Original subtitles

Sonny, did you come to buy the flint and steel?

Yes, sir. You got a dollar?

Dear Mom and Dad:

I'm going to tell you something,

and I hope you'll try to understand.

Thoreau once said,

"It takes two to speak the truth.

One to speak and another to hear."

I hope you'll hear me,

because what I'm going to tell you

is the biggest truth in the whole world to me.

It's that I've got to go out and live by myself,

all alone, off the land, like Thoreau.

Steel and flint, check.

Map of area, check.

Microscope and slides, check.

Binoculars, check.

My notebook, check.

Hand ax, check.

Canteen.

Canteen. Canteen.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tory Peterson's Field Guide to Birds.

Edible Plants of the Forest.

Gus? Gus, where are you?

Come on, Gus. Come on.

Get in your box.

Boy, come on.

Okay. Here we go.

If I'm ever going to be a naturalist,

I've got to start now.

I want to do the work on my algae project.

Study algae in its natural growing places.

I've decided I'm going to be gone for a whole year.

I know more about wildlife and living off the land

than most men,

so please don't worry about me and don't try to find me.

Trust me to take care of myself,

and I will write to you sometime. Love, Sam.

- Sorry about the bad news, son. - I can't even take the time

for us to go down to the cottage for a weekend.

Dad can take you

to the mountains camping next year, Sam.

- But you promised, Dad. - You promised.

I can go up to the mountains alone.

You and I have packed in plenty of times, Dad.

I know how to do it.

Whoa, there. You're not that big yet.

Dad knows I can do it.

What about the algae experiments that I planned?

They'll wait, son.

By hook or by crook, we'll do it for sure next summer.

Next summer.

Next summer.

Where are you going? Oh, on a camping trip.

All by yourself?

Sure, that's the only way.

All alone, like Thoreau.

Who's Thoreau?

He's a man who lived a long time ago in the woods and fields.

He studied all that grows and breathes,

and he believed that a man could live alone and find his own food

and be a lot happier that way,

learning things from nature.

Birds would come to his call and...

and woodchucks.

What's that?

Oh, that's my pet raccoon. And that man wrote a book.

You going to write a book too?

Yeah, I'm going to do that too.

Sort of.

About all that I do and about my algae experiments.

What's algae?

Oh, green-growing little plants

in the streams and ponds and moist places.

Green-growing little plants

that man hasn't even begun to learn about.

When I grow up, I'm going to be a spaceman,

and I'm going to travel to Mars and Venus.

Well, Gus,

this seems like a good time to get rid of that old box.

Here we are, Gus.

See? Open spaces.

Home of your forefathers.

I guess it will take you a while to get used to it.

Come on, you can ride up there on my back.

That's a good boy.

Laurentians, here we come.

Hey, Gus, look.

Here we are.

Come on, Gus. Let's have us a drink.

Let's go, Gus.

I'm going to catch us a fish.

Dinner, here we come.

Wow!

Food!

Best kind of food, Gus.

In the streams, in the woods, just waiting to be taken.

I can do it.

I can do it.

All by myself.

Come on.

Rats.

I can't do it.

I just can't do it.

Samuel Gribley's journal.

August 10th, 1968.

My first night

in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec.

This is to be my first entry in my journal.

From this night on, I will keep it religiously,

just as Thoreau did his,

writing down all the things that I do,

all that I learn, all that I can see.

Gus and I had a wonderful trip from that hot old Toronto.

The air here seems so clear and thin it makes us gasp.

I caught a beautiful mountain trout,

but I can't seem to get a fire going

using my flint and steel.

The village near here is pretty quiet,

but I've got to get higher up in the mountains

so we won't be found.

I'm hungrier than I've ever been...

and too tired to write any more.

Go on, you old bear.

Go on.

Keep moving.

That's it, keep moving.

Keep moving.

Keep moving.

And so I spent my first night in the mountains

in a tree.

Next morning, knowing I had to light a fire,

I tried again with my flint and steel.

Come on.

Beautiful.

Gus! I did it!

We got us a fire now and fish in the stream.

Everything we need.

The only thing we don't need, Gus, is... that bear.

