Latest / Winnie-the-Pooh / 08 - In Which Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest and Piglet Has a Bath
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Chapter seven of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne.
- 0:05Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
- 0:09Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
- 0:13Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Chapter seven, in which Kanga and
- 0:19Speaker 1: baby Roo come to the forest and Piglet has a bath,
- 0:25Speaker 1: nobody seemed to know where they came from, but there
- 0:28Speaker 1: they were in the forest, Kanga and baby Roo. When
- 0:33Speaker 1: Pooh asked Christopher.
- 0:34Speaker 2: Robin, how did they come here?
- 0:37Speaker 1: Christopher Robin said, in the usual way, if you know
- 0:41Speaker 1: what I mean. Pooh and Pooh, who didn't, said oh.
- 0:47Speaker 1: Then he nodded his head twice.
- 0:49Speaker 2: And said in the usual way. Ah.
- 0:54Speaker 1: Then he went to call upon his friend Piglet to
- 0:57Speaker 1: see what he thought about it, And at Piglet's house
- 1:01Speaker 1: he found Rabbit. So they all talked about it together.
- 1:05Speaker 3: What I don't like about it is this, said rabbit.
- 1:10Speaker 3: Here are we you Pooh and you, Piglet and me.
- 1:14Speaker 3: And suddenly an eore said poo and ere, And then suddenly.
- 1:21Speaker 2: An owl said Pooh and owl.
- 1:24Speaker 3: And then all of a sudden.
- 1:26Speaker 2: Oh and eoor said Pooh. I was forgetting him.
- 1:32Speaker 1: Here we are, said rabbit very slowly and carefully.
- 1:38Speaker 3: All of us. And then suddenly we wake up one morning,
- 1:42Speaker 3: and what do we find. We find a strange animal
- 1:45Speaker 3: among us, an animal of whom we have never even
- 1:48Speaker 3: heard before, an animal who carries her family around with
- 1:51Speaker 3: her in her pocket. Suppose I carried my family around
- 1:55Speaker 3: with me in my pocket? How many pockets should I want?
- 1:58Speaker 1: Sixteen, said piglet.
- 2:01Speaker 3: Seventeen, isn't it, said rabbit? And one more for a handkerchief.
- 2:05Speaker 3: That's eighteen eighteen pockets in one suit. I haven't time.
- 2:10Speaker 1: There was a long and thoughtful silence, and then Pooh,
- 2:14Speaker 1: who had been frowning very hard for some minutes, said.
- 2:19Speaker 2: I make it fifteen? What said rabbit? Fifteen?
- 2:26Speaker 3: Fifteen?
- 2:27Speaker 2: What your family?
- 2:29Speaker 3: What about them?
- 2:31Speaker 1: Pooh rubbed his nose and said that he thought Rabbit
- 2:35Speaker 1: had been talking about his family, did I, said rabbit carelessly?
- 2:41Speaker 2: Yes, you said.
- 2:43Speaker 4: Never mind, pail, said piglet impatiently.
- 2:47Speaker 3: The question is what do we do about Kanga?
- 2:50Speaker 2: Oh I see, said Pooh.
- 2:54Speaker 3: The best way, said rabbit, would be this. The best
- 2:58Speaker 3: way would be to steal baby rou and hide him.
- 3:01Speaker 3: And then when Kanga says, where's my baby Roo? We
- 3:04Speaker 3: say aha, aha.
- 3:07Speaker 1: Said Pooh, practicing.
- 3:10Speaker 2: Uh huh uh huh. Of course, he went on, we
- 3:15Speaker 2: could say aha even if we hadn't stolen baby Roo,
- 3:20Speaker 2: Pooh said Rabbit.
- 3:21Speaker 1: Kindly, you haven't any brain, I know, said Pooh.
- 3:26Speaker 2: Humbly.
- 3:28Speaker 3: We say aha so that Kanga knows that we know
- 3:31Speaker 3: where baby Roo is. Aha means we'll tell you where
- 3:36Speaker 3: baby Roo is if you promise to go away from
- 3:38Speaker 3: the forest and never come back. Now, don't talk while
- 3:41Speaker 3: I think.
