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Chapter IX.V
In Which
Christopher Robin gets some paints
and it rains again
A story has to begin somewhere and this one begins at Winnie The Pooh's thoughtful spot and luckily he is there, or we shall have had to wait for him. Pooh was sitting on a warm rock and trying to remember what it was he had forgotten. And he was sure he had forgotten something. He thought and he thought but instead of remembering, his brain said things like, "what a nice day," and "isn't that a pretty cloud!", and "whatever is Christopher Robin up to?"
So Pooh leaned back and moaned a Loud and Sorry moan because sometimes it was difficult to be A Forgetful Bear. And then a he sang a Regretful Forgetting Song. It went like this:
A Pooh at rest in a Thoughtful Spot
Ought to know what he forgot
I knew the That and had the There
But then they left, I don't know where
I missed the Who and then the What
I used to know but I forgot.
By this time the sun was moving down toward the edge of the forest and Pooh decided he would go and see his good friend Rabbit. If there was anything Of Great Importance going on in the forest today Rabbit would know about it.
Pooh stood up and stretched and walked off in the direction of Rabbit's house. He had just started when he encountered a Very Fast Thing which bounced into him and knocked him down. Pooh's first thought was "Tigger." But it wasn't Tigger, it was Rabbit.
"Good Morning Pooh," said Rabbit. "Why are you lying down there?"
"I wasn't," said Pooh.
"It looks like it to me," Rabbit said.
"I thought you were Tigger," said Pooh.
Rabbit sniffed and looked offended. "That," said Rabbit at last, "was a foolish thing to think. And it just goes to prove that you haven't any Brain."
"Yes," said Pooh humbly, as he gathered himself up again.
"Well then," said Rabbit, "are you Ready to Go?"
And Pooh, who was ready for a little smackerel of honey or condensed milk more than he was ready for going said "I am ready, but couldn't we-"
"No," said Rabbit, "Probably not." And with that he started off again with Pooh following behind, and hoping that maybe they could.
As they went along in the direction of Christopher Robin's house Pooh looked up at the tree-tops high above. And slowly a strange sort of hum came to him.
Leafy woods above me
Catching sunlight
Sunny warm and yellow
Big and green and leafy
Rabbit stopped and turned his head, looking back at Pooh.
"What's that you say?"
"Nothing," said Pooh, "Just a little hum I was humming."
"It didn't rhyme," said Rabbit sniffing, "I think hums are supposed to rhyme. That is," he went one importantly, "If they are real Poetry!"
"It's not a Finished Hum," Pooh explained meekly, "Not for humming Aloud To Others."
"I shouldn't think the others would want to hear a hum that didn't rhyme," said Rabbit and he turned and continued on along the path.
"It's really a good sort of hum," Pooh said soothingly to himself, "It just hasn't rhymed yet."
Soon they came to the tree where Christopher Robin lived and Pooh felt happy again because Christopher Robin was there and he looked up at them as they came out of the forest.
"Pooh!" cried Christopher Robin excitedly.
"Hallo," said Pooh to Everyone in General, because it seems that everyone was there. There was Piglet, sitting on the grass by Christopher Robin, being startled as Tigger jumped out from behind Christopher Robin's house and being relieved each time he jumped back again.
And there was Owl arguing with Eeyore who was claiming that nobody had told him that Anything Important was going on today but that he had come round by Accident.
"And I suppose," he was saying to Owl "that I've ruined everyone's Plans by showing up."
And Owl, who didn't really want to be talking with Eeyore was trying to say things that sounded Final like "Not At All." and "'Nuff said." And "I shouldn't think so."
And there also was Kanga and Roo. Kanga was watching Roo, who was trying to do a handstand on account of having seen Christopher Robin do one earlier in the morning. Roo was really too big on the bottom to be doing handstands, so they were turning out more like falls than stands. Kanga was saying helpful things like "That's enough dear," and "Careful!"
"Where have you been, Pooh?" asked Christopher Robin. "We were all just wondering about you," he waved a hand carelessly toward the group.
"I wasn't wondering," said Eeyore.
"Well I was," said Piglet.
"Some wonder and some Just Know," said Eeyore, "That's just How It Is, Little Piglet."
"I was sitting in my-" began Pooh.
"I found him," said Rabbit quickly, "And he was lying down in the middle of the path. He Posed quite a danger. Sleeping, I think he was. He though that I was Tigger!" he said with Great Importance.
"Silly old Bear!" said Christopher Robin in the sort of way he had of saying "silly old Bear" that made Pooh feel quite all right again. "We're all painting today."
And then Pooh noticed that Christopher Robin was wearing a big blue sort-of-shirt. He picked up a corner of it and examined it closely.
"It's my smock," explained Christopher Robin, "Haven't you brought a smock?"
"No," said Pooh sadly, feeling Less Prepared than he had ever felt before.
