...IN WHICH KANGA AND BABY ROO COME
TO THE FOREST, AND PIGLET HAS A BATH
NOBODY seemed to know where they came
from, but there they were in the Forest: Kanga and Baby Roo. When
Pooh asked Christopher Robin,
"How did they come here?"
Christopher Robin said, "In the Usual Way, if you know what
I mean, Pooh," and Pooh, who didn't, said "Oh!"
Then he nodded his head twice and said, "In the Usual Way.
Ah!" Then he went to call upon his friend Piglet to see what
he thought about it. And at Piglet's house he found Rabbit. So
they all talked about it together.
"What I don't like about it
is this," said Rabbit.
"Here are we--you, Pooh, and
you, Piglet, and Me --and suddenly "
"And Eeyore," said Pooh.
"And Eeyore--and then suddenly--"
"And Owl," said Pooh
"And Owl--and then all of a
sudden--"
"Oh, and Eeyore," said
Pooh. "I was forgetting him."
"Here--we--are," said
Rabbit very slowly and carefully, all--or--us, and then, suddenly,
we wake up one morning, and what do we find? We find a Strange
Animal among us. An animal of whom we had never even heard before!
An animal who carries her family about with her in her pocket!
Suppose I carried my family about with me in my pocket, how many
pockets should I want?"
"Sixteen," said Piglet.
"Seventeen, isn't it?"
said Rabbit. "And one more for a handkerchief--that's eighteen.
Eighteen pockets in one suit! I haven't time."
There was a long and thoughtful
silence? . . and then Pooh, who had been frowning very hard for
some minutes, said: "I make it fifteen."
"What?" said Rabbit.
"Fifteen."
"Fifteen what?"
"Your family."
"What about them?"
Pooh rubbed his nose and said that
he thought Rabbit had been talking about his family.
"Did I?" said Rabbit carelessly.
"Yes, you said--"
"Never mind, Pooh," said
Piglet impatiently. "The question is, What are we to do about
Kanga?"
"Oh, I see," said Pooh.
"The best way," said Rabbit,
"would be this. The best way would be to steal Baby Roo and
hide him, and then when Kanga says, 'Where's Baby Roo?' we say,
'Aha!'"
"Aha!" said Pooh, practising.
"Aha! Aha! . . . Of course," he went on, "we could
say 'Aha!' even if we hadn't stolen Baby Roo."
"Pooh," said Rabbit kindly,
"you haven't any brain."
"I know," said Pooh humbly.
"We say 'Aha!' so that Kanga
knows that we know where Baby Roo is. 'Aha!' means 'We'll tell
you where Baby Roo is, if you promise to go away from the Forest
and never come back.' Now don't talk while I think."
Pooh went into a corner and tried
saying 'Aha!' in that sort of voice. Sometimes it seemed to him
that it did mean what Rabbit said, and sometimes it seemed to
him that it didn't. "I suppose it's just practice,"
he thought. "I wonder if Kanga will have to practise too
so as to understand it."
"There's just one thing,"
said Piglet, fidgeting a bit. "I was talking to Christopher
Robin, and he said that a Kanga was Generally Regarded as One
of the Fiercer Animals I am not frightened of Fierce Animals in
the ordinary way, but it is well known that if One of the Fiercer
Animals is Deprived of Its Young, it becomes as fierce as Two
of the Fiercer Animals. In which case 'Aha!' is perhaps a foolish
thing to say."
"Piglet," said Rabbit,
taking out a pencil, and licking the end of it, "you haven't
any pluck."
"It is hard to be brave,"
said Piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very
Small Animal."
Rabbit, who had begun to write very
busily, looked up and said:
"It is because you are a very
small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."
Piglet was so excited at the idea
of being Useful that he forgot to be frightened any more, and
when Rabbit went on to say that Kangas were only Fierce during
the winter months, being at other times of an Affectionate Disposition,
he could hardly sit still, he was so eager to begin being useful
at once.
"What about me?" said
Pooh sadly "I suppose I shan't be useful?"
