So I’m not really a tattoo kind of gal because I’m so fickle, but while I was taking pics of a few of the new Chanel Rouge Velvet Matte Lip Colours ($32; available now at Chanel counters, stores and also online), it hit me: if I do ever get inked, I’m going to get a tattoo of 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 the 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.”
“I suppose you are real?” said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
“The Boy’s Uncle made me Real,” he said. “That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”
Kristine Ayala says
November 15th, 2011 at 12:08 amI LOVE the Velveteen Rabbit!
Allison says
November 15th, 2011 at 12:20 amI am the same way about tattoos! I don’t think I could ever choose just the right one… But I think you have to get the Velveteen Rabbit tattoo! Such a great idea. Love the book. My mom always loved the story (I think she would cry when she read it sometimes) and it will always have a special place in my heart!
Seriously, get that tattoo! 😀
Lovi says
November 15th, 2011 at 12:22 amwhat a nice excerpt, makes you think about life
kaydi says
November 15th, 2011 at 12:34 amSo sweet! Perfect reminder to read the book to my daughter and watch the movie, too 🙂
Julie Fischer says
November 15th, 2011 at 1:04 amHoly mother, I co-sign this entire post. When I was 18, I planned to get a tattoo of either Le Petit Prince or Corduroy the teddy bear. I chickened out though because I was afraid I’d regret it, and because I found out that my idea was quite common… I’m still wishy washy on whether I’ll ever get a tattoo!
Brandy says
November 15th, 2011 at 2:28 amI have the word “forever” on my inner left wrist, in my mummy’s handwriting. I got it less than a month before she passed away. I don’t think I’ll ever get another one, but I love the one I have. It’s very little and rarely gets noticed, but I look at it daily.
Cassy says
November 15th, 2011 at 3:27 amAww, Velveteen Rabbit!. I think that would be a great idea. I guess I’m not a good help for someone who is wavering, though, as I have an arm full of tattoos and then some.
YadiQ says
November 15th, 2011 at 5:36 amAren’t rabbits the best I too had some rabbit inkspiration lol I want 2 fighting hares playing off the phrase “mad as a march hare” I want this piece pretty large on the side of my ribcage since it means a lot to me but I am afraid of the pain!! This would be the craziest thing I have ever done but to me rabbits have such a great symbolism overall 🙂 let’s do it!
Carmela says
November 15th, 2011 at 7:34 amFirst, I feel bad for the lipstick that looked like it got caught on the cover. 🙁 Second, I totally second (bad unintended pun) the Velveteen Rabbit tattoo! 🙂 Although, I’m fickle myself and will probably never be able to commit to one unless it has an enormous significance that will not (eventually) make me regret getting inked even when I’ve gotten wrinkly and old.
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Courtney says
November 15th, 2011 at 9:02 amI just adore that book! It’s one I can read over and over again. So sweet.
Nichole Clark says
November 15th, 2011 at 9:45 amWe had this exact passage read at our wedding and I got a tattoo of the rabbit on our first wedding anniversary. Years later it’s my 2 year old daughter’s very favorite book! I read it {no joke} 12 times a day and still choke back tears on almost every page.
C.Diff says
November 15th, 2011 at 1:55 pmMy friends also used that passage when they got married, and I still get teary every time I read it. A photographer named Barbara Livingston has a book called “Old Friends” about her visits with elderly former racehorses and she describes one ancient mare as “a real-life Skin Horse”…it kills me.
peach_ says
November 15th, 2011 at 5:57 pmAww…maybe I’m overly sensitive, but this excerpt made me teary! I love these sweet and innocent stories that can be interpreted in so many ways as you grow up.
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Karen says
November 15th, 2011 at 6:01 pmYou’re not alone, Peach! I was reading it out loud to Tabs yesterday (hello, crazy cat lady moment!) and started tearing up.