Since A.A. Milne published the first official Winnie The Pooh story in 1926, the character has become beloved¹ by children across many generations.

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. Initially², he went by the name of Edward Bear, before changing to Winnie in time for that aforementioned official 1926 debut³. 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 entirely⁴.

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 Robin⁵ 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 stiff⁶ ... 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。