Information



Velveteen Rabbit
Legacy Name: Velveteen Rabbit


The Common Kanis
Owner: gebn

Age: 9 years, 5 months, 1 week

Born: February 14th, 2017

Adopted: 9 years, 5 months, 1 week ago

Adopted: February 14th, 2017

Statistics


  • Level: 1
     
  • Strength: 15
     
  • Defense: 10
     
  • Speed: 10
     
  • Health: 10
     
  • HP: 10/10
     
  • Intelligence: 7
     
  • Books Read: 7
  • Food Eaten: 0
  • Toys Played: 0
  • Job: Candy Sorter


HERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was reallysplendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat wasspotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his earswere lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedgedin the top of the Boy's stocking, with a sprig of holly between hispaws, the effect was charming.There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toyengine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbitwas quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him,and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a greatrustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in theexcitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit wasforgotten. Christmas MorningFor a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor,and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, andbeing only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quitesnubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked downupon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretendedthey were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons andlost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed anopportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms. The Rabbitcould not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know thatreal rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdustlike himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date andshould never be mentioned in modern circles. Even Timothy, the jointedwooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should havehad broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected withGovernment. Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feelhimself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person whowas kind to him at all was the Skin Horse.The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others.He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed theseams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulledout to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a longsuccession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, andby-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that theywere only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nurserymagic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings thatare old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand allabout it."What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side byside near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Doesit 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 thathappens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not justto 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. "Whenyou are Real you don't mind being hurt.""Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bitby bit?""It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. Ittakes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people whobreak 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 lovedoff, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and veryshabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you areReal you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.""I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he hadnot said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But theSkin Horse only smiled. The Skin Horse Tells His Story"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many yearsago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts foralways."The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before thismagic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to knowwhat it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing hiseyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become itwithout these uncomfortable things happening to him.There was a person called Nana who ruled the nursery. Sometimes shetook no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for noreason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustledthem away in cupboards. She called this "tidying up," and theplaythings all hated it, especially the tin ones. The Rabbit didn'tmind it so much, for wherever he was thrown he came down soft.One evening, when the Boy was going to bed, he couldn't find the chinadog that always slept with him. Nana was in a hurry, and it was toomuch trouble to hunt for china dogs at bedtime, so she simply lookedabout her, and seeing that the toy cupboard door stood open, she madea swoop."Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He'll do to sleep with you!"And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy'sarms.That night, and for many nights after, the Velveteen Rabbit slept inthe Boy's bed. At first he found it rather uncomfortable, for the Boyhugged him very tight, and sometimes he rolled over on him, andsometimes he pushed him so far under the pillow that the Rabbit couldscarcely breathe. And he missed, too, those long moonlight hours inthe nursery, when all the house was silent, and his talks with theSkin Horse. But very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talkto him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that hesaid were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in. And they hadsplendid games together, in whispers, when Nana had gone away to hersupper and left the night-light burning on the mantelpiece. And whenthe Boy dropped off to sleep, the Rabbit would snuggle down closeunder his little warm chin and dream, with the Boy's hands claspedclose round him all night long.And so time went on, and the little Rabbit was very happy-so happythat he never noticed how his beautiful velveteen fur was gettingshabbier and shabbier, and his tail becoming unsewn, and all the pinkrubbed off his nose where the Boy had kissed him.Spring came, and they had long days in the garden, for wherever theBoy went the Rabbit went too. He had rides in the wheelbarrow, andpicnics on the grass, and lovely fairy huts built for him under theraspberry canes behind the flower border. And once, when the Boy wascalled away suddenly to go out to tea, the Rabbit was left out on thelawn until long after dusk, and Nana had to come