Pirates: Yer know what day it is today? It’s…diggin’ up treasure day! Ha, ha!
Pirates: We’re going to the gates of El Dorado…there’s going to be steak for ourdinnaro.
Narration: For once the pirates have no trouble getting up in the morning.
Pirates: Cutlasses? Check. Pistols? Check.
Long John Silver: Jim! I’ll use some of that afore you chuck the rest.
Jim: Here.
Long John Silver: Lookee here, Jim. I saved your life last night - and you saved mine. Stickclose, back to back like…we’re not home yet.
Narrator: Then up the hill all the pirates march. It’s hard work for sea-faring men.Silver stops to peer at the map:
Long John Silver: Spy-glass should point to the North of North North East. This way.
Narrator: Half way up the hill they find a skeleton.
Long John Silver: Look, it’s a pointer. One of Flint’s jokes, this is. He killed the fella, thenlaid him out as a clue to the treasure. Oh, shiver my timbers - that’s youngAllardyce’s clothes. Remember Allardyce, lads?
Narrator: They do. Then onwards they go higher and higher up the island till eventuallythey emerge from the tree line - and hear a terrible voice:
Ben Gunn: ‘Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest - yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!’
Pirates: It’s Cap’n Flint! He’s alive! He’s coming for us!
Ben Gunn: ‘Darby McGraw! Darby McGraw! Fetch aft the rum, Darby McGraw!’
Pirate 1: They was his last words! That fixes it - let’s go!
Ben Gunn: ‘Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest - yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!’
Pirate 2: It’s the spirit of Cap’n Flint, come for us!
Long John Silver: Nonsense! You hear that? Since when did a ghost make an echo? You don’tsee a spirit with a shadow - and you don’t hear a spirit with an echo. Don’tyou lads know nothing?
Narrator: The other pirates look at each other, then nod in agreement.
Pirate 1: God bless you, Silver, if you ain’t right.
Narrator: And off he goes, the others fast behind him. Very soon they reach theclearing where the treasure should be. Sure enough there’s a huge pit - but itonly takes a second for Jim to see that it’s empty. One of the pirates sinks tohis knees.
Pirate 1: Someone’s been here already!
Narrator: Crazed, they hurl themselves into the hole with their picks and shovels.Silver hands a pistol to Jim.
Long John Silver: Take that, my boy - and stand by for trouble…
Narrator: The pirates stop digging.
Pirates Nothing! Not a coin, not a belt buckle! Silver! This is your doing! Kill him lads!
Narrator: They start to climb out…but before the pirates can attack, two musket shotsring out and two of them fall back, stone cold dead. The other three pirateslook around confused, then hop out of the hole and run for it, as DoctorLivesey and Ben Gunn emerge from the bushes.
Dr Livesey: Come on, Jim…and you, Silver!
Narrator: Jim and Silver don’t wait for another word - and soon all of them are flyingdown the hill towards the beaches. At last they reach safety by the ship’sboats. Smollett and Squire Trelawney are waiting for them, standing proudlyin front of a whole cave-full of golden and treasure.
Jim: I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it!
Long John Silver: Very neatly done, Doctor. Finessed - I believe - is the word you gentlemenuse, is it not…?
Narrator: It turns out that Ben Gunn dug up the treasure years ago and placed it herein the cave for the day when rescue might come. And while Jim was awaycapturing the Hispaniola, Doctor Livesey had found Gunn and made anunlikely alliance.
Squire: John Silver, you’re a prodigious villain and a monstrous impostor, sir. I amtold I am not to prosecute you because of the help you have given young Jimhere. But the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like millstones.
Long John Silver: Thankee kindly, sir. I take that as a compliment, I do. A most generouscompliment.
Narrator: Long John Silver salutes each in turn with a broad grin. That night, in front ofa fire on the beach, they share a great dinner from stores on the Hispaniola.
Jim: Do you know what I miss the most?
Narrator: They are a merry crew.
Jim: Strawberries. And the smell of home.
Ben Gunn: One hundred and eighty five varieties of cheese there are in this world, I dobelieve…
Dr Livesey: A feather pillow and a good claret. What more can a gentleman need? Atoast lads, a toast to treasure.
Narrator: Out in the darkness of the woods, the unfortunate pirates watch, knowingthat tomorrow they’ll be marooned.
Next day the Squire and his men leave a stock of food, water and medicinesfor the pirates and, with the treasure all loaded, set sail for England.
9. An empty pit and Ben Gunn's surprise
In the stockade the pirates are celebrating - today they'll be digging up Flint's treasure…or so they think.
They set off, following the treasure map, Silver leading them. Along the way they pass one of Flint's 'pointers' - the skeleton of a young pirate who Flint killed and then placed so that his arm would show the way.
They arrive at the spot where the treasure should be…and sure enough there's a pit in the ground. But it quickly becomes apparent that someone has been there before them - the pit is empty.
The pirates are about to turn on Silver when suddenly shots ring out…and two pirates fall dead. Then Dr Livesey and Ben Gunn come out of the undergrowth, pistols blazing. Jim, Silver and the others make their escape and Ben takes them to a cave where he has stored Flint's treasure hoard. He reveals that he had found the treasure himself some years before and had moved it to the cave for safe keeping.
That night the group have a party on the beach, with provisions taken from the Hispaniola. The next morning they set sail for England.
Teacher Notes
This series can be used to increase pupils' familiarity with a broad range of texts and narratives, including myths, legends and traditional stories and to make connections between these and other stories they are familiar with.
It will also support a broad range of writing objectives.
This series is relevant for teaching English at KS2, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and at First and Second Level in Scotland.
7. A fight and the Hispaniola captured. video
Jim slips away at night, sets the Hispaniola adrift and in the morning boards the ship
8. The pirates parley and the black spot. video
Jim returns to the stockade to discover that it is now in the hands of the pirates
10. Silver escapes and the heroes return. video
The Hispaniola puts ashore during the voyage home...and Silver grasps his opportunity
