THE SUNNY SIDE BY A. A. MILNE Author of "If I May," "The Dover Road," "Mr. Pim Passes By," etc. 1922 TO OWEN SEAMAN AFFECTIONATELY IN MEMORY OF NINE HAPPY YEARS AT THE "PUNCH" OFFICE CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN EDITION I. ORANGES AND LEMONS II. MEN OF LETTERS III. SUMMER DAYS IV. WAR-TIME V. HOME NOTES VI. A FEW GUESTS VII. AND OTHERS INTRODUCTION My publisher wants me to apologize for--"introduce" was the kindly word he used--this collection of articles and verses from _Punch_. I do so with pleasure. _Among the many interests of a long and varied career_-- No, I don't think I shall begin like that. _It was early in 1871_-- Nor like that. Really it is very difficult, you know. I wrote these things for a number of years, and--well, here they are. But just to say "Here they are" is to be too informal for my publisher. He wants, not a casual introduction, but a presentation. Let me tell you a little story instead. When war broke out, I had published three of these books in England, the gleanings of nine years' regular work for _Punch_. There are, I understand, a few Americans who read _Punch_, and it was suggested to me that a suitable collection of articles from these three books might have some sort of American sale. So I made such a collection, leaving out the more topical and allusive sketches, and including those with a more general appeal. I called the result "Happy Days"--an attractive title, you will agree--and in 1915 a New York publisher was found for it. This is a funny story; at least it appeals to _me_; so I won't remind myself of the number of copies which we sold. That was tragedy, not comedy. The joke lay in one of the few notices which the book received from the press. For a New York critic ended his review of "Happy Days" with these immortal words: "_Mr. Milne is at present in the trenches facing the German bullets, so this will probably be his last book_." You see now why an apology is necessary. Here we are, seven years later, and I am still at it. But at any rate, it is the last of this sort of book. As I said in a foreword to the English edition: "It is the last time because this sort of writing depends largely upon the irresponsibility and high spirits of youth for its success, and I want to stop before (may I say 'before'?) the high spirits become mechanical and the irresponsibility a trick. Perhaps the fact that this collection is final will excuse its air of scrappiness. Odd Verses have crept in on the unanswerable plea that, if they didn't do it now, they never would; War Sketches protested that I shouldn't have a book at all if I left them out; an Early Article, omitted from three previous volumes, paraded for the fourth time with such a pathetic 'I suppose you don't want _me_' in its eye that it could not decently be rejected. So here they all are."