Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore

Tigger:
All I did was cough!

Eeyore:
You bounced.

Tigger:
Coughed!

Eeyore:
Bounced.

Tigger:
Coughed!

Narrator:
Excuse me, perhaps I can help.

Rabbit:
Who said that?

Tigger:
It's the narrator.

Narrator:
In order to find out what really happened, we'll simply return to the spot where Eeyore was thinking by the side of the river up at the top of page 245.

Roo:
There's Eeyore!

(Tigger bounced Eeyore in that page which means Eeyore was right and Tigger was wrong)

Rabbit:
So he did bounce him!

Tigger:
Well it was just a joke.

Tigger:
Grrrrrrrr... Tiggers don't like Pooh sticks!

Owl:
It's easier if people don't *look* while I'm writing.

Pooh:
I wonder which will come out first?

Narrator:
Well, the big one came out first, and the little one came out last, which was what Pooh wanted.

Pooh:
I did?

Narrator:
Yes, Pooh, and that was the beginning of a game called "Poohsticks".

Pooh:
[smiles proudly] Which I invented!

Narrator:
Without question, something was troubling Eeyore, and while his friends puzzled over his unusual behavior, Eeyore followed the steam back to his gloomy spot, which became even gloomier than usual.

[last lines]

Piglet:
Tigger's alright. Really.

Christopher Robin:
Of course he is.

Pooh:
Everybody is. Really. That's what I think. [sadly] But I don't suppose I'm right.

Christopher Robin:
Of course you are. Silly, old bear!

Narrator:
So off Piglet trotted in one direction, and in the other direction went Pooh with his jar of honey. However, Pooh hadn't gone very far when a very funny feeling began to creep over him. It began at the tip of his nose - and trickled all the way down to the soles of his feet, as if someone inside him were saying...

Pooh:
Now then, Pooh, time for a little something!

Piglet:
Good afternoon, Eeyore.

Eeyore:
Good afternoon, Piglet, if it is a good afternoon, which I doubt.

Pooh:
Well! Whoever lives here certainly takes a long time to answer his door!

Piglet:
B-B-B-B-But Pooh, isn't this your house?

Pooh:
Oh, so it is! Well, let's go in.

[Piglet shows Eeyore the balloon he was going to give him and accidentally popped]

Eeyore:
My balloon? My birthday balloon? Red. My favorite color. How big was it?

Piglet:
About as big as m-m-m-me.

Eeyore:
My favorite size.

Narrator:
So Pooh had a little something. And then he had a little more... and a little more... until he had taken his last lick from the inside of the jar.

Pooh:
[entering his house with Piglet] Hmm. I must get poor Eeyore a present of some sort. [looks around the room, then his honey pot catches his attention] Uh, honey. That should do very well. What will you give him, Piglet?

Piglet:
[eagerly] Wouldn't I give it, too, from b-b-b-b-b-both of us?

Pooh:
[looks puzzled for a few moments] No, Piglet. That wouldn't be a very good plan.

Piglet:
[thinks a moment, then lights up] Perhaps I could give Eeyore a balloon!

Pooh:
[patting Piglet on his back, smiling] That, Piglet, is a very good idea. Nobody could be uncheered by a balloon.

Piglet:
[joyfully] I have one at home! I'll go and get it r-r-r-r-r-r-right now! [dashes away happily]

Eeyore:
Tigger, I'd be happy to tell you my secret for winning at Poohsticks.

Tigger:
[eagerly] Uh, you would?

Eeyore:
It's very easy. You just have to let your stick drop in a twitchy sort of way.

Tigger:
Oh yeah, I forgot to twitch. That was my problem. [twitches, then bounces] Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! [we hear a crash]

Eeyore:
Bounced again.

Narrator:
[as the gang plays Pooh sticks on Eeyore's birthday] So they gathered on the old wooden bridge and played the game for many contented hours. And Eeyore, who had never played it before, won more times than anyone else. But poor Tigger won none at all.

Narrator:
Now one day, Pooh and Piglet, Rabbit and Roo were all playing Pooh sticks together.

Pooh:
But why call it Pooh sticks? I thought I started with fir cones.

Narrator:
You did, Pooh, but sticks are easier to mark. [Pooh thinks to himself, then smiles]

Pooh:
Oh yes, now I remember.

Narrator:
[clears throat] Now one day, Pooh and Piglet, Rabbit and Roo were all playing Pooh sticks together.

Narrator:
Now the Hundred Acre Wood boasted many natural wonders, but none was more beautiful than a tiny stream running through the forest. This particular steam had a very long way to travel. And by the time it reached the edge of the forest, it's a grown-up, so it was almost a river. Being grown-up said to itself, "There's no hurry. We shall get there someday."

Piglet:
[after his balloon he plans to give to Eeyore pops] Oh, dear. Oh dearie-d-d-dear, dear. What shall I - who shall I...? [sadly] Well, maybe Eeyore doesn't like balloons so very much.

Narrator:
Now crossing the river at its most peaceful spot was an old wooden bridge. It was a familiar spot to Winnie the Pooh, for he would often wander there, doing nothing in particular and thinking nothing in particular. But on the most recent of these excursions, something took his mind off of nothing.

Narrator:
Pooh had every intention of getting another fir cone, but the river was slipping away so peacefully beneath him that he began to slip away with it.

Pooh:
[as he watches his cone float away] That's funny. [points to his left, then his right] I dropped it on the other side, and it came out on this side. Hm... I wonder if it would do it again.

Eeyore:
[as he floats in the river] Don't pay any attention to me. Nobody ever does.

Rabbit:
Eeyore, what are you doing down there?

Eeyore:
Give ya three guesses.

Pooh:
Fishing?

Eeyore:
Wrong.

Roo:
Going for a sail?

Eeyore:
Wrong again.

Rabbit:
Oh, waiting for somebody to uh - help you out of the river?

Eeyore:
That's right. Give Rabbit the time, and he'll get the answer.

Eeyore:
It's my birthday, the happiest day of the year.

Pooh:
Your birthday?

Eeyore:
Of course. Can't you see all the presents?

Pooh:
Nnno.

Eeyore:
Can't you see the cake, the candles, the pink sugar?

Pooh:
No.

Eeyore:
Neither can I.

Pooh:
Oh. Well, many happy returns of the day, Eeyore.

Eeyore:
Thank you, Pooh. But we can't all, and some of us don't.

Pooh:
Can't all what?

Eeyore:
No gaiety, no song and dance, no "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush". But don't worry about me, Pooh. Go and enjoy yourself. I'll stay here and be miserable, with no presents, no cake, no candles.

Pooh:
Eeyore, wait right here.