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Speaker 1: Chapter one of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milney.

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This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter one,

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in which we are introduced to Winnie the Pooh and

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some bees and the stories begin. Here is Edward Bhaar

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coming downstairs now, bump bump, bump on the back of

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his head behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as

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he knows, the only way of coming downstairs. But sometimes

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he feels that there really is another way, if only

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he could stop bumping for a moment to think of it.

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And then he feels that perhaps there isn't Anyhow, Here

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he is at the bottom and ready to be introduced

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to you, Winnie the Pooh. When I first heard his name,

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I said, just as you are going to say. But

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I thought he was a boy, so did I said

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Christopher Robin. Then you can't call him whinny. I don't.

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But you said he's Winnie their pooh. Don't you know

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what their means? Ah? Yes, now I do, I said quickly,

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And I hope you do too, because it is all

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the explanation you were going to get. Sometimes Winnie the

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Pooh likes the game of some sort when he comes downstairs,

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and sometimes he likes to sit quietly in front of

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the fire and listen to a story this evening. What

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about a story, said Christopher Robin. What about a story?

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I said, could you very sweetly tell Winnie the Pooh one?

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I suppose I could, I said, what sort of story

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does he like about himself? Because he's that sort of bear?

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Oh see, so could you very sweetly? I'll try, I said,

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So I tried. Once upon a time, a very long

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time ago, now about last Friday, Winnie the Pool lived

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in a forest all by himself, under the name of Sanders.

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What does under the name mean, asked Christopher Robin. It

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means he had the name over the door in gold

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letters and lived under it. Whinnie the Pool wasn't quite sure,

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said Christopher Robin. No I am, said a growly voice.

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Then I will go on, said I. One day, when

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he was out walking, he came to an open place

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in the middle of the forest. And in the middle

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of this place was a large oak tree, And from

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the top of the tree there came a loud, buzzing noise.

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Whinnie the Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree,

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put his head between his paws, and began to think

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First of all, he said to himself that buzzing noise

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means something. You don't get a buzzy noise like that,

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just buzzing and buzzing without its meaning something. If there's

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a buzzy noise, somebody's making a buzzy noise. And the

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only reason for making a buzzy noise that I know

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of is because you're a bee. Then he thought another

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long time and said, and the only reason for being

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a bee that I know of is making honey. And

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then he got up and said, and the only reason

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for making honey is so as I can eat it.

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So he began to climb the tree. He climbed, and

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he climbed, and he climbed, And as he climbed, he

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sang a little song to himself. It went like this,

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isn't it funny how a bear likes honey? Buzz buzz buzz.

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I wonder why he does. Then he climbed a little further,

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and a little further, and then just a little further.

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By that time he had thought of another song. It's

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the very funny thought that if bears were bees, they

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build their nest at the bottom of trees. And that

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being so, if the bees were bears. We shouldn't have

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to climb up all these stairs. He was getting rather

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tired by this time, so that is why he sang

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a complaining song. He was nearly there now, and if

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he just stood on that branch rack, Oh help, said Pooh,

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as he dropped ten feet on the branch below him.

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If only I hadn't, he said, as he bounced twenty

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feet on to the next branch. You see, Oh, what

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I meant to do, he expec as he turned head

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over heels and crashed on to another branch thirty feet below.

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What I meant to do? Of course it was rather,

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he admitted, as he slithered very quickly through the next

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six branches. It all comes, I suppose, he decided, as

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he said goodbye to the last branch, spun round three times,

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and flew gracefully into a gorse bush. It all comes

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of liking honey so much. Oh. He He crawled out

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of the gorse bush, brushed the prickles from his nose,

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and began to think again. And the first person he

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thought of was Christopher Robin. Was that me? Said Christopher

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Robin in an awed voice, hardly daring to believe it.

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That was you. Christopher Robin said nothing, but his eyes

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got larger and larger, and his face got pinker and pinker.

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So Winnie the Pool went round to his friend Christopher Robin,

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who lived behind a green door in another part of

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the forest. Good morning, Christopher Robin, he said, good morning

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when they're Pooh said you, I wonder if you've got

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such a thing as a balloon about you? A balloon, Yes,

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I just said to myself, coming along, I wonder if

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Christopher Robin has such a thing as a balloon about him.

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I just set it to myself, thinking of balloons and wondering,

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what do you want a balloon for? You? Said Winnie

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the Pool looked round to see that nobody was listening,

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put his paw to his mouth, and sat in a

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deep whisper. Honey, But you don't get honey with balloons,

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I do, said Pooh. Well, it just happened that you

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had been to a party the day before at the

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house of your friend Picklet, and you had balloons. At

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the party. You had had a big green balloon, and

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one of Rabbit's relations had had a big balloon and

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had left it behind. Being really too young to go

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to the party at all, And so you had brought

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the green one and the blue one home with you.

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Which one would you like, you asked Pooh. He put

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his head between his paws and thought very carefully. It's

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like this, he said, when you go after honey with

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a balloon. The great thing is not to let the

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bees know you're coming. Now, if you have a green balloon,

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they might think you were only part of the tree

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and not notice you. And if you have a blue balloon,

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they might think you were only part of the sky

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and not notice you. And the question is which is

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most likely. Wouldn't they notice you underneath the balloon, you asked?