- 3:43Speaker 1: Pooh went into a corner and tried saying aha in
- 3:47Speaker 1: that sort of voice. Sometimes it seemed to him that
- 3:51Speaker 1: it did mean what Rabbit said, and sometimes it seemed
- 3:54Speaker 1: to him that it didn't.
- 3:57Speaker 2: I suppose it's just practice, he thought. I wonder if
- 4:01Speaker 2: Kango will have to practice too, so as to understand it.
- 4:06Speaker 1: This is just some one thing, said Piglet, fidgeting a bit.
- 4:12Speaker 5: I was talking to Christopher Robin, and he said that
- 4:15Speaker 5: Kanga was generally regarded as one of the fiercer animals.
- 4:19Speaker 5: I am not frightened of fierce animals in the ordinary way,
- 4:23Speaker 5: but it is well known that if one of the
- 4:26Speaker 5: fiercer animals is deprived of its young, it becomes as
- 4:30Speaker 5: fierce as two of the fiercer animals, in which case
- 4:34Speaker 5: A has perhaps a foolish thing.
- 4:37Speaker 1: To say, Piglet, said Rabbit, taking out a pencil and
- 4:42Speaker 1: licking the end of it.
- 4:43Speaker 3: You haven't any pluck.
- 4:45Speaker 1: It is hard to be brave, said Piglet, sniffing slightly.
- 4:51Speaker 5: When you're only a very small animal.
- 4:54Speaker 1: Rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up
- 4:58Speaker 1: and said, because you.
- 5:00Speaker 3: Are a very small animal, that you will be useful
- 5:03Speaker 3: in the adventure before us.
- 5:05Speaker 1: Piglet was so excited at the idea of being useful
- 5:09Speaker 1: that he forgot to be frightened any more. And when
- 5:13Speaker 1: Rabbit went on to say that kangas were only fierce
- 5:16Speaker 1: during the winter months, being at other times of an
- 5:20Speaker 1: affectionate disposition, he could hardly sit still. He was so
- 5:24Speaker 1: eager to begin being useful at once. What about me,
- 5:30Speaker 1: said Pooh sadly.
- 5:32Speaker 2: I suppose I shan't be useful.
- 5:36Speaker 4: Never mind, poll, said Piglet comfortingly. Another time, perhaps without Pooh,
- 5:44Speaker 4: said Rabbit solemnly, as he sharpened his pencil.
- 5:48Speaker 3: The adventure would be impossible.
- 5:51Speaker 1: Oh, said Piglet, and tried not to look disappointed. But
- 5:56Speaker 1: Pooh went into a corner of the room, and said
- 5:59Speaker 1: proudly to himself.
- 6:01Speaker 2: Impossible without me that sort of bear.
- 6:06Speaker 3: Now listen, all of you.
- 6:08Speaker 1: Said Rabbit when he had finished writing, and Pooh and
- 6:11Speaker 1: Piglet sat listening very eagerly with their mouths open. This
- 6:17Speaker 1: was what Rabbit read out.
- 6:20Speaker 3: Plan to capture baby ru One general remarks, Kanga runs
- 6:25Speaker 3: faster than any of us, even me. Two more general remarks,
- 6:31Speaker 3: Kanga never takes her eye off baby Rux, except when
- 6:34Speaker 3: he's safely buttoned up in her pocket. Three. Therefore, if
- 6:38Speaker 3: we are to capture baby ru we must get a
- 6:40Speaker 3: long start, because Kanga runs faster than any of us,
- 6:43Speaker 3: even me. See one. Four. A thought. If Ru had
- 6:49Speaker 3: jumped out of Kana's pocket and Piglet had jumped in,
- 6:52Speaker 3: Keanga wouldn't know the difference, because Piglet is a very
- 6:55Speaker 3: small animal five like Ru. Six. But Kana would have
- 7:02Speaker 3: to be looking the other way first, so as not
- 7:04Speaker 3: to see Piglet jumping in seven See two eight. Another thought,
- 7:11Speaker 3: But if Pooh was talking to her very excitingly, she
- 7:14Speaker 3: might look the other way for a moment nine, and
- 7:17Speaker 3: then I could run away with Ru ten quickly. Eleven
- 7:23Speaker 3: and Kanga wouldn't discover the difference until afterwards.
