INTRODUCTION
IfyouhappentohavereadanotherbookaboutChristopherRobin,youmayrememberthatheoncehada
schwan
swan(ortheswanhadChristopherRobin,Idon'tknowwhich)andthatheusedtocallthisschwan
swanPooh.Thatwasalongtimeago,andwhenwesaidgood-bye,wetookthenamewithus,aswedidn'tthinkthe
schwan
swanwouldwantitanymore.Well,whenEdwardBearsaidthathewouldlikeanexcitingnamealltohimself,ChristopherRobinsaidatonce,withoutstoppingtothink,thathewasWinnie-the-Pooh.
Andhewas.
So,asIhaveexplainedthePoohpart,Iwillnowexplaintherestofit.
Youcan'tbeinLondonforlongwithoutgoingtothe
Zoo
Zoo.Therearesomepeoplewhobeginthe
Zoo
Zooatthebeginning,calledWAYIN,andwalkasquicklyastheycanpasteverykäfig
cageuntiltheygettotheonecalledWAYOUT,butthenettesten
nicestpeoplegostraighttotheanimaltheylovethemost,andstaythere.SowhenChristopherRobingoestothe
Zoo
Zoo,hegoestowherethePolarBearsare,andhewhisperssomethingtothethirdkeeperfromtheleft,anddoorsareunlocked,andwewandern
wanderthroughdarkpassagesandupsteepstairs,untilatlastwecometothespecialkäfig
cage,andthecageisopened,andouttrotssomethingbrownandfurry,andwithahappycryof"Oh,Bear!"ChristopherRobinrushesintoitsarms.
Nowthisbear'snameisWinnie,whichshowswhatagoodnameforbearsitis,butthefunnythingisthatwecan'trememberwhetherWinnieiscalledafterPooh,orPoohafterWinnie.
Wedidknowonce,butwehaveforgotten....
IhadwrittenasfarasthiswhenPigletlookedupandsaidinhissqueakyvoice,"WhataboutMe?"
"MydearPiglet,"Isaid,"thewholebookisaboutyou."
"SoitisaboutPooh,"hesqueaked.
Youseewhatitis.
HeisjealousbecausehethinksPoohishavingaGrand
Einführung
Introductionalltohimself.Poohisthe
favorit
favourite,ofcourse,there'snodenyingit,butPigletcomesinforagoodmanythingswhichPoohmisses;becauseyoucan'ttakePoohtoschoolwithouteverybodyknowingit,butPigletissosmallthatheslipsintoapocket,whereitisvery
tröstlich
comfortingtofeelhimwhenyouarenotquitesurewhethertwicesevenistwelveortwenty-two.Sometimesheslipsoutandhasagoodlookintheink-pot,andinthiswayhehasgotmoreeducationthanPooh,butPoohdoesn'tmind.
Somehavebrains,andsomehaven't,hesays,andthereitis.
Andnowalltheothersaresaying,"WhataboutUs?"
SoperhapsthebestthingtodoistostopwritingIntroductionsandgetonwiththebook.
Kapitel
CHAPTERIINWHICHWEAREINTRODUCEDTOWINNIE-THE-POOHANDSOMEBEES,ANDTHESTORIESBEGIN
HereisEdwardBear,comingdownstairsnow,bump,bump,bump,onthebackofhishead,behindChristopherRobin.
Itis,asfarasheknows,theonlywayofcomingdownstairs,butsometimeshefeelsthattherereallyisanotherway,ifonlyhecouldstopbumpingforamomentandthinkofit.
Andthenhefeelsthatperhapsthereisn't.
Anyhow,hereheisatthebottom,andreadytobeintroducedtoyou.
Winnie-the-Pooh.
WhenIfirstheardhisname,Isaid,justasyouaregoingtosay,"ButIthoughthewasaboy?"
SodidI,"saidChristopherRobin.
Thenyoucan'tcallhimWinnie?"
Idon't."
Butyousaid——".
He'sWinnie-ther-Pooh.
Don'tyouknowwhat'ther'means?"
Ah,yes,nowIdo,"Isaidquickly;
andIhopeyoudotoo,becauseitisalltheexplanationyouaregoingtoget.
SometimesWinnie-the-Poohlikesagameofsomesortwhenhecomesdownstairs,andsometimeshelikestositquietlyinfrontofthefireandlistentoastory.
Thisevening——.
Whataboutastory?"
saidChristopherRobin.
Whataboutastory?"
Isaid.
Couldyouvery
süß
sweetlytellWinnie-the-Poohone?"IsupposeIcould,"Isaid.
"Whatsortofstoriesdoeshelike?"
Abouthimself.
Becausehe'sthatsortofBear."
Oh,Isee."
Socouldyouverysweetly?"
I'lltry,"Isaid.
SoItried.