"Never mind, Pooh," said
Piglet comfortingly. "Another time perhaps "
"Without Pooh," said Rabbit
solemnly as he sharpened his pencil, "the adventure would
be impossible."
"Oh!" said Piglet, and
tried not to look disappointed. But Pooh went into a corner of
the room and said proudly to himself, "Impossible without
Me! That sort of Bear."
"Now listen all of you,"
said Rabbit when he had finished writing, and Pooh and Piglet
sat listening very eagerly with their mouths
open. This was what Rabbit read out:
PLAN TO CAPTURE BABY ROO
I. General Remarks. Kanga runs faster
than any of Us, even Me.
2. More General Remarks. Kanga never
takes her eye off Baby Roo, except when he's safely buttoned up
in her pocket.
3. Therefore. If we are to capture
Baby Roo, we must get a Long Start, because Kanga runs faster
than any of Us, even Me. (See I.)
4. A Thought. If Roo had jumped
out of Kanga's pocket and Piglet had jumped in, Kanga wouldn't
know the difference, because Piglet is a Very
Small Animal.
5. Like Roo.
6. But Kanga would have to be looking
the other way first, so as not to see Piglet jumping in.
7. See 2.
8. Another Thought. But if Pooh
was talking to her very excitedly, she might look the other way
for a moment.
9. And then I could run away with
Roo.
IO. Quickly.
II. And Kanga wouldn't discover the
difference until Afterwards
Well, Rabbit read this out proudly,
and for a little while after he had read it nobody said anything
And then Piglet, who had been opening and shutting his mouth without
making any noise, managed to say very huskily:
"And--Afterwards?"
"How do you mean?"
"When Kanga does Discover the
Difference?"
"Then we all say 'Aha!'"
"All three of us?"
"Yes."
"Oh!"
"Why, what's the trouble, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet,
"as long as we all three say it. As long as we all three
say it," said Piglet, "I don't mind," he said,
"but I shouldn't care to say 'Aha!' by myself. It wouldn't
sound nearly so well. By the way," he said, "you are
quite sure about what you said about the winter months?"
"The winter months?"
"Yes, only being Fierce in
the Winter Months."
"Oh, yes, yes, that's all right.
Well, Pooh You see what you have to do?"
"No," said Pooh Bear.
"Not yet," he said? "What do I do?"
"Well, you just have to talk
very hard to Kanga? so as she doesn't notice anything."
"Oh! What about?"
"Anything you like."
"You mean like telling her
a little bit of poetry or something?"
"That's it," said Rabbit.
"Splendid Now come along."
So they all went out to look for
Kanga.
Kanga and Roo were spending a quiet
afternoon in a sandy part of the Forest. Baby Roo was practising
very small jumps in the sand, and falling down mouse-holes and
climbing out of them, and Kanga was fidgeting about and saying
"Just one more jump, dear, and then we must go home."
And at that moment who should come stumping up the hill but Pooh.
"Good afternoon, Kanga."
"Good afternoon, Pooh."
"Look at me jumping,"
squeaked Roo, and fell into another mouse-hole.
"Hallo, Roo, my little fellow!"
"We were just going home,"
said Kanga. "Good afternoon, Rabbit. Good afternoon, Piglet."
Rabbit and Piglet, who had now come
up from the other side of the hill, said "Good afternoon,"
and "Hallo, Roo," and Roo asked them to look at him
jumping, so they stayed and looked.
And Kanga looked too....
"Oh, Kanga," said Pooh,
after Rabbit had winked at him twice, "I don't know if you
are interested in Poetry at all?"
"Hardly at all," said
Kanga.
"Oh!" said Pooh.
"Roo, dear, just one more jump
and then we must go home."
There was a short silence while
Roo fell down another mouse-hole.
"Go on," said Rabbit in
a loud whisper behind his paw.
"Talking of Poetry," said
Pooh, "I made up a little piece as I was coming along. It
went like this. Er--now let me see--"
"Fancy!" said Kanga. "Now
Roo, dear--"
"You'll like this piece of
poetry," said Rabbit.
