Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Part 1.
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Chapter 1 – The River
The Mole worked very hard all morning, cleaning his little home. He brushed, and he washed; he cleaned the floors and the walls, he stood on chairs to wash the tops of cupboards, he got under the beds, he took up the carpets. He cleaned and he cleaned, until his arms and his back ached with tiredness.
It was springtime, and the smell and the sound of spring were everywhere, even in the Mole’s dark little house under the ground. And with the spring comes the promise of change, of sunshine, of new green leaves. So it was not surprising that the Mole suddenly put down his brush and said, ‘Oh bother!’ and then, ‘I’m tired of cleaning!’ Something up above the ground was calling to him, and he ran out of his house and began to dig his way upwards to the sun.
He dug and he pushed, and he pushed and he dug. ‘Up we go! Up we go!’ he said to himself, until at last his nose came out into the sunlight, and he found himself in the warm grass of a field.
‘This is fine!’ said the Mole. ‘This is better than cleaning!’ The sunshine was warm on his back and the air was filled with the songs of birds. He gave a little jump for happiness, shook himself, and then began to cross the field towards some trees. Here and there he went, through the fields and the woods, looking and smelling and listening. Everywhere animals and birds were busy, talking and laughing, looking for food, making new homes for the spring. The Mole enjoyed it all.
Then, suddenly, he came to a river. He had never seen a river before in his life – this wonderful bright shining thing, which danced its way in and out of the shadows under the trees. It was never still for a minute, hurrying and laughing and talking to itself.
And at once, the Mole was in love with it. He walked along the river bank, listening and watching all the time. At last he sat down on the grass and looked across the river to the bank opposite. There was a dark hole in the bank, and the Mole watched it dreamily, thinking that it would be very pleasant to have a little house by the river. As he watched, he saw something shining in the hole. Soon he saw that it was an eye, and then a face appeared as well.
A brown little face, with whiskers.
With bright eyes, and small ears, and thick shiny hair.
It was a Water Rat!
Then the two animals stood up and looked at each other.
‘Hello, Mole!’ said the Water Rat.
‘Hello, Rat!’ said the Mole.
‘Would you like to come over?’ asked the Rat.
‘Oh, it’s easy to talk,’ said the Mole, a little crossly. The river was new to him and he did not know how to get to the other side.
The Rat said nothing, and disappeared. Then he appeared again, in a little blue and white boat, which came quickly across the river towards the Mole. It stopped by the bank, and a moment later the Mole, to his great surprise and excitement, found himself actually sitting in a real boat.
‘Do you know,’ he said, as the Rat began to row away from the bank, ‘I’ve never been in a boat before in all my life.’
‘What?’ cried the Rat. ‘My dear fellow, you haven’t lived! Believe me,’ he went on seriously, ‘there is nothing – really nothing – nicer than just messing about in boats. You can go up river, down river, stay where you are, it really doesn’t matter. There’s always something to do, but you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. You can do what you like. Look here! If you’re not busy today, why don’t we spend the day on the river together?’
The Mole had listened to all this with great interest. Now he sat back in the comfortable seat and said, ‘What a wonderful day this is! Let’s start at once!’
But first the Rat went into his hole, and after a while came out carrying a very large and heavy lunch basket. This went into the boat, under the Mole’s feet, and then the Rat began to row down river. The two friends talked from time to time, but mostly the Mole just watched the river dreamily, enjoying the sounds and the smells and the sunlight. At last they turned off the big river into a little side river that came down to join it. The Rat stopped the boat and they got out on to a bank of soft green grass under tall willow trees. It was very quiet and very peaceful.
The Mole sat down and looked around him. ‘What a beautiful place!’ he said happily.
‘Time for lunch,’ said the Rat, opening the basket. ‘Come on, Mole! Let’s get to work.’
The Mole was happy to obey, because he was very hungry indeed after all his cleaning earlier in the day. And what a lunch it was! There were cold meats and egg sandwiches, cooked chicken and tomatoes, apples and bananas and a large cake.
Go to Part 2