Alan Alexander Milne

It is the best way to write poetry, letting things come.’

("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."

ooh always liked a little something at eleven o’clock in the morning, and he was very glad to see Rabbit getting out the plates and mugs; and when Rabbit said, ‘Honey or condensed milk with your bread?’ he was so excited that he said, ‘Both,’ and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, ‘But don’t bother about the bread, please.’ And for a long time after that he said nothing … until at last, humming to himself in a rather sticky voice, he got up, shook Rabbit lovingly by the paw, and said that he must be going on.

‘Must you?’ said Rabbit politely.

‘Well,’ said Pooh, ‘I could stay a little longer if it – if you—’ and he tried very hard to look in the direction of the larder.

‘As a matter of fact,’ said Rabbit, ‘I was going out myself directly.’

‘Oh well, then, I’ll be going on. Good-bye.’

‘Well, good-bye, if you’re sure you won’t have any more.’

‘Is there any more?’ asked Pooh quickly.

Rabbit took the covers off the dishes, and said, ‘No, there wasn’t.’

‘I thought not,’ said Pooh, nodding to himself. ‘Well, good-bye. I must be going on.’

Pooh always liked a little something at eleven o’clock in the morning, and he was very glad to see Rabbit getting out the plates and mugs; and when Rabbit said, ‘Honey or condensed milk with your bread?’ he was so excited that he said, ‘Both,’ and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, ‘But don’t bother about the bread, please.’ And for a long time after that he said nothing … until at last, humming to himself in a rather sticky voice, he got up, shook Rabbit lovingly by the paw, and said that he must be going on.

‘Must you?’ said Rabbit politely.

‘Well,’ said Pooh, ‘I could stay a little longer if it – if you—’ and he tried very hard to look in the direction of the larder.

‘As a matter of fact,’ said Rabbit, ‘I was going out myself directly.’

‘Oh well, then, I’ll be going on. Good-bye.’

‘Well, good-bye, if you’re sure you won’t have any more.’

‘Is there any more?’ asked Pooh quickly.

Rabbit took the covers off the dishes, and said, ‘No, there wasn’t.’

‘I thought not,’ said Pooh, nodding to himself. ‘Well, good-bye. I must be going on.’

So for a week Christopher Robin read that sort of book at the North end of Pooh, and Rabbit hung his washing on the South end …

and in between Bear felt himself getting slenderer and slenderer. And at the end of the week Christopher Robin said, ‘Now!’

So he took hold of Pooh’s front paws and Rabbit took hold of Christopher Robin, and all Rabbit’s friends and relations took hold of Rabbit, and they all pulled together. …

And for a long time Pooh only said ‘Ow!’. …

And ‘Oh!’. …

And then, all of a sudden, he said ‘Pop!’ just as if a cork were coming out of a bottle.

And Christopher Robin and Rabbit and all Rabbit’s friends and relations went head-over-heels backwards … and on the top of them came Winnie-the-Pooh – free!

So, with a nod of thanks to his friends, he went on with his walk through the forest, humming proudly to himself. But Christopher Robin looked after him lovingly, and said to himself, ‘Silly old Bear!’

So they went on, feeling just a little anxious now, in case the three animals in front of them were of Hostile Intent. And Piglet wished very much that his grandfather T. W. were there, instead of elsewhere, and Pooh thought how nice it would be if they met Christopher Robin suddenly but quite accidentally, and only because he liked Christopher Robin so much. And then, all of a sudden, Winnie-the-Pooh stopped again, and licked the tip of his nose in a cooling manner, for he was feeling more hot and anxious than ever in his life before.

‘And if anyone knows anything about anything,’ said Bear to himself, ‘it’s Owl who knows something about something,’ he said, ‘or my name’s not Winnie-the-Pooh,’ he said. ‘Which it is,’ he added. ‘So there you are.’

One day, when Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet were all talking together, Christopher Robin finished the mouthful he was eating and said carelessly: ‘I saw a Heffalump to-day, Piglet.’

‘What was it doing?’ asked Piglet.

‘Just lumping along,’ said Christopher Robin. ‘I don’t think it saw me.’

‘I saw one once,’ said Piglet. ‘At least, I think I did,’ he said. ‘Only perhaps it wasn’t.’

‘So did I,’ said Pooh, wondering what a Heffalump was like.

Piglet meets a Heffalump