有声名著之杨柳风 2

Chapter Two On the Road

One bright summer morning, the Mole 1 turned to the Rat and said, “Rat, could you do me a favor 2?”

The Rat was singing a song to himself about some ducks who were his friends. Rat enjoyed making up songs and poems in his head about many things.

All morning Rat and Mole had been sitting by the river. Sometimes Rat would jump into the water and swim around. However, it seemed to Mole that the ducks didn’t like Rat’s song very much.

After he finished singing the song, Rat said, “What? Oh, you want me to do you a favor? What is it, my young friend?”

“Well, I was wondering if you would take me to visit Mr. Toad 3. I’ve heard so much about him and I’d love to meet him.” said Mole.

“Of course.” said Rat. He forgot about songs and poetry for the day. “Let’s get the boat ready and then we’ll go. Toad always loves visitors day or night. He’s always in a good mood and glad to see you and sorry when you have to leave.”

“He sounds like a very nice animal.” said Mole.

“He certainly is. He is very kind and cheerful 4. Perhaps he isn’t the most intelligent above animals. But we can’t all be smart, can we? He is a little vain 5, but Toad has some very great qualities.” said the Rat.

Soon the two friends came to a turn in the river. They saw a large beautiful old house with grass coming down to the river’s edge 6.

“That is Toad’s house. It’s called Toad Hall. Toad is very rich as you can see.” said Rat. “He has a place for boats, and some stables 7 for horses. Over there is the dinning 8 building.”

“Over there!”

“Really, Toad Hall is the most beautiful house in the area, although we don’t want Toad to know.”

Rat and Mole arrived at the place where Toad kept his boats. Mole saw that Toad owned many different kinds of boats. However, they are looked as if they had not been used in a long time.

“I understand.” said Rat. “Remember when I told you that Toad is always getting bored. He’s decided 9 that riding in a boat is boring. Now he is interested in something else. Well, let’s go find him. I’m sure he’ll tell us the whole story whether we want to hear it or not.”

Mole and Rat found Toad sitting under grass outside his house. He was studying a large map.

When he saw Mole and Rat, he cried “This is wonderful!” and jumped up. He shook Mole’s paw 10 quickly without asking his name.

“How kind of you to come and see me! I was just going to send someone to find you, Rat. I need your help. I need both of you. Now, what would you like to eat or drink? I have everything!”

“Wait a minute, Toad! Let’s sit down quietly for a minute.” said Rat.

He sat down in a chair. The Mole sat next to Rat. Mole told Toad politely that he had a very fine house.

“Oh, of course I do. It’s the finest house in the area, or anywhere else in the world.” cried Toad. “Now, listen here. You two are just animals I wanted. You’ve got to help me. It’s very important.”

“Do you need help with your boat?” asked the Rat.

“Oh, forget about boating 11!” cried Toad. “I’m finished with that. Riding in a boat is for children. I feel sorry for the two of you. You’re always riding in a boat and wasting your energy. You could be doing something much more fun. I have discovered the greatest entertainment. I’m going to spend the rest of my life doing it. Come with me and you’ll see what I mean.”

Toad took Mole and Rat around to the side of the house. There they saw a large wagon 12. It was painted in many colors and with red and green wheels.

“While I’m driving this wagon, I’m going to have a life of great adventure!” said Toad. “I’ll travel out into the great world. See the country and meet people. I’ll even see towns and cities. In a wagon, you can be one place today and another the next day. The whole world is yours to see. Travel, change, interest and excitement. And don’t worry! This is the finest wagon that has ever built. I designed it myself.”

Mole and Rat did not know what to think. They didn’t think adventure sounded very fun. However, when they examined the wagon, they saw that it was very comfortable. There were comfortable beds to sleep in. There was also a cooking stove, a place to store food, and a small table and chairs. And animal could travel on the road very nicely in this wagon.

“Everything’s here, you see.” said Toad. “I’ve got food, games and supplies in this wagon. Everything’s ready, so we can begin traveling this afternoon.”

Rat stared at Toad. “Begin traveling this afternoon? My dear Toad, what are you talking about?”

“Now, my dear good old Rat, don’t be silly. You know you’ve simply got to come with me. I couldn’t possibly do it without you. Are you telling me that you are going to sit by the river for the rest of your life and play with that boat? I won’t let you. I’m going to show you the world, my boy.” cried Toad, dancing around in circles.

