Winnie-the-Pooh and the North Pole Adventure

The story you are about to hear is called Winnie-the-Pooh and the North Pole Adventure, written by A.A. Milne and read by Madeline Walton-Hadlock. This story comes from Milne’s first Winnie-the-Pooh collection , published in 1926. This is a LibraryCall adaptation and recording. [chime and intro music] One fine day, Winnie-the-Pooh stumped up to the top of the Forest to see if his friend Christopher Robin was feeling interested in Bears. At breakfast that morning (a simple meal of marmalade spread lightly over a honeycomb or two) he had suddenly thought of a new song. It began like this: "Sing Ho! for the life of a Bear." When he had gotten as far as this, he scratched his head, and thought to himself "That's a very good start for a song, but what about the second line?" He tried singing "Ho," two or three times, but it didn't seem to help. "Perhaps it would be better," he thought, "if I sang Hi for the life of a Bear." So he sang it ... but it wasn't. So he turned it into a hum instead. When Pooh arrived, Christopher Robin, a young boy of about 6, was sitting outside his door, putting on his Big Boots. As soon as he saw the Big Boots, Pooh knew that an Adventure was going to happen. So he brushed the honey off his nose with the back of his paw, and spruced himself up as well as he could, so as to look Ready for Anything. "Good-morning, Christopher Robin," he called out. "Hallo, Pooh Bear. I can't get this boot on." "That's bad," said Pooh. "Do you think you could very kindly lean against me, 'cos I keep pulling so hard that I fall over backwards." Pooh sat down, dug his feet into the ground, and pushed hard against Christopher Robin's back, and Christopher Robin pushed hard against his, and pulled and pulled at his boot until he got it on. "What do we do next?" asked Pooh. "We are all going on an Expedition," said Christopher Robin, as he got up and brushed himself off. "Thank you, Pooh." "Going on an Expotition?" said Pooh eagerly. "I don't think I've ever been on one of those. Where are we going on this Expotition?" "Expedition, silly old Bear. It's got an 'x' in it." "Oh!" said Pooh. "I know." But he didn't really. "We're going to discover the North Pole." "Oh!" said Pooh again. "What is the North Pole?" he asked. "It's just a thing you discover," said Christopher Robin carelessly, not being quite sure himself. "Oh! I see," said Pooh. "Are bears any good at discovering it?" "Of course they are. And Rabbit and Kanga and everyone. It's an Expedition. That's what an Expedition means. A long line of everybody. You'd better tell the others to get ready, while I find my slingshot. And we must all bring Provisions." "Bring what?" "Things to eat." "Oh!" said Pooh happily. "I'll go and tell them." And he stumped off. The first person he met was Rabbit. "Hallo, Rabbit," he said. "We're all going on an Expotition with Christopher Robin!" "What is it when we're on it?" "A sort of boat, I think," said Pooh. "Oh! that sort." "Yes. And we're going to discover a Pole or something. Or was it a Mole? Anyhow we're going to discover it." "We are, are we?" said Rabbit. "Yes. And we've got to bring Pro—things to eat with us. In case we want to eat them. Now I'm going down to Piglet's. Tell Kanga, please." He left Rabbit and hurried down to Piglet's house. Piglet was sitting on the ground at the door of his house blowing at a dandelion happily when Pooh showed up. "Oh! Piglet," said Pooh excitedly, "we're going on an Expotition, all of us, with things to eat. To discover something." "To discover what?" said Piglet anxiously. "Oh! just something." "Nothing fierce?" "Christopher Robin didn't say anything about fierce. He just said it had an 'x'." "It isn't their necks I mind," said Piglet earnestly. "It's their teeth." In a little while they were all gathered and the Expotition started. First came Christopher Robin and Rabbit, then Piglet and Pooh; then Kanga, with her baby Roo in her pocket, and Owl; then Eeyore. There was a shout from the front of the line. "Come on!" called Christopher Robin. "Come on!" called Pooh and Piglet and Owl So off they all went to discover the North Pole. As they walked, they chattered to each other about this and that. "Hush!" said Christopher Robin. "We're just coming to a Dangerous Place." "Hush!" said Pooh, turning round quickly to Piglet. "Hush!" said Piglet to Kanga. "Hush!" said Kanga to Owl, while Roo said "Hush!" several times to himself very quietly. "Hush!" said Owl to Eeyore. They had come to a stream which twisted and tumbled between high rocky banks, and Christopher Robin saw at once how dangerous it was. "It's just the place," he explained, "for an Ambush." "What sort of bush?" whispered Pooh to Piglet. "A rosebush?" "An Ambush," said Owl, "is a sort of Surprise." "So is a