WOL

Uilen zijn ineens in! Ruim een jaar geleden tekende ik er eentje (met de muis), voor een geboortekaartje. Er is natuurlijk geen causaal verband, maar ineens zie ik ze overal. En er zitten zulke leuke tussen!

Naar aanleiding van mijn blog van gisteren moest ik ineens denken aan de Uil der Uilen. Niet die van de Fabeltjeskrant (al was ook ik ooit een kijkbuiskind) en niet die van Paulus de Boskabouter (al vond ik het als kind magisch dat hij dingen zei als 'hedendal nogal wel zo tamelijk'), nee, de Uil der Uilen is Owl uit Winnie-the-Pooh. Toen hij nog niet geannexeerd was door de Amerikanen. En Tijger nog 'Tigger' heette. En Piglet ervan overtuigd was dat het bord naast zijn huis, met de tekst 'Trespassers W', verwees naar zijn grootvader ('short for Trespassers Will, which was short for Trespassers William. And his grandfather had had two names in case he lost one - Trespassers after an uncle, and William after Trespassers').
Toen Pooh nog poëzie was, dus.

Owl was wijs. Hij kon zijn eigen naam schrijven: WOL.  En Tuesday ('so that you knew it wasn't Wednesday').
Hoeveel wijsheid kan een mens aan? 

Owl lived at The Chestnuts, and old-world residence of great charm, which was grander than anybody else's, or seemed so to Bear, because it had both a knocker and a bell-pull.  Underneath the knocker there was a notice which said:
 
PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD.

Underneath the bell-pull there was a notice which said:

PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID.
   
These notices had been written by Christopher Robin, who was the only
one in the forest who could spell; for Owl, wise though he was in many
ways, able to read and write and spell his own name WOL, yet somehow went
all to pieces over delicate words like MEASLES and BUTTEREDTOAST.

Winnie-the-Pooh read the two notices very carefully, first from left to
right, and afterwards, in case he had missed some of it, from right to
left. Then, to make quite sure, he knocked and pulled the knocker, and he
pulled and knocked the bell-rope, and he called out in a very loud voice,
"Owl! I require an answer! It's Bear speaking." And the door opened, and
Owl looked out.

"Hallo, Pooh," he said. "How's things?"

"Terrible and Sad," said Pooh, "because Eeyore, who is a friend of
mine, has lost his tail. And he's Moping about it. So could you very
kindly tell me how to find it for him?"

"Well," said Owl, "the customary procedure in such cases is as
follows."

"What does Crustimoney Proseedcake mean?" said Pooh. "For I am a Bear
of Very Little Brain, and long words Bother me."

"It means the Thing to Do."

"As long as it means that, I don't mind," said Pooh humbly.

Over deze zelfde WOL - en dan vooral: zijn schrijfkunst - schreef ik een klein stukje op mijn werksite.