Speaker 1: Chapter one of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milney.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter one,
in which we are introduced to Winnie the Pooh and
some bees and the stories begin. Here is Edward Bhaar
coming downstairs now, bump bump, bump on the back of
his head behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as
he knows, the only way of coming downstairs. But sometimes
he feels that there really is another way, if only
he could stop bumping for a moment to think of it.
And then he feels that perhaps there isn't Anyhow, Here
he is at the bottom and ready to be introduced
to you, Winnie the Pooh. When I first heard his name,
I said, just as you are going to say. But
I thought he was a boy, so did I said
Christopher Robin. Then you can't call him whinny. I don't.
But you said he's Winnie their pooh. Don't you know
what their means? Ah? Yes, now I do, I said quickly,
And I hope you do too, because it is all
the explanation you were going to get. Sometimes Winnie the
Pooh likes the game of some sort when he comes downstairs,
and sometimes he likes to sit quietly in front of
the fire and listen to a story this evening. What
about a story, said Christopher Robin. What about a story?
I said, could you very sweetly tell Winnie the Pooh one?
I suppose I could, I said, what sort of story
does he like about himself? Because he's that sort of bear?
Oh see, so could you very sweetly? I'll try, I said,
So I tried. Once upon a time, a very long
time ago, now about last Friday, Winnie the Pool lived
in a forest all by himself, under the name of Sanders.
What does under the name mean, asked Christopher Robin. It
means he had the name over the door in gold
letters and lived under it. Whinnie the Pool wasn't quite sure,
said Christopher Robin. No I am, said a growly voice.
Then I will go on, said I. One day, when
he was out walking, he came to an open place
in the middle of the forest. And in the middle
of this place was a large oak tree, And from
the top of the tree there came a loud, buzzing noise.
Whinnie the Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree,
put his head between his paws, and began to think
First of all, he said to himself that buzzing noise
means something. You don't get a buzzy noise like that,
just buzzing and buzzing without its meaning something. If there's
a buzzy noise, somebody's making a buzzy noise. And the
only reason for making a buzzy noise that I know
of is because you're a bee. Then he thought another
long time and said, and the only reason for being
a bee that I know of is making honey. And
then he got up and said, and the only reason
for making honey is so as I can eat it.
So he began to climb the tree. He climbed, and
he climbed, and he climbed, And as he climbed, he
sang a little song to himself. It went like this,
isn't it funny how a bear likes honey? Buzz buzz buzz.
I wonder why he does. Then he climbed a little further,
and a little further, and then just a little further.
By that time he had thought of another song. It's
the very funny thought that if bears were bees, they
build their nest at the bottom of trees. And that
being so, if the bees were bears. We shouldn't have
to climb up all these stairs. He was getting rather
tired by this time, so that is why he sang
a complaining song. He was nearly there now, and if
he just stood on that branch rack, Oh help, said Pooh,
as he dropped ten feet on the branch below him.
If only I hadn't, he said, as he bounced twenty
feet on to the next branch. You see, Oh, what
I meant to do, he expec as he turned head
over heels and crashed on to another branch thirty feet below.
What I meant to do? Of course it was rather,
he admitted, as he slithered very quickly through the next
six branches. It all comes, I suppose, he decided, as
he said goodbye to the last branch, spun round three times,
and flew gracefully into a gorse bush. It all comes
of liking honey so much. Oh. He He crawled out
of the gorse bush, brushed the prickles from his nose,
and began to think again. And the first person he
thought of was Christopher Robin. Was that me? Said Christopher
Robin in an awed voice, hardly daring to believe it.
That was you. Christopher Robin said nothing, but his eyes
got larger and larger, and his face got pinker and pinker.
So Winnie the Pool went round to his friend Christopher Robin,
who lived behind a green door in another part of
the forest. Good morning, Christopher Robin, he said, good morning
when they're Pooh said you, I wonder if you've got
such a thing as a balloon about you? A balloon, Yes,
I just said to myself, coming along, I wonder if
Christopher Robin has such a thing as a balloon about him.
I just set it to myself, thinking of balloons and wondering,
what do you want a balloon for? You? Said Winnie
the Pool looked round to see that nobody was listening,
put his paw to his mouth, and sat in a
deep whisper. Honey, But you don't get honey with balloons,
I do, said Pooh. Well, it just happened that you
had been to a party the day before at the
house of your friend Picklet, and you had balloons. At
the party. You had had a big green balloon, and
one of Rabbit's relations had had a big balloon and
had left it behind. Being really too young to go
to the party at all, And so you had brought
the green one and the blue one home with you.
Which one would you like, you asked Pooh. He put
his head between his paws and thought very carefully. It's
like this, he said, when you go after honey with
a balloon. The great thing is not to let the
bees know you're coming. Now, if you have a green balloon,
they might think you were only part of the tree
and not notice you. And if you have a blue balloon,
they might think you were only part of the sky
and not notice you. And the question is which is
most likely. Wouldn't they notice you underneath the balloon, you asked?
