Now we are six · OmniClassics

NOW WE ARE SIX BY A.A. MILNE WITH DECORATIONS BY ERNEST H. SHEPARD NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & CO., INC. NOW WE ARE SIX, COPYRIGHT, 1927, BY E. P. DUTTON & CO., INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN U.S.A. First Printing Sept., 1927 Tenth Printing Sept., 1927 Twentieth Printing Sept., 1927 Thirtieth Printing Sept., 1927 Thirty-third Printing Sept., 1927 Thirty-fifth Printing Nov., 1927 Fortieth Printing Nov., 1927 Forty-fifth Printing Nov., 1927 Fiftieth Printing Nov., 1927 Fifty-fifth Printing Dec., 1927 Sixtieth Printing Dec., 1927 Sixty-fifth Printing Dec., 1927 Seventieth Printing Dec., 1927 Seventy-fourth Printing Dec., 1928 Seventy-eighth Printing Sept., 1929 Eightieth Printing May, 1930 Eighty-fourth Printing May, 1931 Eighty-sixth Printing July, 1932 Eighty-ninth Printing July, 1933 New Edition Aug., 1935 Ninety-first Printing Aug., 1935 Ninety-fourth Printing Aug., 1935 TO ANNE DARLINGTON NOW SHE IS SEVEN AND BECAUSE SHE IS SO SPESHAL NOW WE ARE SIX INTRODUCTION When you are reciting poetry, which is a thing we never do, you find sometimes, just as you are beginning, that Uncle John is still telling Aunt Rose that if he can't find his spectacles he won't be able to hear properly, and does she know where they are; and by the time everybody has stopped looking for them, you are at the last verse, and in another minute they will be saying, "Thank-you, thank-you," without really knowing what it was all about. So, next time, you are more careful; and, just before you begin you say, "_Er-h'r'm!_" very loudly, which means, "Now then, here we are"; and everybody stops talking and looks at you: which is what you want. So then you get in the way of saying it whenever you are asked to recite ... and sometimes it is just as well, and sometimes it isn't.... And by and by you find yourself saying it without thinking. Well, this bit which I am writing now, called Introduction, is really the _er-h'r'm_ of the book, and I have put it in, partly so as not to take you by surprise, and partly because I can't do without it now. There are some very clever writers who say that it is quite easy not to have an _er-h'r'm_, but I don't agree with them. I think it is much easier not to have all the rest of the book. What I want to explain in the Introduction is this. We have been nearly three years writing this book. We began it when we were very young ... and now we are six. So, of course, bits of it seem rather baby-ish to us, almost as if they had slipped out of some other book by mistake. On page whatever-it-is there is a thing which is simply three-ish, and when we read it to ourselves just now we said, "Well, well, well," and turned over rather quickly. So we want you to know that the name of the book doesn't mean that this is us being six all the time, but that it is about as far as we've got at present, and we half think of stopping there. A. A. M. P.S.--Pooh wants us to say that he thought it was a different book; and he hopes you won't mind, but he walked through it one day, looking for his friend Piglet, and sat down on some of the pages by mistake. CONTENTS SOLITUDE KING JOHN'S CHRISTMAS BUSY SNEEZLES BINKER CHERRY STONES THE KNIGHT WHOSE ARMOUR DIDN'T SQUEAK BUTTERCUP DAYS THE CHARCOAL BURNER US TWO THE OLD SAILOR THE ENGINEER JOURNEY'S END FURRY BEAR FORGIVEN THE EMPEROR'S RHYME KNIGHT-IN-ARMOUR COME OUT WITH ME DOWN BY THE POND THE LITTLE BLACK HEN THE FRIEND THE GOOD LITTLE GIRL A THOUGHT KING HILARY AND THE BEGGARMAN SWING SONG EXPLAINED TWICE TIMES THE MORNING WALK CRADLE SONG WAITING AT THE WINDOW PINKLE PURR WIND ON THE HILL FORGOTTEN IN THE DARK THE END NOW WE ARE SIX SOLITUDE I have a house where I go When there's too many people, I have a house where I go Where no one can be; I have a house where I go, Where nobody ever says "No"; Where no one says anything--so There is no one but me. KING JOHN'S CHRISTMAS King John was not a good man-- He had his little ways. And sometimes no one spoke to him For days and days and days. And men who came across him, When walking in the town, Gave him a supercilious stare, Or passed with noses in the air-- And