fir-cone jerked out of his paw into the river.
'Bother,' said Pooh, as it floated slowly under the bridge, and he went back to get another fir-cone which had a rhyme to it. But then he thought that he would just look at the river instead, because it was a peaceful sort of day, so he lay down and looked at it, and it slipped slowly away beneath him... and suddenly, there was his fir-cone slipping away too.
'That's funny,' said Pooh. 'I dropped it on the other side,' said Pooh, 'and it came out on this side! I wonder if it would do it again?' And he went back for some more fir-cones.
It did. It kept on doing it. Then he dropped two in at once, and leant over the bridge to see which of them would come out first; and one of them did; but as they were both the same size, he didn't know if it was the one which he wanted to win, or the other one. So the next time he dropped one big one and one little one, and the big one came out first, which was what he had said it would do, and the little one came out last, which was what he had said it would do, so he had won twice... and when he went home for tea, he had won thirty-six and lost twenty-eight, which meant that he was– that he had-well, you take twenty-eight from thirty-six, and that's what he was. Instead of the other way round.
And that was the beginning of the game called Poohsticks, which Pooh invented, and which he and his friends used to play on the edge of the Forest. But they played with sticks instead of fir-cones, because they were easier to mark.
Now one day Pooh and Piglet and Rabbit and Roo were all playing Poohsticks together. 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 thought 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 had 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 dignified, 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 caught up by a little eddy, and turning slowly 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 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 is nobody's business but my own.'
There was a moment's silence while everybody thought.
'I've got a sort 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 threw stones and things into the river on one side of Eeyore, the stones would make waves, and the 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 in his paws.
'I'm not throwing it, I'm dropping it, Eeyore,' he explained. 'And then I can't miss-I mean I can't hit you. Could you stop turning round for a moment, because it muddles me rather?'
'No,' said Eeyore. 'I like turning round.'
Rabbit began to feel that it 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.
With a shout they rushed off the bridge, and pushed and pulled at him; and soon he was standing among them again on dry land.
'Oh, Eeyore, you are wet!' said Piglet, feeling him.
Eeyore shook himself, and asked somebody to explain to Piglet what happened when you had been inside a river for quite a long time.
'Well done, Pooh,' said Rabbit kindly. 'That was a good idea of ours.'
'What was?' asked Eeyore.
'Hooshing you to the bank like that.'
'Hooshing me?' said Eeyore in surprise. 'Hooshing me? You didn't think I was hooshed, did you? I dived. Pooh dropped a large stone on me, and so as not to be struck heavily on the chest, I dived and swam to the bank.'
'You didn't really,' whispered Piglet to Pooh, so as to comfort him.
