Skit 1

OUTLINE　あらすじ

Once upon a time, God wrote a letter to all the animals and said, "The first twelve animals to greet me on the morning of New Year's Day can be king of the animals for one year in turn.' All the animals except the cat read God's letter. The cat asked the rat what the letter had said, and the rat lied and said that the first twelve animals to greet God on January 2 could be king of the animals.

New Year's Day arrived.
The ox started out at midnight, but the cunning rat climbed on the back of the ox and the ox carried the rat without realising it.

When they arrived at the gate of God's house, the rat jumped down just in front of the ox and thus became the first to arrive, with the ox second. Then the tiger and rabbit arrived third and fourth. The dragon and the snake were neck and neck but finally the dragon won by its long whiskers, so the dragon was fifth and snake sixth.

Then the horse came seventh, the sheep eighth, the monkey ninth and the cock tenth. The boar was coming next , but as he rushed forward he hit the gate and fell, and was overtaken by the dog. This made the dog eleventh and the boar twelfth.

After the twelfth animal was settled, the cat rushed into God's house, and was very angry with the rat for lying about the date. The cat has been chasing the rat ever since!

LANGUAGE　ことば

Names of animals, counters, basic greetings and expressions, onomatopoeic expressions

CAST　はいやく

	ナレーター	narrator
	かみさま	God
	ねずみ	rat
	うし	cow
	とら	tiger
	うさぎ	rabbit
	たつ	dragon
	へび	snake

	うま	horse
	ひつじ	sheep
	さる	monkey
	とり	cock
	いぬ	dog
	いのしし	boar
	ねこ	cat
	_	_

(The cast can be increased by adding different animals or decreased to suit the number of students.)

CULTURAL NOTE 　ぶんか

Here is a chart to help you work out in what zodiac sign you were born.

ねずみ	1960	1972	1984	1996
うし	1961	1973	1985	1997
とら	1962	1974	1986	1998
うさぎ	1963	1975	1987	1999
たつ	1964	1976	1988	2000
へび	1965	1977	1989	2001
うま	1966	1978	1990	2002
ひつじ	1967	1979	1991	2003
さる	1968	1980	1992	2004
とり	1969	1981	1993	2005
いぬ	1970	1982	1994	2006
いのしし	1971	1983	1995	2007

SCRIPT スクリプト

ナレーター：(na ree taa　)

Do you know 'Juunishi', the oriental animal zodiac? It begins with the rat and ends with the boar. The order is Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Cock, Dog and Boar.
Tomorrow is New Year's Day. God has written a letter to all the animals.

かみさま：(ka mi sa ma)

わたしは(watashiwa)かみさま(kamisama)です(desu)。

I am God.

これは(ko re wa)、てがみです( te ga mi de su)。

This is a letter.

ナレーター：(na ree taa)

The letter said, 'The first 12 animals to greet me on the morning of New Year's Day can be king of the animals for one year in turn.'

ねこ：(ne ko)

わたしは、ねこです(wa ta shi wa ne ko de su)。ニャー( nyaa)。

I am Cat. Meow.

いつですか(i tsu de su ka)？

When is it?

ねずみ：(ne zu mi)

1月2日（いちがつふつか）です(i chi ga tsu fu tsu ka desu )。

January 2nd.

ねこ：(ne ko)

ありがとう(a ri ga to u)。

Thank you.

ナレーター：(na ree taa)

The cunning rat lied to the cat. The date it gave was January 2nd, not the 1st.
Now New Year's Day has come, but it's still very dark.

うし：(u shi)

わたしは、うしです。モーモー。(wa ta shi wa u shi de su moo moo)

I am Ox. Moo, moo.

いってきます(i tte ki ma su)。

I'm going now.

ナレーター：(na ree taa)

The ox started out very early in the morning because it knew it was very slow.

ねずみ：(ne zu mi)

わたしは、ねずみです。チューチュー(wa ta shi wa ne zu mi de su chuu chuu)。

I am Rat. Squeak, squeak.

とてもちいさいです(to te mo chi i sa i de su)。

I am very small.

ナレーター：(na ree taa)

The cat climbed on the ox's back without the ox realising. At last the ox arrives at the gate of God's house.

うし：(u shi)

１ばんです(i chi ba n de su)。

I came first.

