotte in her old battered boots,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24over the open fields and down the mountainside.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30When Charlotte made it back to the grand house in the Valley,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Shing was waiting in the garden for news.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37- Did you give him the jade flute? - Yes.- And he's coming back?
0:11:37 > 0:11:38He should be here soon.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Thank you. I'll play my bamboo flute while I wait.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43That would be lovely.
0:11:44 > 0:11:52MELODIC MUSIC
0:11:55 > 0:11:58FLUTE PLAYS IN DISTANCE
0:11:58 > 0:12:04Listen! It's Gao with the jade flute. It sounds so beautiful.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Welcome back, Gao.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11If you make a happy home, absent friends will return.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Shall we play our flutes?
0:12:17 > 0:12:21While you play the flutes, Charlotte and I will have
0:12:21 > 0:12:23some lovely, fresh plums!
0:12:23 > 0:12:24Yes, let's.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33And that was that, the whole kit and caboodle.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Charlotte and the adventure of the jade flute.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Do you think Shin liked playing the jade flute by the end?
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Especially when he heard his old servant playing it.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47- It was a very pretty little green flute.- It was.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50So delicate and green - the colour of moss.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Well, I'll be blowed! Is that the time already? Come on.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Your mum'll be here in a minute.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Your coat.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16Now, how did that get there?
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Home time now, Charlotte!
0:13:28 > 0:13:30Thanks, great aunt Lizzie!
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Cheery bye, Charlotte!