"I have mine," Rabbit said happily, waving a dish towel.
"I have a smock!" squeaked Piglet excitedly, for he was a little edgy on account of Tigger, who was still bouncing in and out from behind the tree. He raised a paw and shook a napkin which he had been saving for Something Special.
Owl didn't say that he had a smock, but it was clear that he had something, for most of him was covered in what might be a curtain or a table cloth, but then again might be something else.
"I've got a smock, haven't I?" asked Roo, who was now so dusty that Kanga wondered if there would be any use in his wearing the smock and dirtying that up too.
"No, " said Pooh sadly, "I don't have a smock."
"That's okay Pooh," said Piglet cheerfully, "Eeyore doesn't have a smock."
"Some of use need smocks and some of us don't," began Eeyore, "I didn't bring one because I shall be Very Careful. As for the General Person, such as Pooh Bear..."
"You can wear one of mine!" said Christopher Robin as he came out of his house with a big green something which he helpfully tied around Pooh. "There," he looked approvingly at Pooh, "Very Professional."
"Oh yes!" squeaked Piglet, "very Pruff-what Christopher Robin said, Pooh."
And Pooh stood happily draped in the green thing, feeling Readier for Anything than he had felt in a long time.
Christopher Robin brought out his supplies and Rabbit passed around the sheets of paper and the paint brushes.
"What is that thing you've got?" Roo asked Christopher Robin, who was putting together a small wooden frame which stood on three legs and held onto his paper with a little claw at the top.
"It's my easel," explained Christopher Robin, "All painters use them," he explained.
"Where's my easel?" asked Roo.
"We can't all have measles, Little Roo," said Eeyore.
"Well you aren't really Painters in the ordinary way," began Christopher Robin, "You're really just Making Do as best you can, so you won't need an easel."
"I saw a weasel once," said Pooh carelessly, wetting his brush in the paint tin and looking at his paper.
"The Trick," explained Christopher Robin, "is to decide what you want to paint, and then paint it."
"I shall paint all of us together on the Expotition," announced Owl in case anyone happened to be wondering.
"I think I'll paint you, Pooh," said Piglet, who wished to be Friendly.
"Then I think I shall paint you, Piglet," said Pooh, who wished to be Friendly back.
"I'm going to paint Tigger!" shouted Roo. And then he shouted it again in case anyone had missed it the first time.
"I shall paint a knight and a dragon," said Christopher Robin, "and I shall call it Sir Robin and The Dragon."
"I am painting a picture of me with carrots," said Rabbit, who had started already so as to be finished first in order that he might Supervise the others.
"What are you going to paint Tigger," asked Roo.
"Tiggers can paint anything," said Tigger, who has stopped bouncing for the moment.
"Could you paint when you and I were up in the tree?" Roo asked excitedly.
"Yes," Tigger said, "But I won't. Not today." The truth was that Tigger would rather have forgotten about the tree, and it was hard to forget a thing when you were painting pictures of it.
"Could you paint us picking pine cones?" Roo asked.
"Yes," said Tigger, "But a pine cone is rather an easy thing to paint, so I won't paint that today."
"You could paint Rabbit," said Roo, who was beginning to run out of things to suggest.
"Yes," said Tigger, feeling more confident now. "I'll paint Rabbit. I'll paint him," he said, "when he was lost in the forest and I rescued him."
"Wasn't it foggy in the forest?" asked Roo.
"Yes it was," said Tigger proudly, "and that is why it'll be a very Hard Picture to paint. But painting Hard Pictures is what Tiggers do best."
"I'm not going to say what I'm going to paint," announced Eeyore to anyone who might be about to ask him. "Because if you say then there's always the chance of Dishonesty. Cheating and such."
So they began to paint. For a long time it was very quiet, and you could hear birds singing, and bees buzzing and Roo squeaking "oo!" happily, and Rabbit occasionally muttering "Oh drat!" and "Oops!"
They painted.
And they painted.
Sometimes Rabbit would put down his brush and run around to see how the others were getting on and make helpful remarks like "What's that supposed to be?" and "that doesn't look like a tree to me."
Eventually Christopher Robin announced, "I'm done! Is everybody else done?"
And everybody else said "No," and "Not yet, almost." and "Not that it would matter if I was," and "Yes, I'm done!"
The day was getting dark, even though it was still early, and the wind had grown tired of being a Lazy Breeze and had decided to become Brisk instead.
"Let's all show and tell our pictures and then we'll go home for tea," said Christopher Robin.
"How would it be," asked Pooh, "If we went home for tea now and showed our pictures later..."
"That," said Owl looking at the sky which was quickly filling with Foreboding Clouds, "would not be advisable."
"No," said Pooh, whose tummy was beginning to remind him of the contents of his cupboard at home, "I suppose it isn't."
