Freddy and Theodore

Freddy, if you do not know, is a very special pig. He himself has said so, in so many words. In explaining to a rabbit named Twenty-One (rabbits being far to prolific to have individual names) why he was too busy to accompany him into the frightening Big Woods, Freddy said this:

“I’ve got this poem to finish today. You see, Twenty-One, I’m writing a Book.”

The man who has chronicled Freddy’s adventures, Walter R. Brooks, who also introduced the world to a horse named Mr. Ed, goes on to explain:

“He said it like that, with a capital letter, and I don’t know that you can blame him for there are very few books in the world the authors of which are pigs.”

And I would add, to update Freddy’s special status, there are probably very few Wikipedia entries in the world the subjects of which are pigs. But Freddy’s got one. He’s even got his own web site.

Freddy has held a special place in my heart from the time I remember my older sister reading the books about him to me as a child. And now, having a young son, I have the excuse to read them again. If you don’t have such an excuse, go find one. Freddy is a lot of fun.

And it is with that in mind, mere fun, that I share the following. I make no spiritual application and draw no truth from it. I have no agenda in mind other than to share my delight. In Freddy and the Ignormus, Freddy is speaking with a frog named Theodore, who is really quite a clever frog, with a fine bass voice, but fairly reclusive. About Theodore, we read this:

“Theodore was handsome for a frog. At least, other frogs said he was, though as Mrs. Wiggins, the cow, said, he could be a whole lot handsomer than the whole frog tribe and still be pretty near the homeliest critter under he sun. And after all if your face is green, and you have a huge mouth, and bulging eyes, and nothing much in the way of a nose, you have to admit yourself that you are pretty homely.”

That made me laugh.

Any other Freddy fans out there?

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