Speaker 1: Chapter nine of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milney.
This liveryvox recording is in the public domain. Chapter nine,
in which Piglet is entirely surrounded by water. It rained,
and it rained, and it rained. Piglet told himself that
never in all his life, and he was goodness knows
how old three was it or four, never had he
seen so much rain, days and days and days. If only,
he thought, as he looked out of the window, I
had been in Pooh's house or Christopher Robin's house, a
rabbit's house when it began to rain, then I should
have had company all this time, instead of being here
all alone with nothing to do except wonder when it
will stop. And he imagined himself with Pooh saying did
you ever see such rain?
Speaker 2: Pooh?
Speaker 1: And Pooh saying isn't it awful? Piglet, and Pikelet saying,
I wonder how it is over Christopher Robbin's way, and
Pooh saying, I should think poor old rabbit is about
flooded out by this time. It would have been jolly
to talk like this. And really it wasn't much good
having anything exciting like floods if you couldn't share them
with somebody, for it was rather exciting. The little dry
ditches in which Piglet had nosed about so often had
become streams. The little streams across which he had splashed
were rivers, and the river between whose deep banks they
had played so happily had sprawled out of its own
bed and was taking up so much room everywhere that
Picklet was beginning to wonder whether it would be coming
into his bed soon. It's a little anxious, he said
to himself, to be a very small animal entirely surrounded
by water. Christopher, Robin and Pooh could escape by climbing trees,
and Kanga could escape by jumping, and rabbit could escape
by burrowing at owl could escape by flying, and e
Or could escape by by making a loud noise until rescued.
And here am I surrounded by water, and I can't
do anything. It went on raining, and every day the
water got a little higher, until now it was nearly
up to pickless window, and still he hadn't done anything.
There's Pooh, he thought to himself. Pooh hasn't much brain,
but he never comes to any harm. He does silly
things and they turn out right. There's Owl. Owl hasn't
exactly got brain, but he knows things. He would know
the right thing to do. And surrounded by water, there's Rabbit.
He hasn't learnt in books, but he can always think
of a clever plan. There's Kanga. She isn't clever. Kanga isn't,
but she would be so anxious about rue that she
would do a good thing to do without thinking about it.
And then there's Eeyore And Eore is so miserable anyhow,
that he wouldn't mind about this. But I wonder what
Christopher Robin would do. Then suddenly he remembered a story
which Christopher Robin had told him about a man on
a desert island who had written something in a bottle
and thrown it in the sea. And Picklett thought that
if he would write something in a bottle and throw
it in the water, perhaps somebody would come and rescue him.
He left the window and began to search his house,
all of it that wasn't under water, And at last
he found a pencil and a small piece of dry paper,
and a bottle with a cork in it. He wrote
on one side of the paper, help piglet me, and
on the other side, it's me picklet help help. Then
he put the paper in the bottle, and he corked
the bottle up as tightly as he could, and he
leaned out of his window as far as he could
lean without falling in, and he threw the bottle as
far as he could throw, splash, And in a little
while it bobbed up again on the water, and he
watched it floating slowly away in the distance until his
eyes ached with looking. And sometimes he thought it was
the bottle, and sometimes he thought it was just a
ripple on the water which he was following. And then
suddenly he knew that he would never see it again,
and that he had done all that he could do
to save himself. So now he thought, somebody else will
have to do something, And I hope they will do
it soon, because that they don't, I shall have to swim,
which I he can't, So I hope they'd do it soon.
And then he gave a very long sigh and said,
I wish Pooh were here. It's so much more friendly
with too. When the rain began, Pooh was asleep. It
rained and it rained and it rained, and he slept
and he slept, and he slept. He had had a
tiring day. You remember how he discovered the North Pole. Well,
he was so proud of this that he asked Christopher
Robin if there were any other poles, such as a
bear of little rain might discover. There's a South Pole,
said Christopher Robin, and I expect there's an East Pole
and a West Pole, though people don't like talking about them.
Pooh was very excited when he heard this, and suggested
that they should have an expedition to discover the East Pole.