Onceuponatime,averylongtimeagonow,aboutlastFriday,Winnie-the-PoohlivedinaforestallbyhimselfunderthenameofSanders.
("Whatdoes'underthename'mean?"
askedChristopherRobin.
Itmeanshehadthenameoverthedooringoldletters,andlivedunderit."
Winnie-the-Poohwasn'tquitesure,"saidChristopherRobin.
NowIam,"saidagrowlyvoice.
ThenIwillgoon,"saidI.)
Onedaywhenhewasoutwalking,hecametoanopenplaceinthemiddleoftheforest,andinthemiddleofthisplacewasalargeoak-tree,and,fromthetopofthetree,therecamealoudbuzzing-noise.
Winnie-the-Poohsatdownatthefootofthetree,puthisheadbetweenhispawsandbegantothink.
Firstofallhesaidtohimself:
"Thatbuzzing-noisemeanssomething.
Youdon'tgetabuzzing-noiselikethat,justbuzzingandbuzzing,withoutitsmeaningsomething.
Ifthere'sabuzzing-noise,somebody'smakingabuzzing-noise,andtheonlyreasonformakingabuzzing-noisethatIknowofisbecauseyou'reabee."
Thenhethoughtanotherlongtime,andsaid:
"Andtheonlyreasonforbeinga
biene
beethatIknowofismakinghoney."Andthenhegotup,andsaid:
"AndtheonlyreasonformakinghoneyissoasIcaneatit."
Sohebegantoclimbthetree.
Heclimbedandheclimbedandheclimbed,andasheclimbedhesangalittlesongtohimself.
Itwentlikethis:.
Thenheclimbedalittlefurther...
andalittlefurther...
andthenjustalittlefurther.
Bythattimehehadthoughtofanothersong.
Hewasgettingrathertiredbythistime,sothatiswhyhesangaComplainingSong.
Hewasnearlytherenow,andifhejuststoodonthat
zweig
branch...Crack!
Oh,help!"
saidPooh,ashedroppedtenfeetonthe
zweig
branchbelowhim.IfonlyIhadn't——"
hesaid,ashe
sprang
bouncedtwentyfeetontothenextzweig
branch.Yousee,whatImeanttodo,"heexplained,asheturnedhead-over-heels,andcrashedontoanother
zweig
branchthirtyfeetbelow,"whatImeanttodo——".Ofcourse,itwasrather——"
headmitted,asheslitheredveryquicklythroughthenextsixbranches.
Itallcomes,Isuppose,"hedecided,ashesaidgood-byetothelast
zweig
branch,spunroundthreetimes,andflewgracefullyintoagorse-bush,"itallcomesoflikinghoneysomuch.Oh,help!"
He
kroch
crawledoutofthegorse-bush,brushedthepricklesfromhisnose,andbegantothinkagain.AndthefirstpersonhethoughtofwasChristopherRobin.
("Wasthatme?"
saidChristopherRobininanawedvoice,hardlydaringtobelieveit.
Thatwasyou."
ChristopherRobinsaidnothing,buthiseyesgotlargerandlarger,andhisfacegotpinkerandpinker.)
SoWinnie-the-PoohwentroundtohisfriendChristopherRobin,wholivedbehindagreendoorinanotherpartoftheforest.
Goodmorning,ChristopherRobin,"hesaid.
Goodmorning,Winnie-ther-Pooh,"saidyou.
Iwonderifyou'vegotsuchathingasa
ballon
balloonaboutyou?"Aballoon?"
Yes,Ijustsaidtomyselfcomingalong:
'IwonderifChristopherRobinhassuchathingasa
ballon
balloonabouthim?'Ijustsaidittomyself,thinkingofballoons,andwondering."
Whatdoyouwantaballoonfor?"
yousaid.
Winnie-the-Poohlookedroundtoseethatnobodywaslistening,puthis
pfote
pawtohismouth,andsaidinadeepwhisper:"Honey!"
Butyoudon'tgethoneywithballoons!"
Ido,"saidPooh.
Well,itjusthappenedthatyouhadbeentoapartythedaybeforeatthehouseofyourfriendPiglet,andyouhadballoonsattheparty.
Youhadhadabiggreen
ballon
balloon;andoneofRabbit'srelationshadhadabigblueone,andhadleftitbehind,beingreallytooyoungtogotoapartyatall;
andsoyouhadbroughtthegreenoneandtheblueonehomewithyou.
Whichonewouldyoulike?"
youaskedPooh.
Heputhisheadbetweenhispawsandthoughtverycarefully.
It'slikethis,"hesaid.
"Whenyougoafterhoneywitha
ballon
balloon,thegreatthingisnottoletthebeesknowyou'recoming.Now,ifyouhaveagreen
ballon
balloon,theymightthinkyouwereonlypartofthetree,andnotnoticeyou,and,ifyouhaveablueballon
balloon,theymightthinkyouwereonlypartofthesky,andnotnoticeyou,andthequestionis:Whichismostlikely?"
