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10 - In Which Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water · Winnie-the-Pooh

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  Speaker 1: Chapter nine of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Chapter nine, in which Piglet is
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  Speaker 1: entirely surrounded by water. It rained, and it rained, and
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  Speaker 1: it rained. Piglet told himself that never in all his life,
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  Speaker 1: and he was goodness knows how old three was it
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  Speaker 1: or four, never had he seen so much rain, days
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  Speaker 1: and days and days. If O nay, he thought, as
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  Speaker 1: he looked out of the window, I have.
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  Speaker 2: Been at Pears house or Christopher Robbin's house, or Rabbit's
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  Speaker 2: house when it began to rain. Then I should have
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  Speaker 2: had company all this time instead of being here all alone.
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  Speaker 2: Was nothing to do except wonder when it will stop?
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  Speaker 1: And he imagined himself with Pooh saying.
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  Speaker 2: Did you ever see such rain?
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  Speaker 1: Poo? And Pooh saying isn't an awful piglet? And Piglet saying, I.
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  Speaker 2: Wonder how it is over Christopher Robin's.
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  Speaker 3: Way, and Pooh saying I should think poor old Rabbit
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  Speaker 3: is about flooded out.
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  Speaker 1: By this time, it would have been jolly to talk
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  Speaker 1: like this, And really it wasn't much good having anything
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  Speaker 1: exciting like woods if you couldn't share them with somebody,
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  Speaker 1: For it was rather exciting. The little dry ditches in
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  Speaker 1: which Piglet had nosed about so often had become streams.
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  Speaker 1: The little streams across which he had splashed were rivers,
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  Speaker 1: and the river between whose steep banks they had played
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  Speaker 1: so happily, had sprawled out of its own bed and
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  Speaker 1: was taking up so much room everywhere that Piglet was
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  Speaker 1: beginning to wonder whether it would be coming into his
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  Speaker 1: bed soon.
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  Speaker 2: It's a little anxious, he.
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  Speaker 1: Said to himself, to be a very.
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  Speaker 2: Small animal entirely surrounded by water. Christopher, Robin, and Pooh
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  Speaker 2: would escape by climbing a trees, and Tanga could escape
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  Speaker 2: by jumping, and rabbit could escape by burrowing, an owl
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  Speaker 2: could escape by flying, and Eyok could escape by making
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  Speaker 2: a loud noise until rescued. And here I am surrounded
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  Speaker 2: by water, and I can't do anything.
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  Speaker 1: It went on raining, and every day the water got
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  Speaker 1: a little higher, until now it was nearly up to
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  Speaker 1: Piglet's window, and still he hadn't done anything. There's Pooh,
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  Speaker 1: he thought to himself, Pooh hasn't.
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  Speaker 2: Much brain, but he never comes to any harm. He
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  Speaker 2: he does silly things and they turn out right. There's Owl.
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  Speaker 2: Owl hasn't exactly got brain, but he knows things. He
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  Speaker 2: would know the right thing to do when surrounded by water.
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  Speaker 2: There's Rabbit. He hasn't learnt in books, but he always
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  Speaker 2: can think of a clever plan. There's Kanga. She isn't clever.
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  Speaker 2: Keanga isn't, but she would be so anxious about real
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  Speaker 2: that she would do a good thing to do without
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  Speaker 2: thinking about it. And then there's Eol, and Eyol so
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  Speaker 2: miserable anyhow, that he wouldn't mind about this. But I
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  Speaker 2: wonder what Christopher Robin would do.
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  Speaker 1: Then suddenly he remembered a story which Christopher Robin had
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  Speaker 1: told him about a man on a desert island who
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  Speaker 1: had written something in a bottle and thrown it in
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  Speaker 1: the sea. And Piglet thought that if he wrote something
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  Speaker 1: in a bottle and threw it in the water, perhaps
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  Speaker 1: somebody would come and rest thank you him. He left
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  Speaker 1: the window and began to search his house, all of
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  Speaker 1: it that wasn't under water, And at last he found
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  Speaker 1: a pencil and a small piece of dry paper and
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  Speaker 1: a bottle with a cork to it, and he wrote
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  Speaker 1: on one side of the paper, help pivolet me, and
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  Speaker 1: on the other side.
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  Speaker 2: It's nay, pivolet help help.
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  Speaker 1: Then he put the paper in the bottle, and he
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  Speaker 1: corked the bottle up as tightly as he could, and
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  Speaker 1: he leaned out of his window as far as he
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  Speaker 1: could lean without falling in, and he threw the bottle
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  Speaker 1: as far as he could throw splash, and in a
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  Speaker 1: little while it bobbed up again on the water, and
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  Speaker 1: he watched it floating slowly away in the distance until
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  Speaker 1: his eyes ached with looking. And sometimes he thought it
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  Speaker 1: was the bottle, and sometimes he thought it was just
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  Speaker 1: a ripple on the water which he was following. And
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  Speaker 1: then suddenly he knew that he would never see it again,
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  Speaker 1: and that he had done all that he could do
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  Speaker 1: to save himself. So now he.
