| 1. | MUSIC: | THEME MUSIC FADES UP, HOLDS 0.05, AND CROSS FADES TO... |
| 2. | SFX: | RADIOS BLARING, MOTOR BIKES SPEEDING UP AND
AWAY, CARS HONKING, GENERAL NOISE SUSTAINED 0.03 AND FADE UNDER... |
| 3. | NARRATOR: | Ah friends, the noise, the noise! I have had to move far away so
that I can to talk to you, but there's no getting away from it. Noise ... everywhere! Radios, music sets, electric generators, motorbikes and bicycles. Goodness! People can't get enough of these gadgets! Yes, my friends...that's Mabudi these days. Three years have passed and it's hard to picture the way it was - a pristine and sleepy little town... It's three years since Moleke first returned and sold the idea of turning every inch of land into vegetable gardens. New prosperity has come to those who joined Moleke's and Abah Manu's bandwagon!
But that's not all, friends. You will recall that Moleke planned to oust Yohanna from his land with THE ABAH's support? All Yohanna has left today, let me tell you, is a distant, stony and rocky hillside plot nobody wants. What can he do with such land? Is the day of greed and evil never to end? We will just have to wait and see. |
| 4. | MUSIC: | THEME MUSIC FADES UP, HOLDS, AND FADES UNDER |
| 5. | SFX: | OUTDOORS IN FRONT OF YOHANNA'S HOUSE.
DISTANT TOWNSHIP NOISES AS SOUND BED, MOTOR BIKES AND CARS DRIVE BY FROM TIME TO TIME. SOUND OF CHICKENS AND GOATS IN THE BACKGROUND. |
| 6. | ZARA: | (MUMBLES THEN GIVES A SUDDEN YELP IN PAIN) Ooi!
Oh my God! (SHE THROWS THE CONTENTS OF THE SEWING BOX TO THE GROUND WITH A CLATTER.) |
| 7. | SFX: | SOUND OF TIN CONTAINER FALLING AND THE SOUND
OF BOUNCING COVER AND WOODEN THREAD SPOOLS ON A HARD FLOOR. |
| 8. | ZARA: | Stupid needle. Stupid, stupid needle! |
| 9. | SFX: | SOUND OF DOOR OPENING AND SLAMMING SHUT AS
HASSAN RUNS OUT OF THE HOUSE ALARMED. |
| 10. | HASSAN: | Zara, are you okay? (PAUSE ONE BEAT) Don't worry, let me
pick them up. |
| 11. | ZARA: | (IN ANGER AND PAIN) Ooh, this stupid needle has wounded
me. Hassan, I am just fed up with this kind of life. Why does Baba have to be such a pushover? |
| 12. | SFX: | SOUNDS AS SEWING TOOLS ARE DROPPED BACK IN
TIN CONTAINER. |
| 13. | HASSAN: | (SOOTHING) Calm down, Zara. What has the needle got to do
with Baba? |
| 14. | ZARA: | (PASSIONATELY) It has everything to do with Baba. Why do I
have to sew and patch this stupid tattered dress? (FLINGS DRESS AWAY) Here - you can have it for all I care. |
| 15. | SFX: | SOUND OF STOOL FALLING OVER AS HASSAN JUMPS AWAY. |
| 16. | HASSAN: | (CRIES OUT) Zara! Why did you fling your sewing at me? Do
you want to blind me with it? Ha! See! The needle is still dangling from it. |
| 17. | ZARA: | Sorry, Hassan. Please ... I'm very sorry. (SIGHS) I cannot
understand how Baba can stand there and watch his cousin Moleke take over all his land, while his family dies of poverty. |
| 18. | HASSAN: | (PLACATING) There was nothing Baba could do about that.
