Transcription of video clip Any way you slice it

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(Patrick Boisclair, activity leader, is telling a story)

© Jardin botanique de Montréal
Patrick Boisclair, activity leader at the Tree House

Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Arboretum of the Montréal Botanical Garden.

My name is Patrick, I'm a nature interpreter at the Tree House.

And today I'm going tell you a true story that happened a long time ago.

You'll know if I stretch the truth a little, because my nose will start to grow.

But before I start, we better be sure the ghost of the Arboretum isn't around here somewhere.
So we're going to sing a little tune, to chase him away from here.

Toss back a little drink, pinch a little tobacco in my cheek, tonight we've got to tell a tale to shake up the Arboretum ghost.

Shake it, shake it, shake it fast, because my story starts right now.

© Jardin botanique de Montréal
This story, it happened back when...

This story, it happened back when the trees were so big that when you took your axe to one, by the time you chopped all the way around it, your axe handle was rotted.

The trees were so tall that if you fell from the top, well, you died of old age before you hit the ground.

And I haven't even told you about the roots or the leaves.

Well anyway, Native peoples had been living in those forests for millennia.
They survived, thanks to both hunting and gathering, in perfect harmony with nature.

But one day, men came from the great oceans on gigantic ships.
They stopped on the shores of the great majestic river and settled there.
Those men, they were called white, because they were always seeking riches.

And once, a certain Yvan des Branches, one of the most clever lumberjacks, was sent to sail the river that crosses the mountains, to discover the natural resources there.

Not far from there, close to the river, in a small Native village, lived a young hunter who was greatly respected by the villagers.
They called him Babiche-Bear.

He was different from the other hunters: he always hit his target,
even in the most extreme conditions, oh yes…

He could split a hair in two, in the driving rain.
Oh yes, in the wind, in the middle of the night, and using his tomahawk.

And once, Babiche-Bear went off to hunt along the shores of Big Beaver Lake.
He walked: boum boum… He reached a clearing, and stepping noiselessly, he started to search the horizon for a wild animal, when, through the branches, he heard a strange little song, kind of like

[sings]: tuuuuuuuuuur… ladidy, ladidy,…

Hey. That Babiche-Bear, he hid behind a spruce tree, staring at the place where the sound was coming from.

And suddenly there appeared, why there appeared a kind of a silhouette of a man.
He had never seen one like that with his own eyes, a man with white skin, not red like his.

So, panicking, he followed his hunter's instincts, and he held himself straight and ready, in case something happened.

[sings]: Tur… ladidy, ladidy…
The song stopped, because right in front of him was Yvan des Branches…
who felt Babiche-Bear's presence.

And it was his turn to feel a little shiver of panic and suddenly the two men saw each other and looked at each other for a long moment, a little strangely…

hah, hah, huh, hah, hah…

White skin, red skin, hey no, red skin, white skin, white skin, red skin.
Tacounta tacounti, tacounti tacounta, hah…

And then they both felt uncomfortable,
but then suddenly there was a crick, crack, crock, pow!

A grey mouse scampered up, shattering the silence.

Hey, those guys were scared, they squared their shoulders, they looked at each other, and they began to fight a most terrifying duel.

But at just that instant, the sky the sky turned very red, the clouds swelled, the thunder clapped… brrr…
And they saw the big hairy face of the great Manitou appear in the sky…

[sings] ah, ah, ah, ah, ah…

And they heard a voice: Men, stop that right now, stop!
And that voice, it stopped time from passing, and the two men stood still as statues…
And they didn't have much choice but to listen to the words of the great leader, who leads all.

Men, men, I'm ashamed of you, fighting about the color of your skin – it just isn't done.
You must listen to the voice of your heard, for we are all brothers and sisters.
I'm going to teach you a lesson that you're going to remember for the rest of your days… Hahahahahaha!

And this lesson is that I'm going to change you into trees.
You, Yvan des Branches, you will now be called white pine.
White because of the color of your skin. And so we can recognize you, you'll have five needles per cluster, like the five fingers of your hand.

And you, Babiche-Bear, you will now be called red pine; red like the color of your skin..
And so we can recognize you, you'll have two long needles in the same cluster, which represent the two long feathers in your headband.

Seeing this unbelievable spectacle, the grey mouse, who had heard every word the great Manitou spoke, started to laugh, but laugh so hard he almost burst.

The great Manitou, hearing this, turned to the mouse and changed it into a tall grey pine, that grey mouse.
And to recognize it, it has two little needles in the same cluster, just like its two little ears.

And he said to the mouse: that'll teach you not to laugh at others.
And the spell was cast. And our three friends lived happily ever after.

Thanks very much!