The Velveteen Rabbit
A soft and fuzzy plush bunny lives in a toy box in the boy’s room. Every day, the Boy opens the toy box and picks up the Velveteen Rabbit.
Then newer, brighter toys are introduced into the toy box. They have special tricks. Some can move when the Boy presses the button. Others bounced high.
Velveteen Rabbit has no special tricks or buttons. It’s no surprise that the Boy started choosing other new toys.
At night, when the toys were returned to the toy box, the other toys spoke proudly about the good things they could do. Velvet Rabbit was silent. There’s not much to say.
There is only one other toy in the toy box that resembles the Velveteen Rabbit. Cowboy Horse is also a soft toy. But he is old. Most of his hair has fallen out.
“We soft toys are truly the lucky ones,” Cowboy Horse told Velveteen Rabbit. We are the most loved. And when soft toys are loved and loved, we can become Real.”
“What is real?” Velvet Rabbit said.
“Being real is the best thing,” Cowboy Horse said. “You can move when you want to move. When you are Real, if you are loved, you can show your love back.”
One day, Nana, the boy’s caretaker, opened the lid of the toy box. She said in a busy voice, “Oh my god! That walking dog has gone missing. I have to find something else for the Boy!” In a moment, the Velveteen Rabbit was plopped down on the bed with the Boy.
Ezoic
This begins another happy time for Velveteen Rabbit. Every night, the Boy will hold the Velveteen Rabbit in his arms. In the morning, the Boy will show Velveteen Rabbit how to make rabbit holes under the bed sheet. If Little Boy goes out for a picnic or to the park, Velveteen Rabbit will go too.
Ezoic
After a while, due to being hugged and hugged, most of the Velveteen Rabbit’s fur fell out. Its pink nose became less pink after the Boy’s kisses. But Nhung Nhung doesn’t care. So happy.
One day, the boy got sick. His forehead became very hot. Doctors come and go. Nana paced back and forth in fear. Day after day, the boy remained in bed. Velveteen Rabbit has nothing to do but lie in bed day after day.
Then finally, the Boy got better. What fun in the house! The doctor said the boy had to go to shore. How wonderful! Velvet Rabbit thought. Many times the Boy happily talked about the beach, the white sand, and the vast blue ocean.
“What about this old rabbit?” Nana asked the doctor.
“Is that the old one?” the doctor said. “It’s full of scarlet fever germs. Burn it immediately! Buy him a new bunny.”
So the Velveteen Rabbit was thrown into a sack along with the Boy’s bedsheets, old clothes, and many of his miscellaneous things. The bag was carried to the backyard. Gardeners are asked to burn the entire thing.
But the gardener was so busy picking beans and peas before nightfall that he left the sack behind. “I’ll take care of it tomorrow,” he said. The bag was not tied at the top so the Velveteen Rabbit fell out.
The next day, when the gardener picked up the bag to burn, the Velveteen Rabbit was not in it.
And then it started to rain. Velvet Rabbit is sad. It’s gone, Boy, never to be together again, and now we’re soaking wet! A tear fell from Velveteen Rabbit’s eye, onto his cheek. It fell onto the grass with a thud.
Suddenly, where the tear fell, a flower grew. Then the flower bud opens. A little Fairy!
“Little rabbit,” said the fairy. “Do you know who I am?”
“I wish I did,” Velveteen Rabbit said.
“I am the Fairy who takes care of everyone’s favorite toys,” said the Fairy.
At that time, the Velveteen Rabbit was haggard and gray. The boy fell in love with its beard. The pink lining of the ears has long ago turned gray. Its brown spots, which were once fresh and bright, have now faded and become difficult to see.
“It’s time for me to make you come true,” said the fairy.
“I think I miss Real,” Velveteen Rabbit said. Now, what did Cowboy Horse say? Oh yes. When you are Real, you can move when you want to move. If you are loved, you can love again.
Just by touching the Fairy’s wand, the Velveteen Rabbit felt different. Tick. Suddenly, its legs were sewn tightly together and could move!
A fly landed on the Velveteen Rabbit’s head and it itched. In just a blink of an eye, that leg rushed straight into the Velveteen Rabbit’s head to scratch it.
“So this is Real”! “I can move when I want to move!”
“I will introduce you to some new friends,” said the Fairy. The Fairy led the Velveteen Rabbit to a place where many rabbits were running and jumping. Soon they were all great friends.
Time passed quickly. The boy has returned from the seashore. He’s better now.
One day, the boy went to the backyard to play. From the nearby trees, a few rabbits jumped out. One rabbit has a brown body, and another has a white body. The third rabbit has brown spots, most of which have faded. That one jumped closest to the Boy.
The boy thought, “Why, this rabbit looks exactly like my little bunny that got lost when I got sick. I love that bunny!”
What you don’t know is that it’s your own rabbit, come back and see the boy. Because he is the reason the Velveteen Rabbit became Real.
