「プーさんの橋」競売、２０００万円で落札　英

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英作家Ａ・Ａ・ミルンの児童小説「くまのプーさん」で描かれた橋が競売にかけられ、予想価格の２倍以上となる１３万１６２５ポンド（約２０００万円）で落札された。英競売会社サマーズ・プレイス・オークションズが７日、発表した。（写真は落札された英イングランド南部アシュダウンフォレストの橋）
　落札されたのはイングランド南部アシュダウンフォレストにある橋。１９０７年に建設されたが、その後、架け替えや修復が行われた。もとは違う名前が付けられていたが、作中でクマのぬいぐるみのプーが思いついた遊びの名前にちなみ、「プー棒投げ橋」として世代を超えて親しまれてきた。
　同作執筆のきっかけとなり、作中にもプーの友人として登場するミルンの息子のクリストファー・ロビンさんは１９２０年代、この橋で遊んでいた。橋は、Ｅ・Ｈ・シェパード氏が手掛けた挿絵でも描かれた。
　競売では世界中から入札があったが、最終的に地元の貴族男性が落札した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/10/08-12:27）

A bridge depicted by author A.A. Milne in his children's books about honey-loving teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh has sold at auction for more than twice its estimated price, a UK-based auctioneer said Thursday.
Built in 1907 in Ashdown Forest in southern England but later replaced and restored, the bridge fetched £131,625 ($179,167, 154,830 euros) in a sealed bid, auctioneer Summers Place Auctions said.
Originally known as Posingford Bridge, it captured the imaginations of generations of children as Poohsticks Bridge where the bear protagonist invented a game dropping sticks and pinecones into the water below.
Milne's son Christopher Robin, who inspired the books and shared his name with the boy who joined Pooh in his adventures, played on the bridge in the 1920s before it appeared in the books, illustrated by E.H Shepard.
Though the lot attracted global bids, the bridge was ultimately claimed by local aristocrat William Sackville, whose Buckhurst Park estate is located just a short distance from where the bridge was built.
Sackville, whose lands encompass the area recreated in the Pooh books as the Hundred Acre Wood said he was delighted with the purchase.
It will take pride of place on the estate close to its original position and I hope that many children (and adults) will be able to admire the original bridge which inspired one of the most famous games still played by children in the UK and abroad -- 'Poohsticks', he said.