Paws & Tales

Ned the Beaver: Hey, Joel, look at me! I'm in the control room.

Joel: Hey, Ned, I'm just setting up the mics, and then we'll be ready, okay?

Ned the Beaver: Okay, I'm going to check the levels. Hey, give me some of that script, WF23 number five.

Joel: Okay. Hi, folks, this is Ned the Beaver. Blah, blah, blah.

Ned the Beaver: We are professionals, Joel. Respect the script. Always respect the script.

Joel: Okay. Hi, folks, this is Ned the Beaver. There's a lot of Wildwood to explore here on pawsandtales.org.

Ned the Beaver: No, sorry. Again, please, with feel this time.

Joel: Hi, folks, this is Ned the Beaver. There's a lot of Wildwood to explore here on pawsandtales.org.

Ned the Beaver: Okay, good, so good. But with more energy, please. I need more.

Joel: Hi, folks, this is Ned the Beaver. There's a lot of Wildwood to explore here on pawsandtales.org!

Ned the Beaver: That's perfect, Joel. Now say pawsandtales.org like your pants are just a little bit on fire.

Joel: Ned, get out of my chair.

Ned the Beaver: Signing off from Paws & Tales Studios. I'll see you at pawsandtales.org.

Narrator: Welcome to the world of Paws & Tales. Wild Mountain can be a pretty dangerous place. If you stay on the trails and stick with me, there's adventures to be had there, too.

Monty: Come on, CJ, jump! It's too far!

CJ: It wasn't too far for me!

Insight for Living: Insight for Living is proud to present Paws & Tales.

Narrator: Last time on Paws & Tales.

Stacy: Stacy, the cylinders are tubes! The tubes are the records! Quick, find a tube.

Narrator: Well, the two cubs had indeed discovered the true treasure of the Collins mansion. They sat there listening to the voice of Mr. Collins from some 20 years ago.

Mr. Collins: It was against the evil pride of Haman that God used the lives of the noble Mordecai and the beautiful Jewish girl Esther to save the lives of the entire nation of Israel. The king is pleased to know that by the end of this day, I will have gathered every beautiful girl in the city. Your Esther is now a part of the harem of King Ahasuerus. She will never come home.

Narrator: So Esther began her life in the harem with hundreds of other girls who had been gathered by the king for the purpose of choosing a new queen. Every day was filled with beauty treatments and lessons on manners and etiquette.

Shireen: Esther, have you tried the new lotion? You haven't even opened yours. Smell this. Isn't this the most heavenly scent?

Esther: It is lovely, Shireen.

Shireen: You have got to snap out of it. This is our life now. We should make the best of it.

Esther: I want you to make the best of it.

Manush: I want you to make the best of it. Esther, you are the most beautiful woman in Persia. You could be the next queen.

Esther: I don't want to be the next queen.

Shireen: We are going to be here for the rest of our lives. Wouldn't it be better to be here for the rest of your life as queen?

Esther: I don't know why God has put me here, but it is not to parade around and win a contest.

Manush: Esther, dear?

Esther: Yes, Manush?

Manush: Do you have some of the new lotion on the table? I just thought that since you won't be using it.

Esther: Yes, you may have it.

Shireen: No, she can't!

Manush: Sit down, Shireen. Why should this be wasted on Esther when she prefers to go around looking like a scrubmaid?

I want what I want, to be the chosen one, to stand next to the king and make demands of everyone. I want what I want, a kingdom I can run. Oh, how I want to be the chosen one!

Shireen: Manush, Esther is more beautiful on her worst day than you will ever be.

Manush: Shireen, I suppose you think even you could rule Persia better than I. I don't think so, you little worm. Rule? Who said anything about ruling? I want what I want, to be the chosen one. The fame and the big name, oh just imagine all the fun. I want what I want, to be the chosen one!

Esther: Oh, all I want is that I be left alone. What I want is to be safe at home, back there where my life had just begun. If I could, I would run like the wind, so far from here, make these palace walls all disappear. I don't want to be the chosen one.