- 7:28Speaker 1: Well, Rabbit read this out proudly, and for a little
- 7:32Speaker 1: while after he had read it, nobody said anything. And
- 7:36Speaker 1: then Piglet, who had been opening and shutting his mouth
- 7:39Speaker 1: without making any noise, managed to say, very huskily, and afterwards,
- 7:47Speaker 1: how do you.
- 7:47Speaker 4: Mean when Kanga discover the difference.
- 7:52Speaker 3: Then we all say aha?
- 7:54Speaker 5: Ah, three of us? Yes, Oh?
- 7:59Speaker 3: Why what what's the trouble Piglet?
- 8:02Speaker 1: Nothing, said Piglet.
- 8:05Speaker 5: As long as we all three say it. As long
- 8:08Speaker 5: as we all three say.
- 8:10Speaker 1: It, said Piglet. I don't mind, he said.
- 8:15Speaker 5: But I shouldn't care to say aha by myself. It
- 8:20Speaker 5: wouldn't sound nearly so well, by the way, he said,
- 8:25Speaker 5: you're quite sure about what you said about the winter months.
- 8:31Speaker 5: The winter months, yes, only being fierce in the winter months.
- 8:36Speaker 3: Oh, yes, yes, that's all right. Well, pooh you see
- 8:39Speaker 3: what you have to do?
- 8:41Speaker 1: No, said pooh Bear, Not yet, he said.
- 8:47Speaker 2: What do I do?
- 8:49Speaker 3: Well, you just have to talk very hard to Kanga
- 8:52Speaker 3: so as she doesn't notice anything.
- 8:55Speaker 2: Oh what about anything you like? You mean, like telling
- 9:00Speaker 2: her a little bit of poetry or something.
- 9:03Speaker 1: That's it, said Rabbit.
- 9:06Speaker 3: Splendid now come along, so they.
- 9:09Speaker 1: All went out to look for Kenga. Kenga and Rue
- 9:13Speaker 1: were spending a quiet afternoon in a sandy part of
- 9:16Speaker 1: the forest. Baby Rou was practicing very small jumps in
- 9:21Speaker 1: the sand and falling down mouse holes and climbing out
- 9:25Speaker 1: of them, and Keanga was fidgeting about and saying, just
- 9:30Speaker 1: one more jump, dear, and then we must go home.
- 9:33Speaker 1: And at that moment, who should come stumping up the
- 9:37Speaker 1: hill but pooh, good afternoon, Kenga, Good afternoon, Pooh.
- 9:43Speaker 4: Look at me jumping, squeaked.
- 9:45Speaker 1: Rue, and fell into another mousehole.
- 9:48Speaker 2: Hello, Rue, my little fellow.
- 9:51Speaker 1: We were just going home, said Kanga, Good afternoon, Rabbit,
- 9:56Speaker 1: Good afternoon, Piglet. Rabbit and Piglet, who had now come
- 10:00Speaker 1: up from the other side of the hill, said good afternoon,
- 10:05Speaker 1: and hire Rue and Ru asked them to look at
- 10:10Speaker 1: him jumping, so they stayed and looked, and Kanga looked too. Oh,
- 10:16Speaker 1: Kanga said Pooh, after Rabbit had winked at him twice.
- 10:21Speaker 2: I don't know if you are interested in poetry at all.
- 10:24Speaker 1: Hardly at all, said Kanga. Oh said pooh, Rue, dear,
- 10:31Speaker 1: just one more jump, then we must go home. There
- 10:35Speaker 1: was a short silence while Rue fell down another mousehole.
- 10:40Speaker 1: Go on, said rabbit, in a loud whisper behind his paw.
- 10:45Speaker 2: Talking of poetry, said Pooh. I made up a little
- 10:50Speaker 2: piece as I was coming along. It went like this.
- 10:54Speaker 1: Er.
- 10:55Speaker 2: Now, let me.
- 10:56Speaker 1: See fancy, said Kanga.
