Original subtitles

Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Boy, wait till the folks back home get a load of this.

I think that'll help.

Thanks a lot.

Pardon me.

Where's your camera, Miss Ferris?

This is my camera, Mr. Jason.

Tape recorder?

I want to capture African words, not pictures.

You must be a writer, huh?

I'm trying to be.

Is that all those darn lions can do? Sleep?

Stir them up a little.

Tell me, how well do you write from inside a lion? I thought you were the

who guided Ernest Hemingway in Barnaby Ferris.

That was my father.

Then why aren't you like him?

I'll bet he knew how to show a writer some excitement.

Uh -huh.

But he didn't have a license to worry about.

This is a game preserve now.

Lions aren't for killing.

Mr. Jason, could you give me a boost?

Excuse me.

Judy, how does a lion look when it charges?

Frightening, huh?

Well, come on.

Let's you and I go find out.

Oh, come on. I've seen you with your pal Clarence. You're not afraid of the

lions. Let's go.

Remember that goat we recorded at the compound?

It's about to do an encore.

Oh, Judy, stop worrying.

You had to do it, huh, lady?

Just wanted to see what it would feel like to be alone and unarmed in the

jungle. Well,

now you know.

Where's your tape recorder?

I, uh... I, uh, dropped it when the lion charged.

Oh, don't bother looking for it. I'm not.

Sounds like there's a goat in there somewhere.

It's caught in a snare.

Now, you stick with me. Well, shouldn't we go back? The lion might attack Mr.

Willis. Willis is all right. Now, come on.

Thumb pal, Judy.

And you're a coop lady.

This little caper of yours was either suicidal or homicidal depending on who

hurt, you or somebody else.

Look, I came on the safari for excitement, violence, adventure.

The things all bestsellers are made of.

You're a bit too intrepid for this dull little safari, Miss Ferris.

You can't be serious.

Oh, but I can.

And if I refuse to go?

Have you ever been hogtied?

Come on, baby.

Here we go.

Oh, hi, Mike.

Hi. Well, how'd it go, old buddy?

Oh, thrilling.

I visited nine villages.

examined 17 goats, inoculated 16 cows, and quarantined three diseased chickens.

You picked the right word.

Thrilling. Uh -huh. Well, I could think of some words that would describe it

even better.

Oh, come off it, Mike.

Oh, I mean it, Marsh.

Just a dumb cow doctor.

Country veterinarian, remember?

Well, remember, the stock diseases have dropped 50 % since you took over the

villages. Yeah, and my morale has dropped 100%.

Darn it, Mosh, I came here to do advanced research like you, not to be a

to a goat.

Yes, but your work's important and you're good at it.

Hooray for me. But please, don't tell me it's important.

Dad, look.

a hot potato.

Sounds as if I need asbestos gloves.

To handle this one, yeah.

A little lady with more nerve than brains.

I'm giving Ferris the heave -ho. What happened?

She was playing tag with the Pride of Lions.

Why would she pull a crazy stunt like that?

Who knows? Collecting material for a novel or her own obituary.

Can you drive her to Nagoro?

I'll drive her. Then I can check the northern villages on my way home.

Okay. Thanks, Mike.

Well, I better get back to my loan -paying customer before he starts

a refund.

See if people are there.

Yes, fine.

Well, I suppose we better tell Miss Ferris about a travel arrangements.

Want to come with me?

Miss Ferris, come in.

Oh, Miss Ferris, we're very sorry about what happened.

Mike is waiting to drive you to Nagoro.

He'll give you a hand when you're ready. Thanks, but no thanks.

I'm sure you can pick up another safari in Nagoro.

It's the height of the tourist season. They're all booked by now.

I'd appreciate it if you'd rent me one of your vehicles.

Well, I'm not going to let you go out in the bush alone.

My father did, and he lived to write about it.

Ferris?

Barney B. Ferris was your father?

Yes. Oh, but he was an old African hand. He could survive in the bush.

You knew him?

Well, I must have read all his books.

Matter of fact, he helped spark my interest in Africa.

You might say he was partly responsible for my being here.

Then you can repay the obligation by renting his daughter a car.

Well, as far as I'd loan you a car if I thought you could survive out there. If

you don't, I'll go on foot.

Well, you're really determined to risk your neck, aren't you?

determined to write, Dr. Tracy, and write as well as my father did. Well, do

have to be so stubborn about it? I have to observe Africa firsthand.

My only novel of African life was rejected because they said it lacked

authenticity.

Well, I intend to correct that fault. Dad, why can't Miss Ferris stay with us?

Oh, Paula, I think it would be best if... No, no, she'd learn a lot about

African wildlife if Romero loved her as she would on any safari.

Is there any real excitement around here?

