THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

By Kenneth Grahame

Chapter 1: The River Bank

Mole worked hard all morning.
He was cleaning his little home.
He used brooms and dusters.
He used a brush and white paint.
He got dust in his eyes.
His back and arms hurt.

Spring was in the air.
Spring was in the ground too.
Mole felt a strange feeling.
He wanted to go outside.

He dropped his brush.
"Bother!" he said.
He ran outside.
He did not even put on his coat.

He dug up through his tunnel.
He scraped and scratched.
"Up we go!" he said.
Pop! He came out into the sun.
He rolled in warm, soft grass.

"This is fine!" said Mole.
"This is much better than cleaning!"
The sun felt warm on his fur.
Birds sang all around him.
He jumped for joy.
He ran across the meadow.

He came to a hedge.
An old rabbit stopped him.
"Pay me to pass!" said the rabbit.
Mole did not stop.
He ran right past.
"Onion sauce!" he called back.
The rabbits were cross with each other.

Mole walked and walked.
He saw birds building nests.
He saw flowers opening up.
Everyone was busy.
But Mole felt happy just watching.

Then Mole saw something new.
It was a river!
He had never seen a river before.
The water moved and danced.
It sparkled in the sun.
It made happy, bubbly sounds.

Mole sat down by the river.
He listened to it for a long time.

Across the river, he saw a dark hole.
It was in the bank.
Something small and bright shone inside it.
It blinked.
It was an eye!

A little brown face appeared.
It had whiskers.
It had small, neat ears.

It was the Water Rat!

"Hello, Mole!" said the Rat.
"Hello, Rat!" said the Mole.

"Do you want to come over?" asked the Rat.

"That's easy to say," said Mole.
He did not know how to cross.

The Rat did not answer.
He untied a little rope.
He stepped into a small boat.
It was blue and white.
Mole loved it right away.

The Rat rowed across the river.
"Step in," said the Rat.
Mole climbed carefully into the boat.

"This is wonderful!" said Mole.
"I have never been in a boat before!"

"What?" said the Rat.
He could not believe it.
"Never in a boat? What have you been doing all this time?"

"Is riding in a boat really that good?" asked Mole.

"It is the best thing," said the Rat.
He began to row.
"There is nothing better than messing about in boats," he said.
"Simply messing about in boats..."

"Look out, Rat!" cried Mole.

Too late!
The boat hit the bank.
The Rat fell backward into the boat.
His feet went up in the air.

The Rat laughed and sat up.
"In boats, or with boats," he said.
"It does not matter.
Nothing matters much on the river.
You are always busy.
But you never do anything important.
And that is the best part!
Do you want to go down the river with me today?"

Mole wiggled his toes with joy.
"What a wonderful day!" he said.
"Yes, let's go right now!"

"Wait one minute," said the Rat.
He climbed up to his home.
He came back with a big basket of food.

"Put that under your feet," said the Rat.

"What is inside it?" asked Mole.

"Cold chicken," said the Rat.
"And cold ham, and salad, and bread,
and sandwiches, and cakes, and lemonade too!"

"Stop, stop!" laughed Mole.
"That is so much food!"

"Is it too much?" asked the Rat.
"This is what I always bring.
My friends say I bring too little!"

Mole was not listening anymore.
He was watching the water.
He was smelling the fresh air.
He put his paw in the river.
He felt very happy.

The Rat rowed on quietly.
He let Mole enjoy the ride.

"I like your clothes," said the Rat after a while.
"I want a velvet coat like that someday."

"Sorry," said Mole.
"This is all so new to me.
So... this is a river!"

"The River," said the Rat.

"You live by the river? What a fun life!" said Mole.

"I live by it, on it, and in it," said the Rat.
"It is like my family.
It gives me food and water.
It is my whole world.
I do not need anything else.
We have had such good times together!
In winter, the water rises high.
In summer, it goes down low.
There is always something fun happening."

"But isn't it lonely sometimes?" asked Mole.
"Just you and the river, with no one to talk to?"

"No one else?" said the Rat.
"You do not know yet.
So many animals live here now!
Otters, and kingfishers, and little birds,
all wanting me to do something..."