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  Speaker 2: Thought, somebody else will have to do something. And I hope, though,
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  Speaker 2: they will do it soon, because if they don't, I
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  Speaker 2: shall have to swim, which I can't, so I hope
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  Speaker 2: they do it soon.
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  Speaker 1: And then he gave a very long sigh and said.
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  Speaker 2: I wish Pooh were here. It's so much more friendly
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  Speaker 2: with two.
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  Speaker 1: When the rain began. Pooh was asleep. It rained and
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  Speaker 1: it rained, and it rained, and he slept and he
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  Speaker 1: slept and he slept. He had had a tiring day.
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  Speaker 1: You remember how he discovered the North Pole. Well, he
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  Speaker 1: was so proud of this that he asked Christopher Robin
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  Speaker 1: if there were any other poles, such as a bear
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  Speaker 1: of little brain might discover. There's a South Pole, said
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  Speaker 1: Christopher Robin, and I expect there's an East Pole in
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  Speaker 1: a West pole, though people don't like talking about them.
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  Speaker 1: Who was very excited when he heard this, and suggested
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  Speaker 1: that they should have an expedition to discover the East Pole.
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  Speaker 1: But Christopher Robin had thought of something else to do
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  Speaker 1: with Kanga, so Pooh went out to discover the East
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  Speaker 1: Pole by himself. Whether he discovered it or not, I forget.
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  Speaker 1: But he was so tired when he got home that
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  Speaker 1: in the very middle of his supper, after he had
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  Speaker 1: been eating for a little more than half an hour,
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  Speaker 1: he fell fast asleep in his chair and slept and
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  Speaker 1: slept and slept. Then suddenly he was dreaming he was
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  Speaker 1: at the East Pole, and it was a very cold pole,
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  Speaker 1: with the coldest sort of snow and ice all over it.
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  Speaker 1: He had found a bee hive to sleep in, but
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  Speaker 1: there wasn't room for his legs, so he had left
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  Speaker 1: them outside, and wild woozles such as inhabit the east Pole,
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  Speaker 1: came and nibbled all the fur off his legs to
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  Speaker 1: make nests for their young. And the more they nibbled,
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  Speaker 1: the colder his legs got, until suddenly he woke up
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  Speaker 1: with an owl, and there he was sitting in his
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  Speaker 1: chair with his feet in the water and water all
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  Speaker 1: around him. He splashed to his door and looked out.
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  Speaker 1: This is serious, said Pooh. I must have an escape.
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  Speaker 1: So he took his largest pot of honey and escaped
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  Speaker 1: with it to a broad branch of his tree, well
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  Speaker 1: above the water. And then he climbed down again and
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  Speaker 1: escaped with another pot. And when the whole escape was finished,
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  Speaker 1: there was Pooh sitting on his branch, dangling his legs,
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  Speaker 1: and there beside him were ten pots of honey. Two
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  Speaker 1: days later there was Pooh sitting on his branch, dangling
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  Speaker 1: his legs, and there beside him were four pots of honey.
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  Speaker 1: Three days later there was Pooh sitting on his branch
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  Speaker 1: dangling his legs, and there beside him was one pot
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  Speaker 1: of honey. Four days later there was pooh. And it
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  Speaker 1: was on the morning of the fourth day that Piglet's
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  Speaker 1: bottle came floating past him, and with one loud cry
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  Speaker 1: of honey, Poo plunged into the water, seized the bottle
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  Speaker 1: and struggled back to his tree again. Bother said pooh
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  Speaker 1: as he opened it.
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  Speaker 3: All that wet for nothing. What's that little bit of
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  Speaker 3: paper doing.
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  Speaker 1: He took it out and looked at it. It's a message,
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  Speaker 1: he said to himself.
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  Speaker 3: That's what it is. And that letter is a p
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  Speaker 3: and so is that, and so is that and pea
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  Speaker 3: means pooh. So it's a very important missage to me.
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  Speaker 3: And I can't read it. I must find Christopher Robin,
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  Speaker 3: or Owl or Piglet, one of those clever readers who
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  Speaker 3: can read things, and they will tell me what this
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  Speaker 3: message means. Only I can't swim.
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  Speaker 1: Bother then he had an idea, and I think that
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  Speaker 1: for a bear of very little brain, it was a
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  Speaker 1: good idea. He said to himself.
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  Speaker 3: If a bottle can float, then a jar can float.
