Random Quote

Merlin's lengthy opening sentence in this post reminded me of this quote from a Winnie-the-Pooh story I read to my daughter a few nights ago:

You can imagine Piglet's joy when at last the ship came in sight of him. In after-years he liked to think that he had been in Very Great Danger during the Terrible Flood, but the only danger he had really been in was the last half-hour of his imprisonment, when Owl, who had just flown up, sat on a branch of his tree to comfort him, and told him a very long story about an aunt who had once laid a seagull's egg by mistake, and the story went on and on, rather like this sentence, until Piglet who was listening out of his window without much hope, went to sleep quietly and naturally, slipping slowly out of the window towards the water until he was only hanging on by his toes, at which moment, luckily, a sudden loud squawk from Owl, which was really part of the story, being what his aunt said, woke the Piglet up and just gave him time to jerk himself back into safety and say, 'how interesting, and did she?' when - well you can imagine his joy when at last he saw the good ship, Brain of Pooh (Captain, C. Robin; 1st Mate, P. Bear) coming over the sea to rescue him...
And as that is really the end of the story, and I am very tired after that last sentence, I thnk I shall stop there.

from Surrounded by Water, from Winnie-the-Pooh, The Complete COllection of Stories, by A.A. Milne.