Excitement? We have at least ten crises a week, don't we, Dad? Well, yes, at

least enough so that we don't have to manufacture any.

If you do stay, no more stunts. I would want your word on that.

Dr. Tracy, you have it.

And thanks.

All right.

Well, I'll go tell Mike he can leave.

Can I help you unpack, Jan?

Oh, I can manage.

Okay. And thanks, Paula.

Hi, Jenny. Who's your nosy friend?

His name is Taj.

He likes carrots.

Let me show you how he picks them up with his trunk.

Did you ever hear how elephants got their trunks?

I think so, but please tell me anyway.

Well, it goes like this.

Mr. Elephant didn't always have a trunk. Oh, no, indeed.

Once upon a time, he had a nose.

Very shrunk.

and hardly bigger than a dog.

Then one day, a crocodile heaved Mr. Elephant by the nose and pulled

and tugged and jerked a while and stretched him like a garden hose.

Alas, alas, the elephant cried.

Oh, look what you have done.

Now take it easy, the croc replied.

You haven't lost.

You've won.

With this trunk, You can tuck up water and squirt it anywhere you please.

Take a shower when the day grows high.

Or reach for fruit in the highest trees.

After a little cogitation, Mr. Elephant saw the compensation.

And from that day, every elephant chose to grow a trunk instead of a nose.

Wait right here. I'll be right back.

Judy, that's a happy story, not a sad one.

I read that very same story in this book, but I wasn't sure until you told

Well, I guess you and I must read the same books. I got four of the books by J

.L. Thomas.

He's the writer, and he's my favorite storyteller.

Dr. Torrey reads them, too.

And they make him laugh.

Dr. Torrey!

Dr. Torrey!

Dr. Torrey!

Excuse me, gentlemen.

a leopard attacked some of his villagers.

Was anyone hurt?

No, they escaped, but they're afraid he may have become a man -eater.

Oh, Paula, get my dart rifle and radio heavy to meet me in Monduli.

Are you going to kill it? No, I want to capture it. Could you?

If it is a man -eater, I want to find out why.

Let me come with you. No, that's not a good idea. Oh, Marsh, please. This is

just what I want to write about.

And I didn't rig this.

All right.

But under one condition.

You are strictly under my orders.

Oh, good.

Well, hold the fort down, Paulum.

That goes for Judy, too, wherever she is.

Okay, good luck.

Jan, this is District Officer Headley, Miss Jan Ferris. How do you do? How do

you do?

You know Mabumba, of course.

Huh? Jumbo Habari?

It's a race on a Mustang.

Mabumba was saying the leopard was last seen somewhere in there.

I want to tranquilize it, if possible.

You know there's only one thing to do with a man -eater. Destroy it.

Headley, old boy, we don't know if it is a man -eater. That's what we want to

find out.

Marsh, Miss, um, Ferris is not coming beating through the bush with us, is

Jan, I want you to stay with the truck.

Look, Marsh, you know I only came along because I wanted to... All right.

Um... If you'd rather have a better view, you can climb up on top of the

Thanks.

What were you trying to do, you little rascal? Scare me out of my wits?

Come on, here we go.

I don't think this leopard is your man -eater.

She was recently given birth.

More than likely, she chased away those villagers just to keep them from her

young. She's still a man -eater in my book until you prove otherwise.

Fair enough.

There should be a cub around here somewhere.

Well, if we don't find her, we'll starve.

She seems to have some sort of infection.

I think I'd better take her back for a checkup.

Care to come along?

I can't.

Have to be in Nagora at five o 'clock.

Boomba. Yo, Dr. Tony.

Lady Julia.

Ha, yo.

You're not very good at following orders, are you?

I heard her crying out there. I just had to go find her.

Well, she's only a cow.

Yes, but you didn't know that, did you?

Did you find your leopard?

Yes, our man either turned out to be this little rascal's mother.

I hope you didn't have to kill her. No, no, no. We tranquilized her. She's in

the back of the truck.

Hmm.

You've saved us a lot of trouble finding this cub.

Ah, Chewy.

Chewy is Swahili for leopard.

Only until his mother gets well, I think.

Mucocytosis. Could that be from giving birth?

Possibly.

Hi, Mike.

Hi.

Well, well, well.

How are the northern villages?

I see the feather count is about the same. The same as the southern villages,

except more sick cows.

East Coast fever?

Mm -hmm.

No, it's a sample of Mother Leopard's blood. You want to take a look?

Hmm. Biogenic.

Could be nomococcus.

Want to give me a hand on the diagnosis?

I think I'd like better, but I have to pipe up this report for the Bureau of

Animal Husbandry.

Mike, why don't you let me type it for you? I think I can decipher your

hieroglyphics. Well, they have to be collated.

Well, I can do that.

Thank you.

How do we get along without you?

Stand aside, Dr. Harley. This cow doctor is taking over.

