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“The Wind in the Willows”, Chapter I, by Kenneth Grahame
To celebrate our 100th episode today’s story is something special: "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Today’s story was selected by Rob MacWolf, and the public-domain text provided by Wikisource.
Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.
Transcript
You’re listening to the The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,
Speaker:and to celebrate our one hundredth episode, today’s story is something special:
Speaker:"The Wind in the Willows"
Speaker:by Kenneth Grahame,
Speaker:first published in 1908.
Speaker:It was selected by Rob MacWolf,
Speaker:and the public-domain text provided by Wikisource.
Speaker:This chapter, the first,
Speaker:is about a frustrated mole’s coming-out of the burrow,
Speaker:daring to go beyond the familiar
Speaker:to find himself welcomed into a queer and wonderful new world,
Speaker:proud, I’m sure, with new friends,
Speaker:and great adventures,
Speaker:and it’s all about
Speaker:love. Please enjoy:
Speaker:Chapter I of "The Wind in the Willows"
Speaker:by Kenneth Grahame
Speaker:THE Mole had been working very hard all the morning,
Speaker:spring-cleaning his little home.
Speaker:First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs,
Speaker:with a brush and a pail of whitewash;
Speaker:till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of white-wash all over his black fur,
Speaker:and an aching back and weary arms.
Speaker:Spring was moving in the air above
Speaker:and in the earth below and around him,
Speaker:penetrating even his dark and lowly little house
Speaker:with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.
Speaker:It was small wonder, then,
Speaker:that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor,
Speaker:said 'Bother!' and 'O blow!'
Speaker:and also 'Hang spring-cleaning?'
Speaker:and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.
Speaker:Something up above
Speaker:was calling him imperiously,
Speaker:and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case
Speaker:to the gravelled
Speaker:carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air.
Speaker:So he scraped and scratched
Speaker:and scrabbled and scrooged
Speaker:and then he scrooged again
Speaker:and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, 'Up
Speaker:we go! Up we go!'
Speaker:till at last, pop!
Speaker:his snout came out into the sunlight,
Speaker:and he found himself rolling in the warm grass
Speaker:of a great meadow. 'This is fine?'
Speaker:he said to himself. 'This
Speaker:is better than whitewashing!'
Speaker:The sunshine struck hot on his fur,
Speaker:soft breezes caressed his heated brow,
Speaker:and after the seclusion of the cellarage he had lived in so long
Speaker:the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing
Speaker:almost like a shout.
Speaker:jumping off all his four legs at once,
Speaker:in the joy of living
Speaker:and the delight of spring without its cleaning,
Speaker:he pursued his way across the meadow till he reached the hedge on the further side. 'Hold
Speaker:up!' said an elderly rabbit at the gap. 'Sixpence
Speaker:for the privilege of passing by the private road!'
Speaker:He was bowled over in an instant by the impatient and contemptuous Mole,
Speaker:who trotted along the side of the hedge
Speaker:chaffing the other rabbits as they
Speaker:peeped hurriedly from their holes to see what the row was about. 'Onion
Speaker:-sauce! Onion-sauce?'
Speaker:he remarked jeeringly,
Speaker:and was gone before they could think of a thoroughly satisfactory reply.
Speaker:Then they all started grumbling at each other. 'How
Speaker:stupid you are!
Speaker:Why didn't you tell him ———' 'Well,
Speaker:why didn't you say
Speaker:———' 'You might have reminded him———' and so on,
Speaker:in the usual way; but,
Speaker:of course, it was then much too late,as
Speaker:is always the case.
Speaker:It all seemed too good to be true.
Speaker:Hither and thither through the meadows he rambled busily,
Speaker:along the hedgerows, across the copses,
Speaker:finding everywhere
Speaker:birds building, flowers budding,
Speaker:leaves thrusting—everything
Speaker:happy, and progressive,
Speaker:and occupied. And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking
Speaker:him and whispering
Speaker:'whitewash!' he somehow
Speaker:could only feel how jolly it was
Speaker:to be the only idle dog among all these busy citizens.
