10 - Cruise of the Noah's Ark by David Cory

Marjorie boards a fantastical Noah’s Ark filled with talking animals and sets off on delightful and perilous adventures in this whimsical tale of imagination. Discover hundreds of ad-free audiobooks, soothing sounds for sleep and meditation, and more—unwind and learn at www.adfreebooks.com!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Org The crews of the Nozark by David Cory. A leak,
look out, look out, a boat in sight. Turn quickly
to the left or right. You'll have a smash up.
Sure as fate. Alas my warning came too late, sang
the weather cock, and oh dear me, he was right.

(00:23):
Crash bang. The Nozark shivered from bow to stern, and
all the animals were thrown off their feet. Little Marjory
awoke with a start. It was just daylight, and far
off in the east the rising sun was chinging the
sky pink and gold. She hurriedly put on her clothes
and ran out on deck, where she met Captain Noah

(00:44):
and his sons, whales and porpoises. Exclaimed Captain Doah, mister
Jonah has been asleep at the switch again, I'll bet.
And then he ran forward and looked over the bow
of the Ark. Only a few yards off was the
charred hull of a vessel riding look in the water.
Quickly examining his own ship, Captain Noah discovered a hole

(01:05):
on the starboard side, and then all of a sudden,
the animals came rushing up on deck. The Ark is
filling with water. Cried, Missus elephant, and my slippers are
all soaking wet. If I had remained below another minute,
they would have been ruined. She had hardly finished when
all the rats and maya scrambled up the companionway. A

(01:27):
bad sign, said Captain Noah. It shows the ark is sinking.
Missus Noah gave a scream. She had hastily thrown a
kimono over a night dress at the first warning, and
had hurried on deck. Don't worry, said little Margery, bravely.
Captain Noah will stop the league, I hope, so he said. Then,

(01:47):
turning to the passengers, he asked, who will volunteer to
go with me below deck? I will, shouted Han, and
so will I said the elephant. Come along, then, said
Captain Noah. Throw me down the tarpaulin and some planks
he called up a few minutes later. But oh, dear me,
the water had gained such headway that the tarbulin was

(02:10):
of no use at all. And I don't know what
would have happened if the elephant hadn't sat down squarely
on the whole blocking it up so that not a
single drop of water leaked in. Bully for you, cried
Captain Noah. That's the best stunt I've seen yet. It's
not very comfortable, said the elephant, with a shiver. My,
but the water's chilly. Start the pumps, commanded Captain Noah,

(02:34):
rushing to the foot of the companionway set some of
the animals to work well. After a while, the ark
was pumped dry, and everybody heaved a sigh of relief.
How long do you expect me to be a water plug,
asked the elephant. You don't expect me to sit here
for the rest of the voyage. I don't know what
we'll do if you get up, answered Captain Noah. Neither

(02:56):
do I said the elephant. Let's call mister Jonah, said
Captain Noah. What's the use, said the elephant. What good
will he do? If he hadn't been asleep at the tiller,
we never would have had the accident. We might punish
him for a neglect of duty, said Captain Noah. We'll
plug the hole up with him. He can set on

(03:16):
the opening for a punishment. Great idea, chuckled the elephant.
Bring him down. So Captain Noah hastened on deck to
look for poor mister Jonah and pretty soon he came
back with mister Jonah, who of course didn't know what
they were going to do with him. What do you
want me for, he asked. It's pretty dent down here, hello,

(03:38):
said the elephant. Excuse my not rising, certainly, said mister Jonah,
but you don't look very comfortable. And then, quick as
a wink, the elephant reached out his trunk and grabbed
poor mister Jonah. Help murder, yelled Jonah, nearly strangled by
the water, which rushed into the ark as the elephant

(03:59):
got up, keep quiet, commanded Captain Noah, and then the
elephant pushed poor mister Jonah into the hole. It's all
your fault that we had this accident. Now you can
stop up the leak. Mister Jonah was too frightened to speak. Finally,
when he partly recovered from his fright he said, but
what am I to do? Don't do a thing, said

(04:21):
Captain Noah, pushing him down as he started get up.
You just sit there and be a hero. I won't,
cried mister Jonah. Then we'll all drown, and you too,
said Captain Noah, And just then the weather coop shouted
out loud and clear, land ahead, Land Ahead, and in
a few short seconds the arc rolled upon a sandy

(04:43):
beach and came to a standstill. Throw out, the anchor,
commanded Captain Noah. We won't take any chances this time.
And pretty soon all the animals were playing on the sand,
while Missus Noah with Marjorie and the boys mading fire
under some palm trees. Suddenly Captain Noah remembered mister Jonah.

(05:03):
Thunder and lightning, he exclaimed, and at once descended into
the hold, where he found poor mister Jonah still sitting
on the hole in the ark. A rise, noble man,
said Captain Noah, bursting into laughter. Thank goodness, said Jonah,
I feel as stiff as a glass bottle stopper. And
in the next chapter you shall hear of a wonderful

(05:25):
picnic which they all had on this little green island
in the middle of the big blue ocean. End of
chapter ten. Read by Nancy Cochranebergen Gilbert, Arizona, August twenty three,
two thousand, twenty three.