and look for him withthe candle because the Boy couldn't go to sleep unless he was there.He was wet through with the dew and quite earthy from diving into theburrows the Boy had made for him in the flower bed, and Nana grumbledas she rubbed him off with a corner of her apron. Spring Time"You must have your old Bunny!" she said. "Fancy all that fuss for atoy!"The Boy sat up in bed and stretched out his hands."Give me my Bunny!" he said. "You mustn't say that. He isn't a toy.He's REAL!"When the little Rabbit heard that he was happy, for he knew that whatthe Skin Horse had said was true at last. The nursery magic hadhappened to him, and he was a toy no longer. He was Real. The Boyhimself had said it.That night he was almost too happy to sleep, and so much love stirredin his little sawdust heart that it almost burst. And into hisboot-button eyes, that had long ago lost their polish, there came alook of wisdom and beauty, so that even Nana noticed it next morningwhen she picked him up, and said, "I declare if that old Bunny hasn'tgot quite a knowing expression!"That was a wonderful Summer!Near the house where they lived there was a wood, and in the long Juneevenings the Boy liked to go there after tea to play. He took theVelveteen Rabbit with him, and before he wandered off to pick flowers,or play at brigands among the trees, he always made the Rabbit alittle nest somewhere among the bracken, where he would be quite cosy,for he was a kind-hearted little boy and he liked Bunny to becomfortable. One evening, while the Rabbit was lying there alone,watching the ants that ran to and fro between his velvet paws in thegrass, he saw two strange beings creep out of the tall bracken nearhim.They were rabbits like himself, but quite furry and brand-new. Theymust have been very well made, for their seams didn't show at all, andthey changed shape in a queer way when they moved; one minute theywere long and thin and the next minute fat and bunchy, instead ofalways staying the same like he did. Their feet padded softly on theground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses,while the Rabbit stared hard to see which side the clockwork stuckout, for he knew that people who jump generally have something to windthem up. But he couldn't see it. They were evidently a new kind ofrabbit altogether. Summer DaysThey stared at him, and the little Rabbit stared back. And all thetime their noses twitched."Why don't you get up and play with us?" one of them asked."I don't feel like it," said the Rabbit, for he didn't want to explainthat he had no clockwork."Ho!" said the furry rabbit. "It's as easy as anything," And he gave abig hop sideways and stood on his hind legs."I don't believe you can!" he said."I can!" said the little Rabbit. "I can jump higher than anything!" Hemeant when the Boy threw him, but of course he didn't want to say so."Can you hop on your hind legs?" asked the furry rabbit.That was a dreadful question, for the Velveteen Rabbit had no hindlegs at all! The back of him was made all in one piece, like apincushion. He sat still in the bracken, and hoped that the otherrabbits wouldn't notice."I don't want to!" he said again.But the wild rabbits have very sharp eyes. And this one stretched outhis neck and looked."He hasn't got any hind legs!" he called out. "Fancy a rabbit withoutany hind legs!" And he began to laugh."I have!" cried the little Rabbit. "I have got hind legs! I am sittingon them!""Then stretch them out and show me, like this!" said the wild rabbit.And he began to whirl round and dance, till the little Rabbit gotquite dizzy."I don't like dancing," he said. "I'd rather sit still!"But all the while he was longing to dance, for a funny new ticklyfeeling ran through him, and he felt he would give anything in theworld to be able to jump about like these rabbits did.The strange rabbit stopped dancing, and came quite close. He came soclose this time that his long whiskers brushed the Velveteen Rabbit'sear, and then he wrinkled his nose suddenly and flattened his ears andjumped backwards."He doesn't smell right!" he exclaimed. "He isn't a rabbit at all! Heisn't real!""I am Real!" said the little Rabbit. "I am Real! The Boy said so!" Andhe nearly began to cry.Just then there was a sound of footsteps, and the Boy ran past nearthem, and with a stamp of feet and a flash of white tails the twostrange rabbits disappeared."Come back and play with me!" called the little Rabbit. "Oh, do comeback! I know I am Real!"But there was no answer, only the little ants ran to and fro, and thebracken swayed gently where the two strangers had passed. TheVelveteen Rabbit was all alone."Oh, dear!" he thought. "Why did they run away like that? Why couldn'tthey stop and talk to me?"For a long time he lay very still, watching the bracken, and hopingthat they would come back. But they never returned, and presently thesun sank lower and the little white moths fluttered out, and the Boycame and carried him home.Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but theBoy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all hiswhiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and hisbrown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcelylooked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was alwaysbeautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. Hedidn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magichad made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter.And then, one day, the Boy was ill.His face grew very flushed, and he talked in his sleep, and his littlebody was so hot that it burned the Rabbit when he held him close.Strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned allnight and through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hiddenfrom sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he wasafraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and heknew that the Boy needed him.It was a long weary time, for the Boy was too ill to play, and thelittle Rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long.But he snuggled down patiently, and looked forward to the time whenthe Boy should be well again, and they would go out in the gardenamongst the flowers and the butterflies and play splendid games in theraspberry thicket like they used to. All sorts of delightful things heplanned, and while the Boy lay half asleep he crept up close to thepillow and whispered them in his ear. And presently the fever turned,and the Boy got better. He was able to sit up in bed and look atpicture-books, while the little Rabbit cuddled close at his side. Andone day, they let him get up and dress.It was a bright, sunny morning, and the windows stood wide open. Theyhad carried the Boy out on to the balcony, wrapped in a shawl, and thelittle Rabbit lay tangled up among the bedclothes, thinking.The Boy was going to the seaside to-morrow. Everything was arranged,and now it only remained to carry out the doctor's orders. They talkedabout it all, while the little Rabbit lay under the bedclothes, withjust his head peeping out, and listened. The room was to bedisinfected, and all the books and toys that the Boy had played within bed must be burnt."Hurrah!" thought the little Rabbit. "To-morrow we shall go to theseaside!" For the boy had often talked of the seaside, and he wantedvery much to see the big waves coming in, and the tiny crabs, and thesand castles.Just then Nana caught sight of him."How about his old Bunny?" she asked."That?" said the doctor. "Why, it's a mass of scarlet fevergerms!