The wild wood

Kenneth Grahame

《柳林風聲》（The Wind in the Willows）是以動物為主角的童話，文筆典雅，描寫細致，富含哲理。書中塑造了幾個可愛的動物形象：膽小怕事但又生性喜歡冒險的鼴鼠，熱情好客、充滿浪漫情趣的水鼠，俠義十足、具有領袖風范的老獾，喜歡吹牛、喜歡炫耀、追求時髦的蛤蟆，敦厚老實的水獺。他們生活在河岸或大森林里，經歷了一系列的冒險。

本文節選自《柳林風聲》第三章，節選時有刪改。

鼴鼠在一個飄雪的冬日下午獨自進入野樹林，結果在林中迷了路……

The Mole (鼴鼠) had wanted for a long time to meet the Badger (獾).He often spoke about his wish to the Water Rat, but the Rat didn't seem to want to do anything about it.

“It's all right,” the Rat always said.“Badger will come past one day, and then I'll introduce you.”

“Couldn't you invite him to dinner or something?” asked the Mole.

“He wouldn't come,”said the Rat.“He hates crowds, and parties, and dinners, and all that kind of thing.”

“Well then, shall we go and visit him?”

“Oh, no!” the Rat said.“He's very shy,and he wouldn't like that at all.I know him very well, but I've never visited his home.And it's not really possible to go there, because he lives right in the middle of the Wild Wood.”

But the summer passed and the Badger never came along.

Soon the days grew shorter, and the cold weather kept the animals inside their comfortable houses.The Rat slept a lot in the winter, going to bed early and getting up late.During his short days, he wrote songs and did small jobs in the house.And, of course, there were always animals calling in for a comfortable talk around the fire, telling stories and remembering the good times and the adventures of the past summer.

One afternoon, while the Rat was sleeping peacefully in front of the fire, the Mole decided to go out by himself and take a walk in the Wild Wood.“Perhaps, I'll meet Mr Badger, and then I can introduce myself,” he thought.

It was a cold afternoon, with a hard grey sky.The Mole hurried along, enjoying the quietness of the winter day, and after a time he saw in front of him the black shape of the Wild Wood.

He was not at all frightened at first.It was a strange, dark place, but the Mole found that exciting.He went deeper and deeper into the wood, where the light was less and the trees grew close together.Everything was very still now, and the darkness seemed to come down quickly,shutting the Mole off from the outside world.

Then the faces began to appear.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Mole thought that he saw a face looking at him from a hole, a little narrow face, with hard unfriendly eyes.When he turned to look straight at it, the thing had disappeared.

He hurried on, telling himself not to be silly.He passed another hole, and another, and—yes! The eyes were looking at him, then disappeared again into the darkness.Soon, every hole had a face, which watched him with eyes full of hate.

The Mole felt he had to get away from these faces.He turned off the path and hurried into the thickest part of the wood.

Then the whistling began.It was soft,and far behind him, when he first heard it.Then it seemed to come from in front of him, more loudly.The Mole stopped, listened and then went on again.He was trying hard to stay calm, but his heart was beating very fast.He was alone, and far from help, and the night was coming down quickly.

Then the pattering began.At first, he thought it was only falling leaves, but then the noise grew louder and nearer, and the Mole knew what it was.It was the sound of little feet running behind him, in front of him, on all sides of him.All the wood seemed to be alive, running, following,chasing something —or somebody.The frightened Mole began to run too, but he did not know where to go.He ran into trees and bushes, he fell over things and into things, he picked himself up and ran on.At last, he found a deep dark hole at the bottom of an old tree and fell into it, too tired to run another step.He lay there, shaking with fear, and listened to the whistlings and the patterings outside.Now he understood why the Rat did not want to talk about it, and why other small animals from the fields and the river bank never came here.Because now, the Mole had felt it himself—the Terror of the Wild Wood.

Reading Check

1.Who are the main characters in the text?

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2.How did the Water Rat feel about the Mole visiting the Badger?

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3.What did the Mole decide to do after realizing the Badger would never walk past?

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4.Can you describe the Mole's experience in the Wild Wood in your words?

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