Inastrictsense,A､A.Milnewasnotawriterforboysandgirls・Hebeganhis careerasawriterofparodyorsatireandaneditorofmagazine.Later,hewrotea nonsensestory,O"ce"0〃α刀加e,andsomedramasamongwhichare〃次円"

ONEASPECTOFA.A.MILNE

−−WitchcraftinWords‑‑

MichioShino

Introduction

Inastrictsense,A､A.Milnewasnotawriterforboysandgirls・Hebeganhis careerasawriterofparodyorsatireandaneditorofmagazine.Later,hewrotea nonsensestory,O"ce"0〃α刀加e,andsomedramasamongwhichare〃次円"

Rzssesa/(1921)and7〃んoryDoo"(1928).Healsofeltagreatinterestindetective storiesandhehimselfwroteT"RedHひ"sej小虎剛(1922)andadetectiveplay,T"

Fb"γ幼陥z"(1928).Atthesametime,hewasawitty,sensitive,andironical essayistwhowroteNbﾉ7肋/〃Mz伽γs(1919),"IMzy(1920),ByWZZyq〃"力り〔加c伽〃

(1929),凡αce@"MH""0"γ(1934).

Hisworksforyoungpeople,Wi""〃伽‑んo",T"Hり"sgaj肋e〃o"Q"れ twoversebooksandsomechildren'splaysarepartofhisinterestandbyproductsof hiswritingcareer.Accordingtohisautobiography,helikedarrangingwordsina certainordereffectivelyandhismaininterestconsistedinwritingdramas,espe‑

ciallythepartsofdialogues.Fromthebeinningofhiscareer,hehadbeensensitive towordsandinterestedinwords・That'swhyhisworkscoversallrangeofliter‑

ature.

Fourjuvenileworks,肌""〃肋g‑んo"(1926),7ZeHり"seaﾉ凡0"Cb""(1928), W〃e〃WどWを 此〃Yb"'噌（1924)，Ⅳひ"WeA7'ieMr(1927),arestillverypopular andtheyappearsinvariousformsandversionsallovertheworld・Why？Partly becauseofE.H・Shepard'slovelypictures,mainlybecauseofA.A・Milne'shumours.

TheworldofPooh,@BearofLittleBrain',isthatofchildren,foryoungpeopleare alwaysoflittlebrainfromviewpointsofgrown‑ups.Thesceneisinwoodswhere nogrown‑uppeopleenter.Evenfairiesaswellasdevilsdon'tappear・Yes,itisthe worldofsafetytoys.Parentsfeelhappyandsafewhentheyseetheirchildren

Pooh'sworldconsistsofsomefactors;suchascharacters,plot‑development, childlikeimaginationandthought,andsoon,amongwhichishiswayofusingwords.

A.A・Milnehasaspecialinterestinwords.Wecanfindalotofexamplesinhis

works・Herel'mgoingtopointoutsomeconcerninghiswordtechnique,mainlyin

wereourselves.Poohuses$missage'(7)insteadofmessage,&hlinny'(8)insteadof honey,@haycorn'(9)insteadofacorndWhenhethoughthemetaHeffalump,he couldn'thelpcryinginacockney'swaylikethis:

CHelp,help!'criedPiglet,aHeffalump,aHorribleHeffalump!'

。・・・・GHelp,help,aHerribleHoffalump!Hoff,Hoff,a HellibleHorralump!Holl,Holl,aHoffableHellerump!'('0)

WiseOwlwritesasfollows:

PLESRINGIFANRNSERISREQIRD

PLEZCNOKEIFANRNSERISNOTREQID('')

Onanotheroccassionhewrote

HIPYPAPYBTHUTHDTHTHUTHDA BTHUTHDY('2)

ChristopherRobincongratulatedonPooh'sdiscoveryofaNorthPoleand wroteonasign.HecouldwritebetterthanOwlbuthisuncertainspellingalso

NorTHPoLE

PooH

PooHFouNdlT('3)

Thesepassagesmakeusrememberourchi1dhoodwhenwecouldn'twritewell.

