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Book: winnie-the-pooh.txt
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gh the forest, humming proudly to himself. But, Christopher Robin
looked after him lovingly, and said to himself, "Silly old Bear!"
CHAPTER III
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 this spinney went Pooh and Piglet after them; Piglet
passing the time by telling Pooh what his Grandfather Trespassers W had
done to Remove Stiffness after Tracking, and how his Grandfather
Trespassers W had suffered in his later years from Shortness of Breath,
and other matters of interest, and Pooh wondering what a Grandfather was
like, and if perhaps
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