Speaker:After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself,
Speaker:as to see all the other fellows busy working.
Speaker:He thought his happiness was complete
Speaker:when, as he meandered aimlessly along,
Speaker:suddenly he stood by the edge
Speaker:of a full-fed river.
Speaker:Never in his life had he seen a river before
Speaker:—this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal,
Speaker:chasing and chuckling,
Speaker:gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh,
Speaker:to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free,
Speaker:and were caught and held again.
Speaker:All was a-shake and a-shiver
Speaker:—glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl,
Speaker:chatter and bubble.
Speaker:The Mole was bewitched,
Speaker:entranced, fascinated.
Speaker:By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small,
Speaker:by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories;
Speaker:and when tired at last, he sat on the bank,
Speaker:while by the river still chattered on to him,
Speaker:a babbling procession of the
Speaker:best stories in the world,
Speaker:sent from the heart of the earth
Speaker:to be told at last
Speaker:to the insatiable sea.
Speaker:As he sat on the grass
Speaker:and looked across the river,
Speaker:a dark hole in the bank opposite,
Speaker:just above the water's edge, caught his eye,
Speaker:and dreamily he fell to considering what a nice snug dwelling-place it would make
Speaker:for an animal with
Speaker:few wants and fond of a bijou riverside residence, above
Speaker:flood level and remote from noise and dust.
Speaker:As he gazed, something bright and small seemed to twinkle down in the heart of it,
Speaker:vanished, then twinkled once more like a tiny star.
Speaker:But it could hardly be a star in such an unlikely situation;
Speaker:and it was too glittering and small for a glow-worm.
Speaker:Then, as he looked,
Speaker:it winked at him,
Speaker:and so declared itself to be an eye;
Speaker:and a small face began gradually to grow up round it,
Speaker:like a frame round a picture.
Speaker:A brown little face,
Speaker:with whiskers. A grave
Speaker:round face, with the same twinkle in its eye
Speaker:that had first attracted his notice.
Speaker:Small neat ears and thick silky hair.
Speaker:It was the Water Rat!
Speaker:Then the two animals stood and regarded each other cautiously. 'Hullo,
Speaker:Mole!' said the Water Rat. 'Hullo,
Speaker:Rat!' said the Mole. 'Would
Speaker:you like to come over?'
Speaker:enquired the Rat presently. 'Oh,
Speaker:its all very well to talk,' said the Mole, rather pettishly,
Speaker:he being new to a river and riverside life and its ways.
Speaker:The Rat said nothing,
Speaker:but steeped and unfastened a rope
Speaker:and hauled on it; then lightly stepped into a little boat
Speaker:which the Mole had not observed.
Speaker:It was painted blue outside and white within,
Speaker:and was just the size for two animals;
Speaker:and the Mole's whole heart went out to it at once,
Speaker:even though he did not yet fully understand its uses.
Speaker:The Rat sculled smartly across and made fast.
Speaker:Then he held up his forepaw as the Mole stepped gingerly down. 'Lean
Speaker:on that!' he said. 'New
Speaker:then, step lively?'
Speaker:and the Mole to his surprise and rapture
Speaker:found himself actually seated in the stern of a real beat. 'This
Speaker:has been a wonderful day!'
Speaker:said he, as the Rat shoved off and took to the sculls again. 'Do
Speaker:you know, I've never been in a boat before in all my life.' 'What?'
Speaker:cried the Rat, open—mouthed: 'Never
Speaker:been in a
Speaker:—you never—well I
Speaker:—what I have you been doing, then?' 'Is
Speaker:it so nice as all that?'
Speaker:asked the Mole shyly,
Speaker:though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat
Speaker:and surveyed the cushions,
Speaker:the oars, the rowlocks, and all the fascinating fittings,
Speaker:and felt the boat sway lightly under him. 'Nice?
Speaker:It's the only thing'
Speaker:said the Water Rat solemnly,
Speaker:as he leant forward for his stroke. 'Believe
Speaker:me, my young friend,
Speaker:there is nothing
Speaker:—absolute nothing
Speaker:—half so much worth doing
Speaker:as simply messing about in boats.