"You'll love it," said
Piglet.
"You must listen very carefully,"
said Rabbit.
"So as not to miss any of it,"
said Piglet.
"Oh, yes," said Kanga,
but she still looked at Baby Roo.
"How did it go, Pooh?"
said Rabbit.
Pooh gave a little cough and began.
LINES WRITTEN BY A BEAR OF VERY
LITTLE BRAIN
On Monday, when the sun is
hot I wonder to myself a lot: "Now is it true, or
is it not," "That what is which
and which is what?"
On Tuesday, when it hails
and snows, The feeling on me grows and
grows That hardly anybody knows If those are these or these
are those.
On Wednesday, when the sky
is blue, And I have nothing else to
do, I sometimes wonder if it's
true That who is what and what
is who.
On Thursday, when it starts
to freeze And hoar-frost twinkles on
the trees, How very readily one sees That these are whose--but
whose are these?
On Friday----
"Yes, it is, isn't it?"
said Kanga, not waiting to hear what happened on Friday. "Just
one more jump, Roo, dear, and then we really must be going."
Rabbit gave Pooh a hurrying-up sort
of nudge.
"Talking of Poetry," said
Pooh quickly "have you ever noticed that tree right over
there?"
"Where?" said Kanga. "Now,
Roo--" "Right over there," said Pooh, pointing
behind Kanga's back.
"No," said Kanga. "Now
jump in, Roo, dear, and we'll go home."
"You ought to look at that
tree right over there," said Rabbit. "Shall I lift you
in, Roo?" And he picked up Roo in his paws.
"I can see a bird in it from
here," said Pooh. "Or is it a fish?"
"You ought to see that bird
from here," said Rabbit. "Unless it's a fish."
"It isn't a fish, it's a bird,"
said Piglet.
"So it is," said Rabbit.
"Is it a starling or a blackbird?"
said Pooh.
"That's the whole question,"
said Rabbit. "Is it a blackbird or a starling?"
And then at last Kanga did turn
her head to look. And the moment that her head was turned, Rabbit
said in a loud voice "In you go, Roo!" and in jumped
Piglet into Kanga's pocket, and off scampered Rabbit, with Roo
in his paws, as fast as he could.
"Why, where's Rabbit?"
said Kanga, turning round again. "Are you all right, Roo,
dear?"
Piglet made a squeaky Roo-noise
from the bottom of Kanga's pocket.
"Rabbit had to go away,"
said Pooh. "I think he thought of something he had to do
and see about suddenly."
"And Piglet?"
"I think Piglet thought of
something at the same time. Suddenly."
"Well, we must be getting home,"
said Kanga. "Good-bye, Pooh." And in three large jumps
she was gone.
Pooh looked after her as she went.
"I wish I could jump like that,"
he thought. "Some can and some can't. That's how it is."
But there were moments when Piglet
wished that Kanga couldn't. Often, when he had had a long walk
home through the Forest, he had wished that he were a bird; but
now he thought jerkily to himself at the bottom of Kanga's pocket,
this
take
"If is shall
really to
flying I never
it."
And as he went up in the air he
said, "Ooooooo!" and as he came down he said, "Ow!"
And he was saying, "Ooooooo-ow, ooooooo-ow,
ooooooo-ow" all the way to Kanga's
house.
Of course as soon as Kanga unbuttoned
her pocket, she saw what had happened. Just for a moment, she
thought she was frightened, and then
she knew she wasn't: for she felt quite
sure that Christopher Robin could never let any harm happen to
Roo. So she said to herself, "If they are having a joke with
me, I will have a joke with them."
"Now then, Roo, dear,"
she said, as she took Piglet out of her pocket. "Bed-time."
"Aha!" said Piglet, as
well as he could after his Terrifying Journey. But it wasn't a
very good "Aha!" and Kanga didn't seem to understand
what it meant.
"Bath first," said Kanga
in a cheerful voice.
