0:00:09 > 0:00:13Here they come, my two intrepid explorers -
0:00:13 > 0:00:14Charlotte
0:00:14 > 0:00:15and Elliot.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I'm their Great Aunt Lizzie, you see.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22And I wonder which one is coming to see me today.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Ah, so it's Elliot's turn.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Here he comes, racing to hear another tale
0:00:28 > 0:00:30from an epic adventurer.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47And what wonderful adventures they were,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50so long ago and so far away.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57I collected a few souvenirs along the way.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03But my most precious possession of all
0:01:03 > 0:01:07is my extraordinary collection of teacups.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26You've still got a coat on, Elliott. Come on.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31No time to count the clouds. We've got stories to tell.
0:01:31 > 0:01:32Now,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35let's have a lovely cup of tea.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40But first we need...
0:01:40 > 0:01:42The teacup.
0:01:46 > 0:01:47But which one?
0:02:00 > 0:02:01That one.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Ah...
0:02:05 > 0:02:07The lucky horse.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09What a choice, Elliot.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12I do really love that story.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22This will be just perfect to drink now.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30So...are you ready?
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Ready.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Then let me tell you the story of Great Aunt Lizzie
0:02:36 > 0:02:39and the adventure of the lucky horse.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40Ahem.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Oh, yes, of course.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Let me tell you the story of
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Elliot and the adventure of the lucky horse.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52It's all started long, long ago
0:02:52 > 0:02:55in the magnificent empire of China.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Its towering Himalayan mountains,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00lush scented fields
0:03:00 > 0:03:02and thick, green forests.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:03:20 > 0:03:23It was still early one sunny morning
0:03:23 > 0:03:26when he arrived in a small and elegant town.
0:03:29 > 0:03:35Everywhere was as clean as a whistle and as neat as a new pin.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39It was all calm and peaceful as Elliot rounded a corner
0:03:39 > 0:03:42and saw two men sweeping the street.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47It's going to be a hot one today, Mr Kai.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50So let's get the work done while it's cool, Shan.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54If we finish early, you can get off to do your test
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- and then you'll be a doctor. - Only if I pass.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01- Maybe I'll have a little look at my lucky horse.- No, no, no.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Keep the lucky horse safely tucked away until after the test.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Then you look after it while I go get some water.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12You must drink lots of water on a hot day - doctor's orders.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Doctor's orders, huh?
0:04:14 > 0:04:18- You haven't passed the test yet. - But I will if I stay lucky.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23I think we've done as much as we can here. I'll meet you in the square.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Suddenly, the old man was very unhappy.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Elliot wondered if there was anything he could do.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34- Hello.- Oh, hello there.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37- You look worried.- Yes, I am.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41My friend has a carving - a beautiful little horse.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Well, he used to. It's his good luck charm, the most precious thing
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- in the world to him. - Doesn't he have it any more?
0:04:48 > 0:04:51I took it out to see it and then I dropped it
0:04:51 > 0:04:54- and it smashed into a million pieces.- Oh, no.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58I couldn't bring myself to tell him, so I put a rock in its place
0:04:58 > 0:05:00until I could work out what to do.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Maybe if you said you were sorry and that it was an accident.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07He's been studying to be a doctor for years.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09It's his final test today.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11If I tell him now, it will be terrible.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Elliot could see the man's dilemma,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17but he was sure it was always better to tell the truth.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20If he finds out it'll be even worse.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23You're right. I'll think about the best way to tell him
0:05:23 > 0:05:26while I sweep the town square.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Poor Mr Kai was so filled with guilt about breaking Shan's lucky horse,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34he swept and swept as if he could sweep all his troubles away,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38but Elliot couldn't bear to watch Mr Kai working so hard in the
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- sweltering heat. - Let me help you sweep.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Thank you, friend.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46Mr Kai was still fretting about telling Shan the horse was broken.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49If he finds out the horse is gone before his test,
0:05:49 > 0:05:54his confidence will be shattered, just like the lucky horse.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59I want to tell him the truth but I can't.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Mr Kai? What's that?
0:06:03 > 0:06:05And where's my lucky horse?
0:06:09 > 0:06:11You said it had to stay in the purse.
0:06:11 > 0:06:17Shan... Yesterday I dropped the horse and it smashed to pieces.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I put a rock in its place so you wouldn't find out
0:06:20 > 0:06:21until after the test.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23I'm sorry.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26You mean I have got to do my doctor's test
0:06:26 > 0:06:27without my lucky horse?
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Shan, I'm so sorry.
0:06:31 > 0:06:32You finish the square.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35I'll start on another street...
0:06:35 > 0:06:36on my own!
