A. A. Milne - Winnie-The-Pooh
- Chapter 7
...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--of--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
1.
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 1.)
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.
10.
Quickly.
11. And
Kanga wouldn't discover the difference until Afterwards