Today I went deeper into the mountains

in search of a permanent camp.

Everything is beautiful, and the fish are plentiful.

I need never be hungry, I'm sure of that.

The important thing is to get so far away from civilization

that my fires will not be seen.

And to where I can be certain

that I will be completely alone.

A peregrine falcon.

Hm.

Hey, Gus, look at this.

Hm.

What have we got here?

This could be it.

"Dogtooth violets,

"bulbs good for eating."

Oh, mint.

Milkweed for medicine.

Watercress.

Dogtongue.

I can eat the seeds later on.

Wild blueberries.

Wow, Gus.

What a feast, right before our eyes.

Ooh.

I'll bet you that tree started growing when the world began.

Huh, Gus?

Gus?

Gus, where are you?

You goof.

Hey, what do you got there, Gus?

Gus, you found us a home. It's perfect.

A stream to fish in

and a little lake to swim in out there

and plants to eat,

and I can dam up that stream

for a still pond to grow my algae in.

And these trees will protect us when winter comes.

Nobody can ever find us here, Gus.

Gus had found us the beginnings of a home.

The idea of living inside a tree was perfect.

But we needed more room.

So I spent the next few days

trying to hollow out more space.

It was very hard work.

Hi, Gus.

What have you got there, Gus?

Hm.

I found a dead tree to serve as my calendar pole

and put a niche in it for each day I've been here.

No one will ever find me.

The tree is coming along fine, but it's awful slow going

trying to hack the inside out

so it's big enough for me to stand up in.

I suppose I could try burning it out,

the way the Indians used to do their canoes.

Like in Last of the Mohicans.

Yes, I really could try that.

Yes, I really could.

The fire will do our work for us now, Gus.

We can go scrounge up some dinner. Come on, boy.

Shh.

Rats.

Boy, I'd like to know where his nest is.

Huh?

No.

This is Aerial Check Bravo calling Fire Tower Echo. Over.

Your position? I'm in section one-six.

Map coordinated with Tango Seven.

No sign of smoke or fire this area now.

There are signs that someone has been here recently, over.

Continue patrol. Roger. Wilco.

Phew.

I vow never again to be careless with fire.

I swear to it by this holy hemlock branch.

If that forest ranger would have ever caught us, Gus,

it'd be back to the city.

And we don't need that.

Okay. Come on, let's move in.

I spent the next few days

putting up stores in my tree and making it snug.

Meantime, I have to keep my journal up to date

with the things that I must do.

One, dry algae to make flour from it.

Two,

try to make salt from hickory limbs.

Three,

try to find out where the peregrine falcon nests.

Four, make new algae slides

so I can continue my experiments.

Wow!

Rats.

What are you doing up here?

You lost, boy? Oh, no, ma'am.

But you're alone.

Young boy like you shouldn't be up here alone

on this haunted mountain.

Haunted? Oh, yes, indeedy.

There's an old story that says there are little men up here

that play ninepins in the twilight

right down there in that gorge.

You one of them? Oh, no, ma'am.

Well, come on, make some use of yourself.

Fill the basket with my apples.

Is this your land? Much as it is anybody's.

Come on!

Where do you live, boy?

I'm going to get me a baby falcon or die trying.

So you see, I've just got to go into town, Gus,

to see if I can read up on falcons,

on how we can catch ourselves one

so he can hunt for us.

And I want to find out what kind of equipment I'll need, okay?

And I need you to stay here and guard things.

See you later, Gus.

Keep in touch.

Excuse me, sir.

Could you tell me which way to the library.

Straight down that way, on the left.

Thank you.

Hello.

Why, hello.

Do you have any books on falcons?

Falcons?

Especially the peregrine falcon.

Peregrine falcons.

Peregrine falcons were famous in England, I do believe.

As a matter of fact,

they were known as hunters for kings,

if my memory serves me right, and it usually does.

Thank you. Now, here's another one

that might be of help.

The only trouble is you can't take these books out.

They're just for reference.

Oh, that's okay. I can sit here and use them.

Well, have fun.

Say, do you think I could borrow a pencil?

Of course.

My name's Miss Turner.

