Broderick

[Music] in a house by a lake there once lived a young mouse called Broderick he lived in a broom closet in a far corner of the house [Music] Broderick was passionately fond of books fortunately for him the children of the house loved books - they brought armloads home from the library every week the children read the books during the day and Broderick chewed on the bindings during the night he always judged a book by its cover one night Broderick came upon a book that had been left open there was a portrait of a mouse on the title page he was so fascinated that he read the book five times in a row and forgot to chew the cover amazing why didn't I know about this story before he said what he particularly loved were stories about famous mice there was Norman who was a doorman at an art museum Amos who guided Ben Franklin in almost every important step of his career miss Bianca Nils and Bernard who rescued a Norwegian poet from the dungeon of the black castle and Anatole who became first vice president in charge of cheese tasting at the Devourer cheese factory in Paris Broderick began to take long walks by the lake listening to the waves and dreaming dreams of glory I too will become famous he thought the other mice laughed at him I want to do something that no mouse has ever done before one night Broderick found a different kind of book Eureka here is a career at last he read the book and studied the pictures for many hours there was only one thing he needed he found an old tongue depressor that was perfect in size and waxed it with a candle end early the next morning he raced down to the lake shouting the waves on the lake seemed enormous to a small Mouse like Broderick a few minutes later he had his first bike on Broderick persisted in spite of hundreds of wipeouts fatigue head colds and other disappointments in order to be close to his work he built a small Cabana on the beach as the months went by he mastered the art of surfing first he learned to ride the waves crouching then standing next he learned to do the stall [Music] he learned to control his board in terms he even learned to surf on one foot [Music] and he could do the head dip [Music] finally he learned to hang ten as a matter of fact by using the tip of his tail he could even hang 11 one night Broderick decided that he was ready to make his name in the world so the next day he packed a few belongings and said goodbye to the other mice Broderick smuggled himself aboard an eastbound bus the passengers on the bus were so careless with their problems that he became a trifle plump and he had to go on a diet one sparkling afternoon the bus arrived at the seaside and Broderick jumped on his tail began to tremble with excitement Gold's creaked in the sky and the rumble of the surf sounded over the dunes Broderick was so anxious to surf that he raced over the dunes toward the sea but suddenly after received all snatched him up Broderick's voice shook with anger and beat me villain the gull was so astonished that he dropped a broad awake into the Atlantic [Music] Broderick was able to get back on his surfboard he had never dreamed that the waves could be so enormous as the guns don't get me he thought one of these wings will a huge swell rose under him his surfboard began to slide forward very well oh dude I may be but at least I can go to my doom and style a young man saw that Broderick was about to be swallowed up by a huge William so he sees Broderick just before the wave wiped him out the young man's name was Tim he carefully shook the water out of Broderick and took him home while Broderick was recovering Tim made him a beautiful surfboard out of balsa wood and painted it a brilliant friend later they decided that Tim would be brought Alex manager and that they would go on tour together so after a few weeks of practicing their routines they flew to Southern California Broderick made his professional debut at Malibu beach he dazzled the crowds with his Sun bleached fur and deep tan tail the sale of binoculars and telescopes soared [Music] when the waves were small and smooth Broderick and Tim surfed side by side with the Grace and precision of ballet dancers when the surf was rough Tim rode the waves with broderick daringly balanced on his finger on very calm days Broderick took two water skis when he was going fast enough a kite carried him high into the air Broderick demonstrated his steely nerves by shooting between the pilings of the Huntington Beach Pier later Broderick and Tim went on a round-the-world tour hundreds of fans watched them surf in Hawaii Mexico [Music] Australia [Music] and Africa [Music] millions followed every move on television [Music] a documentary film was made about Broderick and it became a smash hit [Music] Broderick was especially happy when he won a surfing award [Music] broderick also became wealthy and sent a large anonymous donation to the library it had always bothered his conscience that he had chewed up so many bindings in his heedless you eventually Broderick built a modest Chalet on the shore of the lake where he first learned the art of surfing here he spent his retirement years talking to aspiring young mice who flocked from far and wide to hear his words of inspiration and encouragement [Music]