Oh, all righty.

I'll go prepare Mama Leopard a cage in the compound.

You want to come along?

And I'll make her a nice soft bed. You're hired.

You come back here.

Judy.

Come on now. There's no use hiding. I'll find you eventually.

Judy.

That's a big idea, huh?

look at you. What do you want to do? Try on the latest styles from the States?

They look funny.

Miss Ferris won't think so when she sees her. Come on.

Let's get these things back.

Oh, no.

Oh, Judy.

Take these things off.

What a mess.

Here. Wipe your face. Come on, wipe it.

Come on, Jenny, let's straighten this place out.

Loud.

Doctor, you know what?

Know what?

Miss Ferris is my favorite storyteller.

J .L. Thomas was your favorite storyteller.

No, she isn't, Jenny.

What says right here, honest?

It's a cable gram from a publisher.

They want Miss Ferris to tell everybody who J .L. Thomas really is.

For pub... Publicity.

Yes, publicity.

Apparently J .L. Thomas is Miss Ferris' pen name.

What's a pen name?

A pen name is a made -up name that writers use when they don't want their

readers to know who they really are.

What's wrong with the real name?

Well, I don't know, but that's her secret. We shouldn't have read this,

I just wanted to see if I could.

Jenny.

Jenny, would you want someone going into your room and prying into your secrets?

No.

Reading your mail?

I don't get any.

I know.

But still, there are certain things that people like to keep to themselves.

And we call this the right of privacy.

Will you remember that?

I'll try.

Well, the important thing now is we must keep missing.

There is a secret away from everybody else, right?

I won't tell anyone.

anybody either.

Good morning, Jenny.

Good morning, Miss Barrett.

Golly, she's grown with the past couple of days.

I just showed him the rhinoceroses.

Rhinoceroses.

I'm a little rhinoceros, but when my brother comes by, don't call us

rhinoceroses. Call us rhinoceroses. Is that by J .L. Thomas?

Well, it could be.

She's still my favorite author.

Well, Jenny, the last time you said that, you said he's still my favorite

author. Why she?

Well, maybe... Because G .O. Thomas is a name pen.

A what?

She means pen name.

Oh, I see a pen name. I once explained to her that Lewis Carroll's pen name was

Charles Dodson.

Roadhouse in Wonderland.

That's right.

She just got the words a little mixed up.

I see.

Well, I was just on my way over to examine Mama Leopard. Would you care to

along? Oh, I'd love to.

Can I go?

You sure can.

Pretty chewy, huh?

Are you going in there without

tranquilizing her?

Oh, I've given her a mild sedative, but not enough to invalidate the

examination. I want her normal heartbeat and pulse.

She could tear to pieces.

I suppose she could, but I don't think she will under the circumstances.

All right, girl.

Easy does it.

Now, the first thing you do is you always approach an animal with the back

your hand.

That way you know you're not being aggressive, see?

You smell it?

Sniff you over, see if you're all right.

Come on over.

Come on over.

Come on over.

That's a good girl.

Yeah.

Let's see if we can just kind of check you over.

Could anybody do that?

Well, they could if they knew what they're doing.

Let me just feel that neck.

Let me just feel that neck.

That's right.

She looks in pretty good shape.

She'll be as good as new by morning.

We'll take her out near Monduli and release her tomorrow.

That's where we found them, and Hedley's agreed to it.

But weren't you just petrified?

I mean, didn't you feel something in there?

Yes, a concern.

For the animal.

Wish I knew how it felt.

Take one's courage in hand.

Now that's something I could write about.

Get out of here.

I've been spooked.

She's out. She's going to be a handful.

You stay in the cage.

Paula, you go with her.

Come on, Michael. Let's get to Jenny's window.

Jenny's window?

But won't the leopard just run away?

No, she'll pick up the son of her cub and try to get it.

But the leopard's sleeping with Jenny.

Her window's wide open.

I screamed. She bowled to the cage.

Sorry, Marsh.

You're leaving tomorrow, just as soon as I can arrange transportation.

But Marsh... But Marsh, nothing.

You promised no more stunts. It wasn't a stunt. Then what would you call it?

Oh, Marsh, please listen.

Before my father wrote Death of a Matador, he went into the ring at

He said the only way to understand a bullfight was to be in one.

All right.

So you're emulating your father.

Now, what do you think now? Are you a better writer for it?

No.

Nothing stays with me but the fear.

I was kidding myself, Marsh.

I didn't write just one rejected novel. I wrote a dozen.

And they lacked a lot more than authenticity.

I just don't have my father's talent.

I'm nothing but a writer of children's stories.

Yes, I know.

Your pen name is J .L. Thomas.

Probably one of the finest writers of children's stories living today.

For some reason or other, you seem to be ashamed of your talent. Why?

