Daily thoughts by a guy that doesn't like to think deeply too often!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

The Velveteen Rabbit


From Margery William's children's book, The Velveteen Rabbit:


"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"


"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."


"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit."Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."


"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"


"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

1 Comments:

Blogger epgraves said...

I was never read the Velveteen Rabbit when I was little. The most memorable book read to me was one called "Tkki-Tikki-Timbo" about two chinese brothers. The first and most honorable sone had a great long name. The second had hardly any name at all. Tikki Tikki Timbo's full name was "Tikki Tikki Timbo no sa rim bo, cherri rip pip peri pimbo" (or close to that) His brother was named "Chang".

Anyway, the two brothers fell into the well at different times. Because Changs name was so short, the old man with the ladder was able to save him in time. When Tikki fell into the well, his name was so long and little chang stumbled that Tikki almost drowned.

5:54 PM

 

Post a Comment

<< Home