"Guess what I saw last night,"

sings Enrico the Screech Owl,

(who does not screech, but trills softly),

looking out his hole in the big oak tree

after listening for tiny mouse sounds all night.

"I know what you saw,"

barks Ferris the Red Fox,

looking out his hole in the ground under the same big oak tree

after sniffing for tiny rabbit scents all night.

"So do I! So do I!" screams Blue Scream the Blue Jay

who has risen from sleeping all night.

"And I can see it. I can see it!" Blue Scream screams.

He points the end of his left wing toward the hugely

bright star half way up the clear sky.

Ferris the Red Fox looks up.

"You're right, Blue Scream," he barks.

"The Star is still there and just as bright as when it was all dark.

This is a special Star!"

"Do you think The Star is telling us something?" Enrico trills.

"Do you think The Star is telling us to do something?" Blue Scream screams.

"Do you think the promised King of the Animals,

The Shepherd of all the Creatures has come?" Ferris barks.

"The Star is commanding us to follow!"

The Three Wise Animals trill, scream, bark all at once.

The Three Wise Animals go forth.

Enrico the Screech Owl flies from tree to tree.

Blue Scream the Blue Jay flies from tree to tree.

Ferris the Red Fox follows on the ground, tree trunk to tree trunk.

The Three Wise Animals climb the first mountain.

They go down into the first valley.

They cross the first icy brook.

They climb the side of the next mountain.

"The Star has moved!" trills Enrico.

"The Star is higher in the sky!" screams Blue Scream.

"The Star is farther away!" barks Ferris.

The Three Wise Animals go down into the next valley.

They cross the next icy brook.

They climb the side of the next mountain.

"The Star has moved!" trills Enrico.

"The Star is higher in the sky!" screams Blue Scream.

"The Star is farther away!" barks Ferris.

The Three Wise Animals go down into the next valley.

They cross the next icy brook.

They climb the side of the next mountain.

"The Star has moved!" trills Enrico.

"The Star is higher in the sky!" screams Blue Scream.

"The Star is farther away!" barks Ferris.

The Three Wise Animals journey

mountain after mountain,

valley after valley,

icy brook after icy brook

until coming over the top of the last mountain,

they look down into the last valley and see a little town.

"The Star has stopped!" trills Enrico.

"The Star is way up in the sky!" screams Blue Scream.

"The Star is right over our heads!" barks Ferris.

"Bethlehem!!!"

trills Enrico, screams Blue Scream, barks Ferris

all at the same time.

The Three Wise Animals race down the side of the last mountain.

They hurry along the dirt road that passes through the center of town.

They come to an inn.

"Not here," trills Enrico the Screech Owl.

"Where?" screams Blue Scream the Blue Jay.

"The barn in back," barks Ferris the Red Fox.

The Three Wise Animals go to the wooden door of the barn.

They see light coming underneath from a lantern.

Enrico the Screech Owl taps his beak on the wooden door.

Blue Scream the Blue Jay bangs his beak on the wooden door.

Ferris the Red Fox pushes the wooden door with his paw.

The door creaks open.

The Three Wise Animals stand amazed.

They see a manger

surrounded by shepherds,

surrounded by oxen, sheep and one donkey, exhausted after a long journey.

In the manger, warm and safe,

in the arms of his mother in her blue shawl, is the Babe.

"He is born!!!" the oxen bellow, the sheep "baaaaaaa," the donkey brays all at the same time.

"He is born!!!" Enrico trills, Blue Scream screams, Ferris barks all at the same time.

"He is born!!!" herald the shepherds.

Then, all in a soft-loud chorus:

Animals of the barn

Animals of the wild

Shepherds

"Hallelujah! Born is The King of the Animals!"

"Hallelujah! Born is The Shepherd of all the Creatures!"