Manush: And Esther, don't you want gold, silver, jewels, crowns, silk, velvet, lacy gowns, emeralds, diamonds, ruby rings, gold, fast, rich things?

Esther: Gold, silver, jewels, crowns, silk, velvet, lacy gowns, emeralds, diamonds, ruby rings, gold, fast, rich things! All I want is to escape and be back home. If I could, I would run like the wind. Oh, how I want to be the chosen one. I don't want to be the chosen one!

Shireen: I must be off now. You really ought to eat something, Esther. You look pale and, well, bye now. Her parents must have both been serpents.

Esther: She's petty and selfish, but she's harmless. We have to live together here. She won't do anything to really anger the rest of the girls. They wouldn't put up with it.

Hegai: Esther.

Esther: Hegai, come in.

Shireen: Well, I'm off too. You do need to eat.

Esther: I will eat. Now go. Good morning, Hegai. How are you?

Hegai: I am fine. I'm here about you.

Esther: Me? What have I done now?

Hegai: It's time you take this seriously. I have allowed you more freedom than any of the other girls.

Esther: You have been very kind to me.

Hegai: But you have returned my kindness with indifference.

Esther: Indifference? How?

Hegai: You are not preparing for the king. You will not be ready, and you will not be selected.

Esther: Hegai, I do not want to be selected.

Hegai: This contest is not just about who gets to wear the crown.

Esther: Well, then what is it about?

Hegai: It is about something much bigger than just you.

Esther: It is?

Hegai: Esther, the queen is not just an ornament in the palace. She often has opportunity to affect things, to affect the king. Our king needs the right queen to help him rule.

Esther: I don't want to help rule. I want to be left alone. I have given in to the fact that I will live out my life here with the other girls. I just want to get by. That is enough for me.

Hegai: Are you truly unaware that Manush may be selected?

Esther: I expect that she will. She seems to want it badly enough.

Hegai: She is the very worst sort of woman to become queen.

Esther: She is not my favorite either, but she really is harmless.

Hegai: You have let your sorrow turn into despair, and you have closed your eyes to all that is going on.

Esther: Like what, Hegai?

Hegai: She is not harmless. Manush is ruthless, and she has a lust for power. Do you know what happened to her maid?

Esther: I heard she fell.

Hegai: Manush beat her almost to death with a clay pot.

Esther: Beat her? Why?

Hegai: The poor girl dropped a bottle of lotion, and it shattered.

Esther: She beat her because of lotion?

Hegai: No, she beat her because she is wicked and has no thought for anyone but herself. There is no end to what she may do if she becomes queen.

Esther: Is the maid going to be all right?

Hegai: If she survives, her face will be horribly scarred.

Esther: I didn't think she was capable of something like that.

Hegai: That is because you will not open your eyes. If she becomes queen, not only will the entire kingdom suffer at her hand, she will make it her purpose in life to make every girl in the harem wish they were dead. Her jealousy has no bounds.

Esther: She would. She would do that.

Hegai: If she is selected, you and every girl here will suffer for the rest of your life. Esther, the king needs you to be selected. The kingdom needs you to be selected, and the girls here desperately need you to be selected.

If you were to wake up and do what you need to do, I am certain you would become queen. But if you continue to sit in here and despair for yourself, everyone will suffer. Perhaps the gods brought you here for this very time and purpose.

Esther: For such a time as this. Perhaps. Hegai?

Hegai: Yes?

Esther: What do I do first?

Hegai: Let's get you some food. Amaye, we need some food in here! We will begin after you eat. Oh, there is much to do.

Narrator: Each of the girls completed 12 months of beauty treatments before seeing the king. When the time came for them to be presented to the king, as the Scripture puts it, the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the girls.

Guest (Male): Behold, the new queen of Persia, Queen Esther!

Narrator: While the kingdom celebrated, evil plans were being prepared that would change the lives of Esther and Mordecai forever.

