6. But Kanga would have to be looking the other way first, so as not to see
8. Another Thought. But if Pooh was talking to her very excitedly, she might
IO. Quickly.
II. 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:
"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?"
"You mean like telling her a little bit of poetry or something?"
"That's it," said Rabbit. "Splendid Now come along."
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
"Good afternoon, Kanga."
"Good afternoon, Pooh."
"Look at me jumping," squeaked Roo, and fell into another mouse-hole.
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,
"Oh, Kanga," said Pooh, after Rabbit had winked at him twice, "I don't know if
"Hardly at all," said Kanga.
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.
"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.
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."
"Talking of Poetry," said Pooh quickly "have you ever noticed that tree right
"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."
"So it is," said Rabbit.
"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
"Why, where's Rabbit?" said Kanga, turning round again. "Are you all right, Roo,
"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
"I wish I could jump like that," he thought. "Some can and some can't. That's
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,
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,
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
"Now then, Roo, dear," she said, as she took Piglet out of her pocket.
"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