Speaker:Simply messing,' he went on dreamily: 'messing—about—in—boats;
Speaker:messing——' 'Look ahead, Rat!'
Speaker:cried the Mole suddenly.
Speaker:It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt.
Speaker:The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat,
Speaker:his heels in the air. '
Speaker:—about in boats—or with boats,'
Speaker:the Rat went on composedly,
Speaker:picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. 'In
Speaker:or out of 'em, it doesn't matter.
Speaker:Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it.
Speaker:Whether you get away, or whether you don't;
Speaker:whether you arrive at your destination
Speaker:or whether you reach somewhere else,
Speaker:or whether you never get anywhere at all,
Speaker:you're always busy,
Speaker:and you never do anything in particular;
Speaker:and when you've done it
Speaker:there's always something else to do,
Speaker:and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not.
Speaker:Look here! If you've really nothing else on hand this morning,
Speaker:supposing we drop down the river together,
Speaker:and have a long day of it?'
Speaker:The Mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness,
Speaker:spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment,
Speaker:and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions. 'What
Speaker:a day I'm having!'
Speaker:he said. 'Let us start at once!' 'Hold
Speaker:hard a minute, then!'
Speaker:said the Rat. He looped the painter through a ring in his landing-stage,
Speaker:climbed up into his hole above,
Speaker:and after a short interval reappeared staggering under a fat,
Speaker:wicker luncheon-basket. 'Shove
Speaker:that under your feet,'
Speaker:he observed to the Mole,
Speaker:as he passed it down into the boat.
Speaker:Then he untied the painter
Speaker:and took the sculls again. 'What's
Speaker:inside it?'
Speaker:asked the Mole, wriggling with curiosity. 'There's
Speaker:cold chicken inside it,'
Speaker:replied the Rat briefly; 'cold
Speaker:tongue cold ham cold beef pickled gherkins salad french rolls cress sandwiches potted meat gingerbeer lemonade soda water——' 'O
Speaker:stop, stop,' cried the Mole in ecstacies: 'This is too much!' 'Do
Speaker:you really think so?'
Speaker:enquired the Rat seriously. 'It's
Speaker:only what I always take on these little excursions;
Speaker:and the other animals are always telling me that
Speaker:I'm a mean beast and cut it very fine!'
Speaker:The Mole never heard a word he was saying.
Speaker:Absorbed in the new life he was entering upon,
Speaker:intoxicated with the sparkle,
Speaker:the ripple, the scents
Speaker:and the sounds and the sunlight,
Speaker:he trailed a paw in the water and dreamed long waking dreams.
Speaker:The Water Rat, like the good little fellow he was, sculled steadily on
Speaker:and forebore to disturb him. 'I
Speaker:like your clothes awfully, old chap,'
Speaker:he remarked after some half an hour or so had passed. 'I'm
Speaker:going to get a black velvet smoking—suit myself some day, as soon as I can afford it.' 'I
Speaker:beg your pardon,'
Speaker:said the Mole, pulling himself together with an effort. 'You
Speaker:must think me very rude;
Speaker:but all this is so new to me.
Speaker:So—this—is—a—River!' 'The
Speaker:River,' corrected the Rat. 'And
Speaker:you really live by the river?
Speaker:What a jolly life!' 'By
Speaker:it and with it and on it and in it,' said the Rat. 'It's
Speaker:brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company,
Speaker:and food and drink,
Speaker:and (naturally) washing.
Speaker:It's my world, and I don't want any other.
Speaker:What it hasn't got is not worth having,
Speaker:and what it doesn't know is not worth knowing.
Speaker:Lord! the times we've had together!
Speaker:Whether in winter or summer, spring or autumn,
Speaker:it's always got its fun and its excitements.
