Eeyore
in the River
They had dropped their sticks in when Rabbit said 'Go!'
and then they had hurried across to the other side of the bridge,
and now they were all leaning over the edge, waiting to see whose
stick would come out first. But it was a long time coming,
because the river was very lazy that day,
and hardly seemed to mind if it didn't ever get there at all.
'I can see mine!' cried Roo.'No, I
can't it's something else. Can you see yours,Piglet? I thougth I
could see mine but I couldn't. There it is! No it isn't.Can you
see yours, Pooh?'
'No,' said Pooh.
'I expect my stick's stuck,' said Roo. 'Rabbit, my stick's stuck.
Is your stick stuck, Piglet?'
'They always take longer than you think,' said Rabbit.
'How long do you think they'll take?' asked
Roo.
'I can see yours, Piglet,' said Pooh suddenly.
'Mine's a sort of greyish one,' said Piglet, not daring to lean
too far over in case he fell in.
'Yes, that's what I can see. It's coming over on to my side.'
Rabbit leant over further than ever, looking for his, and Roo
wriggled up and down,calling out 'Come on, stick! Stick, stick,
stick!' and piglet got very excited because his was the only one
which has been seen, and that meant that he was winning.
'It's coming!' said Pooh.
'Are you sure it's mine?' squeaked Piglet excitedly.
'Yes because it's grey. A big grey one. Here it comes! A very -
big-grey-Oh, no, it isn't, it's Eeyore!'
And out floated Eeyore.
'Eeyore!' cried everybody. Looking very calm, very
digniefied, with his legs in the air, came Eeyore from
beneath the bridge.
„It's Eeyore!' cried Roo, terribly excited.
'Is that so?' said Eeyore, getting caughty up by a little
eddy, and turning round three times.'I wondered.'
'I didn't know you were playing,' said Roo.
'I'm not,' said Eeyore.
'Eeyore, what are you doing there?' said
Rabbit.
'I'll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the
ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak-tree?
Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right.
Give Rabbit time, and he'll always get the wright answer.'
'But, Eeyore,' said Pooh in distress, 'what can we - I mean, how
shall we- do you think if we-- '
'Yes,' said Eeyore. 'One of those would be just the thing. Thank
you, Pooh.'
'He's going round and round,' said Roo, much impressed.
'And why not?' said Eeyore coldly.
'I can swim too,' said Roo proudly.
'Not round and round,' said Eeyore. 'It's much more difficult. I
didn't want to come swimming at all to-day,' he went on,
revolving slowly. 'But if, when in, i decide to practise a slight
circular movement from right to left - or perhaps I should say,'
he added, as he got into another eddy, 'from left to right, just
as it happens to occur to me, it's nobody's business but my own.'
There was a moments silence while everybody thought.
'I've got asort of idea,' said Pooh at
last, 'but I don't suppose it's a very good one.'
'I don't suppose it is either,' said Eeyore.
'Go on, Pooh,' said Rabbit. 'Let's have it.'
'Well, if we all threw stones and things into the river on one
side of Eeyore, the stones would make waves, and he waves would
wash him to the other side.'
'That's a very good idea,'said Rabbit, and Pooh looked happy
again.
'Very,' said Eeyore. 'When I want to be washed, Pooh, I'll let
you know.'
'Supposing we hit him by mistake?' said Piglet anxiously.
'Or supposing you missed him by mistake,' said Eeyore. 'Think of
all the possibilities, Piglet, before you settle down to enjoy
yourselves.'
But pooh had got the biggest stone he could carry, and was
leaning over the bridge,holding it on his paws.
'I'm not throwing it, I'm dropping it, Eeyore,' he explained.'And
then I can't hit you.
Could you stop turning for a moment, because
it muddles me rather?'
'No,' said Eeyore. 'I like turning round.'
Rabbit begant to feel that us was time he took command.
'Now, Pooh,' he said,'when I say "Now!" You can drop
it. Eeyore, when i say "Now!" Pooh will drop his
stone.'
'Thank you very much, Rabbit, but I expect I shall know.'
'Are you ready, Pooh? Piglet, give Pooh a little more room. Get
back a bit there, Roo. Are you ready?'
'No,'said Eeyore.
'Now!' said Rabbit.
Pooh dropped his stone. There was a loud splash, and Eeyore
disappeared...
It was an anxious moment for the watchers on the bridge. They
looked and looked... and even the sight of Piglet's stick coming
out a little in front of Rabbit's didn't cheer them up as much as
you would have expected. And then, just as pooh was beginning to
think that he must have chosen the wrong stone or the wrong river
or the wrong day for his Idea. something grey showed for a moment
by the river bank...
and it got slowly bigger and bigger... and at last it was Eeyore
coming out.
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