新概念雙語：你知道小熊維尼的名字里為啥沒Bear

Since A.A. Milne published the first official Winnie The Pooh story in 1926, the character has become beloved by children across many generations.

自從艾倫·亞歷山大·米爾恩1926年推出小熊維尼的故事以來，這一形象就深受幾代兒童的喜愛。

But why is Winnie called a Pooh rather than a bear? Given that most children (and grown-ups, for that matter) have a different idea of what a Pooh is, how has the name stuck?

那為什么米爾恩把維尼叫做“Pooh”而不直接叫“bear”呢?鑒于大多數(shù)兒童(和大人，就此而言)對于“Pooh”是個啥有著不同的觀點，那這個名字又是如何定下來的呢?

The answer lies back in the 1920s. 答案還得追溯到20世紀20年代。

In fact, when first introduced by Milne, Winnie wasn’t even Winnie. Initially, he went by the name of Edward Bear, before changing to Winnie in time for that aforementioned official 1926 debut. The "Winnie" part of the name came from a visit to the London Zoo, where Milne saw a black bear who had been named after the city of Winnipeg, Canada.

實際上，米爾恩一開始介紹維尼的時候，維尼還并不叫做“維尼”。一開始，米爾恩把維尼取名叫“Edward Bear”(愛德華熊)，但在之前提到的1926年首次公開亮相時臨了改名為維尼。“維尼”一詞的靈感來源于米爾恩去倫敦動物園的一次參觀，他在那里看到一只黑熊是以加拿大一座城市“Winnipeg”(溫尼伯)命名的。

As for Pooh? Well, originally Pooh was a swan, a different character entirely.

至于“Pooh”?其實，“Pooh”本是一只天鵝，完完全全相距甚遠的另一角色。

In the book When We Were Very Young (the same book that introduced Edward Bear)， Milne wrote a poem, telling how Christopher Robin would feed the swan in the mornings.

在《當我們小的時候》一書中(米爾恩也是在這本書中介紹了愛德華熊)，米爾恩作了一首詩，介紹了克里斯托弗·羅賓在早上是怎樣喂食天鵝的。

He told how Christopher Robin had given the swan the name "Pooh," explaining that “this is a very fine name for a swan, because if you call him and he doesn’t come (which is a thing swans are good at)， then you can pretend that you were just saying ‘Pooh!’ to show him how little you wanted him."

他還介紹了克里斯托弗·羅賓是怎樣給這只天鵝取名為“維尼”的，究其原因則是因為“這個名字再適合不過了，因為當你呼喚天鵝的時候它并不會過來(這不就是天鵝擅長做的么<高冷>)，那樣的話你就可以假裝只是在叫“Pooh”，自己沒有那么想要它過來啦(傲嬌的常慣伎倆2333)”

The names "Winnie" and "Pooh" were soon brought together, and Winnie the Pooh was born. Milne still took a little time out to explain why Winnie was a Pooh, though.

之后“Winnie”和“Pooh”兩個詞很快就組合到一起了。雖然米爾恩還是要花些時間來解釋為什么維尼是一只“Pooh”。

As he would write in the first chapter of the first Winnie the Pooh book, “But his arms were so stiff ... they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think—but I am not sure—that that is why he is always called Pooh."

正如米爾恩在第一本“小熊維尼”的第一章節(jié)寫到“它的手臂是如此的僵硬……他們經(jīng)常一熬夜就是一個多禮拜。弄得如果一只蒼蠅飛到它鼻子上的時候，維尼不得不用嘴把蒼蠅吹走(發(fā)出“Pu”的聲音=“Pooh”)。所以我想(雖然不是很確定)這可能就是維尼叫做“Pooh”原因了。