Let's just move on and carry on with our lives. |
| 19. | ZARA: | How can we carry on with our lives? What's left of it anyway...
rags and empty pots? |
| 20. | HASSAN: | Empty pots! Ha, Zara that is not quite... |
| 21. | ZARA: | (CUTS IN) Ok, how many times do we eat in a day? |
| 22. | HASSAN: | Well... maybe... eh even then... maybe not like before, but... |
| 23. | ZARA: | (TRIUMPHANTLY) But what? Listen, Baba is never going to
change. People will always push him around. We are stuck in this condition until we die of hunger or Moleke buys us out spirit, body, and soul. |
| 24. | HASSAN: | It has not come to that yet. |
| 25. | ZARA: | We are almost there, Hassan. That land Moleke left for Baba is
nothing but dry rocks on a steep hill. He will need a magician to make anything grow on it. |
| 26. | HASSAN: | I've heard that it is possible to improve the land. |
| 27. | ZARA: | (LAUGHS) Improve that rocky wasteland?! Hassan, you talk as if
you have not seen the land. |
| 28. | HASSAN: | Well, Shurahi was saying something about some ditches you can
make to help the land? |
| 29. | ZARA: | (LAUGHS) Hassan, you believe everything you hear. |
| 30. | HASSAN: | Anyway, I'm not worried. I'm sure Baba knows what he is doing.
He is just a man of peace. |
| 31. | ZARA: | (CYNICALLY) Yes indeed, and has peace brought him any more
cows? The land was rightfully ours; Moleke has enough money as it is. Does Baba want us to remain poor forever? |
| 32. | HASSAN: | Zara, you know that is Baba's nature - gentle and peaceful. |
| 33. | ZARA: | (IRRITATED) Yes, but where does that get him and his family?
(EMPHATICALLY) At the bottom of the rubbish heap! |
| 34. | HASSAN: | (DISAPPROVINGLY) I don't know about that. Baba works
harder than many younger people. He is bound to make it one of these days. |
| 35. | MUSIC: | BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND UNDER... |
| 36. | SFX: | A CAR DRIVES UP AND STOPS OFF MIC. CAR DOOR
OPENS AND CLOSES. PAUSE 3 BEATS AND... |
| 37. | MOLEKE: | Greetings, your Royal Highness! The King that will soon be richer
than rich. You are looking more majestic than ever. I only wish that one day I will be worthy of standing on the same soil as someone so great as yourself, O Mighty Abah Manu of Mabudi. |
| 38. | ABAH MANU: | (LAUGHS SELF CONSCIOUSLY) Moleke, you are too kind. |
| 39. | MOLEKE: | (FLATTERING) Not only are you mighty, you are wiser than the
owl in the forest. Thank you for approving the planting of tomatoes, peppers and salad vegetables everywhere. |
| 40. | ABAH MANU: | Ah Moleke, I would not have been able to do this without your
great wisdom. |
| 41. | MOLEKE: | Your Highness, you are the wise one... |
| 42. | ABAH MANU: | (CUTS IN) No...no... I thank you once again for honouring your
word and providing us with the wells and pumps. |
| 43. | MOLEKE: | Your Highness, everybody is singing your praises because they are
earning more money. |
| 44. | ABAH MANU: | Indeed, this way of farming has brought great rewards. |
| 45. | MOLEKE: | Oh yes, the vegetables are doing so well. Can you imagine what
would happen if we extended our project to the forest? |
| 46. | ABAH MANU: | (PUZZLED) The forest ... how do you mean? |
| 47. | MOLEKE: | Think of the streams and the vegetation... think of how quickly
things grow in the forest... |
| 48. | ABAH MANU: | (CUTS IN, EXCITED) Wait a minute, you mean... |
| 49. | MOLEKE: | Exactly! |
| 50. | ABAH MANU: | Wait! You mean to plant vegetables in the forest? |
| 51. | MOLEKE: | (GLEEFULLY) Absolutely! |
| 52. | ABAH MANU: | Good God! That sounds fantastic! There's plenty of land right
there...Plants grow so well in the forest... |
| 53. | MOLEKE: | (CUTS IN) ...that they may not even need fertilizers! Ah, great
Abah, I knew that your great intelligence would see the fortune that is wasting in the forest. |
| 54. | ABAH MANU: | (PONDERING) Yes, that is true... it is almost like magic. Even