If you want anything, just call out.

Thank you.

What's your name?

Sam. Sam.

Training.

Hm.

Training.

Uh-huh.

Well, I guess I got everything I'll need.

Those birds sure are interesting.

If I could only catch me one.

"Surely in vain the net is spread

in the sight of any bird."

Yeah, I guess so.

Those birds are darn smart. Yes, they are, Sam.

I often go up on McCracken's Hill

and watch them soaring over the mountains.

I'm an old bird-watcher from way back.

I guess that's how

you knew about peregrine falcons right off.

Well, goodbye.

Sam...

you'll need a leather glove.

And so I bought some gloves.

Hi, Gus.

Hey, what should we call her?

How about Frightful?

Frightful it is.

Come on, Frightful.

I'm going to teach her to catch our dinner for us.

And so my training of Frightful began.

Come on, come on.

Come on, little one.

Come on, come on.

The first thing I had to teach her

was not to be afraid of me

and to feel secure on my gloved hand.

Come on, little one. Come on.

That's it.

There. Come on, now.

You've got to learn not to be afraid of my hand.

That's it.

Good girl.

Good girl, Frightful.

I'm the one who feeds you now.

You eat only when you're on my hand.

Here, Frightful, see it?

Come on. Come on, girl. Here, Frightful.

Come on. Come on.

See it, Frightful? Come on.

Come and get it.

Good girl.

Come on, come on.

Good girl, Frightful.

I hit him. I know I hit him.

Where is it?

A big buck was by the stream.

He just took off. Come on, let's find him.

Maybe you missed him.

No, I had him in my sights,

and the way he jumped, I know I got him.

I don't see any blood spots around here.

You could've missed him.

This must've been somebody's campsite.

Look at the old fire.

Shh, baby.

Maybe there's a game warden around here.

Nah. When the deer season's closed,

they're all down by the lakes checking on the fishermen.

Yeah.

Well, come on.

No use wasting time looking for one that got away.

There's plenty more deer higher up. Come on.

Okay.

Man, I thought we'd have a nice buck's liver for lunch

when I squeezed out that shot.

Yeah, yeah. Maybe at the time the season opens,

you'll have that BB gun of yours zeroed in...

I guess there's justice in killing an animal

if you need it for food.

It was such an awful thing, though,

finding the dead deer that the poachers had killed...

though I'm grateful in a way to them for it.

I smoked the venison to preserve it,

doing it at night so the smoke would not be spotted.

I scraped the hair from the hide.

Oak chips and water make tannic acid,

so I hollowed out an old oak tree stump,

filled it with water,

and had a place to tan the deer hide.

I made some new clothes.

First, I had to chew and beat the skin

before it was soft enough to sew,

then I made a needle out of a piece of bone,

and with the remaining skin,

a windbreak for the entrance of my tree.

Now I'm really getting prepared for the colder weather.

I've now trained Frightful to fly to and from my hand,

but she has not yet learned to come to the lure.

Good girl, Frightful. Good girl.

Frightful was not a hunter yet,

so I was still experimenting with natural food sources.

Algae soup, here we come.

Blech! Ugh!

That is awful.

Hey, Gus, you got a friend.

Hey, you guys, how about some algae soup?

Well, at least somebody likes it.

Finally, the day came to test Frightful as a hunter.

Okay, Frightful, you're on your own.

No, Frightful.

No.

If I let you eat what you catch,

you'll turn wild on me again.

I'm scared you'll...

Come on.

Stop squawking, Frightful.

I'm going to share this with you.

Testemondia.

I go to sleep by a campfire

that looks as if a Boy Scout built it,

and I awaken in the middle of the 18th century.

And who's that ferocious-looking creature, huh?

Look, name is Bando. Let's be friends, huh?

I mean, there's not another human hereabouts.

Night's coming on, and to tell you the truth,

I feel hungry.

How about you?

Well...

Hey.

I'm just a musician.

I collect songs.

Folk songs.

And I record them.

I came up hunting mountain songs,

but so far I've only found wild critters.

Come on, let's be friends, huh?

Look, I'm not interested in your business,

and I'm not interested in telling other people tales,

so stop worrying.