bad King John stood dumbly there, Blushing beneath his crown. King John was not a good man, And no good friends had he. He stayed in every afternoon... But no one came to tea. And, round about December, The cards upon his shelf Which wished him lots of Christmas cheer, And fortune in the coming year, Were never from his near and dear, But only from himself. King John was not a good man, Yet had his hopes and fears. They'd given him no present now For years and years and years. But every year at Christmas, While minstrels stood about, Collecting tribute from the young For all the songs they might have sung, He stole away upstairs and hung A hopeful stocking out. King John was not a good man, He lived his life aloof; Alone he thought a message out While climbing up the roof. He wrote it down and propped it Against the chimney stack: "TO ALL AND SUNDRY--NEAR AND FAR-- F. CHRISTMAS IN PARTICULAR." And signed it not "Johannes R." But very humbly, "JACK." "I want some crackers, And I want some candy; I think a box of chocolates Would come in handy; I don't mind oranges, I do like nuts! And I SHOULD like a pocket-knife That really cuts. And, oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all, Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball!" King John was not a good man-- He wrote this message out, And gat him to his room again, Descending by the spout. And all that night he lay there, A prey to hopes and fears. "I think that's him a-coming now," (Anxiety bedewed his brow.) "He'll bring one present, anyhow-- The first I've had for years." "Forget about the crackers, And forget about the candy; I'm sure a box of chocolates Would never come in handy; I don't like oranges, I don't want nuts, And I HAVE got a pocket-knife That almost cuts. But, oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all, Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball!" King John was not a good man-- Next morning when the sun Rose up to tell a waiting world That Christmas had begun, And people seized their stockings, And opened them with glee, And crackers, toys and games appeared, And lips with sticky sweets were smeared, King John said grimly: "As I feared, Nothing again for me!" "I did want crackers, And I did want candy; I know a box of chocolates Would come in handy; I do love oranges, I did want nuts. I haven't got a pocket-knife-- Not one that cuts. And, oh! if Father Christmas had loved me at all, He would have brought a big, red india-rubber ball!" King John stood by the window, And frowned to see below The happy bands of boys and girls All playing in the snow. A while he stood there watching, And envying them all... When through the window big and red There hurtled by his royal head, And bounced and fell upon the bed, An india-rubber ball! AND OH, FATHER CHRISTMAS, MY BLESSINGS ON YOU FALL FOR BRINGING HIM A BIG, RED, INDIA-RUBBER BALL! BUSY I think I am a Muffin Man. I haven't got a bell, I haven't got the muffin things that muffin people sell. Perhaps I am a Postman. No, I think I am a Tram. I'm feeling rather funny and I don't know _what_ I am-- BUT _Round_ about And _round_ about And _round_ about I go-- All round the table, The table in the nursery-- _Round_ about And _round_ about And _round_ about I go; I think I am a Traveller escaping from a Bear; I think I am an Elephant, Behind another Elephant Behind _another_ Elephant who isn't really there.... SO _Round_ about And _round_ about And _round_ about and _round_ about And _round_ about And _round_ about I go. I think I am a Ticket Man who's selling tickets--please, I think I am a Doctor who is visiting a Sneeze; Perhaps I'm just a Nanny who is walking with a pram I'm feeling rather funny and I don't know _what_ I am-- BUT _Round_ about And _round_ about And _round_ about I go-- All around the table, The table in the nursery-- _Round_ about And _round_ about And _round_ about I go; I think I am a Puppy, so I'm hanging out my tongue; I think I am a Camel who Is looking for a Camel who Is looking for a Camel who is looking for its Young.... SO _Round_ about And _round_ about And _round_ about and _round_ about And _round_ about And _round_ about I go. SNEEZLES