The wild wood野樹林

Kenneth Grahame

The Mole （鼴鼠） had wanted for a longtime to meet the Badger （獾）. He oftenspoke about his wish to the Water Rat， butthe Rat didn't seem to want to do anythingabout it.

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

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

“He wouldn't come，”said the Rat.“ Hehates crowds， and parties， and dinners， andall 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， be?cause he lives right in the middle of theWild Wood.”

But the summer passed and the Bad?ger never came along.

Soon the days grew shorter， and thecold weather kept the animals inside theircomfortable houses. The Rat slept a lot inthe winter， going to bed early and gettingup late. During his short days， he wrotesongs and did small jobs in the house.And， of course， there were always animalscalling in for a comfortable talk around thefire， telling stories and remembering thegood times and the adventures of the pastsummer.

One afternoon， while the Rat wassleeping peacefully in front of the fire， theMole decided to go out by himself and takea walk in the Wild Wood. “Perhaps， I'llmeet Mr Badger， and then I can introducemyself，” he thought.

It was a cold afternoon， with a hardgrey sky. The Mole hurried along， enjoyingthe quietness of the winter day， and after atime he saw in front of him the black shapeof the Wild Wood.

He was not at all frightened at first. Itwas a strange， dark place， but the Mole?found that exciting. He went deeper anddeeper into the wood， where the light wasless and the trees grew close together.Everything was very still now， and thedarkness 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 Molethought that he saw a face looking at himfrom a hole， a little narrow face， with hardunfriendly eyes. When he turned to lookstraight at it， the thing had disappeared.

He hurried on， telling himself not tobe silly. He passed another hole， and an?other， and—yes！ The eyes were looking athim， then disappeared again into the dark?ness. Soon， every hole had a face， whichwatched him with eyes full of hate.

The Mole felt he had to get away fromthese faces. He turned off the path and hur?ried 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 ofhim， more loudly. The Mole stopped， lis?tened and then went on again. He wastrying hard to stay calm， but his heart wasbeating very fast. He was alone， and farfrom help， and the night was coming downquickly.

Then the pattering began. At first， hethought it was only falling leaves， but thenthe noise grew louder and nearer， and theMole knew what it was. It was the sound oflittle feet running behind him， in front ofhim， on all sides of him. All the woodseemed to be alive， running， following，chasing something —or somebody. Thefrightened Mole began to run too， but hedid not know where to go. He ran into treesand bushes， he fell over things and intothings， he picked himself up and ran on. Atlast， he found a deep dark hole at the bot?tom of an old tree and fell into it， too tiredto run another step. He lay there， shakingwith fear， and listened to the whistlingsand the patterings outside. Now he under?stood why the Rat did not want to talkabout it， and why other small animals from?the fields and the river bank never camehere. Because now， the Mole had felt ithimself—the Terror of the Wild Wood.

Reading

Check

1. Who are the main characters in the text？

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

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

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