Winnie The Pooh Chapter 4 | Bedtime Story

Drift off gently into a deep, restful sleep with Chapter Four of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. Pooh Bear helps Eeyore find his tail, with a little help from Owl. And some excellent detective skills.

Narrated by Andy Hobson

Transcript

The old grey donkey Eeyore stood by himself in the thistly corner of the forest,

His front feet well apart,

His head on one side,

And thought about things.

Sometimes he thought sadly to himself,

Why?

And sometimes he thought,

Where for?

And sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.

So when Winnie the Pooh came stomping along,

Eeyore was very glad to be able to stop thinking for a little,

In order to say,

How do you do,

In a gloomy manner to him.

And how are you,

Said Winnie the Pooh.

Eeyore shook his head from side to side.

Not very well,

He said.

I don't seem to have felt at all well for a long time.

Oh dear,

Said Pooh,

I'm sorry about that.

Let's have a look at you.

So Eeyore stood there,

Gazing sadly at the ground,

And Winnie the Pooh walked all round him once.

What's happened to your tail?

He said in surprise.

What has happened to it?

Said Eeyore.

It isn't there.

Are you sure?

Well either a tail is there,

Or it isn't there.

You can't make a mistake about it,

And yours isn't there.

Then what is?

Nothing.

Let's have a look,

Said Eeyore,

As he turned slowly round to the place where his tail had been a little while ago.

And then,

Finding that he couldn't catch it up,

He turned round the other way until he came back to where he was at first.

And then he put his head down and looked between his front legs.

And at last,

He said,

With a long sad sigh,

I believe you're right.

Of course I'm right,

Said Pooh.

That accounts for a good deal,

Said Eeyore gloomily.

It explains everything.

No wonder.

You must have left it somewhere,

Said Winnie the Pooh.

Somebody must have taken it,

Said Eeyore.

How like them,

He added,

After a long silence.

Pooh felt that he ought to say something helpful about it,

But didn't quite know what.

So he decided to do something helpful instead.

Eeyore,

He said solemnly,

I,

Winnie the Pooh,

Will find your tail.

Thank you,

Pooh,

Answered Eeyore.

You're a real friend,

He said,

Not like some.

So Winnie the Pooh went off to find Eeyore's tail.

It was a fine spring morning in the forest as he started out.

Little soft clouds played happily in the blue sky,

Skipping from time to time in front of the sun,

As if they had come to put it out,

And then sliding away suddenly so that the next might have his turn.

Through them and between them the sun shone bravely,

And a copse which had worn its furs all year round seemed old and dowdy now,

Beside the new green lace which the beaches had put on prettily.

Through the copse and spinny marched bare,

Down open slopes of gores and heather,

Over rocky beds of streams,

Up steep banks of sandstone,

Into the heather again,

And so at last,

Tired and hungry,

To the hundred-acre wood,

For it was the hundred-acre wood that Owl lived.

And if anyone knows anything about anything,

Said Bear to himself,

It's Owl who knew something about something,

He said.

Or my name's not Winnie the Pooh,

Which it is,

He added.

So there you are.

Owl lived at the chestnuts,

An old world residence of great charm,

Which was grander than anybody else's,

Or seemed so to Bear,

Because it had both a knocker and bell-pull.

Underneath the knocker there was a notice which said,

Please ring if an answer is required.

Underneath the bell-pull there was a notice which said,

Please knock if an answer is not required.

These notices had been written by Christopher Robin,

Who was the only one in the forest who could spell.

For Owl,

Wise though he was in many ways,

Able to read and write and spell his own name,

Woll,

It somehow went all to pieces over delicate words like measles and buttered toast.

Winnie the Pooh read the two notices very carefully,

First from left to right,

And afterwards,

In case he had missed some of it,

From right to left.

Then,

To make quite sure,

He knocked and pulled the knocker,

And he pulled and knocked the bell-rope,

And he called out in a very loud voice,

Owl,

I require an answer.

It's Bear speaking.

And the door opened,

And Owl looked out.

Hello Pooh,

He said.

How's things?

Terrible and sad,

Said Pooh,

Because Eeyore,

Who is a friend of mine,

Has lost his tail,

And he's moping about it.

So could you very kindly tell me how to find it for him?

Well,

Said Owl,

The customary procedure in such cases is as follows.

What does crusty money proceed cake mean?

Said Pooh,

For I am a bear of very little brain,

And long words bother me.

It means things to do.

As long as it means that,

I don't mind,

Said Pooh,

Humbly.

The thing to do is as follows.

First,

Issue a reward.

Then,

Just a moment,

Said Pooh,

Holding up his paw.

What were you saying?

You sneezed,

Just as you were going to tell me.

I didn't sneeze?

Yes,

You did,

Owl.

Excuse me,

Pooh,

I didn't.

You can't sneeze without knowing it.

Well,

You can't know it without something having been sneezed.

What I said was,

First issue a reward.

You're doing it again,

Said Pooh,

Sadly.

A reward,

Said Owl very loudly.

We write a notice to say that we'll give a large something to anybody who finds Eeyore's tail.

I see,

I see,

Said Pooh,

Nodding his head.

Talking about large somethings,

He went on dreamily.

I generally have a small something about now,

About this time in the morning.

And he looked wistfully at the cupboard in the corner of Owl's parlour.

Just a mouthful of condensed milk or what not,

With perhaps a lick of honey?

Well then,

Said Owl,

We will write out this notice and we put it up all over the forest.

A lick of honey,

Murmured Bear to himself,

Or,

Or not,

As the case may be.

He gave a deep sigh and tried very hard to listen to what Owl was saying.

But Owl went on and on,

Using longer and longer words,

Until at last he came back to where he had started.

And he explained that the person to write out this notice was Christopher Robin.

It was he who wrote the ones on my front door for me.

Did you see them,

Pooh?

For some time now,

Pooh had been saying yes and no in turn,

With his eyes shut,

To all that Owl was saying.

And having said yes,

Yes the last time,

He said no,

Not at all,

Without really knowing what Owl was talking about.

Did you see them,

Said Owl,

A little surprised.

Come and look at them now.

So they went outside.

Pooh looked at the knocker and the notice below it.

And he looked up at the bell rope and the notice below it.

And the more he looked at the bell rope,

The more he felt that he'd seen something like it somewhere else,

Some time before.

Handsome bell rope,

Isn't it?

Said Owl.

Pooh nodded.

It reminds me of something,

He said.

But I can't think what.

Where did you get it?

I just came across it in the forest.

It was hanging over a bush.

And I thought at first somebody lived there.

So I rang it.

And nothing happened.

And then I rang it again,

Very loudly.

And it came off in my hand.

And as nobody seemed to want it,

I took it home and.

.

.

Owl,

Said Pooh solemnly.

You made a mistake.

Somebody did want it.

Who?

Eeyore.

My friend Eeyore.

He was fond of it.

Fond of it?

Attached to it,

Said Winnie the Pooh sadly.

So with these words,

He unhooked it and carried it back to Eeyore.

And when Christopher Robin had nailed it on in its right place again,

Eeyore frisked about in the forest,

Waving his tail so happily that Winnie the Pooh came over all funny and had to hurry home for a little snack of something to sustain him.

And wiping his mouth an hour afterwards,

He sang to himself proudly.

Pooh found the tail,

I said Pooh,

At a quarter to two.

Only it was a quarter to eleven really.

I found the tail.