when it doesn't rain, plants grow everywhere. |
| 55. | MOLEKE: | Yes, your Highness. I see that you are not only great and wise but
observant as well. |
| 56. | SFX: | MOLEKE CLEARS THROAT SLIGHTLY, AFRAID TO
BURST THE BUBBLE. |
| 57. | MOLEKE: | But there is a small problem though ...mmmh, very small. |
| 58. | ABAH MANU: | Really? What is the problem? |
| 59. | MOLEKE: | Well, not really a problem... but you know wherever there is
progress there are always enemies of progress. |
| 60. | ABAH MANU: | Unfortunately that is true, Moleke. |
| 61. | MOLEKE: | Well... my dear cousin Yohanna, enemy-of-progress-number-
one, may have something to say about our plan. |
| 62. | ABAH MANU: | Hmn! That one? Well, he disagrees with everything. If he didn't
disagree with our progressive ideas, wouldn't you think something was wrong? Don't worry. There will be no problem. |
| 63. | MUSIC: | BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND CROSS FADE TO... |
| Zara & Hassan are outside of their house husking corn. |
| 64. | SFX: | SOUND OF CORN FALLING INTO PLASTIC TRAYS/BOWLS. |
| 65. | ZARA: | Ooh! This job is killing me, Hassan! Do you think we have enough
for supper? |
| 66. | HASSAN: | Don't ask me - you are the one who's going to pound it. |
| 67. | ZARA: | You are dreaming! I am very tired. |
| 68. | SFX: | (OFF) IMPATIENT SOUND OF BICYCLE BELL. CRY OF
ALARM, "HEY YOU! DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME? CAN'T YOU LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING?" GRUMBLING CONTINUES, THEN FADES. |
| 69. | ZARA: | Mhh ... does he have to knock everybody down because he bought
a new bicycle? |
| 70. | HASSAN: | (CHUCKLING) Zara, how does the man's bicycle concern you? |
| 71. | ZARA: | (PIQUED) Very soon there will be more bicycles in this village
than people. |
| 72. | HASSAN: | (WRYLY) Very soon there will be more of EVERYTHING in this
village. |
| 73. | SFX: | (OFF) SOUND OF RADIO CARRIED BY SOMEONE
APPROACHING, PASSING BY AND FADING. |
| 74. | ZARA: | Ah ha! Another one showing off his newfound wealth. Hassan, do
you know that I'm ashamed to walk on the streets? |
| 75. | HASSAN: | (LAUGHS, TEASING) Why? Did you steal somebody's goat? |
| 76. | ZARA: | I'm not joking, Hassan. Can't you see that every family has
become rich except ours? We are the only ones with nothing new to show off. |
| 77. | HASSAN: | Yes, I know. I just wish your "favourite uncle" Moleke had never
come back to this village. |
| 78. | ZARA: | Whose uncle? He is not my uncle! Not mine. |
| 79. | HASSAN: | (CONSPIRATORIALLY) And here comes your favourite
admirer. |
| 80. | ZARA: | Where? Where? (SEES BALA MANU & HISSES) Hassan, I will
throw this corn at you. |
| 81. | SFX: | NOISE AND CLATTER AS HASSAN (LAUGHING)
ATTEMPTS TO AVOID ZARA'S ATTACK. |
| 82. | BALA MANU: | (COMING ON MIC) Ha! Hassan, looks like you are under attack. |
| 83. | HASSAN: | (STILL LAUGHING) Oh Bala, how are you? |
| 84. | BALA MANU: | Good day, Zara. You are working real hard. |
| 85. | ZARA: | (SUCKING HER TEETH, SARCASTIC) What's good about
my day? Why are you here - don't you and your father have any more farms to steal? |
| 86. | HASSAN: | (OUTRAGED) Ah! Zara! |
| 87. | BALA MANU: | Zara, I'm really sorry. I keep telling you I had nothing to do with
it. I have always loved and admired your father. |
| 88. | ZARA: | (SARCASTIC) So you show your love by stealing from the
person you claim to love? |
| 89. | BALA MANU: | Honestly Zara, I don't know what to say. |
| 90. | ZARA: | You could have done something to stop it. After all, Abah Manu is
your father. |
| 91. | BALA MANU: | Unfortunately my father never listens to me. (PAUSE) Mhh ... so
what will your father do now? |
| 92. | ZARA: | Haven't you heard that all they left us is a stony worthless strip of
land miles from the village? |
| 93. | BALA MANU: | Once again I apologize on behalf of my father. I ...er... Hassan, see