Speaker:When the floods are on in February,
Speaker:and my cellars and basement are brimming with drink that's no good to me,
Speaker:and the brown water runs by my best bedroom window; or again
Speaker:when it all drops away
Speaker:and shows patches of mud that smells like plum—cake,
Speaker:and the rushes and weed clog the channels,
Speaker:and I can potter about dry shod over most of the bed of it
Speaker:and find fresh food to eat,
Speaker:and things careless people have dropped out of boats!' 'But
Speaker:isn't it a bit
Speaker:dull at times?' the Mole ventured to ask. 'Just
Speaker:you and the river, and no one else to pass a word with?' 'No
Speaker:one else to—well,
Speaker:I mustn't be hard on you,'
Speaker:said the Rat with forbearance. 'You're
Speaker:new to it, and of course you don't know.
Speaker:The bank is so crowded nowadays that many people are moving away altogether:
Speaker:O no, it isn't what it used to be, at all.
Speaker:Otters, king—fishers, dabchicks, moorhens, all of them about all day long and always wanting you to do something—as if a
Speaker:fellow had no business of his own to attend to!' 'What
Speaker:lies over there?'
Speaker:asked the Mole, waving a paw towards a background of woodland that
Speaker:darkly framed the water
Speaker:—meadows on one side of the river. 'That?
Speaker:O, that's just the Wild Wood,'
Speaker:said the Rat shortly. 'We
Speaker:don't go there very much, we river—bankers.' 'Aren't they
Speaker:—aren't they very nice people in there?'
Speaker:said the Mole, a trifle nervously. 'W
Speaker:—e—ll,' replied the Rat, 'let
Speaker:me see. The squirrels are all right.
Speaker:And the rabbits—some of 'em, but rabbits are a mixed lot.
Speaker:And then there's Badger, of course.
Speaker:He lives' right in the heart of it;
Speaker:wouldn't live anywhere else, either, if you paid him to do it.
Speaker:Dear old Badger!
Speaker:Nobody interferes with him.
Speaker:They'd better not,' he added significantly. 'Why,
Speaker:who should interfere with him?'
Speaker:asked the Mole. 'Well, of course—there
Speaker:—are others,' explained the Rat in a hesitating sort of way. 'Weasels
Speaker:—and stoats—and foxes—and so on.
Speaker:They're all right in a way
Speaker:—I'm very good friends with them
Speaker:—pass the time of day when we meet, and all that—but they
Speaker:break out sometimes, there's no denying it,
Speaker:and then—well, you can't really trust them,
Speaker:and that's the fact.'
Speaker:The Mole knew well that it is quite against animal-etiquette
Speaker:to dwell on possible trouble ahead, or even to allude to it;
Speaker:so he dropped the subject. 'And
Speaker:beyond the Wild Wood again?'
he asked:'Where it's all blue and dim,
he asked:and one sees what may be hills or perhaps they mayn't,
he asked:and something like the smoke of towns, or is it only cloud drift?' 'Beyond
he asked:the Wild Wood
he asked:comes the Wide World,'
he asked:said the Rat. 'And that's something that doesn't matter,
he asked:either to you or me.
he asked:I've never been there,
he asked:and I'm never going,
he asked:nor you either, if you've got any sense at all.
he asked:Don't ever refer to it again, please.
he asked:Now then! Here's our backwater at last, where we're going to lunch.'
he asked:Leaving the main stream,
he asked:they now passed into what seemed at first sight like
he asked:a little land-locked lake.
he asked:Green turf sloped down to either edge,
he asked:brown snaky tree-roots gleamed below the surface of the quiet water,
he asked:while ahead of them
he asked:the silvery shoulder and foamy tumble of a weir,
he asked:arm-in-arm with a restless dripping mill-wheel,
he asked:that held up in its turn
he asked:a grey—gabled mill-house,
he asked:filled the air with a soothing murmur of sound,
he asked:dull and smothery,
he asked:yet with little clear voices speaking up cheerfully out of it at intervals.
he asked:It was so very beautiful that the Mole could only hold up both forepaws and gasp, 'O
he asked:my! O my! O my!'
he asked:The Rat brought the boat alongside the bank,
he asked:made her fast, helped the still awkward Mole safely ashore,
he asked:and swung out the luncheon-basket.
