Script: The Fox and the Grapes

CHARACTERS:
Fox
Narrator - The narrator can be any puppet at all

LOCATION: A vineyard, filled with grape vines, surrounded by a fence with a very narrow gap.

NARRATOR: Have you ever wanted something? Wanted something so badly that you would do anything for it? Anything for it at all? I have a friend like that. Let me introduce you to him. His name is Mr. Fox.

The fox enters, talking to himself.

FOX: What's that? What's that, stomach? You have something to tell me?

NARRATOR: Hello, Mr. Fox!

FOX: (To narrator.) Just a moment. Just a moment. My stomach is making noises.

NARRATOR: All stomachs make noises, Mr. Fox.

FOX: But I think my stomach is trying to tell me something.

NARRATOR: Sometimes stomachs make noise when they are hungry, Mr. Fox.

FOX: No. No. It's not that. I just ate a short while ago.

NARRATOR: Well, sometimes stomachs make noise when they are too full.

FOX: No, it's not that either. I stopped well before I was full.

NARRATOR: Why did you stop?

FOX: I was saving room for dessert.

NARRATOR: And what did you have for dessert?

FOX: I didn't have anything. Perhaps that is what my stomach is trying to tell me. (To stomach.) Are you hungry for something a little sweet? Is that why you are making noise? Are you telling me that it is time for dessert? (To narrator.) That must be it!

NARRATOR: Well, what do you have for dessert?

FOX: I don't have anything. Do you have anything?

NARRATOR: No, I don't have anything.

FOX: Well, I wish there was something sweet nearby that I could enjoy.

NARRATOR: Something like ice cream?

FOX: No. Something a little healthier.

NARRATOR: Spinach?

FOX: No, something sweeter.

NARRATOR: Grapes?

FOX: That's it, exactly. I wish there were grapes nearby that I could eat.

NARRATOR: Look behind you, Mr. Fox.

The fox turns around. He shouts for joy.

FOX: Hooray! It's a whole field full of grapes!

NARRATOR: But there is a problem, Mr. Fox.

FOX: Eh? What is that?

NARRATOR: The field is surrounded by a fence.

FOX: Oh, that's no problem. I will just jump over it.

The fox attempts to jump, fails.

NARRATOR: No luck?

FOX: No. The fence is too high. Perhaps I can dig under it.

The fox attempts to dig, fails.

NARRATOR: Didn't work?

FOX: No. The ground is too hard.

NARRATOR: Perhaps there is something you are overlooking, Mr. Fox?

FOX: I don't see it.

NARRATOR: There is a gap in the fence.

FOX: A gap in the . . . Oh! I see it. Do you think I could squeeze through?

NARRATOR: You could try.

The fox attempts to squeeze through the gap, fails.

FOX: Aw.

NARRATOR: Couldn't do it?

FOX: No. The gap is too small.

NARRATOR: If only there was some way to make yourself smaller.

FOX: Aha! You have given me an idea!

NARRATOR: What is that, Mr. Fox?

FOX: If I exercise very hard, I will burn calories, and that will cause me to lose weight.

NARRATOR: What sort of exercise?

FOX: I could do jumping jacks! Watch!

The fox does jumping jacks. After a while, he stops, exhausted.

NARRATOR: Do you think that did it?

FOX: Let's see.

The fox attempts to get through the gap, fails.

FOX: No. I'm still too big.

NARRATOR: Is there any other exercise you could do?

FOX: I could do push-ups.

NARRATOR: Will that make you smaller?

FOX: Let's try!

The fox does push-ups for a while, stops, exhausted.

NARRATOR: Do you think that was enough?

FOX: Maybe. I will try to get through the gap in the fence and find out.

The fox attempts to squeeze through the gap, fails.

FOX: I am just a tiny bit too big!

NARRATOR: A little more exercise, then?

FOX: Yes. I shall try running.

The fox runs back and forth repeatedly, finally falling over, exhausted.

NARRATOR: My goodness, you ran a lot!

FOX: Yes I did.

NARRATOR: Will you fit through the fence?

FOX: I think I might.

The fox goes to the gap in the fence, squeezes through.

NARRATOR: You did it!

FOX: Hooray!

NARRATOR: And now you can eat the grapes!

The fox begins eating grapes.

NARRATOR: How are they?

FOX: Delicious! They are just ripe enough, and just sweet enough!

NARRATOR: They are what you wanted for dessert?

FOX: They are exactly what I wanted. And there is as many as I want. I can eat and eat and eat.

NARRATOR: (To audience) And that's just what my friend Mr. Fox did. He ate, and he ate, and he ate, until he couldn't eat any more.

The fox sighs, satisfied.

NARRATOR: (To Fox) You've had enough?

FOX: I have had exactly the right amount. My stomach has stopped making noise, and feels perfectly full right now.

NARRATOR: And now what will you do?

FOX: Oh, I don't know. Maybe I will see a movie. Or maybe I will go dancing. Or maybe I will just go home and go to bed.

The fox tries to squeeze through the fence. He fails.

FOX: Uh-oh.

NARRATOR: What is it?

FOX: I can't get out the fence.

NARRATOR: You can't?

FOX: No. Eating the grapes has made me big again. I am too big to fit through the fence!

NARRATOR: Oh no!

FOX: I can't go to the movies, or dancing, or even home to go to bed if I am trapped behind this fence!

NARRATOR: No you can't.

FOX: This is terrible!

NARRATOR: If only there was something you could do to make yourself smaller again.

FOX: Oh, wait! I know what I can do! The same thing I did to get in here!

NARRATOR: Exercises?

FOX: Exercises. They will make me lose the weight I gained in here, and I will be able to fit through the fence again. Now, what did I do?

NARRATOR: Jumping jacks.

The fox does jumping jacks.

FOX: What next?

NARRATOR: Push-ups.

The fox does push-ups.

FOX: What next?

NARRATOR: You ran around.

The fox runs around, then collapses, exhausted.

NARRATOR: Do you think that worked?

FOX: Let's find out.

The fox squeezes through the fence, emerging on the other side.

FOX: Hooray!

NARRATOR: Hooray!

FOX: But wait! What's that noise?

NARRATOR: What noise?

FOX: You don't hear a gurgling? A sort of rumbling?

NARRATOR: I do, now that you mention it.

FOX: What could it be? (Listens) It's my stomach!

NARRATOR: Your stomach?

FOX: It's just as hungry as it was before! Because I exercised and lost everything I gained! This is terrible!

NARRATOR: You know what else this is like?

FOX: What?

NARRATOR: This is like life, Mr. Fox. You come in with nothing, and, no matter what you gain while you are alive, when you leave this earth you can take none of it with you. No matter how much you want something, and no matter how glad you are when you get it, it is only temporary. A good lesson to remember.