Theyseemtousakindofriddles.

Peopleoftenmispronounceormisunderstandthewordstheydonotknow well.Especiallyyoungchildren.AliceinWonderlandtook!antipathies'('4)for antipodes・Pooh,whodon'tknowtheword@NorthPole,'uses!Mole'('5)insteadof Poleand｡expotition'('6)insteadofexpedition・EvenChristopherRobinmisunder‑

stood:

CGoingonanExpotition?'

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

0 E x p e d i t i o n , S i l l y O l d B e a r 、 1 t ' S g O t a n l q X ' ' i n i t . ' ( ' 7 )

6．．．．we'regoingonanExpotition,allofus,withthingstoeat.

Todiscoversomething.,

lTodiscoverwhat?'saidPigletanxiously.

@ O h ! j u s t s o m e t h i n g . '

60 ONEASMTOFA.A・MILNE

l N o t h i n g f i e r c e ? '

4ChristopherRobindidn'tsayanythingaboutfierce.Hejustsaidit hadan6dx''.,

GItisn'ttheirneckslmind,'saidPigletearnestly.$It'stheirteeth.

．．．．，（18）

4．IMislnterestinRefrains

Childrenoftenkeeponsayingthesamewordstogetwhattheywant.To repeatisanotherimportantelementinchildren'sworks,forthatisthesimplest wayofemphasis.

Itrainedanditrainedanditrained.

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Daysanddaysanddays.('9)

Thefollowingisforamusementofrhythmsratherthanforemphasis:

ThePigletlivedinaverygrandhouseinthemiddleofa

beech‑tree,andthebeech‑treewasinthemiddleoftheForeSt,and

Mostchildrenhavetheirownwayofsayingortheirfavoritephrase.The samemaybesaidaboutPooh.<Itallcomesof・・・'isPooh'sfavoritelogicand wayofsaying.

CItallcomes,Isuppose,'・・・・。

。・・・・litallcomesoflikinghoueysomuch.Oh,help!'(2') 0Itallcomes,'saidPoohcrossly,;ofnothavingfrontdoorsbig e n o u g h . '

@Itallcomes,'saidRabbitsternly/ofeatingtoomuch．．。，(22）

Thewordsinturruptedwhlileoneissayingareanothersourceofamusement.

CLookatmeswimming!．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 。 q b 。 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ． ． ．

● P ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Q 、 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

iLookatmesw−−−'anddownhewentoverthenextwaterfallinto anotherpool.(23)

Thiswayofwritingcanbeusedinshowingthatchildren'sinterestisactiveand

changeablefromonethingtoan()ther.

Refrainsofconvertedornegativeexpressionsometimesformrhythmsin

passages.

。。・・・,youmayrememberthatheoncehadaswan(orthe swanhadChristopherRobin,Idon'tknowwhich),・・・(24）

CButifldothat,itwillspoiltheballoon,'yousaid.

0Butifyoudon't'saidPooh,0Ishallhavetoletgo,andthatwould S P O i l m e . ' ( 2 5 )

ParticularlythistecmiqueofthefollowingeXpressionseffectivelyshowsusthe characterofPooh,Bearoflittlebrain:

GItmaybe,'saidPooh．lSometimesitis,andsometimesitisn't.

Younevercantellwithpaw‑marks.'(26)

qSomedoandsomedon't. Younevercantellwith Heffalumps.。。・・・，(27）

lWell,eitheratailisthereoritisn'tthere.Youcan'tmakea mistakeaboutit,andyoursisn'tthere!'

@Thenwhatis?'

@ N o t h i n g . ， ( 2 8 ）

ItiseitherTwoWoozlesandone,asitmightbe,Wizzle,orTwo, asitmightbe,Wizzlesandone,ifsoitis,Woozle.(29)

Torepeatwhattheothersaidisamongotherimportantsourcesofinterestin

Wi""j侈肋←ん0"．

4Whataboutastory?'saidChristopherRobin.

