The Small World: "The Gypsy Children of Granada" (1963)

[Flamenco music playing] [Narrator Richard Erdman] This boy's name is Juanito. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] He's a gypsy. [Erdman] He lives in a cave in a mountain above the city of Granada in Spain. He likes to dance. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] His friends are also gypsies. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] We'll join Juanito and his friends and take a look into those caves in just a moment. [Flamenco music playing] [Main title music playing] [Main title music playing] Hello. My name is Richard Erdman. I'm a writer. I write books about children for children. I travel all over the world and wherever I go I try to make friends with the children. [Parrot talking] Hello... Hello...I'm Sir Percival. That's Sir Percival. He likes children too and he's always furious when I don't take him with me on my trips. Hello, Perc. Hello. [Parrot Talking] Hello. [Erdman] Hungry? Hmm...here. Last summer, I went to Spain where I met some gypsy children. I wrote this book about them and I want you to meet them. But first, a couple of things about gypsies. 1,000 years ago they left Pakistan and started to roam all over the earth. When they came to Egypt, now called the United Arab Republic, they took the name "gypsies." Egyptian...gypsies. Then they separated and some of them moved up and across Europe, the others moved across Africa. Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and eventually a group of gypsies arrived in Granada in Spain. There had been a long war in Spain between the Spanish people and the Moors. The Moorish King had built a magnificent castle on a mountain above Granada. That castle is called the Alhambra and it's one of the seven wonders of the world. Across the valley from the Alhambra, the other Moors dug caves on another mountain above Granada. They lived in them. When the Spanish people drove the Moors from Spain the gypsies moved into those caves. That was in 1492, same year that Columbus discovered America. The gypsies have stayed there ever since. Unlike other gypsies, they don't move about. They love their caves on their mountain and that mountain is called... Sacromonte. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Juanito and his friends had been playing on top of Sacromonte and they were late for school. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Everyone on Sacromonte lives in a cave... everyone. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] The mountain is steep and the children are strong from the exercise of running and climbing... [Flamenco music playing] and playing leapfrog. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] The traffic along the paths is busy in the early morning. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Luckily for Juanito and his friends there was no speed limit. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] I saw them coming toward me, so I thought I'd join in the fun. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Juanito asked who I was. [Erdman] I told him I was a gypsy, "Gitano", in Spanish. No? [Erdman] He didn't believe me. [Juanito and children speaking Spanish] [Erdman] His friends didn't either. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] While the boys were going to school, I explored the mountain. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] A mother was trying to comfort her two young children who were unhappy because their older brother had gone to school. I tried to cheer them up. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] During the hot summer, many of the classes are held out of doors in Spain. The gypsies attended this school at the base of Sacromonte. The huge figure in tiles in front of the school made study a little easier. [Erdman] Hand... mano. [Erdman] Heart... corazon. [Erdman] Gypsies all over the world speak a language called Romani. Here in school, the children were learning Spanish also. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Knee... rodilla. [Erdman] Thigh... muslo. [Erdman] Foot... pie. [Erdman] Stomach... estomago. [Erdman] Francisco was very smart and he knew it. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Juanito had not done well in school that morning and he knew it. [Erdman] His father, a copper smith, was busy making small bowls. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Juanita's grandmother sent him to market to buy bread while she prepared lunch. [Erdman] For hundreds of years. the gypsies have made beautiful things from copper. [Erdman] Juanito's father cleaned and polished these bowls with sand and sawdust and worked six and seven hours at a stretch, pounding and decorating them. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] The market on Sacromonte is also in a cave. There was bread and sausage and also... candy. [Erdman] "Ask first", Juanito was told. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] On his way home, Juanito stopped off to watch the blacksmith at work. [Hammers banging] [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] It was an interesting sight with the fire and the hot metal, and Juanito and his friends watched for a long time. [Hammers banging] [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Perhaps a little too long. [Erdman] There are 3,000 gypsies on Sacromonte and their caves are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Most of the caves have a small room in front and a retaining wall and then two or three rooms inside the mountain. The gypsies are allowed to live in their caves with no rent and no taxes and no plumbing. All of the water must be brought up by burros. [Erdman] Lunch is a simple meal of bread and stew and sometimes fruit. [Erdman] The stew is made of herbs and peppers... and... whatever else is available. If there are goats, it's a goat stew. If there are chickens nearby... it's a chicken stew. [Erdman] Juanito's table manners needed improvement. [Erdman] After lunch, Juanito's grandmother sang an old lullaby that was understood by three generations. Juanito's new brother, his grandmother, his sister, and his mother. [Erdman] Also another mother and child. [Grandmother singing] [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] At the base of the mountain, where he sells wine, Juanito's grandfather had a visitor... Juanito's teacher. [Erdman] It was an old story, familiar, but sad. [Erdman] The gypsy children go to school for a short time, learn to count and then lose interest. [Erdman] They don't study, they fall behind the other children and then they quit. [Erdman] It was particularly sad to Juanito's... uncle. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] He and his young wife, Juanita, had been flamenco dancers, had traveled far from Sacromonte and were back again. [Erdman] Their lack of education had made life away from the mountain hard for them, and now, more than anything, they want to help others like themselves. [Erdman] In their spare time, they still dance. [Flamenco music playing] [Main title music playing] [Erdman] After lunch, the boys started down the mountain. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] They came to a barber shop for burros... [Flamenco music playing] and boys. [Flamenco music playing] [Children singing] [Erdman] The song is about a burro getting his hair cut. [Children singing] [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] There's something exciting about a balloon getting bigger... [Flamenco music playing] bigger... [Flamenco music playing] bigger... [Flamenco music playing] bigger... [Flamenco music playing]. [Children yelling]. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Suddenly, everyone wanted a balloon. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Everyone. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] The problem is how to drink and not get a shower at the same time. [Erdman] At the base of the mountain is a road and a cart. [Erdman] So, why walk? [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] In the valley below Sacromonte is a stream. For the gypsies it's a meeting place, a bathtub, a swimming pool, and a laundromat. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] While the women wash, the men weave baskets. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] It had been a hot, dry walk down the mountain, and the stream looked cool and wet. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] I made only one mistake... and it was wet alright. Very, very wet. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Late in the afternoon, the flamenco singers and dancers come down the mountain to perform for the tourists. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] Juanito asked if I like dancing. He said that the best dancing was done up on top of the mountain. [Flamenco music playing] [Erdman] The gypsies of Sacromonte are famous for their flamenco music and dancing. No one is certain where this music and dancing began, but like the gypsies themselves, flamenco found its home in the caves of Sacromonte. [Erdman] There are 14 caves like this one and the tourists pay to see the gypsies sing and dance from 6:00 in the evening until 2:00 in the morning. [Erdman] The gypsies become professional dancers at an early age. [Erdman] This girl is only 15 years old. [Clapping] [Flamenco music playing] [Children clapping] [Erdman] While their parents worked in the caves, the children played on the mountain. [Children clapping] [Singing in Spanish] [Flamenco music playing] [Children clapping] [Flamenco music playing and children clapping and singing] [Erdman] As I stood on top of Sacromonte, with the Alhambra behind me and Granada below me, I wondered, what would happen to Juanito. Would he become a famous flamenco dancer? Or a copper smith like his father? Or a weaver of baskets? And what about all the other children in the small world? [Flamenco music playing and children clapping and singing] Yes, small world. And there children everywhere, and each child lives in a world of his own. Next week, we'll visit the Eskimo children in the land of the midnight sun. They live in igloos made of snow and ice, and they have one long night of darkness that lasts for seven months when they never see the sun. In the summertime, they hunt for food, and in the wintertime they store it away in winter's icebox. They also have sleds pulled by dogs and walruses and polar bears who try to steal their food, and seals who provide them with food and light and heat and clothing. I think you'll like the Eskimo children just as much as I do so don't forget to join me next week. [Parrot screeches] [Parrot talking] Join me next week, join me next week... join me next week. Join us next week. [Parrot screeches] [Parrot screeches] [Parrot screeches] [Parrot screeches] [Balloon pops] [Parrot screeches] Well, goodnight. [Parrot talking] Goodnight. [Parrot talking] Goodnight. [Parrot talking] Goodnight. [Parrot talking] Goodnight. [End title music playing]