But Christopher Robin had thought of something else to do
with Kanga, so Pooh went out to discover the East
Pole by himself. Whether he discovered it or not, I forget.
But he was so tired when he got home that
in the very middle of his supper, after he had
been eating for a little more than half an hour,
he fell fast asleep in his chair, and slept and
slept and slept. Then suddenly he was dreaming. He was
at the East Pole, and it was a very cold
pole with the coldest sort of snow when I saw
over it. He had found a beehive to sleep in,
but there was a room for his legs, so he
had left them outside, and wild woozles such as inhabit
the east pole came and nibbled all the fur off
his legs to make nests for their young. And the
more they nibbled, the colder his legs got, until suddenly
he woke up with an oh. And there he was
sitting in his chair with his feet in the water,
and water all round him. He splashed to his door
and looked out. This is serious, said Pooh. I must
have an escape. So he took his largest pot of
honey and escaped with it to a broad branch of
his tree, well above the water. And then he climbed
down again and escaped with another pot. And when the
whole escape was finished, there was Pooh sitting on his branch,
dangling his legs, and there beside him were ten pots
of honey. Two days later there was Pooh sitting on
his branch, dangling his legs, and there beside him were
four pots of honey. Three days later there was Pooh
sitting on his branch, dangling his legs, and there beside
him was one pot of honey. Four days later there
was Pooh. And it was the morning of the fourth
day that Piglet's bottle came floating past him, and with
one loud cry of honey pooh, plunged into the water,
seized the bottle and struggled back to his tree again.
Bother said pooh as he opened it. All that wet
for nothing. What's that bit of paper doing. He took
it out and looked at it. It's a missage, he
said to himself. That's what it is.
Speaker 2: And that letter is a pea, and so is that,
and so is that and pee means pooh.
Speaker 1: So it's a very important message to me, and I
can't read it. I must find Christopher, Robin nor Owl
or biglet one of those clever readers who can read things,
and they will tell me what this message means. Only
I can't swim. Oh. Bother then he had an idea,
and I think that for a bear of very little brain,
it was a good idea. He said to himself. If
a bottle can float, then a jar can float. And
if a jar floats, I can sit on the top
of it if it's a very big jar. So he
took his biggest jar and corked it up. All boats
have a name, he said, So I shall call mine
the floating bear. And with these words he dropped his
boat into the water and jumped in after it. For
a little while, Pooh and the floating bear were uncertain
as to which of them was meant to be on
the top, but after trying one or two different positions,
they settled down, with the floating bear underneath, and Pooh
triumphantly astride it, paddling viariously with his feet. Christopher Robin
lived at the very top of the forest. It rained,
and it rained, and it rained, but the water couldn't
come up to his house. It was rather jolly to
look down into the valleys and see the water all
round him, But it rained so hard that he stayed
indoors most of the time and thought about things. Every
morning he went out with his umbrella and put a
stick in the place where the water came up to.
And every next morning he went out and couldn't see
his stick anymore, so he put another stick in the
place where the water came up to, And then he
walked home again, and each morning he had a sharder
way to walk than he had had the morning before.
On the morning of the fifth day, he saw the
water all round him, and he knew that for the
first time in his life he was on a real island,
which was very exciting. It was on this morning that
Owl came flying over the water to say how do
you do to his friend Christopher Robin. I say, Owl,
said Christopher Robin. Isn't this fun? I'm on an island.
The atmospheric conditions have been very unfavorable lately, said Owl.
The what it has been raining? Explained Owl? Yes, said
Christopher Robin. It has. The flood level has reached an
unprecedented height. The who There's a lot of water about,
explained Owl? Yes, said Christopher Robin. There is. However, the
prospects are rapidly becoming more favorable. At any moment, have
you seen Pooh? No, at any moment. I hope he's
all right, said Christopher Robin. I've been wondering about him.
Expect piglets with him. Do you think they're all right? Owl?
I expect, So you see at any moment, do go
and see Owl, because Pooh hasn't got very much brain
and he might do something silly, and I do love him,
so Owl, do you see Owl? That's all right? Said Owl?
