Horton Hatches the Egg
Sun., February 29, 12:07 PM
Monday is the 100th birthday of Dr. Seuss, the remarkable author of children’s books. Among his best known titles are the “I Can Read Books,” like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham – “I do not like them, Sam-I-am.” Nowadays you seldom hear about my old favorite, Horton Hatches the Egg.
It’s a generation gap, I guess. By the time the “I Can Read” series began, I was already reading beyond that level. (I didn’t read most of easy readers until my children were ready to read them.) Horton was a read-to-me book, longer and more complicated, with a diverse vocabulary. Eventually I learned to read it by myself and even memorized large parts of it, for Dr. Seuss’s rhymes are beguiling.
I’m tired and I’m bored and I’ve kinks in my leg…
The bird really doesn’t want to continue sitting on her egg, and she’s looking for someone, anyone, to take over. Thus she solicits Horton the Elephant – who resists, recognizing that it’s ridiculous. But she persuades him:
Come, be a good fellow, I know you won’t mind
and
why I’ll never by missed…
And Horton agrees. She doesn’t return and he stays on that egg, enduring taunts from the other animals, rain, cold, attacks by hunters. He perseveres because
And I said what I meant,
An elephant’s faithful,
One hundred percent.
I always thought of it as a reminder that, if you make a promise, you have to keep that promise. And also, I suppose, that one must keep on trying, even in the face of adversity. But I recently discovered another lesson in the story.
After Horton has kept that egg warm for months, it starts to hatch. And at that point, Maisie returns, demanding her egg back – now that the work is all done. But as the egg flies apart, the results of Horton’s devotion are evident. The hatchling resembles the bird a little bit, but it’s obviously Horton’s child.
I guess I knew it all along, even if I hadn’t yet put it into words. It’s love that makes a family. Thank you Dr. Seuss, you taught us well.