"Aha!" said Piglet again,
looking round anxiously for the others. But the others weren't
there. Rabbit was playing with Baby Roo in his own house, and
feeling more fond of him every minute, and Pooh, who had decided
to be a Kanga, was still at the sandy place on the top of the
Forest, practising jumps.
"I am not at all sure,"
said Kanga in a thoughtful voice, "that it wouldn't be a
good idea to have a cold bath this evening. Would you like that,
Roo, dear?"
Piglet, who had never been really
fond of baths, shuddered a long indignant shudder, and said in
as brave a voice as he could:
"Kanga, I see that the time
has come to speak plainly."
"Funny little Roo," said
Kanga, as she got the bath-water ready.
"I am not Roo," said Piglet
loudly. "I am Piglet!"
"Yes, dear, yes," said
Kanga soothingly. "And imitating Piglet's voice too! So clever
of him," she went on, as she took a large bar of yellow soap
out of the cupboard. "What will he be doing next"
"Can't you see?" shouted
Piglet "Haven't you got eyes? Look at me!"
"I am looking, Roo, dear,"
said Kanga rather severely. "And you know what I told you
yesterday about making faces. If you go on making faces like Piglet's,
you will grow up to look like Piglet--and then think how sorry
you will be. Now then, into the bath, and don't let me have to
speak to you about it again."
Before he knew where he was, Piglet
was in the bath, and Kanga was scrubbing him firmly with a large
lathery flannel.
"Ow!" cried Piglet. "Let
me out! I'm Piglet!"
"Don't open the mouth, dear,
or the soap goes in," said Kanga. "There! What did I
tell you?"
"You--you--you did it on purpose,"
spluttered Piglet, as soon as he could speak again . . . and then
accidentally had another mouthful of lathery flannel.
"That's right, dear, don't
say anything," said Kanga, and in another minute Piglet was
out of the bath, and being rubbed dry with a towel.
"Now," said Kanga, "there's
your medicine, and then bed."
"W-w-what medicine?" said
Piglet.
"To make you grow big and strong,
dear. You don't want to grow up small and weak like Piglet, do
you? Well, then!"
At that moment there was a knock
at the door.
"Come in," said Kanga,
and in came Christopher Robin.
"Christopher Robin, Christopher
Robin!" cried Piglet. "Tell Kanga who I am! She keeps
saying I'm Roo. I'm not Roo, am I?"
Christopher Robin looked at him
very carefully, and shook his head.
"You can't be Roo," he
said, "because I've just seen Roo playing in Rabbit's house."
"Well!" said Kanga. "Fancy
that! Fancy my making a mistake like that."
"There you are!" said
Piglet. "I told you so. I'm Piglet."
Christopher Robin shook his head
again.
"Oh, you're not Piglet,"
he said. "I know Piglet well, and he's quite a different
colour."
Piglet began to say that this was
because he had just had a bath, and then he thought that perhaps
he wouldn't say that, and as he opened his mouth to say something
else, Kanga slipped the medicine spoon in, and then patted him
on the back and told him that it was really quite a nice taste
when you got used to it.
"I knew it wasn't Piglet,"
said Kanga. "I wonder who it can be."
"Perhaps it's some relation
of Pooh's," said Christopher Robin. "What about a nephew
or an uncle or something?"
Kanga agreed that this was probably
what it was, and said that they would have to call it by some
name.
"I shall call it Pootel,"
said Christopher Robin. "Henry Pootel for short."
And just when it was decided, Henry
Pootel wriggled out of Kanga's arms and jumped to the ground.
To his great joy Christopher Robin had left the door open. Never
had Henry Pootel Piglet run so fast as he ran then, and he didn't
stop running until he had got quite close to his house. But when
he was a hundred yards away he stopped running, and rolled the
rest of the way home, so as to get his own nice comfortable colour
again.
So Kanga and Roo stayed in the Forest.
And every Tuesday Roo spent the day with his great friend Rabbit,
and every Tuesday Kanga spent the day with her great friend Pooh,
teaching him to jump, and every Tuesday Piglet spent the day with
his great friend Christopher Robin. So they were all happy again.
