The Wind in the Willows

Life at the Riverbank

Mole lived in a house under the ground. One spring morning, he was cleaning his little house. “Oh, I'm tired. It is never interesting. I'll go outside! ” he cried.

He went out and walked along the riverbank.

Suddenly, he saw a dark hole in the bank across the river.

Two brown eyes twinkled inside the hole. Then a head came out. It was the Water Rat.

“Hello, Mole! ” Then Rat came across the river on a little boat.

Soon, Mole was in the boat on the river, too!

“I'm so excited! This is my first time in a boat! ” exclaimed Mole.

“Really? Oh, poor Mole! Let's spend the day on the river. I have some food, ”said Rat. Rat rowed and Mole looked all around him. “So you live by the river. What a wonderful life! ” said Mole dreamily.

“Yes, the river is my friend. It gives me food, and of course I wash in it. It's my whole world and I don't want any other, ”said Rat.

Rat and Mole had a delicious lunch on the riverbank. They could see the river passing lazily by.

“Oh, look! There's Toad! ” shouted Rat. Mole saw Toad rowing past them in a boat. “He is always trying new things. Sometimes he talks too much about himself. But he is my good friend, ” said Rat.

Later, Rat said, “Would you like to stay with me for a while? I will teach you all about the river.”

“Oh, thank you, Rat. I am so happy, ”said Mole.

From that day Mole started to learn everything about the river. He learned to swim, row a boat and enjoy lazy days in the sun.

Rat and Mole sat in the sun on the riverbank one morning.

“Rat, I would like to meet Toad. Can we visit him? ” asked Mole.

“What a good idea! Toad always welcomes visitors! ” exclaimed Rat.

So Rat and Mole rowed over to Toad Hall. It was a grand house with a beautiful garden. They found him in the garden. “Oh, Rat! I wanted to see you! ”Toad jumped up.

“Toad, this is my friend, Mole, ” said Rat.

“Hello. I have something exciting to show you! ” cried Toad. He took Rat and Mole to the yard.

There was a gypsy caravan in the yard.

“I will travel around the whole world, ”said Toad.

Mole was very interested. He looked at the kitchen, the beds, the books, the games and the food in the caravan.

“Everything is here for us. Let's go! ”said Toad.

The three friends left Toad Hall that afternoon. “What a beautiful day! This is better than the river! ” exclaimed Toad.

Mole was so excited, but Rat was already missing the river.

The next morning Toad, Rat and Mole heard a strange noise behind them.

They looked back and saw a lot of dust in the road.

The strange noise came again, “Poop!Poop! ”

Then the thing went past them.

The horse was very scared.

It ran into the ditch and the caravan turned over.

The windows and everything inside were broken.

Rat jumped up and down angrily in the road.

But Toad said dreamily, “I never knew! That was a motorcar! Now that's the thing for me! ”

“We'll just have to walk then. Come on, ” Rat sighed.

They went back to their home.

The next day, Toad bought a very large and expensive car!

No One Can Stop Toad

Rat and Mole enjoyed life on the river again. Soon the summer was over.

Before long, the days were getting shorter. Winter came and the animals slept long hours.

Rat and Mole talked about Rat's friend, Badger.

“I want to see him. Why don't we visit him? I would like to hear about life in the Wild Wood, ” said Mole.

“Badger really hates visitors. If he wants to see us, he will come, ” answered Rat.

Winter passed and it was spring.

One warm day, Badger appeared at Rat's house, “Hello, Rat! ”

“Welcome! This is my friend, Mole, ”said Rat.

“Pleased to meet you, ” said Mole.

“And you, Mole, ” said Badger.

“Now Rat, what's this I hear about Toad? ”

“Toad is not good at all. He smashed up six cars. Now he has a new car—his seventh! ”

Rat sighed and shook his head.

“He went to the hospital three times.And he is in trouble with the police, ” said Mole.

“He's going to kill himself or somebody else. We should do something to help him! ” said Rat.

“It's time to talk some sense into Toad. We are his friends. Let's go to Toad Hall, ”said Badger.

“Okay! Let's go! ” shouted Rat and Mole.

They arrived at Toad Hall and saw Toad's new, red, shiny car.

Toad came out of the house wearing new clothes.

“Good morning, everybody! Did you come to take a ride in my new car? ” said Toad happily.

Then he saw their faces and asked,“What's wrong? ” Badger took Toad into a private room.

“Listen to me, Toad. You have ignored all the warnings. You are wasting money. Your terrible driving and dangerous accidents are embarrassing your friends, ” said Badger seriously.

Toad just looked at the floor.

After a long time, Badger came out with Toad and said, “Toad will stop driving cars.”

But Toad smiled, “No, no, no. Cars are the most wonderful things in the world. I won't stop driving! ”

Badger was shocked and he shouted,“You are very bad. You must stay in your room until you decide to be good! ”

Rat and Mole dragged Toad to his room and locked the door.

Toad was very angry. He shouted and cried night and day.

One day, Toad called weakly to Rat,“Rat, I'm sick. Get the doctor before I die.” Rat was scared. He left the room unlocked and ran to get the doctor. Toad jumped out of bed. He wasn't really sick!

Toad ran until he came to an inn. Then he heard a sound, “Poop! Poop! ”

It was a nice, new car! He stole the car and drove away.