I'm a folksinger, a collector of folk songs, that's it.

Okay?

Okay.

My name is Sam.

I'm mighty glad to meet you.

Well, let's see, our first job is dinner.

You look like you know where to find it.

Okay,

take me to your leader.

Do you always go out alone?

The only way. I agree.

Well, what do you think of it, Bando? I mean, really?

- Interesting. - What is it?

This is cattail tubers wrapped in leaves.

This is dogtooth violet bulbs,

and these are two of some brown puffballs

that I cooked in deer fat with wild garlic,

and you can eat the whole thing.

And the meat there, that's venison.

Mm-hm.

Who doth ambition shun ♪

And loves to live in the sun ♪

Seeking the food that he gets ♪

And pleased with what, and pleased with what ♪

And pleased with what he eats ♪

William Shakespeare, my boy.

Say, Sam...

would you mind much

if I stayed the night here around the fire?

No, Bando, I wouldn't.

I'd like to have you,

but Gus and I have a shelter where we usually sleep.

Oh, fine.

But this is more luxurious than I'm used to.

Well, I would like to show you my house.

Great. Love to see it.

Come on.

It's over here.

Well, I'll be...

These here are my food niches.

And here's some algae.

I'm experimenting with it, trying to grow it

and trying to find out which species

are the most edible and all.

Quite a pad you have here, Sam.

Un Canadien érrant ♪

Banni de ses foyers ♪

Un Canadien érrant ♪

Banni de ses foyers ♪

Parcourait en pleurant ♪

Les pays étrangers ♪

Parcourait en pleurant ♪

Les pays étrangers ♪

Bando.

Bando?

Bando!

Bando!

You going to a fire or something?

I had to stretch my legs.

That's a fine little bed you've got,

but it doesn't quite accommodate my legs.

So you really think you'll last out the winter?

Oh, I know I will.

I can do everything myself, and I'm happier this way.

I just don't need anybody.

Let's stop here, Bando.

This is a good place to fly Frightful.

What's that?

How about these experiments of yours?

Well, the algae's coming along pretty good.

I've got quite a few different species,

and I'm learning to transplant them.

They aren't too edible.

I've got some algae flour.

Say, would you like to try some pancakes from it?

Why don't we?

Hey, I once knew how to make syrup

from the bark of the birch tree.

We could have algae pancakes with birch syrup.

Wow. Wouldn't that be a lark?

Why don't we try it? Oh.

Well, I could hike into town tomorrow

for some sugar.

I've led an interesting life, Sam.

Guitarist, teacher,

dishwasher in some of the best restaurants in Europe.

Right now, all this seems pretty dull.

Hey, Sam,

would you mind if I stayed around here

with you for a little while?

Well, no, Bando.

No, I wouldn't. I'd like to have you.

But I'd, uh...

like it better if you wouldn't go into town

for any sugar tomorrow.

Oh.

Hey, come on, you can trust me.

I've proved that to you by now, haven't I, Sam?

You know I'm not going to give you away.

Yeah, I guess so.

Okay, then,

we're going to make us some syrup.

Mm.

I used to make clay pots.

If I can find some good, slick clay

there along the riverbed,

I'll make you some,

and you'll be able to store some of this for the winter.

That would be great, Bando.

Hey, what a lunch we're going to have.

Yeah.

I read someplace

that scientists are working on this algae stuff

as a source of oxygen for spaceships.

Sure! They're using it to purify the air in spaceships.

Algae gives off oxygen as a waste product, you know.

You know, a couple of days before you came up here,

I found a turtle down there by the stream,

and he had algae growing all over his back.

It was a new species for me,

so I scraped it off

and I'm trying to grow it down there by the flat rock.

And then I have some experiments that I'm doing with lichen

on a couple of trees deep in the forest.

Hey, get ready.

Here comes your first pancake.

Lichen is algae...

and a fungus growing together, you know.

Mm-hm. A symbiotic relationship.

What's that mean?

It's two different species

living together in close harmony.

Huh.

Not too many of those kind among people nowadays.

Tastes a little like sawdust.