Wouldn'ttheynoticeyou
unter
underneaththeballoon?"youasked.
Theymightortheymightnot,"saidWinnie-the-Pooh.
"Younevercantellwithbees."
Hethoughtforamomentandsaid:
"Ishalltrytolooklikeasmallblack
wolke
cloud.Thatwilldeceivethem."
Thenyouhadbetterhavetheblueballoon,"yousaid;
andsoitwasdecided.
Well,youbothwentoutwiththeblue
ballon
balloon,andyoutookyourgunwithyou,justincase,asyoualwaysdid,andWinnie-the-Poohwenttoaverymuddyplacethatheknewof,androlledandrolleduntilhewasblackallover;andthen,whenthe
ballon
balloonwasblownupasbigasbig,andyouandPoohwerebothholdingontothestring,youletgosuddenly,andPoohBearschwebte
floatedgracefullyupintothesky,andstayedthere—levelwiththetopofthetreeandabouttwentyfeetawayfromit.Hooray!"
youshouted.
Isn'tthatfine?"
shoutedWinnie-the-Poohdowntoyou.
"WhatdoIlooklike?"
YoulooklikeaBearholdingontoaballoon,"yousaid.
Not,"saidPoohanxiously,"—notlikeasmallblack
wolke
cloudinabluesky?"Notverymuch."
Ah,well,perhapsfromuphereitlooksdifferent.
And,asIsay,younevercantellwithbees."
Therewasnowindtoblowhim
näher
nearertothetree,sotherehestayed.Hecouldseethehoney,hecouldsmellthehoney,buthecouldn'tquitereachthehoney.
Afteralittlewhilehecalleddowntoyou.
ChristopherRobin!"
hesaidinaloudwhisper.
Hallo!"
Ithinkthebeessuspectsomething!"
Whatsortofthing?"
Idon'tknow.
Butsomethingtellsmethatthey'resuspicious!"
Perhapstheythinkthatyou'reaftertheirhoney."
Itmaybethat.
Younevercantellwithbees."
Therewasanotherlittlesilence,andthenhecalleddowntoyouagain.
ChristopherRobin!"
Yes?"
Haveyouan
regenschirm
umbrellainyourhouse?"Ithinkso."
Iwishyouwouldbringitouthere,andwalkupanddownwithit,andlookupatmeeverynowandthen,andsay'Tut-tut,itlookslikerain.'
Ithink,ifyoudidthat,itwouldhelpthe
täuschung
deceptionwhichwearepractisingonthesebees."Well,youlaughedtoyourself,"SillyoldBear!"
butyoudidn'tsayit
laut
aloudbecauseyouweresogern
fondofhim,andyouwenthomeforyourregenschirm
umbrella.Oh,thereyouare!"
calleddownWinnie-the-Pooh,assoonasyougotbacktothetree.
"Iwasbeginningtogetanxious.
IhavediscoveredthatthebeesarenowdefinitelySuspicious."
ShallIputmy
regenschirm
umbrellaup?"yousaid.
Yes,butwaitamoment.
Wemustbepractical.
Theimportant
biene
beetodeceiveistheQueenBiene
Bee.CanyouseewhichistheQueen
Biene
Beefromdownthere?"No."
Apity.
Well,now,ifyouwalkupanddownwithyour
regenschirm
umbrella,saying,'Tut-tut,itlookslikerain,'IshalldowhatIcanbysingingalittleWolke
CloudSong,suchasawolke
cloudmightsing....Go!"
So,whileyouwalkedupanddownandwonderedifitwouldrain,Winnie-the-Poohsangthissong:.
Thebeeswerestillbuzzingassuspiciouslyasever.
Someofthem,indeed,lefttheirnestsandflewallroundthe
wolke
cloudasitbeganthesecondvers
verseofthissong,andonebiene
beesatdownonthenoseofthewolke
cloudforamoment,andthengotupagain.Christopher—ow!—Robin,"calledoutthe
wolke
cloud.Yes?"
Ihavejustbeenthinking,andIhavecometoaveryimportantdecision.
Thesearethewrongsortofbees."
Arethey?"
Quitethewrongsort.
SoIshouldthinktheywouldmakethewrongsortofhoney,shouldn'tyou?"
Wouldthey?"
Yes.
SoIthinkIshallcomedown."
How?"
askedyou.
Winnie-the-Poohhadn'tthoughtaboutthis.
Ifheletgoofthestring,hewouldfall—bump—andhedidn'tliketheideaofthat.
Sohethoughtforalongtime,andthenhesaid:.
ChristopherRobin,youmustshootthe
ballon
balloonwithyourgun.Haveyougotyourgun?"
OfcourseIhave,"yousaid.
"ButifIdothat,itwillspoiltheballoon,"yousaid.