"My picture," began Christopher Robins proudly, "Is of me, and I'm a knight, and this is my dragon." The others made approving sounds like "Hmmm!" and "Ooooh!" and "Oh yes, I say!" It certainly did look like it was Someone, and that Someone was a knight. The dragon was more of a green Something, but on account of the knight being there you knew at once that the Something was a dragon.
"Now you, Pooh," said Christopher Robin.
"Well," began Pooh humbly, "That's you, Piglet," he said pointing to a large pink spot, "and that's your scarf, because it's cold," he said pointing to a smaller green spot.
"It's lovely, Pooh," said Piglet happily, glad to be the subject of a piece of Art. "It looks just like me, doesn't it ?" He asked everyone expectantly.
"Well," said Christopher Robin, "it's the right colours, that's certain."
"And picking the right colours is the Hardest Part," said Piglet approvingly.
"It's better than some," said Eeyore, glancing around at the others.
"I've painted Pooh," began Piglet excitedly, "And there he is, and this is a pot of hunny, which he got to put in a trap for Heffalumps."
"Yes, Piglet," said Pooh smacking his lips, "That's a very good picture, especially of the hunny. You can see its hunny and there's some coming out the top," he moved closer to the picture in a longing sort of way, and wished that the pictures were being shown in his house instead of outside Christopher Robins' house.
"And what did you paint, Owl?" Christopher Robin asked, picking up Owl's picture and holding it up so everyone could see.
"It is the Expotition and there is everyone in a long line," said Owl proudly.
"It's a line all right," said Eeyore, "But I can't see any Detail, if you know what I mean."
Owl snorted and gave Eeyore a Rude Stare, "It's Impressionistic," he explained.
"Very nice, Owl," said Christopher Robin kindly, looking for the next picture.
"Some can paint and some can't," said Eeyore. "We can't all of us be Great Artists. There there Owl," he patted Owl's foot reassuringly, "You can still spell."
"Do mine! Do mine!" squealed Roo. "It's Tigger!" He held up his paper, which was coloured with several big blobs of orange paint.
"Looks just like him," said Rabbit stiffly.
"Yes it does," said Pooh, who wished to be friendly.
"It is a Very Good Likeness," said Tigger. "Posing for pictures is what Tiggers do best."
"Now you, Tigger, Show then what you painted," Said Roo.
"It's Rabbit, lost in the forest," said Tigger, "And me finding him and rescuing him." He held up his paper, which was covered from top to bottom in watery grey paint.
"Yes," said Christopher Robin as he tilted his head and studies the picture, "It was very foggy that day, wasn't it?"
"Yes, very," said Tigger.
"I don't see me at all." said Rabbit.
"That's because you're lost," said Tigger.
"This is a painting of me," began Rabbit before anybody had really asked him to begin, "And These are my carrots," he pointed to some orange lines beside the big brown line.
"Very well," said Eeyore, "I'll show you my picture."
"We haven't finished looking at Rabbit's picture yet," said Owl.
"I have," said Eeyore.
"It's a nice bunch of carrots Rabbit," said Christopher Robin, who was staring up at the sky in a Concerned sort of way.
"I felt a drop!" said Piglet nervously.
"I like how the brown is so very Brown," said Rabbit proudly.
"I definitely felt a drop!" said Piglet, "Oh! I felt another one."
"My picture," began Eeyore, is of my house, which I built myself..."
"Did you feel a drop, Pooh?" Piglet asked anxiously.
"As I was saying," Eeyore said in a louder voice, "I built it myself because of the cold and snow and frost and things. These are the sticks, and this is the snow," he motioned to the black lines on the white paper. "I am also in the picture, but I am in the house. Houses...that reminds me of the time none of you could find a house for Owl..."
"I think it's beginning to rain," said Christopher Robin. "You'd better all pack up."
"And I found a house," Eeyore was going on, "hard work and a keen eye, attention to detail is all it takes..."
And then the sky decided it would rain after all and let out its water in one great burst which went on and on.
Everyone scrambled to gather up the paints and the pictures and ran off to their houses before their painting was ruined.
Pooh and piglet hurried off together.
Eeyore was still sitting outside and gesturing to his picture, which had begin to smudge quite badly.
"Observation and then looking," he said, "watching and then seeing."
When they were back safely at Pooh's house and had begun to dry out, Pooh said his hum to Piglet, and asked him if it bothered him that it didn't rhyme.
"Well, some hums rhyme, Pooh," began Piglet, "and those are very good hums," he coughed a little to clear his throat, "and then some hums don't rhyme, and those are different kinds of hums aren't they?"
Pooh smiled happily at Piglet, and went to the cupboard to a pot of hunny.
"That's what I like about you Piglet," said Pooh.
"What's that?" asked Piglet, who really wanted to know.
"You Understand," said Pooh, who wasn't sure how else to put what it was he meant.
"Yes," Piglet said happily, "I do."
And when that has been said, no more need be added.
