自从艾伦·亚历山大·米尔恩1926年推出小熊维尼的故事以来，这一形象就深受几代儿童的喜爱。

　　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?

　　那为什么米尔恩把维尼叫做“Pooh”而不直接叫“bear”呢?鉴于大多数儿童(和大人，就此而言)对于“Pooh”是个啥有着不同的观点，那这个名字又是如何定下来的呢?

　　The answer lies back in the 1920s.

　　答案还得追溯到20世纪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.

　　实际上，米尔恩一开始介绍维尼的时候，维尼还并不叫做“维尼”。一开始，米尔恩把维尼取名叫“Edward Bear”(爱德华熊)，但在之前提到的1926年首次公开亮相时临了改名为维尼。“维尼”一词的灵感来源于米尔恩去伦敦动物园的一次参观，他在那里看到一只黑熊是以加拿大一座城市“Winnipeg”(温尼伯)命名的。

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

　　至于“Pooh”?其实，“Pooh”本是一只天鹅，完完全全相距甚远的另一角色。

　　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《当我们小的时候》一书中(米尔恩也是在这本书中介绍了爱德华熊)，米尔恩作了一首诗，介绍了克里斯托弗·罗宾在早上是怎样喂食天鹅的。

　　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."

　　他还介绍了克里斯托弗·罗宾是怎样给这只天鹅取名为“维尼”的，究其原因则是因为“这个名字再适合不过了，因为当你呼唤天鹅的时候它并不会过来(这不就是天鹅擅长做的么<高冷>)，那样的话你就可以假装只是在叫“Pooh”，自己没有那么想要它过来啦(傲娇的常惯伎俩2333)”

　　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”两个词很快就组合到一起了。虽然米尔恩还是要花些时间来解释为什么维尼是一只“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."

　　正如米尔恩在第一本“小熊维尼”的第一章节写到“它的手臂是如此的僵硬……他们经常一熬夜就是一个多礼拜。弄得如果一只苍蝇飞到它鼻子上的时候，维尼不得不用嘴把苍蝇吹走(发出“Pu”的声音=“Pooh”)。所以我想(虽然不是很确定)这可能就是维尼叫做“Pooh”原因了。

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（编辑：何莹莹）