Prologue
about Piglet, his home, and his family
Piglet was a little pig who lived in a big house. The house was in the middle of a beech-tree, the beech-tree was in the middle of the forest, and the Piglet lived in the middle of the house.
Outside the house were some broken boards with “TRESPASSERS W” written on them.
One time, Christopher Robin asked what the sign meant.
Piglet explained that it was a plaque in honor of his grandfather, the great adventurer, Trespassers W.
Christopher Robin didn’t believe him. “I don’t think Trespassers W could ever be anybody’s name.”
“Well, no, it couldn’t be just anybody’s name,” said Piglet, “only my grandfather.”
Christopher Robin was unconvinced. “What kind of name is that?”
“It’s a first name—or actually, two first names side by side,” explained Piglet. “You see, ‘Trespassers W’ was short for ‘Trespassers Will,’ which was short for ‘Trespassers William.’ It is a very good thing to have two first names, just in case one keeps getting shorter and shorter until it disappears.”
“I’ve got two first names,” said Christopher Robin idly.
“Well, there you go, that proves it,” said Piglet.
Part 1
Asking Himself
One fine winter’s day, Piglet was brushing away the snow in front of his house. He looked up and there was Winnie-the-Pooh.
Pooh was walking round and round in a circle.
The bear was thinking intently about something. Piglet called out to him, but Pooh gave no response. He just kept on walking.
“Hey, Pooh Bear!” cried Piglet a fourth time while waving his arms. “What are you doing over there?”
“Hunting,” said Pooh.
“Hunting what?”
“Tracking something,” said Winnie-the-Pooh.
“Tracking what?” The little pig came over to where the bear was.
“That’s just what I’m asking myself. I keep asking myself, ‘Pooh, what is this thing you are tracking?’ I have been asking myself that very question for quite some time now.”
“When do you think you’ll answer yourself?”
“I’ll have to wait until I catch up with it,” said Winnie-the-Pooh. “Then I will tell myself the answer.”
Pooh turned and pointed to the ground in front of him. “Look there, Piglet. What do you see?”
“Tracks,” said Piglet. “They’re paw-marks.” He gave a little squeak of excitement. “Oh, Pooh! Do you think it’s a—a—a woozle?”
This possibility had not yet crossed Pooh’s mind, so he thought it over carefully.
Part 2
Teaming Up
“In the end, it may turn out to be a woozle,” said Pooh. “Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t. You never can tell with paw-marks.” He went back to his tracking.
Piglet, after watching him for a minute or two, ran after him.
Just as Piglet caught up to him, Winnie-the-Pooh came to a sudden stop. He was bending over the tracks in a puzzled sort of way.
“What’s the matter?” asked Piglet.
“It’s a very funny thing,” said Pooh, “but there seem to be two animals now. This first set of tracks has been joined by another set, and the two of them are proceeding together.”
The little pig’s eyes got bigger.
“Piglet, would you mind coming with me?” asked Pooh. “If these animals turn out to be hostile, I wouldn’t want to be alone.”
Piglet scratched his ear and said that he had nothing to do until Friday. He would be delighted to come. “It might turn out to be a woozle!” he squealed.
“You mean, two woozles,” said Winnie-the-Pooh.
“Either way,” Piglet explained, “I have nothing to do until Friday.”
So off they went together.
Part 3
Being Exceptionally Great
There was a small thicket of larch trees right in front of them. The two woozles appeared to have gone around to the other side. So, Pooh and Piglet went after them.
Piglet passed the time by telling Pooh what his grandfather, Trespassers W, who was an exceptionally great adventurer. He did exercises in front of the mirror every morning, like all great adventurers do. But he also did exercises in the evening; that made him exceptional. Evening exercises helped remove stiffness after a long day of tracking.
Pooh found this very interesting. He began wondering what a grandfather might be like. Since, he had never met one before, he could only imagine. Perhaps there were no woozles after all—perhaps they were tracking two grandfathers!
