1. AN UNEXPECTED GUEST IN THE EMERALD FOREST CLASS: 3

2. NARRATOR 1: Once upon a time, in the land of fairy tales, there was a very beautiful forest up on the slope of the emerald mountain. It was really thick, full of life, so unique, so perfect, so emerald. “Magic forest in the land of sweet dreams Animals and birds, trees, flowers and rivers are waking up! They are all happily expecting the arrival of Spring!” NARRATOR 2: Well, on the first day of Spring, all trees woke up very early in the morning, when the day was breaking. They got up and stretched their bodies though they were still sleepy. They got very tired the previous day! You see they had a lot of preparations to make to welcome Spring, King Year’s beautiful, only daughter. So after getting up, they washed their faces with the dewdrops, stretched their branches and said good morning to each other.

3. JUDAS TREE: Good morning my little fir trees. FIR TREES: Good morning my fair Judas tree. ELM TREE: Good morning Mr Pine. PINE TREE: Good morning Miss Elm. ALL TREES: What a wonderful day! ELM TREE: It’ll surely be the most glorious celebration of the year! FIR TREE 1: You are right! Our emerald forest looks divine today! FIR TREE 2: Everything is shiny clean and full of kindness!

5. JUDAS TREE: That’s true! We are the perfect hosts to welcome Spring! I’m so happy… PINE TREE: Come on, let’s talk to Mrs Oak. She’s the one to take the final decisions. ELM TREE: She has welcomed Spring hundreds of times during the last years. She’s very experienced in making all the necessary preparations for the welcoming. Shhh, I can hear her coming. OAK TREE: Well done my beloved trees! You are really hard working! What else is there to be done? Hmm..! Of course! We have to prepare the archway for the queen’s magnificent entrance. My dear holm–oak please help me. You are the highest tree in the forest!

6. HOLM - OAK: Don’t worry Mrs Elm. We’ll bend as low as we can and make a tight archway with our branches. Nobody will be able to break it! OAK TREE: Then you, my dear birds, will take over the decoration of the green archway. Is that OK? BIRDS: Yes! Yes! BIRD 1: We have already picked violets and other wild flowers. BIRD 2: We’ll try really hard to make the most beautiful arch in the world. OAK TREE: Then you, my dear birds, will take over the decoration of the green archway. Is that OK? BIRDS: Yes! Yes! BIRD 1: We have already picked violets and other wild flowers. BIRD 2: We’ll try really hard to make the most beautiful arch in the world.

8. OAK TREE: Where’s the cuckoo? CUCKOO: Here I am my lady. Ready to serve you. OAK TREE: That’s very kind of you! I want you to fly in the forest and twitter the arrival of Spring. Invite all God’s creatures to join the celebration of life and have great fun all together. CUCKOO: Don’t worry my lady! I’m leaving. OAK TREE: I’d like to ask you a favour, my dear herb. HERB: Please tell me my fair lady. OAK TREE: I want you to spread your scent everywhere. HERB: Consider it done, my lady! I’ll pour out my fragrant breath in the forest. The air will be scented and Spring will be more generous with us this year. OAK TREE: Where’s the little bee?

9. LITTLE BEE: Zzzz! Here I am my lady. OAK TREE: Don’t forget to fill the big glass jar with your best honey. BEE: We’re producing it in our hive. It’ll be the best honey our queen has ever tasted. I have to hurry now! Zzzz! OAK TREE: I’m really satisfied! The forest smells great! We have to decide about the music now. WIND: The nightingale, the great performer, will sing for us. We’re so proud of him. POPPY: Yesterday evening I watched his last performance with the band of the leaves. The new melody he composed for the first day of Spring is superb. His sweet voice enchanted me. HERB: You weren’t the only one. The moon was also enchanted and spread its moon dust all over the forest. Even the stones were covered with moss.

