The Return of Ferdinand

 

Some of you may know that for the past several years I have begun each day in this fashion—after I’ve showered and dressed and whatnot.

Down in my study I turn the page in my Merriam-Webster word-a-day calendar, look at the new word, and quickly compose  a little doggerel for my son’s family, then text it to each of them—at Christmas I give them a notebook full of all those pages, all those “poems.”

Anyway, today the word was affable, and for some reason I thought of the children’s book from 1936, The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf, a story I have known my entire life.

Later, in 1938, it won an Oscar for a cartoon short subject (Link to movie.)

So, today, here’s the bit of doggerel I came up with:

AFFABLE = 1: BEING PLEASANT AND

AT EASE IN TALKING TO OTHERS

2: CHARACTERIZED BY EASE AND

FRIENDLINESS

 

He surely seemed so AFFABLE,

That Ferdinand, the famous bull.

 

He’d rather sniff a flower than

Fight fearsome beast or fearsome man.

 

But then he fell in love (a cow),

And he just changed—was fearsome now.

 

So beast and man avoided him—

And his new calf? They called him Tim.

I don’t know why I thought of that book, that story, but I did. I remember loving it, though I recall, as well, how the story puzzled me: I was a boy, and non-violence seemed ... weird to me. I was caught up in late 1940s and 1950s television and was especially enamored of cowboy shows and movies. I don’t remember too many of them that concluded non-violently.

Later on I understood more clearly the courage of Ferdinand’s sticking to what his heart told him. Had to respect that.

Our young son loved the book, too, though I recall his being puzzled by Ferdinand’s choices (so it goes when you happen to be male).

Anyway, I loved my journey back into the story today. I hope Munro Leaf, wherever he may be, will forgive the alterations—and, okay, desecrations.