If that were the case, would he be allowed to take one home and keep it? What would Christopher Robin say?
The tracks went on in front of them…
Suddenly, Winnie-the-Pooh stopped, and pointed excitedly in front of him. “Look!”
“What?” said the startled pig, with a jump. Then, to show that he hadn’t been frightened, he jumped up and down once or twice more. He tried to make it look as though he had just begun one of his grandfather’s exercises.
“The tracks!” said Pooh. “A third animal has joined the other two!”
Part 4
Increasing in Number and Kind
“Pooh!” cried Piglet. “You don’t think it’s another woozle, do you?”
“No,” said Pooh firmly, “this new one leaves different tracks. So, it’s either two woozles and a wizzle, or two wizzles with one woozle.”
This was getting complicated.
They continued, but they were beginning to feel a little anxious. There were three animals in front of them and they might be hostile.
Piglet wished very much that his grandfather T. W. were there with them. If they had three in their group, then they would have the same number as the group they were tracking.
Then, all of a sudden, Winnie-the-Pooh stopped again. He licked the tip of his nose. When Pooh got nervous, it made his face hot. He was licking the tip of his nose in a cooling manner. Why did his nose need cooling? What made him feel nervous all the sudden? There were now four tracks in the snow!
“Do you see, Piglet? Look at the tracks! Another woozle must have joined the pack—or was it another wizzle!”
The tracks crisscrossed each other, and at times they became muddled. At this juncture, however, it was plain as day that there were tracks of four sets of paws.
Piglet licked the tip of his nose, too.
Part 5
A Whistle
“I think—I think—” stammered Piglet, “I think I just remembered something. I forgot to do it yesterday. I won’t be able to do it tomorrow. So, I really ought to go home and do it right now.”
“Can’t it wait?” said Pooh. “Let’s finish our tracking, and then I’ll help you with your other thing this afternoon.”
“Oh, it isn’t the sort of thing you can do in the afternoon,” said Piglet quickly. “It’s a morning thing. It can only be done properly between the hours of…of—Pooh, what time do you think it is?”
The bear held a paw up and squinted at sky to gage the position of the sun. “I’d say it is about twelve.”
“Yes, and as I was saying about this thing I must do, it really ought to be done between the hours of 12:00 and 12:05. So, dear old Pooh, if you’ll excuse me—”
A loud piercing whistle interrupted the little pig. “What was that?”
Pooh looked all around, but he didn’t know what he was looking for. He doubted woozles and wizzles would whistle so loudly. Perhaps it was a grandfather?
The whistle sounded again. Just then they both noticed something in the branches of a big oak-tree.
Part 6
Answering Himself
Pooh was delighted. “It’s Christopher Robin!”
“How wonderful!” Piglet was delighted, too. “He is sure to keep you safe from all the hostile animals—however many there may be. So, I suppose I’ll be on my way. Good-bye!”
He trotted home as quickly as he could, very glad to be out danger.
“Silly old Bear,” said Christopher Robin as he slowly climbed down, “what were you doing?”
Before Pooh could tell him about the all of the wizzles and woozles wandering through the woods, Christopher Robin continued with his question.
“Why did you keep circling that thicket of trees? You went around it twice by yourself. Then Piglet ran after you, and you two went around it together. Just now you were going around it for the fourth time?!?!”
“Wait a minute,” said Winnie-the-Pooh.
Looking down at his feet, he carefully placed his foot into one of the paw-marks. Then he took a step forward and watched his other foot slide into the next paw-mark in the track.
He stood there staring at his feet. “I see it now. I know what I was tracking.” He kicked the snow, “I have been foolish and deluded,” and mumbled, “I’m a bear of no brain at all.”
“You’re the best bear in all the world,” said Christopher Robin soothingly.
“Am I?” said Pooh.
Christopher Robin nodded.
“In any case, I would say it is nearly lunchtime, wouldn’t you?”