he asked:The Mole begged as a favour to be allowed to unpack it all by himself;
he asked:and the Rat was very pleased to indulge him,
he asked:and to sprawl at full length on the grass
he asked:and rest, while his excited friend shook out the table—cloth and spread it,
he asked:took out all the mysterious packets one by one
he asked:and arranged their contents in due order,
he asked:still gasping, 'O my!
he asked:O my!' at each fresh revelation.
he asked:When all was ready,
he asked:the Rat said, 'Now,
he asked:pitch in, old fellow!'
he asked:and the Mole was indeed very glad to obey, for he had started his spring-cleaning at a very early hour I that morning,
he asked:as people will do,
he asked:and had not paused for bite or sup;
he asked:and he had been through a very great deal since that distant time
he asked:which now seemed so many days ago. 'What
he asked:are you looking at?' said the Rat presently,
he asked:when the edge of their hunger was somewhat dulled,
he asked:and the Mole's eyes were able to wander off the table-cloth a little. 'I
he asked:am looking,' said the Mole, 'at
he asked:a streak of bubbles that I see travelling along the surface of the water.
he asked:That is a thing that strikes me as funny.' 'Bubbles?
he asked:Oho!' said the Rat,
he asked:and chirruped cheerily in an inviting sort of way.
he asked:A broad glistening muzzle
he asked:showed itself above the edge of the bank,
he asked:and the Otter hauled himself out
he asked:and shook the water from his coat. 'Greedy
he asked:beggars?'
he asked:he observed, making for the provender. 'Why
he asked:didn't you invite me, Ratty?' 'This
he asked:was an impromptu affair,'
he asked:explained the Rat. 'By
he asked:the way—my friend Mr. Mole.' 'Proud,
he asked:I'm sure,' said the Otter,
he asked:and the two animals were friends forthwith. 'Such
he asked:a rumpus everywhere!' continued the Otter. 'All
he asked:the world seems out on the river to-day.
he asked:I came up this backwater to try and get a moment's peace,
he asked:and then stumble upon you fellows!
he asked:—At least—I beg pardon
he asked:—I don't exactly mean that, you know.'
he asked:There was a rustle behind them,
he asked:proceeding from a hedge wherein last year's leaves if still clung thick,
he asked:and a stripy head, with high shoulders behind it,
he asked:peered forth on
he asked:them. 'Come on, old Badger!' shouted the Rat.
he asked:The Badger trotted forward a pace or two; then grunted, 'H'm!
he asked:Company,' and turned his back and disappeared from view. 'That's
he asked:just the sort of fellow he is!'
he asked:observed the disappointed Rat. 'Simply
he asked:hates Society!
he asked:Now we shan't see any more of him to-day.
he asked:Well, tell us, who's out on the river?' 'Toad's out, for one,' replied the Otter. 'In his brand-new wager-boat; new togs, new everything!' The two animals looked at each
he asked:other and it laughed. 'Once, it was nothing but sailing said
he asked:the Rat. 'Then
he asked:he tired of that and took to punting.
he asked:Nothing would please him
he asked:but to punt all day and every day, and a nice mess he made of it.
he asked:Last year it was house—boating,
he asked:and we all had to go and stay with him in his house—boat,
he asked:and pretend we liked it.
he asked:He was going to spend the rest of his life in a house—boat.
he asked:It's all the same,
he asked:whatever he takes up;
he asked:he gets tired of it,
he asked:and starts on something fresh.' 'Such
he asked:a good fellow, too,'
he asked:remarked the Otter reflectively: 'But
he asked:no stability
he asked:—especially in a boat!'
he asked:From where they sat they could get a glimpse of the main stream across the island that separated them;
he asked:and just then a wager-boat flashed into view,
he asked:the rower—a short, stout figure—splashing badly and rolling a good deal, but working his hardest.
he asked:The Rat stood up
he asked:and hailed him,
he asked:but Toad—for it was he
he asked:—shook his head and settled sternly to his work. 'He'1l
he asked:be out of the boat in a minute if he rolls like that,'
he asked:said the Rat, sitting down again. 'Of
he asked:course he will,'
he asked:chuckled the Otter. 'Did
he asked:I ever tell you that good story about Toad and the lock-keeper?