$Whataboutastory?'Isaid.(30)

<ButthisisMe!'saidBear,verymuchsurprised.

lWhatsortofMe?'(3')

q W h y ? ' s a i d P i g l e t . OWhywhat?'saidPooh.

GWhywouldhefallin?'(32)

・・・6whatareyoudoing?' GHunting,'saidPooh.

GHuntingwhat?'

GTrackingsomething,'saidWinnie‑the‑Poohverymysteriously CTrackingwhat?'saidPiglet,comingcloser.

$That'sjustwhatlaskmyself.Iaskmyself,What?'(33)

@Herearewe‑‑‑you,Pooh,andyou,Piglet,andMe‑‑‑and

cAndEeyore,'saidPooh.

62 ONEASPECTOFA.A.MILNE

qAndEeyore‑‑‑andthensuddenly‑‑，

OAndOwl,'saidPooh.

qAndOwl−−−andthenallofasudden‑‑‑,

d O h , a n d E e y o r e , ' s a i d P o o h . @ I w a s f o r g e t t i n g h i m . ' ( 3 4 ）

C T h i s i s t h e f i r s t v e r s e , ' h e s a i d t o P i g l e t , w h e n h e w a s r e a d y w i t h

i t .

4Firstverseofwhat?'

G M y s o n g . ,

GWhatsong?'

<Thisone.，

@Whichone?'

C W e l l , i f y o u l i s t e n , P i g l e t , y o u ' l l h e a r i t . ' 4Howdoyouknowl'mnotlistening?'(35)

5．HislnterestinOpticalExpressions

Intwopassages,A.A・Milnewriteshissentencesoptically.Heisnotthefirst thathaveusedsuchtechniques.InAﾉ允曲A〃e〃"7忽s加Wひ"〃吻""LouisCarroll writesthefamouspassagelikeamouse'stail,connectingtheMouse'sstorywiththe

imageofatail:(36)

ButMilnewritesmoresimplyandelaborately.

H e climbed and he climbed and he

and

a s

he climbed he

sang a

l i t t l e

song

tO

h i m s e l f . ( 3 7 )

GFurysaidto amouse,That

hemetinthe house, ^CCLet

usbothgo

tolaw:I

willprose‑

cuteyo".−

Come,I'll

takenode‑

nial:We musthave thetrial;

Foreally

thismorn‑

ingI've n o t h i n g todo.，，

Saidthe mouseto

thecur, dCSucha

t r i a l , d e a r sir,With

no】ury

o r i u d g e , would 陸wast−

ingour brth.，，

I，Ⅱ陸 i u d g e , I，llbe i u r y , "

id

m−

ning old

F 西 y ： ' ' 1 1

try

、he

・冑holc 魁809

。

■ ｡

。 n 種 、

b " ． ． （ 3 6 ）

Inthisexpression,wecanfeelPooh'sawkwardmovementinclimbingupatree.

Tomyregret,however,wemustreaditfromupwardtodownward,whilePoohis climbingupfromthefootofthetree.

Thenextexampleismoresmoothandeffective・AtthebottomofKanga's pockbt,Pigletthought:

this take

6 I f 1S shall

^tO

flyingl

^{never i t . '}

Andashewentupintheairhesaid,@Ooooooo!'andashe camedownhesaid,lOw!'Andhewassaying,

(Ooooooo‑ow,Ooooooo‑ow,Ooooooo‑ow'allthewaytoKanga's

house.(38）

64 ONEASPECTOFA.A.MILNE

ThisissimplerandsmallerbutmorerefinedthanCarroll'sexampleabove‑‑

mentioned.I'msurethisisoneofthemostsuccessfulcasesinliterature.

6．HisInterestinThoughtofLittleBrain

Poohknowsheisa@BearofLittleBrain'butheoftentriestogammon

others.

GWhenyougoafterhoneywithaballoon,thegreatthingisnotto letthebeesknowyou'recoming・Now,ifyouhaveagreen balloon,theymightthinkyouwereonlypartofthetree,andnot noticeyou,andthequestionis:Whichismostlikely?'

<Wouldn'ttheynoticeyouunderneaththeballoon?'youasked.

