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There is a storm and Thaïs is almost ready to give birth. | Uncle Dimitri: Lie quiet Thaïs, it can't be many more days. |
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The phone rings twice but the line is disrupted by branches blown about by the wind. | Julia: Hello? Lipizzaner Stud Farm. Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Julia: Hello? Is anyone there? Hello? |
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Julia gets out of bed and goes to the stable to try and help her uncle. |
Uncle Dimitri: What are you doing out of bed?
Julia: I haven't got a temperature, I've just taken it. How far along is she? Is it bad? Uncle Dimitri: It's not going well. The worst is her fear, and that's made worse by the thunderstorm. Julia: Poor Thaïs and you didn't reckon on everyone being off. Stanko, Dinko, Andrej and the others. Uncle Dimitri: They have all rushed off to the circus, it doesn't come every day to Sezana. Julia: Stanko wouldn't be happy to be away now. Uncle Dimitri: Not if he had known. Thaïs is too early by five or six days. Julia: It's such a worry, she can't be already there? Do you think that Thaïs will be a good mother? Uncle Dimitri: We hope she will Julia: Do you think that in some way Boris will feel like the father? Uncle Dimitri (laughing): No, not at all. Definitely not. Julia: A fine family life then! Uncle Dimitri: You shouldn't be here with the animals. Go to bed! Julia: Please can I stay a little longer. I don't want to be alone. Uncle Dimitri: Well, all right. |
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She stays to talk. |
Julia: It's funny, but - simply put - a Lipizzaner foal comes into the world black and gets lighter from year to year until it becomes white.
Uncle Dimitri: Yes, a Lipizzaner in not an albino. Its coat is white but it has dark skin underneath. I'm not really happy with her. Julia, run and phone Doctor Kozina and ask him to please come at once. Julia: I can't, the phone is not working. Uncle Dimitri: That wretched phone never works when you need it! Julia: Do you think - I mean - could Thaïs die? Uncle Dimitri: That's silly. You must go back to the house and try the phone again. Perhaps it was a temporary fault. Julia: And if it's not, then I'll ride Boris there. Uncle Dimitri: You'll stay here! Do you want to catch your death? |
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Julia disobeys her uncle and decides to ride Boris to fetch the vet. | Julia: No, no, no. We're not smooching now. Don't you know that Thaïs is having a foal and we have to quickly fetch the vet? |
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Boris rears when there is lightning and thunder, nearly throwing her. She rides him through the rain, jumping a descending barrier to cross the railway line - a train passes soon after. Finally she gets to the vet's. | Julia: Doctor Kozina!
Dr Kozina: Julia! What brings you here? Julia: Please come quickly Doctor Kozina. Thaïs is having a foal. Dr Kozina: Isn't it going smoothly? Julia: No, there are complications. Uncle Dimitri is with her, but everyone else is away and the phone doesn't work. Please come quickly! Dr Kozina: How is it that you aren't properly dressed for this beastly weather? Julia: I was in such a mad rush to get over here. Dr Kozina: Quick, I'll give you some drier things, you'll be soaked to the skin. Julia (to Boris): Stay! Wait! |
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Stanko has returned from the circus. | Stanko: I would have stayed here if only I'd have known.
Uncle Dimitri: I don't like the look of her. I feel so stupid. Stanko: Always the same, a murky pool. I got here Boss, but I'm not much use. Uncle Dimitri: Try the phone, it might just be working again after what Julia said. Stanko: Where is Julia then? Uncle Dimitri: I sent her to bed. I must get the doctor for her when I've sorted Thaïs out. |
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The vet gives Boris some sugar and gets in his car. Julia, now suitably dressed for the storm, gets back onto Boris. | Dr Kozina: There, Boris. You've been very patient.
Julia: Tell me Doctor, have you got everything that anyone needs in your syringe? Dr Kozina: I've always got what everyone needs, I've got a bag full of instruments. Julia: Oh Doctor, please don't tell my uncle that I was here, he thinks that I'm still lying in bed. |
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Stanko meets the vet on the road. | Stanko: Did Julia get you to come?
Dr Kozina: Yes. Stanko: Where is she then? Dr Kozina: She's taking a short cut home. Stanko: Thanks. |
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He then meets Julia. | Julia: Ah, Stanko. What are you doing here?
Stanko: I'll ask you the same when the Boss finds out. Julia: He doesn't have to find out does he? |
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Back at the stable, Thaïs has given birth. | Stanko: Just like his mum, only black.
(uncertain who is speaking): This is what Thaïs has been waiting for. I don't know how many births I have already seen, but for me it is always a miracle. Uncle Dimitri: It is a miracle, Stanko. Look how she is looking after him. So the days of his life begin. Stanko: Though that's the same for all life. Uncle Dimitri: Recently I discovered what someone had meant in what they said. (uncertain who is speaking): What was it he said? Uncle Dimitri: I think I've got it about right, he said that the best people on the earth are dogs and horses. Oops. Try again. Good, go on. Yes. Yes. A Lipizzaner's life isn't the easiest of lives for a horse. First you have to get up on your legs. Well, well, at last! Now you've managed it! Yes Stanko. I'm not needed here anymore. I'll go and see how Julia is doing. |
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Uncle Dimitri goes to Julia's bedroom to see how she is and tell her about the birth. Then he sees the clothes that the doctor has lent her and realises that she has been out in the storm. | Uncle Dimitri: We have a son Julia! A strong and healthy colt. Four legs, ears and a muzzle. It's all there.
