Pirate Pig

Snorky Figgles, like all self-respecting little pigs of his age, has become a little curious about the classic, R.L. Stevenson's Treasure Island. I've seen him reading the book. And his line of thought seems clear from the questions he's been bringing up lately, including:

** Are pirates always bad? ('Usually, yes.' Actually it depends on how you define morality, although I think I'll defer this discussion to a later time.)

** Why is rum associated with seafaring men? ('And can I have some?' 'No!')

** What other books feature the sea and seamen of long ago? (My goodness, I know I've read some but, for now, the only ones I remember are 'smuggler' books - like Du Maurier's Jamaica Inn. And, erm, The Pirates of the Caribbean series of movies.)

** If I have to run away to sea, which is the closest sea that has pirates? ('Well, technically, piracy is outlawed. You're not allowed to be a pirate.' 'Oh.' 'Um, but it would be the Caribbean - according to fiction.' 'Ok, can you please show it to me on the Atlas?' 'Sure.' Good way to start with a little bit of geography, right?)

Anyway, so the other day I was putting away a little trinket or two, when I found I'd misplaced my heart-shaped pendant. I looked all over for it, and finally found my it on my little pirate.

Snorky Figgles looked so cute and un-pirate in his get-up that it is easy to overlook the otherwise obvious question: should the questions and the pirate games scare me?