- 11:00Speaker 3: Now, Rue, dear, you'll like this piece of poetry.
- 11:04Speaker 1: Said rabbit. You love it, said piglet.
- 11:09Speaker 3: You must listen very carefully.
- 11:11Speaker 4: Said rabbit, so as not to miss any of it.
- 11:15Speaker 1: Said piglet. Oh, yes, said Kanga, But she still looked
- 11:20Speaker 1: at baby Rue.
- 11:22Speaker 3: How did it go, pooh?
- 11:24Speaker 1: Said rabbit. Pooh gave a little cough and began.
- 11:30Speaker 2: Lines written by a bear of very little brain. On Monday,
- 11:36Speaker 2: when the sun is hot, I wonder to myself a lot. Now,
- 11:40Speaker 2: is it true or is it not? That what is
- 11:44Speaker 2: which and which is what? On Tuesday, when it hails
- 11:49Speaker 2: and snows, the feeling on me grows and grows that
- 11:53Speaker 2: hardly anybody knows if those are these or these are those?
- 11:58Speaker 2: On Wednesday, when the day the sky is blue and
- 12:01Speaker 2: I have nothing else to do, I sometimes wonder if
- 12:04Speaker 2: it's true that who is what and what is who?
- 12:08Speaker 2: On Thursday, when it starts to freeze, and hoar frost
- 12:11Speaker 2: twinkles on the trees. How very readily one sees that
- 12:16Speaker 2: these are who's? But whose are these? On Friday?
- 12:20Speaker 1: Yes it is, isn't it, said Kanga, not waiting to
- 12:24Speaker 1: hear what happened on Friday? Just one more jump, rud deer,
- 12:28Speaker 1: and then we really must be going. Rabbit gave Boo
- 12:32Speaker 1: a hurrying up sort of nudge, talking of poetry, said Pooh, quickly,
- 12:39Speaker 1: have you.
- 12:40Speaker 2: Ever noticed that tree over there where?
- 12:43Speaker 1: Said Kanga? Now rue right over there, said Pooh, pointing
- 12:49Speaker 1: behind Keanga's back. No, said Kanga. Now jump in, rude deer,
- 12:55Speaker 1: and we'll go home.
- 12:56Speaker 3: You ought to look at that tree right over there,
- 12:59Speaker 3: said rabbit. Shall I lift you in Ru?
- 13:02Speaker 1: And he picked up Ru in his paws. I can
- 13:06Speaker 1: see a bird in it from here, said Pooh.
- 13:10Speaker 2: Or is it a fish?
- 13:12Speaker 3: You ought to see that bird from here, said rabbit.
- 13:16Speaker 3: Unless it's a fish.
- 13:18Speaker 5: It isn't a fish.
- 13:19Speaker 1: It's a bad said piglet.
- 13:22Speaker 2: So it is, said rabbit. Is it a starling or
- 13:27Speaker 2: a blackbird?
- 13:28Speaker 1: Said Pooh.
- 13:30Speaker 3: That's the whole question, said rabbit. Is it a blackbird
- 13:34Speaker 3: or a starling?
- 13:36Speaker 1: And then at last Kenga did turn her head to look,
- 13:40Speaker 1: and the moment that her head was turned, Rabbit said
- 13:43Speaker 1: in a loud voice, in you though, rue, And in
- 13:46Speaker 1: jumped Piglet into Kenga's pocket and off scampered Rabbit, with
- 13:51Speaker 1: Roo in his paws as fast as he could. Why
- 13:55Speaker 1: where's rabbit, said Kega, turning round again.
- 13:59Speaker 2: Are you all right? Rudier?
- 14:01Speaker 1: Piglet made a squeaky rue noise from the bottom of
- 14:05Speaker 1: Kenga's pocket. Rabbit had to go away, said Pooh.
- 14:11Speaker 2: I think he had thought of something he had to
- 14:14Speaker 2: go and see about. Suddenly, and Piglet. I think Piglet
- 14:20Speaker 2: thought of something at the same time.
- 14:22Speaker 1: Suddenly, well, we must be getting home, said Kinga. Goodbye, Pooh,
- 14:28Speaker 1: and in three large jumps, she was gone. Pooh looked
- 14:33Speaker 1: after her as she went.
