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“What happened when we all stopped” narrated by Jane Goodall

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    Today we have something
    a little different.
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    Dr. Jane Goodall
    is going to tell you a story.
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    Stay tuned after
    the animation
  • 0:09 - 0:12
    to learn how to download
    this as a free children's book.
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    Ready?
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    Let's begin.
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    It starts as a whisper,
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    a word on the air.
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    It can't quite be heard,
    but you know that it's there.
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    As gentle
    as sunlight,
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    as tenacious
    as hale,
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    in its route to the heart,
    it could not but prevail.
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    And the people looked up
    from their day-to-day tasks,
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    their day-to-day jobs
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    and their
    day-to-day masks.
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    They heard
    or they felt
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    where the whisper
    could lead,
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    and they looked
    with eyes wide
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    at what that
    might mean.
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    And once they could see it,
    they hadn't a chance
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    To resist the
    sweet song
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    of the deep spell
    it cast.
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    But the feeling it brought
    them at first glance
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    was pain,
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    as they lifted their eyes
    on the land they had claimed.
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    Since they saw
    at last
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    as if raised
    from a dream,
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    they were almost alone
    on the land and the sea.
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    For the trees
    had almost gone,
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    and the bees
    had almost gone,
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    and the creatures
    in their shells by the seas
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    had almost gone.
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    And the people felt sad
    as they saw their new Earth,
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    but they knew
    this was it,
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    one wild chance
    for rebirth.
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    Breaking new ground,
    seeds rolling down,
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    smell of the earth on
    your hands and your brow.
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    No time for sorrow,
    we're building tomorrow.
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    The sound of things growing
    now keeps us around.
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    As the wildness grows,
    and the deep wood grows,
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    and the sense that the
    future's come to meet you
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    grows,
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    There's no chance
    we can rest.
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    We must do
    our best.
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    This moment can lead
    us back home,
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    that's our test.
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    It starts as
    a whisper,
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    a word on
    the air.
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    It can't quite be heard,
    but you know that it's there.
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    It then spoke
    like thunder.
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    Until we all moved.
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    And we could.
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    And we did.
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    And it's done.
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    She's renewed.
Title:
“What happened when we all stopped” narrated by Jane Goodall
Description:

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-happened-when-we-all-stopped-narrated-by-jane-goodall

As millions around the world shelter at home, the smog melts away, the birds sing, and the waters run clear. What if we used this moment in our lives and in history as an opportunity to jumpstart the rebirth and rewilding of our planet when we go back to work and school? This moment can lead us to a healthier, cleaner, greener future, if only we grasp it. Tom Rivett-Carnac tells the story of what happened when we all stopped. To download a free children's book version of this poem, visit https://bit.ly/TEDEdWhisper

Written by Tom Rivett-Carnac, directed by Avi Ofer.

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Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TED-Ed
Duration:
03:16

English subtitles

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