So Dear to My Heart

So dear to my heart

The greatest wealth a man may acquire...

is the wisdom he gains from living.

And sometimes out of the small beginnings...

come the forces that shape a whole life.

So dear to my heart

That Septembery day

When that old shady lane

We strolled

Was just turning scarlet and gold

So dear to my heart

So dear to my heart

That Decembery day

When that first touch of frost

And snow

Had painted each tree

In the road

So dear to my heart

So dear to my heart

I still can picture the flowers in a shower

And that picnic in July

And I still treasure

Each and every hour

Of those years

That had to fly

They're locked in my heart

In a corner apart

While I tenderly hold

The key

As long as I live

They will be

So dear

To my heart

I can still see the old Kincaid homestead...

just the way it was then...

the split-rail fence, the red barn...

and the chinked log cabin with its little loft bedroom...

where I used to do my dreaming.

And I can still see Granny out there in the field...

and General Jackson pulling her plough.

And just a mile or so away, Fulton Corners...

the crossroads of my small world.

At Grundy's General Store, you could get most anything...

from jackknives to fishhooks or candy.

That is, if you had the money.

And if you didn't...

why, free for nothin', you might get to see Old 99 go highballin' through.

She's blowin' for a stop. Uncle Hiram, come on!

Hey, Pa, she's a-stoppin', she's a-stoppin'!

Well, I'll be. Stoppin' right here.

Now, folks, you'll have to stand back. Stand well back, please.

Give us plenty of room.

All right, Fred, bring him out.

- Hang on to that dog, boy. Stand back, folks. - Quiet, Trumpeter. Quiet, boy.

I can hardly believe my eyes.

Dan Patch himself.

The greatest racehorse in the world.

Of course, I'd collected a lot of pictures of him...

from calendars and magazines, but I never dreamed I'd get to look right at him!

Yet here he was, right in Fulton Corners.

And they'd stopped the Limited just so he could get some exercise.

- Loose nail on his shoe, Abe. - He must have pawed it loose, Mr Burns.

- He gets restless travellin' so far. - He'll have that shoe off time we get to Louisville.

- There a blacksmith in this town? - I'm a smith, sir.

- Could I get you to clinch a new nail in his shoe? - Sure.

- Bring your tools, Abe. - Yes, sir.

Steady, boy.

- He wants your apple, kid. - All right. He can have it.

Ain't wormy, is it?

All right. You can give it to him.

I can still feel the touch of his soft, black nose...

and his warm breath on my hand.

And I couldn't help thinkin' how wonderful it'd be to own a horse like him.

What do I owe you?

- I'll just keep this nail. - Thanks very much.

All right, boys, let's get rolling. Stand back, folks, please.

Board!

Oh, get out the way for old Dan Patch

De diddle di diddle do Dan Patch

Get out the way for old Dan Patch

Git, git git out of the way

Bet you wouldn't take $100 for it.

- Heck, no! - City folks been payin' as much as 50 cents...

for just a single hair out of his tail.

- My goodness! - Know what?

- What? - I'm gonna get me a colt...

and raise him up to be a world's champion like Dan Patch.

- Betcha Granny wouldn't let ya. - Don't know why not.

I'd make a lot of money, 'cause he'd win all the races, I bet.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. I'm afraid your horse'd have quite a handicap.

- Why? - Well, knowin' your granny...

I'm afraid he'd have to do all of his racin' with a plough hitched onto his tail.

I knew what Uncle Hiram meant, all right.

For Granny's job was more than just raising me.

She had to run a farm single-handed...

and what with ploughing and planting...

raising sheep, spinning wool...

she had little time or patience for my daydreams.

So, as I added today's big idea to the collection in my scrapbook...

I knew my chances were pretty slim.

Granny'd probably say no.

- But as the wise old owl put it: - Yes, we'll gather...

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." - at the river

The beautiful, beautiful river

Gather with the saints at the river

- That flows by... - Granny!

Land sakes, Jeremiah Kincaid. You still awake?

Why don't we trade General Jackson for a mare?

What's the matter with old General Jackson? We don't need no mare.

If we had a mare, we could get a colt.

We don't need no colt.

Don't see why we couldn't trade him off.

What good's an old mule anyhow?

A mule is steady and reliable...

and he earns his livin' by doin' honest work...

and that's the last time I wanna hear you criticizing poor old General Jackson.

- Do you hear me? - Yes, ma'am.

- You get on back to bed. - Can't sleep.

Well, you try countin' sheep instead of colts, and you'll go to sleep.

Yes'm. Reckon the lambs were born yet?

The lambs'll be born in the Lord's good time.

I reckon I had better go and see.

Lemme go with you, Granny. Please?

Well, I reckon.

As long as you're so wide awake and full of ginger.

- Put on your boots. - Yes, ma'am!

- Put on your jacket! - Yes'm!

- Granny, they've come already! - Yes, sir.

Three brand new ones!

All pert and sassy too.

Fetch me that pitchfork.

Granny, look!

Jezebel's got twins!

Gee! Ain't he a beauty?

Black as a lump of coal.

Look, Granny. He ain't a bit afraid.

Nothing's born afraid.

Nice boy.

You hungry, little fella?

Hold still, Jezebel. This little fella's hungry too.

Help me hold her, Granny.

What's the matter with you, you fool sheep?

Hold still, you ornery critter, you.

What's the matter with her? Is she crazy?

Oh, sometimes they're like that... with twins. Especially when one of them's black.

You mean she won't take him?

- You mean she's gonna let him die? - Well.

Maybe she'll take him after we get outta here and she can't see that he's black.

Here. Better wrap the little critter up against the cold.

But, Granny, suppose she don't.

Suppose she don't take him.

Well, that's in the hands of the Lord.

They're his critters, and their ways are the ways he give 'em...

and there's nothin' we can do about it.

The ways of nature seem cruel sometimes and hard...

but there's a plan behind it all.

Oh, he knoweth every sparrow that falleth.

Jeremiah, fetch me another one of them flower sacks for this little critter.

Jeremiah! I said to fetch me one of them...

Tarnation.

Jeremiah Kincaid, I'm puttin' my foot down.

I mean it.

If you think I'm gonna have my kitchen smellin' like a stable, you got another think comin'.

It ain't civilized, it ain't sanitary and it...

Well. One of my best dish towels.

It's got to be boiled anyway.

If you want to get it warm, you'd better take it in by the fire.

- You mean I can... - I mean that you can get it warm...

before you take it back out where it belongs.

If we bottle-raise that lamb, it'll get to be a pet.

Come time to market it, you'll wanna keep it.

Besides, it's black. I don't fancy black wool.

Never did.

And you know well as I do we can't afford critters around here that don't earn their keep.

Hard enough to make ends meet as it is.

I'd take care of him, Granny.

I'd feed him and take care of him and everything, Granny.

Oh, he'll grow up to be underfoot.

I know the nature of them black sheep.

Especially a ram. He'll be into everything.

It ain't practical. It just don't make sense.

You wouldn't be bad. Would you, boy?

Might as well warm his insides too.

Look at his face, Granny.

Hasn't he got a cute little face?

Wicked little face, if you ask me.

You gonna let me keep him?

Well, we'll see.

So, that's how it all came about.

I'd traded my dream of owning a champion racehorse...

for a measly little old black lamb.

As the wise old owl put it...

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Of course, I...

I knew Granny would never let me keep him for good.

Not if he turned out to be just an ordinary sheep.

Danny would have to amount to something. Something extra special.

A champion, for instance.

Hey, if you're aimin' to carry that wreath around, you better keep your chin up...

and your feet on the ground.