# ■ 6 Toad' s adventures

For weeks Toad refused to eat. He lay on the floor of his prison and cried and cried. ' This is the end of every-thing, ' he said miserably, ' I shall never again be a popular and good-looking Toad, a rich and important Toad, a free and happy Toad. All my friends will forget even the name of Toad! '

But the keeper of the prison had a daughter, and she had a very kind heart. She often came to visit Toad, bringing him nice things to eat, and hot drinks. She asked him questions about his home and his old life, and because Toad loved to talk about himself, it wasn' t long before he began to sit up and answer her questions. He also realized how hungry he was, and so he ate and drank the things that she brought. And after a few days of this kindness, Toad was as loud and boastful as he had always been.

One morning the girl seemed very serious. ' Listen, Toad, 'she said, ' I have an aunt who is a washerwoman. '

You mustn' t worry about it, ' said the Toad kindly. ' I have several aunts who ought to be washerwomen. '

Don' t talk so much, Toad, ' said the girl. 'Now listen, I think I have a plan. ' And here she whispered in the Toad' s ear.

What? ' cried Toad. ' Me—dress as an old washer woman? Impossible! '

All right then, ' said the girl crossly. ' You can stay in prison for the next twenty years, you ungrateful animal! '

No, no, 'said Toad quickly. 'You are a good, kind, clever girl, and I am just a stupid toad. I shall be very happy indeed to meet your excellent aunt. '

The next evening a little business was done in the Toad's prison. Several gold coins left the Toad's pocket and disappeared into the washerwoman's purse. Soon afterwards Toad began to climb up the stairs towards the castle entrance. He was wearing an old cotton dress and a black bonnet, and carrying a large basket of washing. And his heart was beating very fast indeed.

He passed the guards, who called out a friendly 'good night' to him, and soon Toad was walking through the streets of the town. He was free! Wild with excitement, he found his way to the railway station—and then came the first problem. He had no money to buy a ticket. His wallet, his keys, his watch-everything was in the pockets of his coat, lying on the prison floor.

He had to get away from this town as quickly as he could. But how could he do it? He walked along beside one of the trains until he came to the engine. Then he stood there, crying and looking up at the engine-driver.

Hey! ' called the driver. 'What's the matter, old lady?'

Oh, sir! ' said Toad. ' I'm a poor unhappy washerwoman, and I've lost all my money, and I must get home tonight. ' ' Come on, then, ' said the engine-driver kindly. 'Jump up, and you can have a free ride. But don't tell anyone! '

So far everything was going well for Toad. The train hurried through the night, taking him away from the hateful prison. But Toad's luck didn't last for long.

There came a moment when the engine-driver put his head out of the window and looked back.

That's strange, ' he said. 'There's a train behind us, coming up very fast. I can see it in the moonlight. I think they're chasing us! I wonder what…' And then the engine-driver gave Toad a long hard look.

So Toad had to tell the true story of his crime and his escape. The engine-driver looked very serious. He thought for a bit, then said, 'I don't like policemen telling me what to do. And I don' t like to see an animal crying. So cheer up, Toad! This is what we' ll do. In a mile or two the train goes through a wood. I'll slow down there, and you'll be able to jump off the train and get away in the dark. '

Half an hour later both trains had disappeared into the night, and Toad was hiding under some dead leaves in the middle of a strange wood. There, he fell asleep and didn't open his eyes again until early morning. He woke up cold and hungry-but still free!

His next adventure was with a barge on a canal. He had walked out of the wood and found a road, which after a while began to run along the side of a canal. Toad liked the idea of getting a free ride, so when he saw the barge coming along the canal, he quickly jumped from the canal bank on to the end of the barge. Then the barge-woman turned and saw him. Toad was ready with his story.

I'm a poor unhappy washerwoman, ' he began.

But the barge-woman, Toad quickly discovered, was a most unpleasant person. She came up to Toad and looked hard at his face under his bonnet. ' Washerwoman indeed! You' re a fat lazy little toad, that' s what you are! ' she said rudely. 'Get off my barge! ' And she actually pushed Toad off the barge into the canal.

Toad swam to the bank and climbed out. He was wildly angry. How could he punish this rude and terrible person? Then he saw the horse which was pulling the barge, and an idea came to him.

Two minutes later he was riding the horse across the fields away from the canal. Behind him, the barge-woman was shouting and screaming angrily. Toad rode on, laughing at his own great cleverness.

Later that morning he met a man with a caravan, who was cooking over a fire in a field. Toad sold him the barge-woman's horse for a good price and a hot breakfast. He ate and ate until he was almost too full to move. But he still had a long way to go to get home, so he got up and went on. The sun was shining brightly, his clothes were dry again, and the new coins made a pleasant sound in his pocket. He took off the bonnet, which was too hot, and began to think about all his adventures and escapes.