- 14:36Speaker 2: I wish I could jump like that, he thought. Some
- 14:40Speaker 2: can and some can't. That's how it is.
- 14:44Speaker 1: But there were moments when Piglet wished that Kanga couldn't. Often,
- 14:49Speaker 1: when he had a long walk home through the forest,
- 14:52Speaker 1: he had wished that he were a bird. But now
- 14:55Speaker 1: he thought, jerkily to himself at the bottom of Kanga's pocket, Yes.
- 15:00Speaker 5: This is flying. I shall never really take to.
- 15:07Speaker 1: It, and as he went up in the air he
- 15:11Speaker 1: said ooooooo, and as he came down he said ow.
- 15:18Speaker 2: And he was saying.
- 15:20Speaker 1: Ooh ow ow ooh ow all the way to Kanga's house.
- 15:28Speaker 1: Of course, as soon as Kanga unbuttoned her pocket, she
- 15:32Speaker 1: saw what had happened. Just for a moment she thought
- 15:36Speaker 1: she was frightened, and then she knew she wasn't, for
- 15:40Speaker 1: she felt quite sure that Christopher Robin would never let
- 15:44Speaker 1: any harm happen to rue. So she said to herself,
- 15:49Speaker 1: if they are having a joke with me, I will
- 15:51Speaker 1: have a joke with them now then, ru dear, she said,
- 15:56Speaker 1: as she took Piglet out of her pocket. Bedtime, Aha,
- 16:01Speaker 1: said Piglet as well as he could after his terrifying journey,
- 16:06Speaker 1: But it wasn't a very good aha, and Kanga didn't
- 16:09Speaker 1: seem to understand what it meant. Bath first, said Kanga
- 16:14Speaker 1: in a cheerful voice. Aha, said Piglet again, looking round
- 16:20Speaker 1: anxiously for the others, But the others weren't there. Rabbit
- 16:25Speaker 1: was playing with baby Roo in his own house and
- 16:28Speaker 1: feeling more fond of him every minute, and Pooh, who
- 16:32Speaker 1: had decided to be a Kanga was still at the
- 16:35Speaker 1: sandy place on the top of the forest, practicing jumps.
- 16:40Speaker 1: I am not at all sure, said Kanga in a
- 16:43Speaker 1: thoughtful voice, that it wouldn't be a good idea to
- 16:46Speaker 1: have a cold bath this evening? Would you like that?
- 16:49Speaker 1: Bru Dear Piglet, who had never been really fond of baths,
- 16:54Speaker 1: shuddered a long, indignant shudder and said in as brave
- 16:58Speaker 1: a voice as he could, good Tenga, I see.
- 17:02Speaker 5: The time has now come to speak painly.
- 17:06Speaker 1: Funny little rue, said Kanga, as she got the bath
- 17:09Speaker 1: water ready. I am not rue, said Piglet loudly.
- 17:15Speaker 5: I am piglet.
- 17:17Speaker 1: Yes, dear, yes, said Kanga soothingly, and imitating Piglet's voice too.
- 17:23Speaker 1: So clever of him, she went on, as she took
- 17:27Speaker 1: a large bar of yellow soap out of the cupboard.
- 17:31Speaker 1: What will he be doing next?
- 17:34Speaker 5: Cat do you say?
- 17:35Speaker 1: Shouted piglet.
- 17:37Speaker 5: Hall hat you got eyes? Look at me?
- 17:41Speaker 1: I am looking rude, dear, said Kega, rather severely. And
- 17:45Speaker 1: you know what I told you yesterday about making faces.
- 17:49Speaker 1: If you go on making faces like piglets, you will
- 17:52Speaker 1: grow up to look like piglet, and then think how
- 17:54Speaker 1: sorry you will be now then into the bath, and
- 17:58Speaker 1: don't let me have to speak to you about it again.
- 18:01Speaker 1: Before he knew where he was, Piglet was in the
- 18:04Speaker 1: bath and Keanga was scrubbing him firmly with a large
- 18:08Speaker 1: lathery flannel. Oh, cried Piglet. Let me out on, Piglet,
- 18:15Speaker 1: don't open the mouth, dear, or the soap goes in,
- 18:18Speaker 1: said Keanga. There, what did I tell you?