GTheymightortheymightnot,'saidWinnie‑the‑Pooh.(39) 4Haveyouanumbrellainyourhouse?'

GIthinkso.'

OIwishyouwouldbringitouthere,andwalkupanddownwithit, andlookupatmeeverynowandthen,andsay4dTut‑tut,itlooks

likerain.''。・・・，(40）

Thesecheatings,however,arenotwhatPoohreallyintendstodo.Heis goodatthinkingoverinhisownway.Helikesmeditating.Thoughheisabearof littlebrain,heisadeepthinker,athinkingbear.

。・・:CThatbuzzingn()isemeanssomething.Youdon'tgeta buzzing‑noiselikethat,justbuzzingandbuzzing,withoutits meaningsomething・Ifthere'sbuzzing‑noise,somebody'smakinga buzzingnoise,andtheonlyreasonformakingabuzzing‑noisethat Iknowofisbecauseyou'reabee.

Thenhethoughtanotherlongtime,andsaid:$Andtheonly reasonforbeingabeethatlknowofismakinghoney.'(4')

4Aha!'saidPooh.(Rum‑tum‑tiddle‑um‑tum.)$Iflknowanything aboutanything,thatholemeansRabbit,'hesaid,'andRabbit meansCompany,'hesaid,$andCompanymeansFoodandListe‑

ning‑to‑MeHummingandsuchlike.Rum‑tum‑tum‑tiddle‑um.'(42)

lWhatlsaidwas,@0Isanybodyathome?'''calledoutPoohvery

@No!'saidavoice;andthenadded,Youneedn'tshoutsoloud・I heardyouquitewellthefirsttime.'

@Bother!'saidPooh.@Isn'tthereanybodyhereatall?'

! N o b o d y . '

Winnie‑the‑Poohtookhisheadoutofthehole,andthought

66 ONEASPECTOFA.A・MILNE

7．HislnterestinPoetry

write.He,however, Poohknowsheisa@Bear()fLittleBrain,'andhecan'twrite.He,hov

oftensingshisownsongsorpoems・Heisabornpoetwhohashisownworld.

Isn'titfunny

Howabearlikeshoney？

Buzz!Buzz!Buzz!

Iwonderwhyhedoes？

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

It'saveryfunnythoughtthat,ifBearswereBees.

They'dbuildtheirnestsatthe加伽"@oftrees.

Andthatbeingso(iftheBeeswereBears), Weshouldn'thavetoclimbupallthesestairs.(47)

FIoatingintheBlue!

Everylittlecloud A/zMyssingsaloud.

KHowsweettobeaCloud FloatingintheBlue!' Itmakeshimveryproud Tobealittlecloud.(48)

Sometimeshetellalietoobtainaliteraryeffect.

WhofoundtheTail？

GI,'saidPooh,

(Onlyitwasquartertoelevenreally),

IfoundtheTail!'(49)

SingHo!forthelifeofaBear!

SingHo!forthelifeofaBear!

Idon'tmuchmindifitrainsorsnows,

CCosl'vegotalotofhoneyonmynicenewnose!

Idon'tmuchcareifitsnowsorthaws,

6Cosl'vegotalotofhoneyonmynicecleanpaws!

SingHo!foraBear!

SingHo!foraPooh!

Andl'llhavealittlesomethinginanhourortwo!(50)

Hispoemsoftenbecomerhythmicalsongsorrhythmicalhummings・Whenhe

heardChristopherRobinwouldholdapartyforhim,Poohbegantowonderifall

theotheranimalswouldknowthatitwasaspecialparty.

themorethepartygotmuddledinhismind・Andthen

anothersong.

ANXIOUSPOOHSONG 3CheersforPooh!

(Fo"W"o?)

ForPooh‑

(Why"加/[j〃舵伽?)

Hesavedhisfriendfromawetting!

3CheersforBear!

(Fo""""?)

ForBear‑

Hecouldn'tswim,

Butherescuedhim!

(I光彩sc"ed""0?) Oh,listen,do!