he asked:It happened this way.
he asked:Toad….' An errant May-fly swerved unsteadily athwart the current in the intoxicated fashion affected by young bloods of May-flies seeing life.
he asked:A swirl of water and a 'cloop!'
he asked:and the May-fly was visible no more.
he asked:Neither was the Otter.
he asked:The Mole looked down.
he asked:The voice was still in his ears,
he asked:but the turf whereon he had sprawled was clearly vacant.
he asked:Not an Otter to be seen,
he asked:as far as the distant horizon.
he asked:But again there was a streak of bubbles on the surface of the river.
he asked:The Rat hummed a tune,
he asked:and the Mole recollected that animal-etiquette forbade any sort of comment
he asked:on the sudden disappearance of one's friends at any moment, for any reason or no reason whatever. 'Well,
he asked:well,' said the Rat, 'I suppose we ought to be moving.
he asked:I wonder which of us had better pack the luncheon-basket?'
he asked:He did not speak as if he was frightfully eager for the treat. 'O,
he asked:please let me,' said the Mole. So, of course, the Rat let him.
he asked:Packing the basket was not
he asked:quite such pleasant work as unpacking the basket.
he asked:It never is. But the Mole was bent on enjoying
he asked:everything, and although just when he had got the basket packed and strapped up tightly
he asked:he saw a plate staring up at him from the grass,
he asked:and when the job had been done again the Rat pointed out a fork which anybody ought to have seen,
he asked:and last of all, behold!
he asked:the mustard pot, which he had been sitting on without knowing it
he asked:—still, somehow, the thing got finished at last, without much loss of temper.
he asked:The afternoon sun was getting low as the Rat sculled gently homewards in a dreamy mood,
he asked:murmuring poetry-things over to himself,
he asked:and not paying much attention to Mole. But the
he asked:Mole was very full of lunch, and self-satisfaction, and pride,
he asked:and already quite at home in a boat
he asked:(so he thought) and was getting a bit restless besides:
he asked:and presently he said, 'Ratty!
he asked:Please, I want to row, now!'
he asked:The Rat shook his head with a smile. 'Not
he asked:yet, my young friend,'
he asked:he said—'wait till you've had a few lessons.
he asked:It's not so easy as it looks.'
he asked:The Mole was quiet for a minute or two.
he asked:But he began to feel more and more jealous of Rat,
he asked:sculling so strongly and so easily along,
he asked:and his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well.
he asked:He jumped up and seized the sculls, so suddenly, that the Rat,
he asked:who was gazing out over the water and saying more poetry-things to himself,
he asked:was taken by surprise and fell backwards off his seat with his legs in the air for the second time,
he asked:while the triumphant Mole took his place
he asked:and grabbed the sculls with entire confidence. 'Stop
he asked:it, you silly ass!'
he asked:cried the Rat, from the bottom of the boat. 'You can't do it! You'll have us over!'
he asked:The Mole flung his sculls back with a flourish,
he asked:and made a great dig at the water.
he asked:He missed the surface altogether,
he asked:his legs flew up above his head, and he found himself lying on the top of the prostrate Rat.
he asked:Greatly alarmed, he made a grab at the side of the boat,
he asked:and the next moment
he asked:—Sploosh! Over went the boat,
he asked:and he found himself struggling in the river.
he asked:O my, how cold the water was,
he asked:and O, how very wet it felt.
he asked:How it sang in his ears as he went down, down, down!
he asked:How bright and welcome the sun looked as he rose to the surface
he asked:coughing and spluttering!
he asked:How black was his despair when he felt himself sinking again!
he asked:Then a firm paw gripped him by the back of his neck.
he asked:It was the Rat, and he was evidently laughing
he asked:—the Mole could feel him laughing,
he asked:right down his arm and through his paw,
he asked:and so into his—the Mole's
he asked:—neck. The Rat got hold of a scull and shoved it under the Mole's arm;
he asked:then he did the same by the other side of him and,
he asked:swimming behind, propelled the helpless animal to shore,
he asked:hauled him out, and set him down on the bank,
he asked:a squashy, pulpy lump of misery.