0:06:38 > 0:06:39Oh, dear.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43If I could get a new horse before his test I would,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46but then we would never finish in time.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48I could go and get a new lucky horse.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53Now Elliot thought getting a new lucky horse would be as easy as pie,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56but of course it was never going to be as easy as that.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Mr Kai didn't look in the least bit relieved.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02That's very kind of you, it really is.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05The woman who makes them lives miles away up in the hills.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09You'd have to be very determined to get there and back in time.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13It was not long past breakfast and oh, my, had it got complicated.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17He'd heard about Mr Kai's disaster with the lucky horse,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21he'd tried to persuade him to tell the truth before he found out
0:07:21 > 0:07:24and he had helped sweep the streets.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28But then Shan came back and discovered what really happened.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29Mr Kai? What's that?
0:07:29 > 0:07:31He couldn't just leave without
0:07:31 > 0:07:35trying to get a new lucky horse, could he?
0:07:37 > 0:07:41There was nothing else for it but to get his skates on.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53So off went Elliot in his old, battered boots.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57He scrambled up the misty mountain paths until...
0:07:57 > 0:08:01when he was almost out of breath, the path ran out.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09There was only one way to get to the other side.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Elliot took a deep breath.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Safely across, Elliot soon came to the most enchanting valley
0:08:39 > 0:08:43with a strange little house perched on a wooden post.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53But there was no time to waste. Elliot had to get that horse.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57As he approached the house, there was nobody to be seen.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02Hello? Hello?
0:09:02 > 0:09:07- Hello.- Hello. I'm looking for the woman who carves the tiny horses.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10And here I am. How can I help you?
0:09:10 > 0:09:13My friend had a lucky horse, but he broke it by accident
0:09:13 > 0:09:18- and I said I'd try and get him one. - I have a horse figurine right here.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26I've had this for ages. No-one has ever earned it.
0:09:26 > 0:09:27Earned it?
0:09:27 > 0:09:31If you want a lucky horse, we have to see if it is lucky for you.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34You have to play "shoushiling". Do you know it?
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Thought not.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Rock blunts scissors.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Scissors cut paper.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Paper covers rock.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Oh, I know this game.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46One chance only.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Put your hands behind your back.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Count to three and see who wins.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53- Ready?- Rock, paper or scissors.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Elliot took a deep breath,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59looked at all the rocks surrounding the old woman
0:09:59 > 0:10:00and made up his mind.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Ready.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04One...
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Two...
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Three.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Paper covers rock!
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Of course. What else would she choose but rock?
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Well, I never.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19So, it's your lucky horse. There you go.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Elliot held the little, brown, jade horse.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26It was surprisingly heavy and felt cool in his hand.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28- Thank you very much.- You're welcome.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Back came Elliot in his old, battered boots...
0:10:35 > 0:10:40..over the open fields and down the mountainside...
0:10:40 > 0:10:45and back into town with a perfect, brown, jade, lucky horse.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49- I've got it!- But then...
0:10:49 > 0:10:51- What's the matter?- It was the heat.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53I should have slowed down.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Or you were too stubborn to drink enough water, Mr Kai.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59I swept so hard I fainted.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Shan came back to help.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06Shan, our new friend has been all the way to the hills to get you
0:11:06 > 0:11:09a new lucky horse just in time for your test.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Thank you, Mr Kai. And thank you, too.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17You too have been very good friends to me
0:11:17 > 0:11:19and I will treasure this horse,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22but I don't think I need it for luck any more.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26- Why not?- Because we finished cleaning all the streets in time for my test
0:11:26 > 0:11:30without it. I saved Mr Kai without it.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32And, if my old one had not been broken,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Mr Kai and I would never have met such a wonderful new friend.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41I think I'm a very lucky man, even when I don't have my lucky horse.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43And I think China is very lucky
0:11:43 > 0:11:47because it's about to get a brilliant new doctor.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49I'm thirsty.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Let's have another cup of water.
0:11:52 > 0:11:53Yes, let's.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00And that was that, the whole kit and caboodle.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Elliot and the adventure of the lucky horse.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06I loved it. I especially loved the bit where Shan realised
0:12:06 > 0:12:10that if he passed his exams it wasn't because of luck.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13I liked that bit too. He'd studied very hard.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17- I wonder if he passed his exam in the end.- He certainly did.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21The amazing Dr Shan, they called him, one of the kindest
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and brightest doctors in the whole of China.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26He kept the horse figure in his surgery
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and every time he looked at it he thought about
0:12:29 > 0:12:33- the good fortune of having good friends.- Whoa.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Well, I'll be blowed. Is that the time already? Come on.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Your mum'll be here in a minute.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Your coat.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Now, how did that get there?
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Home time now, Elliot.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Thanks, Great Aunt Lizzie!
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Cheery-bye, Elliot.