Short Stories
done so, I certainly would not have listened to you; in fact, I
should have said ‘Pooh,’ like the critic. However, I can say it
now”; so he shouted out “Pooh” at the top of his voice, gave a
whisk with his tail, and went back into his hole.
“And how do you like the Water-rat?” asked the Duck, who
came paddling up some minutes afterwards. “He has a great
many good points, but for my own part I have a mother’s feel-
ings, and I can never look at a confirmed bachelor without the
tears coming into my eyes.”
“I am rather afraid that I have annoyed him,” answered the
Linnet. “The fact is, that I told him a story with a moral.”
“Ah! that is always a very dangerous thing to do,” said the
Duck.
And I quite agree with her.
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