You call that a talent?

Compared to my father's?

Well, let me ask you something.

Isn't it better to be a first -rate Hans Christian Andersen than a third -rate

Hemingway?

I'll have Mike meet you on Wednesday. Thank you.

Tracy out.

Who was that?

Dr.

Daruma. You mean from the Bureau of Animal Husbandry?

Well, how many Dr. Darumas do you know?

What did he want?

Well, it seems he was impressed by the collated reports of some dumb cow

Oh, no.

That says it. Now, I'll never get out of this dull job.

As a matter of fact, he was particularly impressed that you noted the diet of

the... Sick cows as well as the well cows.

So? Oh, nothing.

Except, um, your report reveals that not one cow ingesting Jupiter weed has come

down with East Coast fever.

What? He wants to meet with you on Wednesday to discuss setting up a

study. A study that I want you to take complete charge of. Marsh, that's great.

Listen, if ever again you hear me complain about my job not being

I think we'll be along in about an hour or two to take you to Nagoro.

Oh, come on now, Jan. It can't be all that bad.

To finally learn that you're a washout and a failure.

That's not bad.

Well, Jan, it's only human nature to underrate oneself.

You take Mike, for example.

Yesterday, he would have traded jobs with anybody.

Just now, he realized how important his job really is.

And he's gained tremendous satisfaction.

I'm glad for Mike, of course.

But what satisfaction can I have?

Well, you bring wonder into the lives of children.

Isn't that satisfying?

I wouldn't know about that.

Dad, Mike's waiting for you. He's ready to leave.

All right.

Jan, you'll be gone by the time Mike and I get back from Unduly, so I'll say

goodbye now.

Would you do me a favor?

If I have time.

I'm afraid Hedley will be along any minute.

Well, I know, but Dad forgot that he's as grouchy as a bear without his coffee.

You know the road to Munduli, so I thought you might take this to him.

Paula, you're wonderful.

Do you really think I could talk him into letting me stay?

Well, I wouldn't be surprised. That coffee should put him in a very good

Thank you.

Beep beep.

Beep beep beep.

I see you in there.

Clear the road.

Jenny.

That's very sweet of you, dear, but I'm afraid he wants me to leave.

I'll bet he'll listen to me, especially if I say please.

Well, we are closer to Monduli than Wameru.

You might as well come along.

Hey, can I sit in the front seat?

Sure.

Wow.

Beautiful.

to be scared of.

They can go away.

They can go away in just a minute.

Help me!

While Meryl calling Marsh Tracy, this is an emergency.

Come in, please.

While Meryl calling Marsh Tracy, come in, Dad.

Yeah, this is Paula. Please come in.

Well, Merrill calling Marsh Tracy.

This is an emergency.

Come in, please.

I've been all over the compound twice. There's not a trace of her.

A little girl go -to.

Jenny's in shock.

Paula, believe me. Jenny hid in the car. I wouldn't have let her come.

We've been trying to get in touch with you by radio for over an hour, Mike.

Well, we were away from the truck most of the time.

It's too late to get you into the gora today, Miss Ferris.

I'll check with you later, see how Jenny is. All right. Mike, I... Excuse me.

I've got to put the truck away.

How is she?

How's Jenny?

My dad's still with her.

He's afraid she may have a permanent fear of the animals.

She can't sleep. She keeps having nightmares.

I guess I better get back. Hey, have some coffee first.

Yeah, I guess I could use some.

Well, Paula, I'm... Oh.

What can I do to help?

Well, I, uh... I was just going to go get her sedative. If you want to stay

her for a while, I'll be all right.

Dr. Torrey.

Shh, sweetheart.

He'll be right back. May you just try to go to sleep?

I can't.

Could you if I told you a bedtime story?

Is it about the elephant who got his long trunk?

No. It's a new story about a very funny little rhino.

I'm afraid of rhinos. No, Jenny.

Most rhinos are nice.

You just lie back and you relax.

Choppy the rhino was sad and forlorn.

shunned by his friends, because he had no horn.

Then one day, he saw a car whose horn went, Ah -oo

-ga. Ah -oo -ga.

Loud and clear.

Well, he ran so fast to talk to it, he knocked that car down with his ear.

Said Chubby, Gee, I'm sorry, miss.

I sure didn't mean to frighten you.

I'm looking for a horn, you see.

By chance, do you have two?

Well, car and girl exchanged a wink.

Indeed we do, our Jenny said.

And bringing forth that extra horn, she plunked it down right on his

head.

Shelby wore it always.

It was better than a bonnet.

For not only was it butterful, but he could play a

ooga on it.

A ooga.

I guess I won't be needing these.

What was it I said?

Something about bringing wonder into the lives of children?

I said I wouldn't know about that.

Well, you know now.