IamtalkingofPooh‑

(ofwho?)

OfPooh!

(I'"@sO7@yI膨妙允噌ど鰯"g).

Well,PoohwasaBearofEnormousBrain‑

(ﾉ"sｵs〃〃昭zz"/）

Ofenormousbrain‑

(Qfe"0"wo"sz"加が）

Well,heatealot,

Andldon'tknowifhecouldswimornot,

Buthemanagedtofloat

Onasortofboat

Well,asortofpot‑

Sonowlet'sgivehimthreeheartycheers (助〃o 〃ざgﾂzﾉe〃加肋 e〃α胸 "た"es/) Andhopehe'llbewithusforyearsandyears,

3CheersforPooh!

(Fo"""o?)

ForPooh‑

3CheersforBear!

(Fo""""?)

ForBear‑

3CheersforthewonderfulWinnie‑the‑Pooh!

〔ﾉ"sｵ蛇〃加e,SO"@e加の−WHATDIDHEDO?)(5')

Themorehethought, hecomposedasortof

ONEASPECTOFA.A,MILNE 68

Aflycan'tbird,butabirdcanfly.

Askmeariddleandlreply:

@ C o t t l e t o n , C o t t l e t o n , C o t t l e t o n P i e . ，

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Cottleton,Cottleton,CottletonPie, Afishcan'twhistleandrleithercanl.

Askmeariddleandlreply:

G C o t t l e t o n , C o t t l e t o n , C o t t l e t o n P i e . ，

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Cottleton,Cottleton,CottletonPie,

Whydoesachicken,Idon'tknowwhy.

Askmeariddleandlreply:

$ C o t t l e t o n , C o t t l e t o n , C o t t l e t o n P i e . ( 5 2 ）

●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ︐ｊ

１１１１５ ｄｄく ●● ︐︐・・ｍ仙拍ｍ

一一 ｌｌ −ａａ極

ｌｄｄｍ

ｌｌ ｔ一一ｔ

一一

ＲＲ ｕｕ

ThisisPooh'sWorldwherehelivescomfortably.Everymorninghegetsupand movesarounddoingsomething,singingsongs.WeallknowthatPOohishappyand

thathisworldisthebest.

Butisthisenoughforthewriter,A､A・Milne？Inhisnonsensestory，O"

の0〃α刀"@e,thereappearsaCountesssesitivetowords.Everydayshetriesto writebeautifulsentencesorverses,dreaminghowfamousshewillbeinthefuture.

・・・・Shehadapass]ionforcolouredinksandrulers.

Inherdiarythedayoftheweekwasalwaysunderlinedinred,the importantwordsintheday'sdoingsbeingfrequentlypickedoutin gold.Ontakingupthe(1iary,yousawatoncethatyouwereinthe presenceofsomebody.(54)

。・・・;shewonderedwhatthemiestrelswouldsingofher,and ifherdiarywouldeverbemadepublic;・・・・・(55）

ThefactthatnotonlyPoohbutalsoCountesslovepoetryshowshowthewriter

himselfisanxioustobegoodatusingwords.Thissuggestsusmuchofhisconcern

withpoetry.

8．HislnterestinWitchcraftofWords

A.A・MilnegivesamagicpowertoastrangepoemwrittenbyKinginO"ce

〃0〃A刀"09.Thepoemis:

Bo,Boll,bill,bole Wo,woll,will,wole．（56）

Themagicpowerofthispoemisstriclylimitedbutanywayitdissolvedthespell.

Arabbit,Princeofthenextcountry,recitesthispoembackwardandbecameaman

agam.

