Calico Illustrated Classics: The Wind in the Willows
Why not asked Mole nervously Aren’t there nice animals in there Well replied the Rat the squirrels are all right The rabbits are mixed Some are nice Others Well not so much Then he smiled And of course Badger lives there He lives in the heart of it He wouldn’t move anywhere else Nobody would ever bother Badger Who would try asked Mole Foxes and weasels and so on said Rat I’m friends with all of them but you can’t really trust them Mole knew that he shouldn’t dwell on possible trouble ahead so he changed the subject And what’s beyond the Wild Wood Ah said Rat Beyond the Wild Wood is the Wide World I’ve never been there and I’ll never go there You won’t either if you have any sense at all The Rat sighed Please don’t ever refer to it again Mole shuddered and promised to never mention the Wide World again 10
chapter 2 Meeting New Friends Mole and Rat continued on their adventure Rat brought the boat alongside the bank and helped Mole to shore Rat gave the wicker basket to Mole Mole wanted to empty the basket himself to thank Rat for lunch Mole shook out the tablecloth and lay it down on the grass Then he took out all sorts of mysterious packets and lay them out Finally Rat said Dig in Mole was happy to obey the orders As they ate Rat noticed Mole staring at something What are you looking at I see bubbles in the water said Mole A streak of bubbles traveling along the surface It looks funny 11
Bubbles asked Rat He perked up as a broad glistening muzzle popped up on the bank It was Otter He hauled himself out of the water and shook his coat Greedy said Otter Why didn’t you invite me Ratty This is an impromptu affair said Rat But please meet my friend Mr Mole Nice to meet you said Otter Such a rumpus everywhere All the world seems out on the river today I came here to get a moment’s peace and found you two Just then there was a slight rustle behind them Badger peered out from behind a bush Come out Badger Badger trotted forward a pace or two and then grunted Hmpf Company He turned his back and disappeared That’s the sort of fellow he is said Rat Simply hates society and the world at times We won’t see any more of him today 12
Otter then gave everyone the rundown on who was on the river that day He enjoyed speaking of Toad who had a new boat Toad often has new boats and grows tired of them easily It won’t be long before he has a new boat and grows bored of that one too It was only minutes later that they spied Toad working hard in his boat to keep it steady Rat stood and waved him over Toad shook his head and returned to his work If he doesn’t steady that boat he’ll be in the water soon enough said Rat laughing Of course he will said Otter Did I ever tell you the time Toad But he didn’t finish Instead Otter was off in the water chasing a mayfly Although they couldn’t see Otter in the water they followed the stream of bubbles on the surface Rat hummed a tune and didn’t mention Otter’s sudden disappearance Mole didn’t want to appear rude so he didn’t mention it either 13