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  Speaker 3: And if a jar floats, I can sit on top
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  Speaker 3: of it. It's a very big jar.
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  Speaker 1: So he took his biggest jar and porked it up.
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  Speaker 3: All boats have to have a name, he said, so
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  Speaker 3: I shall call mine the floating Bear.
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  Speaker 1: And with these words he dropped his boat into the
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  Speaker 1: water and jumped in after it. For a little while,
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  Speaker 1: Pooh and the floating Bear were uncertain as to which
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  Speaker 1: of them was meant to be on the top, But
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  Speaker 1: after trying one or two different positions, they settled down
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  Speaker 1: with the floating bear underneath, and Pooh triumphantly astride it,
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  Speaker 1: paddling vigorously with his feet. Christopher Robin lived at the
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  Speaker 1: very top of the forest. It rained, and it rained,
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  Speaker 1: and it rained, but the water couldn't come up to
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  Speaker 1: his house. It was rather jolly to look down into
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  Speaker 1: the valleys and see the water all round him. But
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  Speaker 1: it rained so hard that he stayed indoors most of
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  Speaker 1: the time and thought about things. Every morning he went
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  Speaker 1: out with his umbrella and put a stick in the
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  Speaker 1: place where the water came up to. And every next
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  Speaker 1: morning he went out and couldn't see his stick anymore,
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  Speaker 1: so he put another stick in the place where the
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  Speaker 1: water came up to, and then he walked home again.
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  Speaker 1: And each morning he had a shorter way to walk
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  Speaker 1: than he had had the day before. On the morning
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  Speaker 1: of the fifth day, he saw the water all round
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  Speaker 1: him and knew that for the first time in his
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  Speaker 1: life he was on a real island, which was very exciting.
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  Speaker 1: It was on this morning that Owl came flying over
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  Speaker 1: the water to say how do you do to his
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  Speaker 1: friend Christopher Robin. I say, Owl, said Christopher Robin. Isn't
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  Speaker 1: this fun? I'm on an island.
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  Speaker 4: The atmospheric conditions have been very unfavorable lately, said Owl.
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  Speaker 4: The what it has been?
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  Speaker 1: Explained Owl? Yes, said Christopher Robin.
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  Speaker 5: It has.
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  Speaker 4: The flood level has reached an unprecedented height. The who
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  Speaker 4: There's a lot of water.
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  Speaker 1: About, explained Owl. Yes, said Christopher Robin.
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  Speaker 5: There is.
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  Speaker 4: However, the prospects are rapidly becoming more favorable. At any moment,
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  Speaker 4: have you seen Pooh? No, at any moment.
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  Speaker 1: I hope he's all right, said Christopher Robin.
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  Speaker 5: I've been wondering about him. I expect piglets with him.
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  Speaker 5: Do you think they're all right? Owl?
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  Speaker 4: I expect so. You see at any moment.
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  Speaker 5: Do go and see Owl, because Pooh hasn't got very
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  Speaker 5: much brain, and he might do something silly, and I
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  Speaker 5: do love him, so Owl, do you see Owl?
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  Speaker 1: That's all right, said Owl. I'll go back directly, and
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  Speaker 1: he flew off. In a little while. He was back again.
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  Speaker 4: Boo, isn't there, he said, not, there has been there.
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  Speaker 4: He's been sitting on a branch of his tree outside
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  Speaker 4: his house with nine pots of honey. But he isn't
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  Speaker 4: there now.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, Pooh, cried Christopher Robin.
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  Speaker 5: Where are you here?
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  Speaker 1: I am, said a growling voice behind him, Pooh. They
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  Speaker 1: rushed into each other's arms.
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  Speaker 5: How did you get here, Pooh?
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  Speaker 1: Asked Christopher Robin when he was ready to talk again.
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  Speaker 1: On my boat, said Pooh proudly.
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  Speaker 3: I had a very important message sent me in a bottle,
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  Speaker 3: and owing to have got some water in my eyes.
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  Speaker 3: I couldn't read it, so I brought it to you
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  Speaker 3: on my boat.
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  Speaker 1: With these proud words. He gave Christopher Robin the message.
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  Speaker 1: But it's from piglet, cried Christopher Robin when he had
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  Speaker 1: read it.
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  Speaker 3: Isn't there anything about Pooh in it?
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  Speaker 1: Asked Bear, looking over his shoulder. Christopher Robin read the
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  Speaker 1: message aloud.
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  Speaker 3: Oh are those peas piglets? I thought they were poos?
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  Speaker 5: We must rescue him at once? I thought he was
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  Speaker 5: with you, Pooh, Owl, could you rescue him on your back?
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  Speaker 1: I don't think so, said Owl, after grave thought it
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  Speaker 1: is doubtful if the necessary dorsal muscles.