rosebush sometimes," said Pooh. "If people jump out at you suddenly, that's an Ambush," said Owl. Pooh, who now knew what an Ambush was, said that a rosebush had sprung at him suddenly one day when he fell off a tree, and he had taken six days to get all the prickles out of himself. "We are not talking about rose bushes," said Owl a little crossly. "I am," said Pooh. They were climbing very cautiously up the stream now, going from rock to rock, and after they had gone a little way they came to a place where the banks widened out at each side, so that on each side of the water there was a level strip of grass on which they could sit down and rest. As soon as he saw this, Christopher Robin called "Halt!" and they all sat down and rested. "I think," said Christopher Robin, "that we ought to eat all our Provisions now, so that we won't have so much to carry." "Eat all our what?" said Pooh. "All that we've brought," said Piglet, getting to work. "That's a good idea," said Pooh, and he got to work too. As soon as he had finished his lunch, Christopher Robin whispered to Rabbit and the two walked a little way up the stream together. "I didn't want the others to hear," said Christopher Robin. "Quite so," said Rabbit, looking important. "It's—I wondered—It's only—Rabbit– What does the North Pole look like?" "Well," said Rabbit, stroking his whiskers. "I suppose it's just a pole stuck in the ground?" said Christopher Robin. "Yes, it’s sure to be a pole," said Rabbit, "because it’s called a pole, and if it's a pole, well, I should think it would be sticking in the ground because there'd be nowhere else to stick it." "Yes, that's what I thought." "The only thing," said Rabbit, "is, where is it sticking?" "That's what we're looking for," said Christopher Robin. They went back to the others. Piglet was lying on his back, sleeping peacefully. Roo was washing his face and paws in the stream, while Kanga explained to everybody proudly that this was the first time he had ever washed his face by himself, and Owl was telling Kanga an Interesting Anecdote full of long words like Encyclopædia and Rhododendron to which Kanga wasn't listening. All of a sudden, there was a splash! [splash] "Roo's fallen in!" cried Rabbit, and he and Christopher Robin came rushing down to the rescue. "Look at me swimming!" squeaked Roo, as he was rushed down a waterfall into the pool below. [rushing water] "Are you all right, Roo dear?" called Kanga anxiously. "Yes!" said Roo. "Look at me sw——" and down he went over the next waterfall into another pool. [splash] Everybody was doing something to help. Piglet, wide awake suddenly, was jumping up and down and making "Ooooo!" noises; Owl was explaining that in a case of Sudden and Temporary Immersion the Important Thing was to keep the Head Above Water; Kanga was jumping along the bank, saying "Are you sure you're all right, Roo dear?" to which Roo, from whatever pool he was in at the moment, was answering "Look at me swimming!" Eeyore had turned round and hung his tail over the pool into which Roo had first fallen, and with his back to the water was grumbling quietly to himself, and saying, "Catch on to my tail, Roo.” "Roo, I'm coming!" called Christopher Robin. "Put something across the stream lower down!" Rabbit yelled to the others. Pooh had found something. Two pools below Roo, he was standing with a long pole in his paws. Kanga came up and took one end of it, and between them they held it across the lower part of the stream. Roo, still bubbling proudly, drifted up against it, and climbed out. "Did you see me swimming?" squeaked Roo excitedly, while Kanga scolded him and dried him off. "Pooh, did you see me swimming? That's called swimming, what I was doing. Christopher Robin, did you see me——" But Christopher Robin wasn't listening. He was looking at Pooh. "Pooh," he said, "where did you find that pole?" Pooh looked at the pole in his hands. "I just found it," he said. "I thought it would be useful, so I just picked it up." "Pooh," said Christopher Robin solemnly, "the Expedition is over. You have found the North Pole!" "Oh!" said Pooh. "Pooh's found the North Pole," said Christopher Robin. "Isn't that lovely?" Pooh looked down modestly. "Is that it?" said Eeyore. "Yes," said Christopher Robin. "Is that what we were looking for?" "Yes," said Pooh. They stuck the pole in the ground, and Christopher Robin tied a message on to it. NORTH POLE DISCOVERED BY POOH POOH FOUND IT. Then they all went home. And I think, but I am not quite sure, that Roo had a hot bath and went straight to bed. But Pooh went back to his own house, and feeling very proud of what he had done, had a little something to eat. [Pooh music] This has been Winnie-the-Pooh and the North Pole Adventure by A.A. Milne. This has been a LibraryCall adaptation and recording.