I'll go back directly, and he flew off in a
little while he was back again. Pooh, isn't there, he said,
not there, He's been there. He's been sitting on a
branch of his tree outside his house with nine pots
of honey. But he isn't there now, Oh, Pooh, cried
Christopher Robin. Where are you here? I am, said a
growly voice behind him, Pooh. They rushed into each other's arms.
How did you get here, Pooh? Asked Christopher Robin when
he was ready to talk again. On my boat, said
Pooh proudly. I had a very important message sent me
in a bottle, and, owing to having got some water
in my eyes, I couldn't read it, so I brought
it to you on my boat with these proud words.
He gave Christopher Robin the missage. But it's from Piglet,
cried Christopher Robin when he had read it. Isn't there
anything about Pooh in it? Asked Bear, looking over his shoulder.
Christopher Robin read the message aloud. Oh, are those peas piglets?
I thought they were poohs. We must rescue him. At
once I thought he was with you, Pooh, Owl? Could
you rescue him on your back? I don't think so,
said Owl after grave thought, it is doubtful if the
necessary dorsal muscles. Then would you fly to him at
once and say that rescue is coming? And Pooh and
I will think of a rescue and come as quick
as ever we can. Oh, don't talk, Owl go on
quick and still thinking of something to say, Owl flew off.
Now then, Pooh, said Christopher Robin. Where's your boat? I
ought to say, explained Pooh as they walked down to
the shore of the island. That it isn't just an
ordinary sort of boat. Sometimes it's a boat, and sometimes
it's more of an accident. It all depends depends on
what on whether I'm on the top of it or
underneath it. Oh, well, where is it there? Said Pooh,
pointing proudly to the floating bear. It wasn't what Christopher
Robin expected, and the more he looked at it, the
more he thought what a brave and clever bear Pooh was.
And the more Christopher Robin thought this, the more Pooh
looked modestly down his nose and tried to pretend he wasn't.
But it's too small for two of us, said Christopher Robin, sadly,
three of us with piglet, that makes it smaller. Still, Oh,
Pooh bear, what shall we do? And then this bear
Pooh bear, Winnie the Pooh f O P Friend of piglets,
or C Rabbit's companion, P D Pole discoverer E C
and T F e Or's comforter and tail finder. In fact,
Pooh himself said something so clever that Christopher Robin could
only look at him with mouth open and eyes staring,
wondering if this was really the bear of very little Brain,
whom he had known and loved so long. We might
go in your umbrella, said Pooh Huh. We might go
in your umbrella, said Pooh huh. We might go in
your umbrella, said Pooh ah. For suddenly Christopher Robin saw
that they might. He opened his umbrella and put it
point downward in the water. It floated, but wobbled. Pooh
got in. He was just beginning to say that it
was all right now when he found that it wasn't so.
After a short drink, which he didn't really want, he
waded back to Christopher Robin. Then they both got in together,
and it wobbled. No longer. I shall call this boat
the brain of Pooh, said Christopher Robin and the brain
of Pooh set sail forthwith in a southwesterly direction, revolving gracefully.
You can imagine Picklet's joy when at last ship came
in sight of him. In after years, he liked to
think that he had been in very great danger during
the terrible flood, but the only danger he had really
been in was in the last half hour of his imprisonment,
when Owl, who had just flown up, sat on a
branch of his tree to comfort him and told him
a very long story about an aunt who had once
laid a seagull's egg by mistake. And the story went
on and on rather like this sentence, until Piglet, who
was listening out of his window without much hope, went
to sleep quietly and naturally, slipping slowly out of the
window towards the water until he was only hanging on
his toes, at which moment, luckily, a sudden loud squawk
from Owl, which was really part of the story being
what his aunt said, woke the pikelet up and just
gave him time to jerk himself back into safety and say,
how interesting and did she when well? You can imagine
his joy when at last he saw the good chip
brain of Pooh. Captain c Robin first made be bear
coming over the sea to rescue him. Christopher Robin and
Pooh again. And that is really the end of the story.
And I am very tired. After that last sentence, I
think I shall stop there. End of Chapter nine.