- 18:22Speaker 5: You? You? You did it.
- 18:24Speaker 1: On PAPIs, spluttered Piglet as soon as he could speak again,
- 18:29Speaker 1: and then accidentally had another mouthful of lathery flannel. That's right, dear,
- 18:34Speaker 1: don't say anything, said Kanga, And in another minute Piglet
- 18:39Speaker 1: was out of the bath and being rubbed dry with
- 18:41Speaker 1: a towel. Now, said Kanga, there's your medicine, and then
- 18:47Speaker 1: bed woo. What medicaid, said Piglet, To make you grow
- 18:53Speaker 1: big and strong, dear. You don't want to grow up
- 18:55Speaker 1: small and weak like Piglet, do you.
- 18:57Speaker 2: Well?
- 18:57Speaker 1: Then at that moment there was a knock at the door.
- 19:02Speaker 1: Come in, said Kanga, and in came Christopher Robin.
- 19:08Speaker 5: Christopher Robin.
- 19:09Speaker 1: Christopher Robin cried Piglet, Tell.
- 19:13Speaker 5: Keanga who I am? She keeps saying I'm rue. I'm
- 19:16Speaker 5: not true, am I.
- 19:18Speaker 1: Christopher Robin looked at him very carefully and shook his head.
- 19:23Speaker 1: You can't be rue, he said, because I've just seen
- 19:28Speaker 1: Rue playing in Rabbit's house. Well, said Keanga. Fancy that.
- 19:34Speaker 1: Fancy my making a mistake like that. There you are,
- 19:38Speaker 1: said Piglet.
- 19:40Speaker 5: I told you so, I Piglet.
- 19:43Speaker 1: Christopher Robin shook his head again. Oh you're not Piglet,
- 19:48Speaker 1: he said. I know Piglet well, and he's quite a
- 19:52Speaker 1: different color. Piglet began to say that this was because
- 19:56Speaker 1: he had just had a bath, and then he thought
- 19:59Speaker 1: that perhaps he wouldn't say that, And as he opened
- 20:02Speaker 1: his mouth to say something else, Keanga slipped the medicine
- 20:06Speaker 1: spoon in and then patted him on the back and
- 20:09Speaker 1: told him that it was really quite a nice taste
- 20:12Speaker 1: when you got used to it. I knew it wasn't, Piglet,
- 20:16Speaker 1: said Keanga. I wonder who it can be. Perhaps it's
- 20:21Speaker 1: some relation of poos, said Christopher Robin.
- 20:25Speaker 2: What about a nephew or an uncle or something.
- 20:29Speaker 1: Keanga agreed that this was probably what it was, and
- 20:33Speaker 1: said that they would have to call it by some name.
- 20:37Speaker 1: I shall call it Phutel, said Christopher Robin Henry Patel
- 20:42Speaker 1: for short, And just when it was decided, Henry Pootell
- 20:47Speaker 1: wriggled out of Kanga's arms and jumped to the ground.
- 20:51Speaker 1: To his great joy, Christopher Robin had left the door open.
- 20:56Speaker 1: Never had Henry Pootell Piglet run so fat as he
- 21:00Speaker 1: ran then, And he didn't stop running until he had
- 21:04Speaker 1: got quite close to his house. But when he was
- 21:07Speaker 1: a hundred yards away, he stopped running and rolled the
- 21:11Speaker 1: rest of the way home so as to get his
- 21:13Speaker 1: own nice, comfortable color again. So Kanga and Rue stayed
- 21:20Speaker 1: in the forest, and every Tuesday, Rue spent the day
- 21:23Speaker 1: with his great friend Rabbit, and every Tuesday Kanga spent
- 21:28Speaker 1: the day with her great friend Pooh, teaching him to jump.
- 21:33Speaker 1: And every Tuesday Piglet spent the day with his great
- 21:36Speaker 1: friend Christopher Robin. So they were all happy again. End
- 21:43Speaker 1: of Chapter seven