Insight for Living: Hi, I'm Maisie from Ozark, Missouri. My favorite Paws & Tales character is Stacy because she always has the best ideas. Wait till you hear what happens next on today's episode.

Guest (Female): Stacy here from Paws & Tales. Hey, Dave, so that flat CJ, Ned, or Gooze, I don't get it.

Guest (Male): Well, we're going to ask kids to download a coloring sheet of their favorite Paws & Tales character from our website, pawsandtales.org, and color it in. Then we're asking them to upload a photo of them holding their work of art in some fun or interesting place they've recently visited.

Guest (Female): I love that! So creative and so fun!

Guest (Male): It really is. Then the really smart web people will post some of those photos on pawsandtales.org so the world can see their artistry and flair.

Guest (Female): Well, that is very fun. I think I might go color one myself.

Guest (Male): It's really easy. Just go on to pawsandtales.org and pop into the clubhouse to upload. It's so easy.

Narrator: In the book of Esther, chapter 2, verse 21, it reads, "In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to lay hands on Ahasuerus."

Mordecai: Ardia, you're late today.

Ardia: I'm sorry, Mordecai.

Mordecai: It's all right. I've been slow to finish my letter anyway.

Ardia: I have a letter for Esther, too.

Mordecai: You've been practicing, I see. Good for you. Our lessons have been of some use. And here is my completed letter to Esther as well.

Ardia: Bye!

Mordecai: Ardia?

Ardia: Yes?

Mordecai: You've forgotten the gift for the guard. These letters would not go far without this.

Ardia: Sorry. Goodbye.

Lydia: Shalom, Ardia!

Ardia: Oh, Lydia, shalom!

Lydia: Come, see the new rugs.

Ardia: I'm in a hurry now. I'll come back soon. Look out! I can't stop! No, girl!

Lydia: Are you all right, Ardia?

Ardia: I'm fine. There's mud all over my new robe.

Lydia: You were almost killed! You should be thankful for just a little mud. Are you all right?

Bigthan: It must end. We cannot act alone.

Teresh: We will not be alone. There are plenty of others who will back us up, and once Ahasuerus is killed, we will be set for life.

Bigthan: So we kill him tonight?

Teresh: Tomorrow our lives change forever.

Ardia: Oh, no. I've got to tell Mordecai. Mordecai! Mordecai!

Mordecai: Ardia, what's the matter?

Ardia: I just heard them. They're going to kill the king tonight!

Mordecai: What? Who is?

Ardia: Those two men over there. The guards, Bigthan and Teresh!

Mordecai: Bigthan and Teresh? What about them?

Ardia: I just heard them. They're going to kill the king tonight.

Mordecai: So the grumbling has grown into assassination.

Ardia: What will we do? Tell the other guards?

Mordecai: No, it's difficult to know who we can trust these days. We will add another letter to our stack for Esther.

Ardia: Yes, she'll stop them.

Mordecai: We must pray for the king's protection, and we will do what we can.

Ardia: I will run as fast as I can.

Mordecai: And do not forget the gift for the guard. You must calm down and do this well. Yes, I will. Here, this letter must get to Esther now. Be calm.

Ardia: I'll be calm. I'm going calmly.

Narrator: Mordecai told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name. Now when the plot was investigated and found to be true, the two men, Bigthan and Teresh, were hanged on a gallows, and it was written in the Book of the Chronicles in the king's presence.

Guest (Male): Good morning, Memucan.

Memucan: Mordecai, there has never been a worse day.

Mordecai: And what could happen to make this day so bad?

Memucan: I am here to tell you all that Haman has been promoted by the king himself.

Guest (Male): No, that is sour news.

Memucan: Haman is now second only to the king.

Guest (Male): How could this happen? He's a viper, that Haman.

Memucan: I would be one to agree with you, but by order of the king, he is a viper that we all will bow down to when he passes by. Oh, that this day had not happened. And here he comes now leading his own parade.