Well, eat the rest of it. Maybe you'll get used to it.

Here, you try.

Again.

Bando has been with me for three weeks now.

In the beginning,

it was strange to hear another human voice

after all that time alone.

He's shown me a lot of things

that I'd only read about before,

but now I was doing them myself.

Hey, look at him.

Yeah, he's quite a character.

Begone, begone to warm and distant shores ♪

Who knows if we shall meet under the sun? ♪

Will I escape the wrath of men ♪

And you the hunter's gun? ♪

And you the hunter's gun? ♪

Fly away, little blackbird, fly away ♪

Spread your wings and fly away ♪

If I should live to see another spring ♪

Then we shall meet another day ♪

Yes, we shall meet another day ♪

And when you are safe from winter's chilly air ♪

Where rivers flow in gentler pace ♪

Think of my side of the mountain turning bare ♪

And of dead leaves giving chase ♪

And of dead leaves giving chase ♪

Fly away, little blackbird, fly away ♪

Spread your wings and fly away ♪

If I should live to see another spring ♪

Then we shall meet another day ♪

Yes, we shall meet another day ♪

It'll be a cold winter, Sam.

Better start figuring on how to heat

that little home of yours.

Yeah, I guess I'd better.

Say, I could make some kind of a fireplace thing.

Mm-hm.

You could make one out of clay, the way I did the pots.

Yeah, you just could, I do believe.

It should stand up well to heat.

Would you, uh...

Would you want me to give you a hand with it, Sam,

before I go?

When are you going, Bando?

Oh, any day now.

I've got to get up on those mountains before snow flies.

Find me some new strumming music, Sam.

How about it? Shall we build you a fireplace?

No, Bando. I can do it myself.

I know how to get the clay just right now,

and I can do it myself.

Well, you know, that's part of everything,

doing it all myself.

Bando? Mm-hm?

Would you do me a favor? Sure, Sam.

Mail a letter for me?

Be sure you mail it far away from Knowlton, okay?

Certainly.

You mean to tell me there's still some kind of need in you

to reach out to your fellow men?

You're afraid it might tip your folks as to your whereabouts?

Yeah.

I don't want them to know exactly where I am,

but I want them to know how well I am.

You know, and how happy.

I do feel crummy about running away and hurting them and all,

but, you know, I had to do it.

And now I...

Well, I can let them know I'm doing fine and all okay.

I know.

"As cool water to the thirsty soul,

so is good news from a far country."

You know, sometimes when you get like that,

when you start quoting something that you read in a book...

you remind me of someone else I know.

Oh, who's that?

Oh, it's this library lady down in the village.

She's that way. My, oh, my.

I didn't think you'd ever communicate

with any human animal.

Apart from myself, of course.

Well, I only went down there once,

to read up on falcons.

She knew quite a lot about them too.

She belongs to some kind of bird-watcher's club and all.

She's a great lady.

You'd like her, Bando. I did.

I even trusted her.

And I almost told her my plan and all.

Do you still feel as strongly about your plan

as you did the day you came up here?

Oh, sure. Well, stronger, even.

I mean, I know I can do it now.

Then, I was just guessing about myself.

I'm going to put in a lot of stores here for the winter.

I've got to learn what happens to this algae when winter comes,

if I can keep it alive here in my house.

Say, and I want to watch

the whole change that's going to come over this place.

Well, you take care now, Sam.

You've got a great thing going for you up here.

Well... Oh.

And I'll be sure to mail that letter for you,

in about four or five days from now,

when I'm well out of this part of the country.

Thanks, Bando.

I hope you find some new songs.

There's always songs.

Well, so long now. Keep in touch.

Everybody's leaving us, Frightful.

It seems strange now with Bando gone,

being alone again, I mean.

But that was really part of the whole thing,

being alone, doing it... myself.

Hello, Mr. Otter.

Come on.

Come on.

Dried algae for your dinner today?

How about that, huh?

Here you go, Mr. Otter.

We're going to make it, Mr. Otter.

Just you wait and see.

We're going to make it.

The weather's turned colder now,

and the inside of my tree is getting damp.

Bando was right about building that fireplace.

Whew!