10. HOLM - OAK: They did the right thing. Everybody must join the celebration. Everything’s ready to welcome the queen. POPPY: So let’s put on our formal clothes and meet in the glade, next to the spring. NARRATOR: Shortly afterwards, the guests started arriving one after the other. Mrs Oak, in her smart long green gown, was welcoming everybody. The poppy was so beautiful in her short waving red skirt! After a while, Miss Elm showed up. She was the most impatient of all. You see she thought highly of herself and hoped that one of the queen’s attendants would fall in love with her and eventually marry her…?

12. She was smartly dressed and took good care that her green gown wouldn’t get creased. The little bee arrived buzzing of happiness for bringing the queen her delicious honey as a present. All trees and birds even the animals arrived one after the other. The nightingale was the last bird to arrive. He was a bit late because it took him longer to put on his tail – coat. Once he arrived, he started chirping nice melodies. Allof a sudden … OAK TREE: Maestro, stop playing the music immediately! What’s that? PINE TREE: It smells horrible! Phew! FIR TREE 1: Look! There are flames over there! FIR TREE 2: Oh! My asthma! Cough, cough! HOLM - OAK: Fire, fire! JUDAS TREE: I’m scared! We’ll all get burnt! ELM TREE: Oh goodness! What shall we do?

13. HERB: Mrs. Oak, please do something! LITTLE BEE: My hoooney! It will melt! POPPY: The forest is being burnt and all that matters to you is your honey! NIGHTINGALE: The forest is on fire, the celebration is damaged, my tail – coat…, my voice … EVERYBODY: The emerald forest is being burnt … Disaster… OAK TREE: Keep calm please. We won’t let our forest be burnt down! CUCKOO: I’m calling all birds of the forest. When I give you the sign, you’ll all fly to call Mrs Rain. BIRDS: We’re ready! Off we go!

14. DEER 1: The situation is difficult. Blood will be shed. We’d better call the wise owl. She’s old and knows a lot. DEER 2: We’ll run very quickly. Little bee fly quickly to the glade to meet the queen. LITTLE BEE: I’m running! God help us! DEER 1:Mrs Owl, Mrs Wise Owl! DEER 2: Fly quickly! The forest is on fire! Only YOU can help us. DEER: We’ll carry you on our back. Please hurry! Our forest is on fire! OWL: Oh, it’s men’s fault again! They say they have brain in their heads. They only have feet to run and hands to fight! We mustn’t be late, let’s hurry!

16. You silly people! You’re expecting Spring to bring you the gifts of life and at the same time you’re destroying the life around you. Why are you mean and selfish? Why did you put fire in the forest? What will your life be like without everything it offers you? Have you forgotten that the FOREST GIVES LIFE? Let’s all try to put off the fire and light the flame of love. EVERYBODY: Long live the Owl! Long live love! Long live the forest! Long live life! OAK TREE: What a relief! We were lucky to avoid a huge destruction. ALL TREES: We hope men have taken the message and never put fire in the forest again.

17. WIND: I’m bringing you a happy message. Spring is coming! She’s bringing a lot of presents for everybody. Trees, birds and little animals welcome her! SPRING: I’m promising everybody to bring new life and hope. My flowers are scattering their aromas and notes of sweet music. Keep quiet and listen to them! Smell them! Follow them! It’s time our dreams come true all around the world! NARRATOR: They all bent to get the blessing of new life. She was wearing branches of wild olive tree on her head and holding fragrant roses. At the same time the nightingale approached her, bowed and offered her timidly a bunch of wild forest flowers. She smiled at him graciously, gave her hand and started dancing. All trees, birds and animals kept dancing until it got dark.

18. When the celebration finished, everybody was happy because Spring had finally arrived and they had saved the forest. But above all men gave a promise: TO PROTECT THE EMERALD FOREST FOR EVER!

19. GO GREEN, GO CLEAN, ACT NOW! 2nd project meeting Athens 19/2/2011 – 23/2/2011