he asked:When the Rat had rubbed him down a bit, and wrung some of the wet out of him,
he asked:he said, 'Now, then, old fellow!
he asked:Trot up and down the towing-path as hard as you can,
he asked:till you're warm and dry again,
he asked:while I dive for the luncheon-basket.'
he asked:So the dismal Mole,
he asked:wet without and ashamed within,
he asked:trotted about till he was fairly dry,
he asked:while the Rat plunged into the water again, recovered the boat, righted her
he asked:and made her fast,
he asked:fetched his floating property to shore by degrees,
he asked:and finally dived successfully for the luncheon-basket
he asked:and struggled to land with it.
he asked:When all was ready for a start once more,
he asked:the Mole, limp and dejected, took his seat in the stern of the boat;
he asked:and as they set off,
he asked:he said in a low voice,
he asked:broken with emotion, 'Ratty,
he asked:my generous friend!
he asked:I am very sorry indeed for my foolish and ungrateful conduct.
he asked:My heart quite fails me when I think how I might have lost that beautiful luncheon-basket.
he asked:Indeed, I have been
he asked:a complete ass, and I know it.
he asked:Will you overlook it this once and forgive me,
he asked:and let things go on as before?' 'That's
he asked:all right, bless you!'
he asked:responded the Rat cheerily. 'What's
he asked:a little wet to a Water Rat?
he asked:I'm more in the water than out of it most days.
he asked:Don't you think any more about it; and,
he asked:look here! I really think you had better come and stop with me for a little time.
he asked:It's very plain and rough, you know—not like Toad's house at all
he asked:—but you haven't seen that yet; still,
he asked:I can make you comfortable.
he asked:And I'll teach you to row, and to swim,
he asked:and you'll soon be as handy on the water as any of us.'
he asked:The Mole was so touched by his kind manner of speaking
he asked:that he could find no voice to answer him;
he asked:and he had to brush away a tear or two with the back of his paw.
he asked:But the Rat kindly looked in another direction,
he asked:and presently the Mole's spirits
he asked:revived again, and he was even able to
he asked:give some straight back-talk to a couple of moorhens who were sniggering to each other about his bedraggled appearance.
he asked:When they got home,
he asked:the Rat made a bright fire in the parlour,
he asked:and planted the Mole in an arm-chair in front of it,
he asked:having fetched down a dressing-gown and slippers for him,
he asked:and told him river stories till supper-time.
he asked:Very thrilling stories they were, too,
he asked:to an earth-dwelling animal like Mole.
he asked:Stories about weirs,
he asked:and sudden floods,
he asked:and leaping pike,
he asked:and steamers that flung hard bottles
he asked:—at least bottles were certainly flung, and from steamers, so presumably by them;
he asked:and about herons, and how particular they were whom they spoke to;
he asked:and about adventures down drains,
he asked:and night-fishings with Otter,
he asked:or excursions far a-field with Badger.
he asked:Supper was a most cheerful meal;
he asked:but very shortly afterwards a terribly sleepy Mole had to be escorted upstairs by his considerate host,
he asked:to the best bedroom,
he asked:where he soon laid his head on his pillow
he asked:in great peace and contentment,
he asked:knowing that his new-found friend
he asked:the River was lapping the sill of his window.
he asked:This day was only the first of many similar ones for the emancipated Mole,
he asked:each of them longer
he asked:and full of interest as the ripening summer moved onward.
he asked:He learnt to swim
he asked:and to row, and entered into the joy of running water;
he asked:and with his ear to the reed-stems he caught,
he asked:at intervals, something of what the wind went whispering
he asked:so constantly among them.
he asked:This was Chapter I of
he asked:"The Wind in the Willows"
he asked:by Kenneth Grahame,
he asked:read for you by Khaki,
he asked:your faithful fireside companion.
he asked:You can find many more stories on the web at thevoice.dog,
he asked:or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.
he asked:Thank you for keeping me company at the fireside for a hundred stories so far.
he asked:Thank you for listening
he asked:to The Voice of Dog