Hi, Gus.

Hey, Gus, stop eating up our old fireplace.

For a few days I worked on the chimney,

and then I got the idea of reinforcing it with grasses

and with the shells of the diatom algae

I'd been drying since I got here.

Anyway, I finally got something that looks like a fireplace.

Now, if the clay only holds up,

we'll have us a nice, warm home.

You'll need a leather glove.

You'll need a leather glove.

You'll need a leather glove.

- Next summer. - Next summer.

Symbiotic relationship.

Symbiotic relationship.

- Next summer. - Symbiotic...

Next summer.

Next summer. Next summer.

You lost, boy?

You lost, boy?

You lost, boy?

You lost, boy?

Air.

Air.

Let's get you out of here.

The fireplace is using up all our oxygen, Gus.

And so I carved two openings through the base of the tree

to serve as ventilators.

Well, that should do it.

Now we won't suffocate.

I'm going to go into Knowlton, Frightful.

Well, even Thoreau left his retreat at Walden Pond

to go into Concord sometimes.

Honest, he did.

I won't be gone long.

Hi.

Hello.

Hello.

I was just on the trail of a beautiful speckled grouse,

but I think it got away from me somehow.

Do you remember me? Yes. I think I do.

Aren't you the peregrine falcon boy?

You do look different. Your hair's so long now.

Oh, yes.

Did you, uh, manage to observe those falcons at close range?

I was only wondering

because I found another very good book on them.

I mean, if you're interested. Oh, yes.

You see, I caught one.

Oh, I take the best care of it.

I've even got it out here with me now.

Say, would you like to see it? Of course I would.

Then come on.

You should see her go after food for me.

She's a beautiful bird, Sam.

Wait till you see her in the sky.

Oh, she's glorious.

She loves you too.

Oh, sure.

Had her since she was tiny.

Come on down and take a look at the new book I found.

Well, I don't get into town much,

and I like to be alone.

Well... In any case,

if you ever want to, come and see me, please.

As Cicero said, "We are never less alone

than when completely alone."

Goodbye, Sam. Goodbye, Miss Turner.

I walked down the mountain today,

when who did I meet on the outskirts,

but Miss Turner, out on a hike.

I showed her Frightful.

It was good talking to her.

I guess the truth is, I've been missing Bando,

and I was glad to talk to someone.

And I guess there are times

when I miss a lot of things that I enjoyed at home.

Can I, uh, have a double chocolate scoop, please?

Well, now, if it isn't Daniel Boone.

And his pet raccoon.

Chew the hide yourself, partner?

Well, no, I had to beat it on a rock, mostly.

But I had to chew it up here around the neck

where it got itchy.

My kid brother's got one that looks more real than that one.

What do you have it on for anyway?

I'd rip anything like you have on

to pieces in about a week. Well, where do you come from?

Oh, around. Is that the latest gang getup?

I mean, is that what the guys are wearing these days?

I don't belong to any gang. I'm alone, living off the land,

doing research.

Oh, sure. I am.

It's a project. You know, like Thoreau.

It's important to know about the land

and how to live off it.

It's dying.

Frightful.

She's dead.

Je n'ai rien vu, mon garçon.

Uh, I didn't even see...

I mean, I was drawing a bead on that pheasant and I...

You killed her.

I guess I pulled the trigger at the same time.

Look, boy, I didn't know your bird was around

till it flew into my sights.

That's why I... You murderer.

Hey, wait a minute, kid. I'm trying to tell you.

You shot Frightful just for sport.

Who?

You killed my falcon. Listen, kid...

Don't call me kid. What's the matter with you?

You crazy or something? Why did you kill her?

Hey, du calme, garçon. Du calme. Now, listen to me.

I tried to tell you,

I was shooting at that pheasant, not the hawk.

They just happened to come together

the same time I pulled the trigger.

Why shoot either one? Why shoot anything? You don't have to.

Who are you to decide?

Frightful and I only hunted because we need the meat.

Good thing you didn't bust my shotgun.

Who are you to criticize me for hunting,

when you've been using that hawk to do your killing for you?

She was my pet.

I trained her.