They might, or they might not, said Winnie the Pooh.
You never can tell with bees. He thought for a
moment and said, I shall try to look like a
small black cloud. That will deceive them. Then you had
better have the blue balloon, you said, And so it
was decided. Well you both went out with the blue balloon,
and you took your gun with you, just in case,
as you always did. And Winnie the Pooh went to
a very muddy place that he knew of, and rolled
and rolled until he was black all. And then when
the balloon was blown up as big as big, and
you and Pooh were both holding onto the string. You
let go suddenly, and Pooh Bear floated gracefully up into
the sky and stayed there, level with the top of
the tree and about twenty feet away from it. Hooray,
you shouted. This isn't that fine, shouted Winnie the Pooh
down to you. What do I look like? You look
like a bear holding onto a balloon, you said, not,
said Pooh anxiously, Not like a small black cloud in
a blue sky. Not very much. Ah well, perhaps from
up here it looks different. And as I say, you
never can tell with bees. There was no wind to
blow him nearer to the tree, so there he stayed.
He could see the honey, he could smell the honey,
but he couldn't quite reach the honey. After a little while,
he called down to you, Christopher Robin, He said, in
a loud whisper, Hello, I think the bees suspect something.
What sort of thing, I don't know, but something tells
me that they're suspicious. Perhaps they think that you're after
their honey. It may be that you never can tell
with bees. There was another little silence, and then he
called down to you again, Christopher Robin. Yes, have you
an umbrella in your house? I think so. I wish
you would bring it out here and walk up and
down with it and look up at me every now
and then and say, tot tot it looks like Rain.
I think if you did that, it would help the
deception which we are practicing on these bees. Well, you
laugh to yourself, silly old bear, But you didn't say
it aloud because you were so fond of him, and
you went home for your umbrella. Oh there you are,
called down, Winnie the Pooh. As soon as you got
back to the tree, I was beginning to get anxious.
I have discovered that the bees are now definitely suspicious.
Shall I put my umbrella up? He said, yes, But
wait a moment. We must be practical. The important bee
to deceive is the queen bee. Can you see which
is the queen bee? From there? No? Oh, hey, pity. Well,
now if you walk up and down with your umbrella
saying tot tot it looks like Rain. I shall do
what I can by singing a little cloud song, such
as a cloud might sing. Go. So while you walked
up and down and wondered if it would rain, Winnie
the Pooh sang this song, how sweet to be a
cloud floating in the blue. Every little cloud always sings aloud,
how sweet to be a cloud floating in the blue.
It makes him very proud to be a little cloud.
The bees were still buzzing as suspiciously as ever. Some
of them indeed left their nests and flew all round
the cloud as it began the second verse of this
song and one. He sat down on the nose of
the cloud for a moment, and then got up again.
Christopher Oh Robin called out the cloud. Yes, I have
just been thinking, and I have come to a very
important decision. These are the wrong sort of bees? Are
they quite the wrong sort? So I should think they
would make the wrong sort of honey, shouldn't you? Would they? Yes?
So I think I shall come down, how asked you?
Winnie the Pooh hadn't thought about this. If he let
go of the string, he would fall bump, and he
didn't like the idea of that. So he thought for
a long time, and then he said, Christopher Robin, you
must shoot a balloon with your gun. Have you got
your gun? Of course I have, you said, But if
I do that, it would spoil the balloon, he said. Hum.
But if you don't, said Pooh, I shall have to
let go, and that would spoil me. When he put
it like this, you saw how it was, and you
aimed very carefully at the balloon and fired, Oh, said Pooh,
Did I miss? You asked? You didn't exactly miss, said Pooh,
But you missed a balloon. I'm so sorry, you said,
And you fired again, and this time you hit the balloon,
and the air came slowly out, and Winnie the Poo
floated down to the ground. But his arms were so
stiff from holding on to the string of the balloon
all that time that they stayed up straight in the
air for more than a week. And whenever a fly
came and settled on his nose, he had to blow
it off. And I think, but I am not sure,
that that's why he is always called Pooh. Is that
the end of the story, asked Christopher Robin. That's the
end of that one. There are others about Pooh and me,
and Piglet and rabbit and all of you. Don't you remember?
I do remember, And then when I try to remember,
I forget that day when Pooh and Pilet tried to
catch the heff a lump. They didn't catch it, did they? No,
Pooh couldn't because he hasn't any brain. Did I catch it? Well,
that comes into the story, Christopher Robin nodded, I do, remember,
he said, Only Pooh doesn't very well. So that's why
he likes having it told to him again, because then
it's a real story and not just a rem That's
just how I feel, I said. Christopher Robin gave a
deep sigh, picked his bear up by the leg, and
walked off to the door, trailing Poo behind him. At
the door, he turned and said, coming to see me
have my bath, I might, I said, I didn't hurt
him when I shot him, did I? Not a bit?
He nodded and went out, and in a moment I
heard Winnie the Pooh bump bump bump going up the
stairs behind him. End of Chapter one,