The House at Pooh Corner. A. A. Milne

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      ‘That’s my tablecloth,’ said Pooh, as he began to unwind Tigger.

      ‘I wondered what it was,’ said Tigger.

      ‘It goes on the table and you put things on it.’

      ‘Then why did it try to bite me when I wasn’t looking?’

      ‘I don’t think it did,’ said Pooh.

      ‘It tried,’ said Tigger, ‘but I was too quick for it.’

      Pooh put the cloth back on the table, and he put a large honey-pot on the cloth, and they sat down to breakfast. And as soon as they sat down, Tigger took a large mouthful of honey … and he looked up at the ceiling with his head on one side, and made exploring noises with his tongue, and considering noises, and what-have-we-got-here noises … and then he said in a very decided voice:

      ‘Tiggers don’t like honey.’

      ‘Oh!’ said Pooh, and tried to make it sound Sad and Regretful. ‘I thought they liked everything.’

      ‘Everything except honey,’ said Tigger.

      Pooh felt rather pleased about this, and said that, as soon as he had finished his own breakfast, he would take Tigger round to Piglet’s house, and Tigger could try some of Piglet’s haycorns.

      ‘Thank you, Pooh,’ said Tigger, ‘because haycorns is really what Tiggers like best.’

      So after breakfast they went round to see Piglet, and Pooh explained as they went that Piglet was a Very Small Animal who didn’t like bouncing, and asked Tigger not to be too Bouncy just at first. And Tigger, who had been hiding behind trees and jumping out on Pooh’s shadow when it wasn’t looking, said that Tiggers were only bouncy before breakfast, and that as soon as they had had a few haycorns they became Quiet and Refined. So by-and-by they knocked at the door of Piglet’s house.

      ‘Hallo, Pooh,’ said Piglet.

      ‘Hallo, Piglet. This is Tigger.’

      ‘Oh, is it?’ said Piglet, and he edged round to the other side of the table. ‘I thought Tiggers were smaller than that.’

      ‘Not the big ones,’ said Tigger.

      ‘They like haycorns,’ said Pooh, ‘so that’s what we’ve come for, because poor Tigger hasn’t had any breakfast yet.’

      Piglet pushed the bowl of haycorns towards Tigger, and said, ‘Help yourself,’ and then he got close up to Pooh and felt much braver, and said, ‘So you’re Tigger? Well, well!’ in a careless sort of voice. But Tigger said nothing because his mouth was full of haycorns …

      After a long munching noise he said:

      ‘Ee-ers o i a-ors.’

      And when Pooh and Piglet said ‘What?’ he said ‘Skoos ee,’ and went outside for a moment.

      When he came back he said firmly:

      ‘Tiggers don’t like haycorns.’

      ‘But you said they liked everything except honey,’ said Pooh.

      ‘Everything except honey and haycorns,’ explained Tigger.

      When he heard this, Pooh said, ‘Oh, I see!’ and Piglet, who was rather glad that Tiggers didn’t like haycorns, said, ‘What about thistles?’

      ‘Thistles,’ said Tigger, ‘is what Tiggers like best.’

      ‘Then let’s go along and see Eeyore,’ said Piglet.

      So the three of them went; and after they had walked and walked and walked, they came to the part of the Forest where Eeyore was.

      ‘Hallo, Eeyore!’ said Pooh. ‘This is Tigger.’

      ‘What is?’ said Eeyore.

      ‘This,’ explained Pooh and Piglet together, and Tigger smiled his happiest smile and said nothing.