Julia: Oh, that's good. Uncle Dimitri: What's this telling me? You've been out? You went to Doctor Kozina's? Now I understand how he got here so quickly. You're hot. Where is that thing? Here. Take your temperature. Julia: Yes. Uncle Dimitri: What do you do these things for my Julia? You actually weren't here? How can you do that to me? You really don't know ... Julia: Please don't be cross with me Uncle Dimitri, I went because Thaïs would die ... Uncle Dimitri: You know what the horses mean to me, but you mean more. And you are my family. |
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He puts his hand on her heart and sees it is racing. While he is getting her water she shakes the thermometer to get it to go down. | Julia: Don't worry about me, Uncle Dimitri, just because I have a little temperature. I'm as strong as a horse, I'm tough!
Uncle Dimitri: Tough? You? Julia: I really am tough. Believe me. Uncle Dimitri: It's racing, just like a fever. Julia: I've forgotten my pills, they're in the other room over there. Could you please get them for me? And a glass of water please? Uncle Dimitri: There you are. Julia: Thank you. Uncle Dimitri: Now let's see. Well, your temperature has gone down thank God, it's only 37.8 degrees. But you still have to stay in bed tomorrow, understand? Julia: Yes. What are you going to call the foal? Uncle Dimitri: As it is Thaïs' first foal his name must begin with an "A" of course. Can you think of one that suits? Julia: I've already come up with one. Arabello. Uncle Dimitri: '-la' not '-lo', but that can't work, it's a girl's name! Julia: I'll call him '-lo'. "Arabello", I just invented it! Uncle Dimitri: All right. Arabello it is then. Now rest and get better. Julia: Good night. |
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Uncle Dimitri is riding Boris on the training ground. Boris runs off to see Julia and puts his head through the window of her bedroom. Stanko takes him back. Boris runs off again. | Uncle Dimitri: He's being silly again today.
He's already been out with Julia, that's why.
Stanko: There you are! Boris, you mustn't. She's too poorly. You old rogue. Stanko: So, too much of a stallion for stable lads. Stanko will show you how to hold on to a horse. You'll be laughing on the other side of your face. |
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Boris arrives at the vet's. | Dr Kozina: Have you run off again? Did you want to get more sugar? You need to make friends with the owner of a sugar factory, that would be lucky, eh? Now, Boris. I'm going to have to take you back home, be good I'll be back in a second. Come. Come. Come. You old escape artist you! That's good. |
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Dr Kozina drives his car slowly with Boris 'in tow'. | Dr Kozina: Good day, Stanko.
Stanko: Good day, Doctor. You wanderer you! This Boris wears me out. I only have to let my attention slip and he's off. Dr Kozina: I think I'll see Thaïs while I'm here. How is she? Stanko: Thaïs is OK, but Julia's got a fever. The boss has gone to get the doctor. Dr Kozina: She certainly caught a cold. I'll have a look at her too. Uncle Dimitri: It's as if everything is cursed. First I ran out of petrol, and when eventually another car came along I was too late. Doctor Branic had left to go on his rounds. Nothing that I could do. Excuse me. It's been such chaos. Has Stanko been looking after you? Dr Kozina: That's why I'm here. Uncle Dimitri: Now the stupid phone works! Hello Lipizza Stud Farm. What? No! We don't have any cakes for sale. Lipizza. We have stallions. Idiot. |
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Dr Kozina and Uncle Dimitri go into Julia's bedroom to try and help her. Dr Kozina injects her with an antibiotic. | Uncle Dimitri: Well? What do you think?
Dr Kozina: It is pneumonia. Hardly breathing and it will get worse from hour to hour. Uncle Dimitri: And what shall we do? Dr Kozina: A creature is a creature. I've got streptomycin with me. It works for both those with four legs and two legs. Shall I? Stanko: Go on. You must give her an injection, Doctor. Mustn't he, Boss? Uncle Dimitri: You know that you have to do what's needed naturally. Dr Kozina: Then we need to move quickly. Uncle Dimitri: Julia. Little Julia. Julia: Boris! Woman: Is she still alive? Stanko (to the woman): Take your stupid potion away! Uncle Dimitri: Now, now, now. Dr Kozina: Here is my smallest. It's for rabbits and small dogs. Hold there please. |
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Dinko and some other men are talking at the well. | Dinko: So Boris ran over to the vet's to get some more sugar!
Man: Don't think only that. He understands more than you know. Dinko: Well if not, he certainly took a message. Man: In any case he brought a doctor home with him. Another man: And hopefully he stayed there. Dinko: That Julia is as lucky as a Sunday's child! |
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Back in Julia's bedroom. | Dr Kozina: That'll do for now.
Julia: Are you here to see Thaïs? Dr Kozina: No, you. Yesterday you caught a very nice little cold Julia: Thaïs had her foal? Uncle Dimitri: She did. Arabello. You thought of the name yourself, you know. |
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Stanko is pleased it has all worked out in the end. | Stanko: I'm so happy I could dance the Fandango! |
| THE END |
