"Mline, AA - Winnie the Pooh, Book 1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Milne A A)

...IN WHICH POOH AND PIGLET GO HUNTING AND NEARLY CATCH A WOOZLE

THE Piglet lived in a very grand house in the middle of a beech-tree, and the
beech-tree was in the middle of the forest, and the Piglet lived in the middle
of the house. Next to his house was a piece of broken board which had:
"TRESPASSERS W" on it. When Christopher Robin asked the Piglet what it meant, he
said it was his grandfather's name, and had been in the family for a long time.
Christopher Robin said you couldn't be called Trespassers W, and Piglet said
yes, you could, because his grandfather was, and it was short for Trespassers
Will, which was short for Trespassers William. And his grandfather had had two
names in case he lost one--Trespassers after an uncle, and William after
Trespassers.
"I've got two names," said Christopher Robin carelessly.
"Well, there you are, that proves it," said Piglet.
One fine winter's day when Piglet was brushing away the snow in front of his
house, he happened to look up, and there was Winnie-the-Pooh. Pooh was walking
round and round in a circle, thinking of something else, and when Piglet called
to him, he just went on walking.



"Hallo!" said Piglet, "what are you doing?"
"Hunting," said Pooh.
"Hunting what?"
"Tracking something," said Winnie-the-Pooh very mysteriously.
"Tracking what?" said Piglet, coming closer
"That's just what I ask myself. I ask myself, What?"
"What do you think you'll answer?"
"I shall have to wait until I catch up with it," said Winnie-the-Pooh. "Now,
look there." He pointed to the ground in front of him. "What do you see there?"
"Tracks," said Piglet. "Paw-marks." He gave a little squeak of excitement. "Oh,
Pooh! Do you think it's a--a--a Woozle?"
"It may be," said Pooh. "Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. You never can
tell with paw- marks."
With these few words he went on tracking, and Piglet, after watching him for a
minute or two, ran after him. Winnie-the-Pooh had come to a sudden stop, and was
bending over the tracks in a puzzled sort of way.
"What's the matter?" asked Piglet.
"It's a very funny thing," said Bear, "but there seem to be two animals now.
This--whatever-it-was--has been joined by another--whatever-it-is--
and the two of them are now proceeding in company. Would you mind coming with
me, Piglet, in case they turn out to be Hostile Animals?"
Piglet scratched his ear in a nice sort of way, and said that he had nothing to
do until Friday, and would be delighted to come, in case it really was a Woozle.
"You mean, in case it really is two Woozles," said Winnie-the-Pooh, and Piglet
said that anyhow he had nothing to do until Friday. So off they went together.
There was a small spinney of larch trees just here, and it seemed as if the two
Woozles, if that is what they were, had been going round this spinney; so round