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They might, or they might not, said Winnie the Pooh.

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You never can tell with bees. He thought for a

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moment and said, I shall try to look like a

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small black cloud. That will deceive them. Then you had

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better have the blue balloon, you said, And so it

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was decided. Well you both went out with the blue balloon,

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and you took your gun with you, just in case,

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as you always did. And Winnie the Pooh went to

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a very muddy place that he knew of, and rolled

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and rolled until he was black all. And then when

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the balloon was blown up as big as big, and

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you and Pooh were both holding onto the string. You

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let go suddenly, and Pooh Bear floated gracefully up into

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the sky and stayed there, level with the top of

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the tree and about twenty feet away from it. Hooray,

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you shouted. This isn't that fine, shouted Winnie the Pooh

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down to you. What do I look like? You look

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like a bear holding onto a balloon, you said, not,

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said Pooh anxiously, Not like a small black cloud in

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a blue sky. Not very much. Ah well, perhaps from

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up here it looks different. And as I say, you

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never can tell with bees. There was no wind to

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blow him nearer to the tree, so there he stayed.

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He could see the honey, he could smell the honey,

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but he couldn't quite reach the honey. After a little while,

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he called down to you, Christopher Robin, He said, in

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a loud whisper, Hello, I think the bees suspect something.

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What sort of thing, I don't know, but something tells

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me that they're suspicious. Perhaps they think that you're after

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their honey. It may be that you never can tell

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with bees. There was another little silence, and then he

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called down to you again, Christopher Robin. Yes, have you

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an umbrella in your house? I think so. I wish

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you would bring it out here and walk up and

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down with it and look up at me every now

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and then and say, tot tot it looks like Rain.

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I think if you did that, it would help the

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deception which we are practicing on these bees. Well, you

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laugh to yourself, silly old bear, But you didn't say

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it aloud because you were so fond of him, and

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you went home for your umbrella. Oh there you are,

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called down, Winnie the Pooh. As soon as you got

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back to the tree, I was beginning to get anxious.

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I have discovered that the bees are now definitely suspicious.

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Shall I put my umbrella up? He said, yes, But

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wait a moment. We must be practical. The important bee

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to deceive is the queen bee. Can you see which

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is the queen bee? From there? No? Oh, hey, pity. Well,

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now if you walk up and down with your umbrella

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saying tot tot it looks like Rain. I shall do

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what I can by singing a little cloud song, such

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as a cloud might sing. Go. So while you walked

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up and down and wondered if it would rain, Winnie

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the Pooh sang this song, how sweet to be a

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cloud floating in the blue. Every little cloud always sings aloud,

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how sweet to be a cloud floating in the blue.

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It makes him very proud to be a little cloud.

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The bees were still buzzing as suspiciously as ever. Some

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of them indeed left their nests and flew all round

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the cloud as it began the second verse of this

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song and one. He sat down on the nose of

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the cloud for a moment, and then got up again.

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Christopher Oh Robin called out the cloud. Yes, I have

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just been thinking, and I have come to a very

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important decision. These are the wrong sort of bees? Are

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they quite the wrong sort? So I should think they

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would make the wrong sort of honey, shouldn't you? Would they? Yes?

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So I think I shall come down, how asked you?

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Winnie the Pooh hadn't thought about this. If he let

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go of the string, he would fall bump, and he

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didn't like the idea of that. So he thought for

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a long time, and then he said, Christopher Robin, you

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must shoot a balloon with your gun. Have you got

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your gun? Of course I have, you said, But if

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I do that, it would spoil the balloon, he said. Hum.

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But if you don't, said Pooh, I shall have to

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let go, and that would spoil me. When he put

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it like this, you saw how it was, and you

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aimed very carefully at the balloon and fired, Oh, said Pooh,

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Did I miss? You asked? You didn't exactly miss, said Pooh,

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But you missed a balloon. I'm so sorry, you said,

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And you fired again, and this time you hit the balloon,

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and the air came slowly out, and Winnie the Poo

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floated down to the ground. But his arms were so

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stiff from holding on to the string of the balloon

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all that time that they stayed up straight in the

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air for more than a week. And whenever a fly

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came and settled on his nose, he had to blow

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it off. And I think, but I am not sure,

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that that's why he is always called Pooh. Is that

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the end of the story, asked Christopher Robin. That's the

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end of that one. There are others about Pooh and me,

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and Piglet and rabbit and all of you. Don't you remember?

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I do remember, And then when I try to remember,

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I forget that day when Pooh and Pilet tried to

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catch the heff a lump. They didn't catch it, did they? No,

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Pooh couldn't because he hasn't any brain. Did I catch it? Well,

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that comes into the story, Christopher Robin nodded, I do, remember,

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he said, Only Pooh doesn't very well. So that's why

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he likes having it told to him again, because then

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it's a real story and not just a rem That's

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just how I feel, I said. Christopher Robin gave a

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deep sigh, picked his bear up by the leg, and

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walked off to the door, trailing Poo behind him. At

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the door, he turned and said, coming to see me

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have my bath, I might, I said, I didn't hurt

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him when I shot him, did I? Not a bit?

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He nodded and went out, and in a moment I

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heard Winnie the Pooh bump bump bump going up the

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stairs behind him. End of Chapter one,