Guest (Male): Make way for Haman the magnificent, the king's most favored prince!

Memucan: So now we bow to the prince of vipers.

Guest (Male): Haman the magnificent! Mordecai, bow!

Mordecai: I will not bow.

Memucan: What do you mean you will not?

Mordecai: I am a Jew. I bow only to the God of our fathers.

Guest (Male): Make way for Haman the magnificent, the king's most favored prince!

Memucan: This will mean nothing good for you, Mordecai.

Narrator: Every day Haman would parade by, and everyone would bow down to him except Mordecai.

Guest (Male): Make way for Haman the magnificent, the king's most favored prince!

Haman: I don't see him. Maybe he's not here today.

Guest (Male): I see him. He is indeed here and as proud as ever.

Haman: This little worm of a man thinks that he can continue to defy me.

Guest (Male): I had the warning sent to him. He just says that he is a Jew and he will not bow to anyone but his God. We could just have him killed.

Haman: No. A Jew. These Jews are everywhere, this people who will not bow to me, who will not obey the laws of the king. These are dangerous people.

Guest (Male): I don't know about how dangerous.

Haman: I have a thought, one that I think will appeal to the king if presented properly. They are very dangerous people.

Narrator: Haman's anger burned against Mordecai, and the evil in his heart swelled with thoughts of vengeance. By the time that he presented his plan to the king, it had become a sick and monstrous plan to destroy not just Mordecai, but every Jew in Persia—man, woman, or child.

Haman: Oh mighty Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered and dispersed among your people in the kingdom.

King Ahasuerus: A certain people?

Haman: Their laws are different from ours, and they do not observe the king's laws. So it is not in the king's interest to let them remain.

King Ahasuerus: This rabble refuses to obey my laws?

Haman: If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 375 tons of silver to those who carry on the king's business to put into the king's treasuries.

King Ahasuerus: So you propose to pay for the cleaning up of these people yourself?

Haman: I feel strongly, lord, that they are a scourge in your kingdom.

King Ahasuerus: Haman, you are a good and faithful man.

Haman: It is my very purpose to serve you.

King Ahasuerus: Keep your money. The money and the people you speak of are yours. Do with them as you please.

Narrator: Ahasuerus gave Haman his signet ring, with which Haman could stamp any edict he wrote, and it would become law—a law that could not be revoked even by the king himself.

Haman: Read it back to me, just the last part.

Guest (Male): To destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.

Haman: It is perfect. I have an appointment with the king. Clean it up and make copies for each province and in its own language. The king is waiting for me. Can I consider this completed?

Guest (Male): I will see to it.

Narrator: The announcement went out that all of the Jews were to be slaughtered on a single day. And while the king and Haman sat together drinking wine, the city of Susa was thrown into chaos and confusion.

Guest (Male): Hi, I'm Milo from Michigan. Don't go away. There's more Paws & Tales coming right up.

Ned the Beaver: I'm Ned the Beaver, star of Paws & Tales. Now, I want a surprise poppa-chug with some photos of you. So parents, take a photo of your kids listening to Paws & Tales. They can be funny photos, kooky pictures, snuggled into the pillows, wherever your child listens.

And I will have them posted on the wall of the clubhouse for all to see. Don't you want to be a part of the clubhouse wall? Of course you do! So just go to pawsandtales.org and send in those photos.

Esther: Well, I want something very special for the girls today.

Guest (Male): I will see what the cook suggests, my queen. Thank you.

Guest (Female): My queen, this is terrible!

Esther: What? What is terrible?

Guest (Female): It's Mordecai.

Esther: What's wrong with him?

Guest (Female): He's crying. He's sobbing.

Esther: Why is he sobbing?

Guest (Female): He's torn his clothes, and he's lying in ashes.

Esther: Look at me. What happened?

Guest (Female): He wouldn't talk to us. He just sits there and sobs.

Esther: Hatach, take him clothes and find out why he is mourning.

Hatach: Yes, my queen. Mordecai, the queen has sent me to you. What has happened?