“I don’t care!” said Rat firmly. “I’m not going with you and that’s final. And I’m going to sit by the river for the rest of my life. I’ll live in my boat and my little house and Mole is going to do the same thing. Aren’t you, Mole?”

“Of course I’m, Rat.” said Mole.

Mole was a very loyal 13 friend.

“I’ll always stay with you and do what you do. But, well, Toad’s idea sounds like it might be fun. Don’t you think?” he said.

Pool Mole! Until recently Mole had lived a very quiet life. Now he was living with Rat and doing all sorts of new things. So the idea of even greater adventure – out in the great world – sounded frightening, but also very wonderful. But he didn’t want to make Rat unhappy, so he didn’t know what to do.

The Rat realized what his friend Mole was thinking and he thought about it. He liked the Mole very much. He would do almost anything for him.

Meanwhile, Toad was watching both Mole and Rat very closely 14.

“Well, come inside and have some lunch.” Toad said. “We’ll talk about it. We don’t need to decide anything immediately. Of course, I don’t care if we go or not. I only want to make you animals happy. Live for other people – that’s what I always say.”

During lunch which was very delicious, the Toad talked mostly to Mole. He really wanted to go traveling. He knew that if he could persuade Mole to go the Rat would agree. So Toad talked about the great world outside. He said that there was much excitement and happiness to be found there. This made the Mole very excited. The Rat was much too kind and good to disappoint his friends. So soon it was agreed that they would travel for a while. They made many plans about what they would do each day and where they would go.

When they had finished lunch and were ready to go, Toad asked his friends to go and capture 15 the old grey horse who had to pull the wagon. The horse was not very happy with this job, so it took some time to catch him. Meanwhile, Toad gathered up more supplies and put them in the wagon.

At last, everything was ready and the three animals began their trip. Sometimes they rode in the wagon and sometimes they walked along beside it.

It was a beautiful warm afternoon. As they travel down the road, they saw many fruit trees with birds sitting on their branches. Many other animals called out to them and told them “good afternoon”. Even the Rat agreed that it was a lot of fun.

Late in the afternoon, the three friends stopped to eat a simple evening meal. They sat under grass next to the wagon. Toad talked about everything he wanted to do in the days to come and all the adventures he wanted to have.

Soon the yellow moon rose and stars shone in the sky.

As the three animals were going to sleep, Toad said, “Well, boys, this is the life for a gentlemen, isn’t it? And you talk about your old river.

“I don’t talk about it, Toad.” said the Rat patiently. “But I think about it every day.”

Mole knew that Rat missed the river already. He reached over and touched his friend’s paw.

“I’ll do whatever you like, Rat.” he said very quietly. “Should we leave Toad tomorrow morning? We could return to our dear old home by the river.”

“Thanks, but I think I should stay with Toad. It wouldn’t be safe to leave him here by himself. Who knows what might happen to him! Besides, this trip won’t last very long. Toad would get bored with this wagon and become interested in something else. Good night!” whispered 16 Rat.

Well, what happened was that the trip ended even sooner than the Rat expected.

After so much excitement on the day before, Toad slept very late and it was hard to wake him up. So Mole and Rat had to do all the hard work. They cared for the horse, gathered food and made breakfast. By the time Toad woke up his friends were very tired. Of course, Toad was very excited.

“What an easy life it is, living in the wagon!” he said. “We don’t have to worry about cleaning up our houses or doing any hard work at all.”

Mole and Rat just looked at each other and didn’t say anything.

They had a very nice morning traveling around the country. For the rest of the day Mole and Rat made sure that Toad worked just as much as they did. Therefore, by the morning of the second day, Toad was just as tired as his friends. He did not talk anymore about the easy life.

That day the three travelers reached a very large road. It was the first large road they had ever seen. They were all walking on the road next to the wagon. The Mole was talking to the horse who wanted some attention. Toad and Rat were walking behind the wagon. Toad was telling Rat a long story, but Rat was not really listening. He was thinking of other things.

Suddenly all the animals heard a very strange noise behind them. Looking behind them, they saw a cloud of dust. There was a large black thing traveling toward 17 them at great speed. The thing made strange loud noises. The animals did not know what it was. They did not pay attention to it. Instead, they continued to talk to each other.