Inancienttimesletterswerethoughttohavespecial,magicpowers.In Anglo‑Saxondays,apriestwas@believedtobeabletobindthehandsofhis e n e m i e s b y c h a n t i n g s p e l l s f r o m h i g h m o u n d . T h e l e t t e r s o f t h e G e r m a n i c a l p h a b e t , runeswereheldtohavemagicpowersifusedinthecorrectarrangement.'(57)A personwhocanunderstandlettersisonewhocanconversewithGod,whocanbe aruleroranofficialofhighposition.Sinceolddayspoetryhasbeenakindof w i t c h c r a f t i n s p i r e d b y M u s e . E v e n M o d e r n w r i t e r s h o p e t o b e i n s p i r e d b y h e r . I ' m s u r e t h a t A . A ・ M i l n e m u s t h a v e h a d t h e s a m e a s p i r a t i o n , f o r h e h a d b e e n a t r u e p o e t . Hemusthavebeenanxioustogetthewayofwitchcraftofwords.

Ifwedon'tunderstandthetrueintentofthewriterandthatofPooh,we couldn'tknowthetruemeaningofWI""〃肋2−凡0"．

Conclusion

Allwritersandpoetshopetofascinatereaderswhentheydotheirworks.

A.A.Milnemusthavehopedso,too,becausehehadbeensensitivetowordsfromthe beginningofhiscareer.Heseemstohavebeenmuchmoreinterestedinwordsthan incontents・HesaysthatevendetectivestoriesmustbewritteningoodEnglish.

Heisnotasortofpersonwhospeculatesaboutlifedeeplyordevelophisthought,

butapersonwhohasaworldofhisownandwriteswhatcomesfromwithin.He

expresseditbywords,bywitch‑craftofwords.Whenheintendedtodohiswork

byaidofcontentratherthanbyword,hisworkbecameuninteresting,asinthecase

of&/i"'Ej"eF7りodLAndwhenhewentintotheworldofyoungchildren,where

wordsareveryimportant,hemadeagreatsuccess・Hecharmedboysandgirlsall

overtheworldbyhiswitchcraftinwords.

ONEASPECTOFA.A.MILNE

70

NoteS

1)A.A.Milne,フルWりγ〃qfPoo",WI""妙肋←ん0"(London:MethuenChildren'sBooks,1973)

p . 1 3 3 .

2）肪湿.p.15.

3)HughLofting,ng".肋〃"ん3脚s＃Qme(Harmondworth:PenguinBooks,1968)p.15.

4)A､A.Milne,".c".,p.133.

5)16〃.,p.153.

6）乃趣.,p.44.

7）乃趣.,p､133.

8）〃.,p.66.

9)Loc.cM 10)肋〃.,p.73.

11)"".,p.56.

12）〃｡.,p.85.

13)"".,p.126.

14)LewisCarrol1,A"℃gもA伽g""たs"Wり"〃7伽" (Hannondworth:PenguinBooks,1966)

・ａ１今 １ １ ３４ ^{ｔ ｐ}

皇知一・●●βか″恥

●●

陥妙・ａ． ・ａｐ ９ ｔＪ

妙−３４５

ｅ毛１．

１ ３・

０９１

−一

肝乢叩２

−

．仙仙飢函函肌側蝉碑仙︾唖側側破瓜側肌︾岬︾恥酔酔肌仙睡

︐﹃０４

卿Ｍ〃加伽伽伽伽伽〃伽〃伽〃〃〃〃〃〃〃伽〃卿Ｍ〃伽〃〃伽ｊｊｊｌｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊｊ５６７８９０１２３４５６７８９０１２３４５６７８９０１２１１１１１２２２２２２２２２２３３３３３３３３３３４４４

43)Locbcif 44）〃ﾛ.,p.52.

45）乃趣.,pp.149‑151.

46）肋趣.,p.96.

47）乃尅.,pp.19‑20.

48）乃遡.,p.28.

49）乃趣.,p.61.

50)I肋f.,p.110.

51）乃湿.,pp.145‑146.

52）乃湿.,pp.78‑79.

53)1DM.,pp.33‑34.

54)A､A.Milne,O"""0"ATY"@e,(Harmondworth:PuffinBooks,1974)p.39.

55）〃 .,p.28.

56）乃湿.,p.14.

57)DorothyWhitelock,T伽吻f""j"gsQ/E"g"s"Sbc"ty(Harmondworth:PenguinBooks,1971)

p ､ 2 5

(RecievedOct､31st,75)