Original subtitles

Once upon a time, far out in the Earth's orbit,

a dead dog floated in a space capsule.

The dog was called Laika,

and she had once lived on the streets of Moscow.

Laika had been the first creature to be fired into space.

But soon she lay dead in the capsule.

For months, the lifeless animal floated through the darkness

like some cosmic flotsam.

And yet it seemed Earth could not just surrender its dead dog

to the infinite cosmos.

With all her might, Earth drew her dog ever closer to herself.

But as the capsule finally touched the atmosphere,

the heat grew so enormous that Laika's body was burned up.

At that very moment,

what had been a Moscow street dog

became...

a ghost.

According to a legend, Laika's ghost had fallen to Earth like a comet,

and has roamed the streets of Moscow ever since.

After the dog Laika had burned up in the cosmos,

a rocket was launched in America with a chimpanzee on board.

He had once lived in the tropical rainforest of Cameroon.

One day he had fallen into a trap and was sold to the US Air Force.

From then on, his name was: Number 65.

Good evening, the monkey is here for the party!

Number 65 had to complete many months of training.

But during his first space flight he got into a panic.

He tore the sensors from his body and beat on the walls of the space capsule.

Be good. Stop messing around, okay?

Come on, make a cheerful face.

Don't fidget.

The monkey, the monkey!

What a sweet monkey!

Good evening. - Can I touch him?

Show me what a monkey does!

Do you remember your dance?

Show me how you clap!

Number 65 returned to Earth alive.

But the flight to the cosmos had changed him.

At the very sight of the space capsule he would fall into a rage.

This made this chimpanzee unsuitable for future flights.

Easy now.

Easy now!

Slowly... Where's your hand?

Wait. This way with your hand.

Good boy. Well done.

We get dressed, so.

From then on, he lived at the zoo in Washington DC.

But because he'd got so used to humans, he kept away from the other chimpanzees.

Lonely and overweight,

Number 65 died of liver failure.

Good boy, come along, come along!

We're almost there.

Well done, little Buh!

Hello. - Hello.

I'm glad to see you!

Can we get a photo?

Good evening,

dear audience and guests.

This evening we're glad to receive a special visitor

who comes to us from the distant country of Africa.

He's brought us a very special show programme.

Let's welcome Buh the Monkey with a big round of applause.

Whilst new chimpanzees were being brought to America,

in Moscow, scientists were going out onto the streets

to catch countless dogs.

For, since Laika's flight, Moscow street dogs

were considered tough and courageous like no other animal.

Thus the Space Age had finally begun for the dogs of this city.

Only the strongest and bravest Muscovite street dogs

were suitable for space travel.

They were taken to a secret place

far, far from the city gates.

The selection of dogs was according to strict rules

that sounded like the commands of a mighty king.

They were to be so brave as to pass their training,

so obedient that they might serve the people,

and so beautiful, so fearless in their appearance,

that they should personify the enchantment of heroic explorers.

After days in weightlessness, the dogs slowly drifted off to sleep.

They circled their home planet time and time again.

Alone the beat of their hearts was transmitted to Earth as a signal.

But no one knew what they had seen up there.

And no one wondered

what they might have dreamt about in their space capsules.

Here, take the bone.

Take the bone.

Eat the bone at least.

I'll take the meat for my dogs. They'll eat it up quickly.

If you don't want meat, I'll give it to my dogs.

Then wait for the bone.

I'll find one more for sure.

If I find something interesting, I'll give it to you.

But I don't think I'll find anything.

Yes, yes, my Burbakaka.

Come along, come along, my little Limpy-Leg.

I don't need that.

After countless orbits of the Earth,

after weeks in stifling darkness,

only a few dogs returned to Earth alive.

The bodies of the dogs resembled relics of a distant world

in which the secrets of the cosmos were supposedly concealed.

Only a few weeks after the dogs returned to Earth,

something began that the scientists called ‘The Wedding’.

A female and a male were locked in a cage together until

they had mated again and again.

A few months later, tidings of the birth of the first cosmic children

spread throughout the land.

Their existence was meant to prove to everyone

that the journey into the cosmos was not harmful to living beings.

The dogs were presented to famous personalities as trophies.

But none of them ever returned to the streets of Moscow.

Anticipating the discovery of new worlds, humans soon wished to fly to the stars.

But before they themselves ventured on the long voyage,

two turtles should be the first living beings to circle the moon.

It's a remarkable coincidence

that of all species, this one was chosen.

Because humans once believed

that the Earth is a disk

and is borne by a gigantic, cosmic turtle.

Perhaps this lunar flight

was meant to finally put an end to this myth.

From up there, the two animals were to see with their own eyes

that the Earth is round,

and not borne by a huge member of their kind.

But the two turtles never returned to Earth.

The space capsule drifted off its calculated course

and was lost to mankind forever.

Left to themselves, the turtles floated

through the endless depths of the cosmos.

But perhaps the two creatures found a new world

at the other end of the universe

that they might carry on their backs throughout eternity.

Look how strong their shells are.

How many kilos can they bear?

I'll take it.

Up in the treetops, high above the puppies,

lived a nightingale.

It sang so loud as if it wanted to drown out all the sounds of this world.

It seemed as if its song was meant to warn the puppies of impending doom.

But the nightingale's song was in vain.

Under the cover of night, a human had come to this place

and placed poisoned meat here, in front of the puppies' den.