(The rat jumps down in front of the ox)

ねずみ：(ne zu mi)

いいえ、わたしがいちばんです(i i e wa ta shi ga i chi ba n de su)。

No, I came first.

ばんざい(ba n za i)。

Hurrah!

うし：(u shi)

モー、わたしは、２ばんです(moo wa ta shi wa ni ba n de su)。

Moo, I am the second.

(The tiger and the rabbit are coming in a hurry)

とら：(to ra)

わたしは、とらです(wa ta shi wa to ra de su)。ガオー、ガオー( ga oo ga oo)。

I am Tiger. Roar, roar.

３ばんです(sa n ba n desu)(sa n ba n desu )。

I am the third.

うさぎ：(u sa gi)(u sa gi)

わたしは、うさぎです(wa ta shi wa u sa gi de su)。ピョン、ピョン(pyo n pyo n)。

I am Rabbit. Boing, boing.

４ばんです(yon ba n de su)。

I am the fourth.

ナレーター：(na ree taa)

The dragon and the snake are racing against each other, but the dragon beats the snake because of its long whiskers.

たつ：(ta tsu)

わたしは、たつです(wa ta shi wa ta tsu de su)。

I am Dragon.

ひげがながいです(hi ge ga na ga i de su)。

I have long whiskers.

５ばんです(go ba n de su)。

I am the fifth.

へび：(he bi)

わたしは、へびです(wa ta shi wa he bi de su)。シュー、シュー(shuu shuu)。

I am Snake. Hiss, hiss.

６ばんです(ro ku ba n de su )。

I am the sixth.

(The horse, sheep, money and cock follow)

うま：(u ma)

わたしは、うまです(wa ta shi wa u ma de su)。ヒヒーン( hi hii n)。

I am Horse. Neigh.

７ばんです(na na ba n de su )。

I am the seventh.

ひつじ：(hi tsu ji)

わたしは、ひつじです(wa ta shi wa hi tsu ji de su)。メー、メー( mee mee)。

I am Sheep. Baa, baa.

８ばんです(ha chi ba n de su)。

I am the eighth.

さる：(sa ru)

わたしは、さるです(wa ta shi wa sa ru de su)。キーキー( kii kii)。

I am Monkey.

９ばんです(kyuu ba n de su)。

I am the ninth.

とり：(to ri)

わたしは、とりです(wa ta shi wa to ri de su)。コケコッコー(ko ke ko kkoo)。

I am Cock. Cockadoodledoo.

１０ばんです(juu ban de su)。

I am the tenth.

(The boar is now running just ahead of the dog)

いのしし：(i no shi shi)

わたしは、いのししです(wa ta shi wa i no shi shi de su)。ブーブー(buu buu)。

I am Boar. Snort, snort.

(The boar hits the gate of God's House and falls down.)

いのしし：(i no shi shi)

わー、いたい！(waa i ta i)

Ouch!

(The dog passes the boar and comes eleventh)

いぬ：(i nu)

わたしは、いぬです(wa ta shi wa i nu de su)。ワンワン(wa n wa n)。

I am Dog. Bow, wow.

１１ばんです(juu i chi ba n de su)。

I am the eleventh.

いのしし：(i no shi shi)

１２ばんです(juu ni ba n de su)。(looks sad)

I am twelfth.

(God comes to the 12 animals and greets them)

かみさま：(ka mi sa ma)

みなさん(mi na sa n)、あけましておめでとう( a ke ma shi te o me de to u)。

Happy new year everyone.

どうぶつ：(do u bu tsu)

あけましておめでとうございます(a ke ma shi te o me de to u go za i ma su)。

Happy new year.

かみさま：(ka mi sa ma)

ねずみが１ばんです(ne zu mi ga i chi ba n de su)。

Rat came first.

(Put a crown on the rat's head)

(applause)

(The cat rushes into God's house)

ねこ：(ne ko)

ニャーニャー(nyaa nyaa)。

Mewo, meow.

ねずみ、まて～、まて～！(ne zu mi ma te ma te)

Rat, wait, wait!!

ナレーター：(na ree taa)

The cat arrived too late because the rat lied about the day.
Since then, the cat has been always chasing the rat!

	Script (PDF:127kb)
	Picture Sheet (PDF:116kb)

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