Mordecai: Here, take this to her.

Hatach: What is it?

Mordecai: It is the edict that Haman has made to slaughter all the Jews on one day. You must tell Esther to go and plead with the king. Tell her to beg for the lives of her people.

Hatach: Her people?

Mordecai: The Jews! Go!

Hatach: My queen.

Esther: Hatach, what is going on?

Narrator: After Queen Esther heard about the edict and of Mordecai wanting her to go into the king, she slumped onto her couch.

Esther: How could someone do such a thing?

Hatach: My queen, Mordecai said that you were a Jew.

Esther: Yes, I am. You must tell this to no one. Do you understand?

Hatach: Of course, my queen.

Esther: You must go back and tell him: No one goes into the king uninvited. If one enters the king's presence without his permission, there is but one law: that that person be taken out and put to death. The only exception is if the king holds out his scepter to save his life. Hatach, tell him that I have not been summoned to come to the king for 30 days. I can't just go in uninvited. Tell him.

Hatach: Of course, my queen.

Narrator: So this message was delivered to Mordecai, and soon Hatach was back in Esther's room.

Hatach: This, my queen, is his reply: "Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from another place, and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"

Esther: For such a time as this. All my life I've wondered what my God would do with me, an orphan girl with tattered clothes who lived so joyfully. One day I awake and find I'm queen of this great land, with the lives of thousands of my kin placed squarely in my hands.

I don't know why this simple girl would be who God would use, or if my pleading with the king will save my fellow Jews. And yet I have to wonder, while in this place I stand, could it be God chose me to carry out His plan?

For such a time as this, perhaps my heart was made to trust God and His grace and face this moment unafraid. But these questions running through my mind I simply can't dismiss. Can I face my fear? Am I really here for such a time as this?

Mordecai is right, and I must go before the king and plead to him my case, although I could lose everything. Yet I have found his favor and the favor of my Lord. It's the risk that for my people I am willing to afford.

For such a time as this, perhaps my heart was made to trust God and His grace and face this moment unafraid. Though my destiny's unknown, it is His love I can't dismiss. So I'll face my fear, for God has brought me here for such a time as this.

Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will do the same. And then I will go into the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, then I perish.

For such a time as this, my heart was surely made. I'll trust God and His grace and face this moment unafraid. All His wisdom and His love for me I simply can't dismiss. So I'll face my fear, for God has brought me here for such a time as this.

Hatach: My queen, are you sure?

Esther: I am. Now go.

Narrator: Mordecai followed Esther's orders, and all of the Jews prayed and did not eat or drink for three days. And then, on the third day, Esther stood looking at the door to the inner courtyard and the king.

Esther: Oh, God of my fathers, be with me now. I am going into the king.

Hatach: My queen, you have not been called for.

Esther: I'm aware of that.

Hatach: Do you know what will happen?

Esther: I'm going into the king. Please open the door.

Hatach: Please, my queen.

Esther: I'm going in.

King Ahasuerus: Esther?

Esther: My king.

King Ahasuerus: Oh, no. Queen Esther?

Narrator: The king gazed at this uninvited guest, and his fingers tightened on his golden scepter and—

Joel: What? What happened to the cylinder?

Ned the Beaver: It's over! It ran out!

Joel: What happened to Esther? Where's the next cylinder?

Ned the Beaver: I don't know! Look in the crate!

Joel: What's the king going to do? What's Esther going to do?

Ned the Beaver: Find the next cylinder!

Narrator: You don't have to wait till next time to find out what happens to Queen Esther. You can read the exciting story right there in your own Bible, in the book of Esther. Order your copy of today's program, The Story of Esther, just log on to pawsandtales.org.

The Story of Esther, Part 2, was written and directed by David Carl. I Want What I Want and For Such a Time as This were written by Sandy Howell and Mark Edward Lewis. Music was by Tim Hosman, and our sound designer was Eric Basil. Paws & Tales is an Insight for Living production.