-Burn it at once. What? Nonsense! Get him a new one. He mustn'thave that any more!" Anxious TimesAnd so the little Rabbit was put into a sack with the oldpicture-books and a lot of rubbish, and carried out to the end of thegarden behind the fowl-house. That was a fine place to make a bonfire,only the gardener was too busy just then to attend to it. He had thepotatoes to dig and the green peas to gather, but next morning hepromised to come quite early and burn the whole lot.That night the Boy slept in a different bedroom, and he had a newbunny to sleep with him. It was a splendid bunny, all white plush withreal glass eyes, but the Boy was too excited to care very much aboutit. For to-morrow he was going to the seaside, and that in itself wassuch a wonderful thing that he could think of nothing else.And while the Boy was asleep, dreaming of the seaside, the littleRabbit lay among the old picture-books in the corner behind thefowl-house, and he felt very lonely. The sack had been left untied,and so by wriggling a bit he was able to get his head through theopening and look out. He was shivering a little, for he had alwaysbeen used to sleeping in a proper bed, and by this time his coat hadworn so thin and threadbare from hugging that it was no longer anyprotection to him. Near by he could see the thicket of raspberrycanes, growing tall and close like a tropical jungle, in whose shadowhe had played with the Boy on bygone mornings. He thought of thoselong sunlit hours in the garden-how happy they were-and a greatsadness came over him. He seemed to see them all pass before him, eachmore beautiful than the other, the fairy huts in the flower-bed, thequiet evenings in the wood when he lay in the bracken and the littleants ran over his paws; the wonderful day when he first knew that hewas Real. He thought of the Skin Horse, so wise and gentle, and allthat he had told him. Of what use was it to be loved and lose one'sbeauty and become Real if it all ended like this? And a tear, a realtear, trickled down his little shabby velvet nose and fell to theground.And then a strange thing happened. For where the tear had fallen aflower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower, not at all likeany that grew in the garden. It had slender green leaves the colour ofemeralds, and in the centre of the leaves a blossom like a golden cup.It was so beautiful that the little Rabbit forgot to cry, and just laythere watching it. And presently the blossom opened, and out of itthere stepped a fairy.She was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. Her dress was ofpearl and dew-drops, and there were flowers round her neck and in herhair, and her face was like the most perfect flower of all. And shecame close to the little Rabbit and gathered him up in her arms andkissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp from crying."Little Rabbit," she said, "don't you know who I am?"The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen herface before, but he couldn't think where."I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all theplaythings that the children have loved. When they are old and wornout and the children don't need them any more, then I come and takethem away with me and turn them into Real.""Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit."You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Nowyou shall be Real to every one." The Fairy FlowerAnd she held the little Rabbit close in her arms and flew with himinto the wood.It was light now, for the moon had risen. All the forest wasbeautiful, and the fronds of the bracken shone like frosted silver. Inthe open glade between the tree-trunks the wild rabbits danced withtheir shadows on the velvet grass, but when they saw the Fairy theyall stopped dancing and stood round in a ring to stare at her."I've brought you a new playfellow," the Fairy said. "You must be verykind to him and teach him all he needs to know in Rabbit-land, for heis going to live with you for ever and ever!"And she kissed the little Rabbit again and put him down on the grass."Run and play, little Rabbit!" she said.But the little Rabbit sat quite still for a moment and never moved.For when he saw all the wild rabbits dancing around him he suddenlyremembered about his hind legs, and he didn't want them to see that hewas made all in one piece. He did not know that when the Fairy kissedhim that last time she had changed him altogether. And he might havesat there a long time, too shy to move, if just then something hadn'ttickled his nose, and before he thought what he was doing he liftedhis hind toe to scratch it.And he found that he actually had hind legs! Instead of dingyvelveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched bythemselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass.He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so greatthat he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways andwhirling round as the others did, and he grew so excited that when atlast he did stop to look for the Fairy she had gone.He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits. At Last! At Last!Autumn passed and Winter, and in the Spring, when the days grew warmand sunny, the Boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. Andwhile he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken andpeeped at him. One of them was brown all over, but the other hadstrange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had beenspotted, and the spots still showed through. And about his little softnose and his round black eyes there was something familiar, so thatthe Boy thought to himself:"Why, he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarletfever!"But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to lookat the child who had first helped him to be Real.

Originally Coded dreamsky
Edited gebn

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