But suddenly the thing almost knocked over the wagon. The three animals jumped into the grass on the side of the road. They watched as the thing passed them by, going very fast.

It was really a shining new car.

But Mole and Rat had never seen a car. They didn’t know what it was.

In a second, it was gone.

The horse was terribly frightened and pushed the wagon off the road. The wagon turned over and laid there broken.

“You criminals 18!” shouted the Rat. “You almost killed us. I’ll report you to the police!”

He was so angry that he jumped up and down. He had forgotten about how much he missed the river.

Toad stood in the middle of the road and stared after the disappearing car. He didn’t say anything. He only looked amazed 19.

The Mole was busy trying to calm the horse. Then he went to look at the wagon which was terribly broken.

Mole and Rat tried to turn the cart 20 over, but it was too heavy.

“Hey, Toad!” cried the Rat. “Don’t just stand there. Come and help us.”

But the Toad didn’t do anything. He only stared into the distance as if he had seen a ghost. He had a happy smile on his face.

The Rat shook him. “Toad, what is the matter with you? Aren’t you coming to help us?” he said.

“What a wonderful machine!” said Toad. He was not moving. “How fast it was! And how beautiful! Now that’s the real way to travel. The only way to travel! Why didn’t I realize it before? Oh, what a joy!”

“Oh, don’t be stupid, Toad!” cried the Mole.

But Toad didn’t pay attention. “Oh, to think that I never knew!” he continued. “All those years without a car! But now, now I realized that driving in a car is the only thing for me to do. As I travel through the great world, I’ll go faster than anyone else. I won’t care if I throw wagons 21 off the road. I’ll have great adventures. Oh, what a happy day!”

“What are we going to do with him?” Mole asked Rat.

“We are not going to do anything.” said Rat firmly. “We are not going to listen to anything he says. You see. I know Toad very well. Right now all he can think about is that awful car. He’ll be talking like this for days and he won’t do anything else. So let’s just forget about him. Let’s go and see what to do about the wagon.”

Mole and Rat decided that the wagon was too broken to be fixed 22. Rat untied 23 the horse and said to Mole, “Come on. It’s five or six miles to the nearest town. We’d better start walking if we want to find a place to sleep before dark.”

“But what about Toad?” cried the Mole. “We can’t just leave him here sitting in the middle of the road. What if another one of those terrible cars comes along.”

“Forget about Toad!” cried Rat angrily. “I’m finished with him.”

So Mole and Rat and the horse began to walk towards the nearest town without Toad. But soon Toad caught up with them. He didn’t speak to them because he was still thinking about the car.

“Now listen, Toad.” said the Rat angrily. “When we get to the town, you’ll have to go to the police station and report what happened. See if they know who that terrible car belongs to. Then you’ll have to go and see who can repair our wagon. The Mole and I will find a place for us all to stay until the wagon’s fixed.

“Talk to the police? Me? Why?” said Toad. “And why would I want to repair the wagon? I’m finished with wagons for ever. I never want to see that wagon again. Oh, Rat, you can’t imagine how grateful 24 I’m to you for agreeing to come on this trip. I wouldn’t have gone without you and then I would never have seen that wonderful car. I might never have heard its wonderful sounds and seen its amazing speed. I own it all to you, Rat.

The Rat turned to Mole. “Oh, I give up.” he said. “He’s ridiculous 25. All right. When we get to the town, we’ll find the train station. If we’re lucky, we can find a train that will take us back to the river tonight. And you won’t see me going anywhere with this silly animal again.”

During the rest of the long walk, the Rat only spoke 26 to Mole.

When they finally reached the town, Mole and Rat went straight to the train station. They put Toad on a train and gave one of the train workers some money to watch him very carefully.

When they finally arrived at Toad Hall that night, they told Toad’s housekeeper 27 to feed him and put him to bed.

Toad was like someone who was walking in his sleep. He was dreaming of owning a car.

Finally Mole and Rat got out of their little boat and returned to Rat’s house by the river. They made themselves a nice warm fire and a very late dinner. Rat was once again very happy.

The next evening Mole was sitting by the river and fishing. He had woken up late in the morning. All day he had rested and relaxed. The Rat who had been visiting some other friends came to find him.

“Mole, have you heard the news?” he said. “Everyone is talking about it. This morning Toad took the train and went into town. And what do

you think he did? He has bought a very large and expensive car!”