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  Speaker 5: Then would you fly to him at once and say
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  Speaker 5: that rescue is coming? And Pooh and I will think
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  Speaker 5: of a rescue and come as quick as ever we can. Oh,
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  Speaker 5: don't talk, Owl go on.
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  Speaker 1: Quick and still thinking of something to say, Owl flew off. Now, then, Pooh,
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  Speaker 1: said Christopher Robin.
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  Speaker 5: Where's your boat?
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  Speaker 1: I ought to say, explained Poo, as they walked down
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  Speaker 1: to the shore of the island.
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  Speaker 3: Then it isn't just an ordinary sort of boat. Sometimes
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  Speaker 3: it's a boat, and sometimes it's more of an accident.
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  Speaker 3: It all depends depends on what on whether I'm on
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  Speaker 3: the top of it or underneath it.
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  Speaker 5: Oh, well, where is it there?
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  Speaker 1: Said Pooh, pointing proudly to the floating bear. It wasn't
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  Speaker 1: what Christopher Robin expected. And the more he looked at it,
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  Speaker 1: the more he thought what a brave and clever bear
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  Speaker 1: Pooh was. And the more Christopher Robin thought this, the
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  Speaker 1: more Pooh looked modestly down his nose and tried to
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  Speaker 1: pretend he wasn't.
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  Speaker 5: But it's too small for two of.
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  Speaker 1: Us, said Christopher Robin.
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  Speaker 3: Sadly three of us with piglet.
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  Speaker 5: That makes it smaller. Still, Oh, Pooh bear, what shall
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  Speaker 5: we do?
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  Speaker 1: And then this bear, Pooh bear, Winnie the poo f
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  Speaker 1: O P Friend of piglets, r C, rabbit's companion, b D,
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  Speaker 1: whole discoverer E C and T F E yours comforter
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  Speaker 1: and tail finder. In fact, Pooh himself said something so
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  Speaker 1: clever that Christopher Robin could only look at him with
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  Speaker 1: mouth open and eyes staring, wondering if this was really
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  Speaker 1: the bear of very little Brain, whom he had known
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  Speaker 1: and loved so long.
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  Speaker 3: We might go in your umbrella.
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  Speaker 1: Said Pooh huh. We might go in your umbrella, said
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  Speaker 1: pooh huh.
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  Speaker 3: We might go in your umbrella.
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  Speaker 1: Said pooh ah. For so suddenly Christopher Robin saw that
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  Speaker 1: they might. He opened his umbrella and put it point
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  Speaker 1: downwards in the water. It floated, but wobbled. Pooh got in.
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  Speaker 1: He was just beginning to say that it was all
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  Speaker 1: right now when he found that it wasn't. So. After
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  Speaker 1: a short drink, which he didn't really want, he waded
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  Speaker 1: back to Christopher Robin. Then they both got in together,
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  Speaker 1: and it wobbled no longer.
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  Speaker 5: I shall call this boat the brain of Pooh.
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  Speaker 1: Said Christopher Robin. And the Brain of Poo set sail
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  Speaker 1: forthwith in a southwesterly direction, revolving gracefully. You can imagine
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  Speaker 1: Piglet's joy when at last the ship came in sight
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  Speaker 1: of him. In after years, he liked to think that
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  Speaker 1: he had been in very great danger during the terrible flood,
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  Speaker 1: But the only danger he had really been in was
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  Speaker 1: in the last half hour of his imprisonment, when Owl,
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  Speaker 1: who had just flown up, sat on a branch of
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  Speaker 1: his tree to comfort him and told him a very
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  Speaker 1: long story about an aunt who had once laid a
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  Speaker 1: seagull's egg by mistake. And the story went on and
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  Speaker 1: on rather like this sentence, until Piglet, who was listening
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  Speaker 1: out of his window without much hope, went to sleep
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  Speaker 1: quietly and naturally, slipping slowly out of the window towards
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  Speaker 1: the water, until he was only hanging on by his toes,
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  Speaker 1: at which moment, luckily, a sudden squawk from Owl, which
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  Speaker 1: was really part of the story, being what his aunt said,
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  Speaker 1: woke Piglet up and just gave him time to jerk
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  Speaker 1: himself back into safety and.
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  Speaker 2: Say how interesting and did she.
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  Speaker 1: When well, you can imagine his joy when at last
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  Speaker 1: he saw the good ship Brain of Pooh, Captain c Robin,
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  Speaker 1: first mate Pee Bear coming over the sea to rescue him.
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  Speaker 1: Christopher Robin and Pooh again. And that is really the
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  Speaker 1: end of the story. And I am very tired after
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  Speaker 1: that last sentence, I think I shall stop there. End
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  Speaker 1: of Chapter nine.