“Not at all. Then Little Red Ridinghood came to the door. ‘I’m looking for
my grandmother’s house.’ What a silly performance! It’s just the major’s tricks,
Sophie. Like the banana message and that idiotic thunderstorm.”
“Do you think ... ?”
“But I said I had a plan. As long as we stick to our reason, he can’t trick
us. Because in a way we are free. He can let us ‘perceive’ all kinds of things;
nothing would surprise me. If he lets the sky go dark or elephants fly, I shall
only smile. But seven plus five is twelve. That’s a fact that survives all his
comic-strip effects. Philosophy is the opposite of fairy tales.”
Sophie sat for a moment staring at him in amazement.
“Off you go,” he said finally. “I’ll call you for a session on Romanticism.
You also need to hear about Hegel and Kierkegaard. But there’s only a week
to go before the major arrives at Kjevik airport. Before then, we must manage
to free ourselves from his gluey fantasies. I’ll say no more, Sophie. Except
that I want you to know I’m working on a wonderful plan for both of us.”
“I’ll be off, then.”
“Wait—we may have forgotten the most important thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The birthday song, Sophie. Hilde is fifteen today.”
“So am I.”
“You are, too, yes. Let’s sing then.”
They both stood up and sang:
“Happy Birthday to You.”
It was half-past four. Sophie ran down to the water’s edge and rowed
over to the other side. She pulled the boat up into the rushes and began to
hurry through the woods.
When she reached the path, she suddenly noticed something moving
between the trees. She wondered if it was Little Red Ridinghood wandering
alone through the woods to her grandmother’s, but the figure between the
trees was much smaller.
She went nearer. The figure was no bigger than a doll. It was brown and
was wearing a red sweater.
Sophie stopped dead in her tracks when she realized it was a teddy
bear.
That someone could have left a teddy bear in the forest was in itself no
surprise. But this teddy bear was alive, and seemed intensely preoccupied.
“Hi,” said Sophie.
“My name is Winnie-the-Pooh,” said the teddy bear, “and I have
unfortunately lost my way in the woods on this otherwise very fine day. I have
certainly never seen you before.”
“Maybe I’m the one who has never been here before,” said Sophie. “So
for that matter you could still be back home in Hundred Acre Wood.”
“No, that sum is much too hard. Don’t forget I’m only a small bear and
I’m not very clever.”
“I have heard of you.”
“And I suppose you are Alice. Christopher Robin told us about you one
day. I suppose that’s how we met. You drank so much out of one bottle that
you got smaller and smaller. But then you drank out of another bottle and
started to grow again. You really have to be careful what you put in your
mouth. I ate so much once that I got stuck in a rabbit hole.”