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 -- 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
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 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.
10. Quickly.
11. 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.