Act IV Scene 2
(somewhere in the savanna)
Timon:
Oy, where can that crazy kid be, where can he be?
We've been looking for him for hours.
I'm so sweaty I can smell myself more than I smell you!
Pumbaa:
Yeah, I'm exhausted too, Timon,
But Simba's gotta be around here somewhere!
This is his home, after all…
Timon:
Looking at this place makes me wonder
Why he even bothered to return here.
The land is dry, not even a worm to eat,
Only those disgusting hyenas hungry for our meat…
Pumbaa:
Stop it, Timon!
Whenever you mention them it makes me shiver…
(the wind brings the sound of a wild chuckle)
Pumbaa (frightened):
I was being serious!
This isn't the time for pranks!
Timon:
That wasn't me laughing, Pumbaa.
Pumbaa:
What? Who was it then?
(a pack of giggling hyenas appear out of nowhere, surrounding them momentarily as they scream with terror)
Pumbaa (embracing Timon):
Timon! Do something!
I'm too young to become a piece of ham!
Timon:
Me? And what about you?
Why do I always have to save your…
Shenzi (confronting them, mockingly):
Speaking of worms…
Hyena I:
Well, if it ain't Breakfast and Lunch!
The pig here's quite a treat, in'it?
Hyena II:
C'mon down and dine
On this tasty swine…
Hyena I:
All ya gotta do is get in line! Haha!
Timon:
Please, please don't eat us!
You know what they say- you are what you eat
And if I told ya what our diet consists of…
Shenzi:
Aw, shut up already!
(she approaches and sniffs them)
Yeah, it's you. I can smell a lion scent
On ya even under all that stink.
You're lucky today. We're gonna use you
Other than for filling our stomachs.
(she turns around)
Timon and Pumbaa (together):
Whut?
(Shenzi moves away, making place for a suddenly appearing dark lion)
Scar:
Well well, Shenzi. I'm impressed.
You have a meercat and a warthog right in front of your nose
And yet you managed to restrain both yourself
And your pack from eating them.
(addressing Timon and Pumbaa)
I'm truly pleased to meet you.
Pumbaa (frightened):
Please, mister lion! Don't let the hyenas eat us!
Scar:
Puh! My name is Scar the King.
You better remember both the name and the title.
Timon (aside, to Pumbaa):
This is the guy Simba warned us about!
Let me do the talking.
(to Scar)
The famous king Scar? We're really honored, your majesty.
Please, accept a sincere praise from the humble and honest
Jungle folk which my corpulent comrade and I represent…
Scar (irritated):
Let's cut the senseless chit-chat
Before I get bored, shall we?
I know who you are- my nephew's friends.
Pumbaa:
Oh please don't harm him!
Scar (chuckling):
Harm him? Why would I want to
Commit such an act against my own flesh and blood?
Besides, is he not harmed already?
Something have you heard
Of Simba's transformation- so I call it,
Though nor the exterior nor the inward lion
Resembles that he was. What it should be,
More than his father's death, that thus have put him
So much from the understanding of himself,
I cannot dream of. I entreat you both,
That, being of so young days brought up with him,
And so much neighbored to his youth and behavior,
You may convince him to what I will present.
Timon and Pumbaa (together, startled):
What do you want us to do?
Scar:
Oh, not much more but to undoubtedly
Grant the wish you yourselves have,
That is- to ease his aching spirit.
His return to the Pridelands has opened old wounds
And I suppose my nephew still needs some time
To cope with what he'd experienced.
Convince him to go back to the jungle with you
For let's say… one month. I know you can do that
Since you are his friends. Madness in great ones
Must not go unwatched.
Do I make myself clear?
Timon and Pumbaa:
Simba. Jungle. One month.
Clear, your highness.
Scar:
Good. Seek him out, but speak fair.
I pray you, haste in before my hyenas
Become hungry beyond their self-control!
(Timon and Pumbaa run away, the rest of Shenzi's pack follows them giggling mockingly, while Shenzi is left alone with Scar)
Scar:
Are you sure these drones are not going to hurt them?
Shenzi:
One can never be sure
But they know their orders.
There is just one thing I wanted to ask you, Scar.
Why are ya sending your nephew
To the jungle for a month?
Scar (pensively):
Shenzi, Shenzi…
Tell me- have I ever been kind?
Shenzi:
Not to my knowledge.
Scar:
The sincerity of a hyena!
Thus I understand your wonderment.
Once I had wanted to kill my brother's son,
That is true.
On another occasion you have failed to kill him,
That is true also.
I should be deeply enraged, but now I see
That only a cow changes not it's views.
I have abandoned the lust to kill Simba.
To the contrary- kindness is what I wish
To bestow upon him.
Shenzi:
By… sending him away?
Scar:
Yes, also by that!
His mind is weary,
He cannot bear his father being dead,
Me being the king
And his mother being my mate.
He needs reposal- a month more in the jungle should do.
I, on the other hand, have different plans.
Life in the Pridelands has become unbearably hollow,
Don't you think? It's not the land it used to be
And both the lionesses and the hyenas
Are slowly starting to have enough.
Sarabi tells me the herds have moved on.
Well, this has been a nice dominion,
But considering the circumstances
I may eventually want to follow them.
Shenzi:
You're joking!
Scar:
Except that day when I told you I wanted to kill my brother
I've never been more serious in my life!
Your pack couldn't care less for where they live
As long as there is enough food, wouldn't you agree?
I myself can be king anywhere.
You hyenas are all I need, apart from my mate and son, obviously.
Those peevish lionesses can come along if they want to
But if not- let them stay here and rot
Or wait a month for Simba to return from the jungle.
Then he can take his throne for all I care.
After all, he is still my brother's heir.
Let him be king of Dead Rock if he wants to
And if he is able to survive the drought.
Shenzi:
Damn, Scar!
I never thought you would do such a thing.
You, the great schemer? The great assassin?
Scar:
Oh stop living in the past, Shenzi.
It is something we have to put behind us
Like it never even happened.
Understood?
Shenzi:
You're the boss, Scar!
Scar:
I'm glad you still have confidence in what I have once said.
Prepare yourselves to follow me and to be rightly fed.
(they leave as the curtain falls)
AN: Wait, what? Is Scar out of his mind?
Well, actually, he isn't- in fact, he's being quite reasonable in a very unique way. In his soliloquy at the end of Act III, he reveals that despite Simba is still alive, he can't fight his feeling of guilt that is getting unbearable for him. So he thinks of a clever way in which he can repent his sin of fratricide- to repay Simba for his years of exile. But still, he also doesn't want to just step down and abandon the crown- oh no. So this time he decides to do something he never did in the movie- to listen to Sarabi and relocate because of the draught. This way, when his nephew comes back from the jungle, he would find the throne at Pride Rock unoccupied. Scar would remain king and Simba would become one- it's like killing two birds with one stone.
But are these the birds that are really going to get killed? Are Rosencranz and Guildestern, I mean Timon and Pumbaa, going to accomplish their mission and take Simba on a very consequential vacation? Must I encourage to keep reading? Tell me if I'm doing a good job with the plot.
