Hi once again. Yes, although you probably thought you were never 
going to see another one, here it is.

One of the most popular Pooh (or in this case, Piglet) quotes, 
especially with our own Piglet (Hi SZB!) around here, is this one, 
from WTP chapter VII, In Which Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest, 
and Piglet Has a Bath:

     "It is hard to be brave," said Piglet, sniffling slightly, "when 
you're only a Very Small Animal."

This, like many verses of scripture, sound really nice when taken out 
of context, but few can remember the surrounding bits.  What preceded 
this quote and why did Piglet say it?

Well, it seems to me, that Piglet was not showing a lack of bravery, 
but a little common sense.  Here then, is the whole of it:

     "There's just one thing," said Piglet, fidgeting a bit.  "I was 
talking to Christopher Robin, and he said that a Kanga was Generally 
Regarded as One of the Fiercer Animals.  I am not frightened of 
Fierce Animals in the ordinary way, but it is well known that, if One 
of the Fiercer Animals is Deprived of Its Young, it becomes as fierce 
as Two of the Fiercer Animals.  In which case 'Aha!' is perhaps a 
foolish thing to say."
     "Piglet," said Rabbit, taking out a pencil, and licking the end 
of it, "you haven't any pluck."
     "It is hard to be brave," said Piglet, sniffling slightly, "when
you're only a Very Small Animal."

Now I don't know about you, but as I pointed out in an earlier Thot, 
'Aha!' is always a rather foolish thing to say, albeit quite useful 
when foolishnes is called for.  But I don't think having just plucked 
a baby Kanga from it's Mother and ridden home in her pouch, that upon 
removal and confrontation with a p-o'd boxer, the first thing that I 
would say would be 'Aha!'.  In fact it would probably not be 
printable.  And I'm neither lacking in bravery nor a very small 
animal.

Now it's not that Rabbit wasn't brave.  He did, after all, have to be 
the one to do the plucking and running with the stolen goods, but to 
accuse Piglet of exhibiting a lack of pluck for pointing out such an 
obviously silly thing to say at that point, is going a bit far.

Keep in mind that Piglet not only went through with it, but he did, 
after all, say 'Aha!', not only once, but twice!  And look what it 
got him! A cold bath, a mouthful of soap and lathery flannel, a 
spoonful of medicine, and being christened "Henry Pootel" by none 
other than Christopher Robin (oh the embarrassment!). So it seems to 
me that Piglet was not only the Bravest of them, but the martyr to 
boot!

In fact, every time someone in the stories does something really 
brave, it's Piglet.  Whether it's sneaking out by one's self early in 
the morning to see a heffalump, or climbing through a letterbox in 
the ceiling, or giving up one's home, Piglet comes through. (Granted, 
Pooh did some brave things too, but they can't really be counted as 
brave since Pooh was never conscioiusly aware of any danger; he 
simply did things without thinking about them.)

So even though it's hard to be brave when you're a Very Small Animal, 
Piglet sure did a good job of being just that.

Take, care.

 ______  ______ ________________________________________________________
/ ____ \| ____ \
| |   \_| |__| |  "It's Christopher Robin," he said.
| |    _| ___  /  "Ah, then you'll be all right," said Piglet.
| |___/ | |  \ \       "You'll be quite safe with him..."
\______/|_|   \_\ ______________________________________________________