Yes, to be as deadly as any gun.

Then winter came,

and with it... came the snow.

The whiteness all around

makes my whole home here

look so different, so bare and desolate.

I don't know how I'm going to get along without Frightful.

I really loved her, and I need her.

The deer have pressed in all around me.

They're hungry.

They come into the hemlock grove

to hide and sleep for the day.

They manage the snow so well

on their slender hooves.

If I was to know that a million years from today,

my children's children

were to live as I am living in these mountains,

I would marry me a wife with slender feet

and begin immediately to breed a race with hooves,

so that the mountain children of the future

might run through the snows and meadows

and mountains and marshes, as easily as the deer.

I must be pretty lonely to be having such daydreams.

I guess I am.

The whiteness all around

makes my whole home here... look so different.

So bare and desolate.

Gus?

Gus?

Gus?

Gus?

Gus?

Gu...

Gus.

You gave me such a scare.

I thought you'd run off or something.

Wonder what algae tastes like after it's been frozen.

Hey, Gus, want an algae ice cream cone?

Well, let's go up and thaw it out.

Hi, you guys. Having fun?

Ew!

I'm not getting anywhere with the algae tests.

It decays as soon as the ice is melted away from it.

It's impossible to control the temperature inside the tree

well enough to govern any worthwhile experiments,

even if I knew how to do them.

I can't even use the microscope successfully,

because my breath fogs up the mirror and the eyepiece.

Wonder what Pasteur would have done.

It's just about four days to Christmas now,

and my whole world is a white

and very still place,

where I sometimes think I can hear sounds,

millions of miles away.

Most of the animals are hiding out from us.

We're snowed in.

We've gotta save our oxygen, Gus.

Sam? Sam?

Sam, where are you?

Sam? Sam, where are you?

Sam, you in there? I'm snowed in, Bando.

I'm snowed in. Here. Here.

- You keep digging up. - I'm digging down to you.

That's right, you keep digging up.

Testemondia.

Oh, Bando, am I ever glad to see you.

"A traveler by his faithful hound,

half buried in the snow was found."

I'll be right back.

Come on. Come on there, Gus.

Oh, Sam.

Are you all right?

Yeah. I think so.

Got any of my syrup left? Just a little.

The pots are absorbing most of the moisture, though.

Well, here is something better. Merry Christmas, Sam.

Is today Christmas, Bando? It sure is.

I was in that old tree for two days.

Oh, Bando.

Most of my algae experiments failed, Bando.

Oh, that's too bad.

It was just that the temperature inside my tree,

it couldn't be regulated enough

to keep it growing after it got cold.

I have another surprise for you.

What's that? It's a friend of yours.

Now, Sam, what did I tell you about trusting me?

Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen ♪

And the snow lay 'round about, deep and crisp and even ♪

Brightly shone the moon that night ♪

Though the frost was cruel ♪

When a poor man came in sight ♪

Gathering winter fuel ♪

That was the best Christmas dinner I ever had.

I couldn't get you out of my mind, Sam.

I kept trying to think how to get up to see you

after the big storm.

Then I showed up. You see,

I'd remembered about the library lady.

And I invited myself along. I'm glad you did, Miss Turner.

By the way, Sam, you got quite a few people worried about you.

Thanks, Bando.

You know, you've done

some amazing things here, Sam.

Hollowed out a whole little world for yourself.

I bet there's not a boy in the whole civilized world

who's done anything like it.

Yeah, but that's not why I came.

Why did you come, Sam?

Well, I came because I thought the only way to know nature

was to live with it. Like Thoreau. You know?

And I came because of my experiments.

I learned all about algae under the conditions of nature.

And I learned about survival.

And...

I learned about myself.

That's quite a lot. What now, Sam?

I'm going home.

I've learned all I can here.

Oh, I'm not running away.

It's just time to go home.

Sire, it is a good league hence ♪

Underneath the mountain ♪

Right beside the forest fence ♪

By Saint Agnes fountain ♪

Bando, would you mind going on ahead?

Oh, I'll be right along.

Sure thing, Sam.

So long, Mr. Otter. Keep in touch.

Let's go, Thoreau.