Eeyore stood by himself in a corner of the forest thinking about things.  Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought, "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" – and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.  So when Winnie-the-Pooh came stumping along, Eeyore was very glad to be able to stop thinking for a little.

"Hello.  How are you?" said Pooh.

Eeyore shook his head from side to side.

"Not very how," he said.  "I don't seem to have felt at all how for a long time."

"Dear, dear," said Pooh.  "Let's have a look at you."

Eeyore stood very still and Winnie-the-Pooh walked all around him.

"What's happened to your tail?" he asked in surprise.

"What has happened to it?" enquired Eeyore.

"It isn't there!" said Pooh.

"Are you sure?" sighed Eeyore.

"Well, either a tail is there or it isn't there and yours isn't there!”

“Let’s have a look, said Eeyore and he turned slowly around to the place where his tail had been a little while ago.  Then, finding that he couldn’t catch it up, he turned round the other way until he came back to where he was at first.

At last he said, with a long, sad sigh, “I believe you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right,” said Pooh.

“That accounts for a good deal,” said Eeyore gloomily.  “It explains everything.  No wonder.”

“You must have left it somewhere,” said Winnie-the-Pooh.

“Somebody must have taken it,” said Eeyore.  “How like them,” he added after a long silence.

Pooh felt like he ought to say something helpful about it but didn’t quite know what, so he decided to do something helpful instead.

“Eeyore,” he said solemnly, “I, Winnie-the-Pooh, will find your tail for you.”

“Thank you, Pooh,” answered Eeyore.  “You’re a real friend,” said he.  “Not like some,” he said.