Soon the police caught him.

Toad's Adventures

In the courtroom, the judge said to Toad, “You stole that car and drove it very dangerously. You must go to prison for twenty years.”

Toad sat down on the floor of the prison and said to himself, “This is the end of Toad. Why didn't I listen to my friends? ”

When Toad cried in prison, he saw a pretty girl watching him.

She was the daughter of a prison officer.

She came to visit Toad everyday and they became friends.

One morning the girl said to Toad, “I know you want to get out of here. My aunt washes clothes for the prisoners. Pay her money, and she will give you her clothes. You can put on her dress and pretend to be her. Then just escape from here. Nobody will know you are Toad.”

Toad didn't want to wear the washerwoman's dress, but he really wanted to get out of the prison.

“Oh, that's a great idea! Thank you! ”said Toad.

The next day, the washerwoman gave Toad her dress. He put it on and walked right out the front gate of the prison!

“Hooray! I'm free! ” exclaimed Toad.

He ran to the train station. But he had no money for a ticket. He began to cry again.

The train driver saw him and asked,“Oh, poor washerwoman, what's wrong? ”

“I don't have any money. But my children are waiting for me at home. They have no food, ” said Toad.

“Don't cry. I will take you home, ” said the train driver.

So Toad jumped on and the train started to move.

After a while the train driver said,“There's a train following us with many policemen on it. What do they want? ”

Then Toad told him the truth.

“I'm not a washerwoman. I'm Toad of Toad Hall. I ran away from prison. The policemen are chasing me! I stole a car but I'm very sorry about it.”

“Okay, I will help you. This train will go through a tunnel. I will low down on the other side. Jump of the train and hide, ”said the train driver.

Toad jumped off the train and ran into the woods. Soon the train with many policemen went past. Toad crawled into a log and tried to sleep.

The next morning, Toad walked along the road. He was feeling very sad and tired. Suddenly, he saw a car approaching him. Oh, it was the car he stole from the inn!

It was the same driver!

“He will take me to the police and I will go back to prison! ” Toad said to himself.

He began to cry. But the driver didn't know it was Toad.

“Come here, washerwoman. I will take you home, ” said the driver.

Toad got into the car happily.

Soon Toad said, “Can I drive, please? ”

The driver laughed, “Why not? ” Toad drove faster and faster.

The driver cried out, “Slow down, washerwoman! ”

Toad threw off his bonnet and cried,

“I'm not a washerwoman! I am Toad of Toad Hall! ”

“What? Toad? You are a thief. Stop the car! I will take you to the police! ” cried the driver.

But Toad didn't stop and finally he crashed the car into a tree.

Toad ran away and the driver chased him.

Suddenly, Toad fell into the river. He tried to get out of the water but he was too tired.

Then someone pulled him onto the riverbank.

“Good morning, Toad. What are you doing here? ” asked Rat.

The Fight for Toad Hall

“Tell me what happened, Toad, ” said Rat.

“I'm so clever! I escaped from prison. The police couldn't catch me. I crashed a car. The man couldn't catch me, either, ”said Toad.

Rat was quiet and said, “Don't you feel bad about those things? You're bad! ”

“Oh, Rat! You're right, I am bad. I will change. I am not interested in cars any more. I want to go to Toad Hall now! ”exclaimed Toad.

Rat looked at Toad sadly, “You can't go to Toad Hall.”

“What? Why not? ” asked Toad.

“Well, the weasels from the Wild Wood have taken Toad Hall over. Badger and Mole tried to defend your house, but the weasels had guns and knives. The weasels are eating your food and sleeping in your beds. They are breaking everything. The house is a mess, ” said Rat.

Soon Mole and Badger joined them. They hugged Toad happily.

“Tell us how you escaped, Toad. You must be very clever, ” said Mole.

“Don't encourage him. He is stupid, ”said Rat.

“Yes, I am. I lost my house and I disappointed my friends, ” said Toad sadly.

“Come on, now! We can get Toad Hall back! I know a secret. There is a tunnel from the riverbank into the middle of Toad Hall. We will use it to sneak up on the weasels. If all four of us fight, we will win, ” said Badger.

“Yes, let's get Toad Hall back! ” Toad brightened up.

The next day, Mole came into the room. He was wearing Toad's washerwoman's dress. “Ha-ha! I pretended to be a washerwoman. I talked to the weasels guarding Toad Hall. I told them that Badger organized a hundred of his friends to attack Toad Hall tonight, ” said Mole.

Badger clapped Mole on the back,“Good job! You are very smart.”

Badger, Toad, Rat and Mole went through the tunnel to the kitchen of Toad Hall.

They could hear the weasels having a party.

“Follow me! ” shouted Badger. They burst into the dining room. The weasels were very scared, because they thought of the washerwoman's words.

The four friends seemed like hundreds of badgers, toads, rats and moles attacking.

Soon all the weasels ran away.

“You have your house back, Toad, ”said Badger.

Toad jumped up and down.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you very much! ”

Life went on as usual. Badger returned to his home under the ground in the Wild Wood. He still didn't like visitors or parties. Rat and Mole enjoyed peaceful days on the river.

Toad lived much more quietly at Toad Hall. He was very different. He didn't brag anymore. He didn't buy any more motorcars or boats.

He learned many things from his adventures. Life was calm and pleasant on the river once more.