Introduction
 you happen to have read another book about Christopher
Robin, you may remember that he once had a swan (or the swan had Christopher
Robin, I don't know which) and that he used to call this swan Pooh. That
was a long time ago, and when we said good-bye, we took the name with us,
as we didn't think the swan would want it any more. Well, when Edward Bear
said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin
said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And
he was. So, as I have explained the Pooh part, I will now explain the rest
of it.
You can't be in London for long without going to the Zoo.
There are some people who begin the Zoo at the beginning, called WAYIN,
and walk as quickly as they can past every cage until they get to the one
called WAYOUT, but the nicest people go straight to the animal they love
the most, and stay there. So when Christopher Robin goes to the Zoo, he
goes to where the Polar Bears are, and he whispers something to the third
keeper from the left, and doors are unlocked, and we wander through dark
passages and up steep stairs, until at last we come to the special cage,
and the cage is opened, and out trots something brown and furry, and with
a happy cry of "Oh, Bear!" Christopher Robin rushes into its arms. Now
this bear's name is Winnie, which shows what a good name for bears it is,
but the funny thing is that we can't remember whether Winnie is called
after Pooh, or Pooh after Winnie. We did know once, but we have forgotten.
. . .
I had written as far as this when Piglet looked up and
said in his squeaky voice, "What about Me?" "My dear Piglet," I said, "the
whole book is about you." "So it is about Pooh," he squeaked. You see what
it is. He is jealous because he thinks Pooh is having a Grand Introduction
all to himself. Pooh is the favourite, of course, there's no denying it,
but Piglet comes in for a good many things which Pooh misses; because you
can't take Pooh to school without everybody knowing it, but Piglet is so
small that he slips into a pocket, where it is very comforting to feel
him when you are not quite sure whether twice seven is twelve or twenty-two.
Sometimes he slips out and has a good look in the ink-pot, and in this
way he has got more education than Pooh, but Pooh doesn't mind. Some have
brains, and some haven't, he says, and there it is.
And now all the others are saying, "What about Us?" So
perhaps the best thing to do is to stop writing Introductions and get on
with the book.
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