you later. (GOING OFF). |
| 94. | HASSAN: | Don't mind my sister, Bala. See you later. (TO ZARA) Zara, why
were you so rude to Bala? Don't you know that he is not involved in all this? |
| 95. | ZARA: | How do you know? Everyone in his family only cares about
money... greedy pigs. |
| 96. | HASSAN: | Zara, are you blind?! Can't you see that Bala likes you? |
| 97. | ZARA: | Well, I had better run before he shows me the kind of love his
people have shown my father. |
| 98. | HASSAN: | Sometimes you really are a case. Anyone can tell that he likes you
a lot. |
| 99. | ZARA: | Hassan, I don't like that kind of joke - please stop! If you don't
have anything sensible to say, just shut up! |
| 100. | MUSIC: | BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER... |
| At Abah Manu's Palace |
| 101. | MOLEKE: | Your Highness! You are so lucky to have most of the forest land in
Mabudi. |
| 102. | ABAH MANU: | Yes, that is rather fortunate. We don't have to convince a lot of
ignorant people how profitable planting in the forest can be. |
| 103. | MOLEKE: | It means nobody can stand in our way. And it means more money
for all of us. |
| 104. | ABAH MANU: | Speaking of money, Moleke, I have not received payment in the
last four weeks for the baskets of tomatoes that your trailers have loaded. |
| 105. | MOLEKE: | Don't worry about that, your Highness. I have simply begun to
hold on to a bit of the cash. |
| 106. | ABAH MANU: | I don't understand. |
| 107. | MOLEKE: | Well, I wouldn't want your debts to get too large, your Highness. |
| 108. | ABAH MANU: | (PUZZLED) Debts? What debts? |
| 109. | MOLEKE: | Oh! Not much ... just a few millions... |
| 110. | ABAH MANU: | (DAZED) Millions? |
| 111. | MOLEKE: | To cover all the gallons of water I provided to irrigate the
vegetables. And of course the fertilizers. |
| 112. | ABAH MANU: | But that is simply impossible! |
| 113. | MOLEKE: | I have my records, your High... |
| 114. | ABAH MANU: | (CUTTING IN, INCREDULOUS) So you mean all this time you
have been adding up all the costs? |
| 115. | MOLEKE: | Of course, your Highness... I have really sacrificed a lot for this
business. I couldn't do it all for free. |
| 116. | ABAH MANU: | Water and fertilizer... but how did it all add up to millions? |
| 117. | MOLEKE: | Your Highness, you know you always want nothing but the best
quality. |
| 118. | ABAH MANU: | (PANICKY) But why didn't you tell me I owed so much? |
| 119. | MOLEKE: | Your Highness, it's a small thing... |
| 120. | ABAH MANU: | How can you call so much money a small thing? |
| 121. | MOLEKE: | Well, I have not asked you to pay back... |
| 122. | ABAH MANU: | But you have deprived me of money that I needed. |
| 123. | MOLEKE: | I have helped you so much that my own businesses have begun to
suffer. |
| 124. | ABAH MANU: | But how can this be? You just bought a fleet of new cars and you
are building a mansion. |
| 125. | MOLEKE: | Your Highness, I have other businesses ... |
| 126. | ABAH MANU: | (WORRIED) How could I possibly pay you back so much?! |
| 127. | MOLEKE: | Don't worry about how to pay me. When we cut down the forest,
the sale of timber and firewood will fetch plenty of money. |
| 128. | MUSIC: | THEME MUSIC HOLDS AND FADES TO... |
| 129. | NARRATOR: | Well, well, well! Is Moleke biting the hand that feeds him or just
supplying ver...rry good and expensive water? Mmhh! Will the people of Mabudi allow the forest to be cleared for farming? Why would people settle for such short-term gains? People are forgetting that the pact we have with our earth is to receive sustenance from it but leave it better than we found it. Take one and put two back, so to speak. But those days seem long gone. I'm shuddering at the coming terror if Yohanna and the rest are to be believed. The forces of greed are gathering momentum and I wonder what can stop them now. |
| 130. | MUSIC: | THEME MUSIC FADES UP, HOLDS AND UNDER CLOSING CREDITS. |