Ho, ho! ' he said to himself. 'What a clever Toad I am! How brave! How intelligent! No problem is too difficult for Toad! ' He began to sing a song about himself as he walked along, although there was no one to hear it. It was perhaps the most boastful song that any animal ever sang.

If there's a need the world to save,

Then send for Mr Toad!

There's none so clever, none so brave,

As famous Mr Toad!

There was a lot more of it, and it got more and more boastful as it went on.

He came to a road and began to walk along it, hoping for an-other free ride. After a time he saw a small cloud of dust coming up the road behind him, and he heard the noise, that beautiful noise, of a motor-car. He stood in the middle of the road and when the car saw him, it began to slow down.

And then a terrible thing happened. Toad recognized the car and the people in it. And what is worse, the people recognized Toad.

It's the car thief! ' they shouted. 'The criminal who has escaped from prison! Stop him! Catch him! '

Toad turned and ran. He picked up his skirts and ran faster than he had ever run in his life. But the people from the car were now running after him, shouting and screaming at him to stop. They chased him through a wood, across fields, up a hill, and down into a valley. Once Toad looked back and saw that two policemen had joined the chase. He tried to run even faster, but he was a fat animal and his legs were short, and the people were catching up with him.

On and on he ran. He was now among tall trees, and again he looked behind him. At that moment the land disappeared beneath his feet, and, splash! he found himself in deep water, cold water, fast-moving water. In his terror, he had run straight into a river!

And away the river took him, pushing him along, first on one side, then on the other. The cotton dress tied itself round his legs, trying to pull him under, and Toad had to fight to keep his head above water.

Oh my! ' cried poor Toad. ' I'll never look at another motorcar for the rest of my life! '

At last he managed to catch hold of some water plants by the river bank. He held on, too tired to pull himself out of the water. Then he saw something bright in a dark hole in the bank. It moved towards him, and became a face.

Brown and small, with whiskers.

It was the Water Rat!

■ 6 癩蛤蟆地冒險經歷

癩蛤蟆絕食了幾星期。他躺在監獄的地板上哭個不停。“一切都完了，”他悲慘地說。“我再也不是受人注目，英俊瀟灑的蛤蟆了，我不再富有，不再重要了，不再有自由和幸福了。所有的朋友甚至將忘記蛤蟆這個名字！”

不過監獄的看守有個女兒，她的心腸很好。她時常來看他，帶給他好東西吃，熱飲料喝。她問起他的家和他過去的生活，因為癩蛤蟆極愛談論他自己，不久他便開始坐起來回答她的問題。他也感覺到好餓，於是便拿起她的東西又吃又喝。這樣受惠了幾天後，癩蛤蟆又變得像過去那樣好招搖，好吹牛了。

一天早上，女孩非常正經地說：“聽著，癩蛤蟆，我有一個姑媽，她是洗衣婆。”

“你不必為此憂慮，”癩蛤蟆友善地說，“我有幾個姑媽，她們本應該是洗衣婆。”

“少說點，癩蛤蟆，你聽著，我想我有個計劃。”然後她對癩蛤蟆耳語了一番。

“什麼？”癩蛤蟆叫起來，“我——裝扮成老洗衣婆？不可能！”

“那麼好吧，”女孩生氣地說，“你就在監獄裡呆夠二十年吧，你這個不知好歹的東西！”

“不，不，”癩蛤蟆趕快說，“你是一個善良聰明的女孩，我只是傻乎乎的癩蛤蟆，我的確應該非常樂意見你那了不起的姑媽。”

第二天晚上，在癩蛤蟆的牢房裡進行了一次小小的交易。幾個金幣離開了癩蛤蟆的口袋落入了洗衣婆的錢包。不久，癩蛤蟆開始向城堡的出口處爬去。他穿一件舊舊的棉外套，戴頂黑色的無邊帽，挎著一大籃衣物，他的心跳得飛快。

他經過衛兵時，衛兵還友好地對他道“晚安”，很快他就走在了城鎮的街道上。他自由了！他激動得要命，找到去火車站的路——這時第一個問題出現了，他沒有錢買票。他的錢包、鑰匙、表統統都裝在上衣口袋裡，而他把上衣扔在了監獄的地板上。

他得儘快離開這個城鎮。該怎麼辦呢？他沿著一輛停靠著的火車向前走，走到了車頭。他站在那兒，邊哭邊看著火車司機。

“嘿！”司機叫道，“你怎麼啦！老婆婆？”

“哦，先生！”癩蛤蟆說，“我是可憐的不走運的洗衣婆，我把所有的錢都弄丟了，但我今晚必須回家。”

“那麼上來吧，”好心的司機說道，“跳上來，你可以搭個便車，但不要告訴任何人！”

到目前為止，一切都很順利。火車穿過黑夜向前奔馳，帶他遠離了這可憎的牢獄。但癩蛤蟆的好運沒有維持多久。

有那麼一會兒，司機將他的頭伸出窗外，向後看了看。

“這很奇怪，”他說，“我們後面有輛火車，開得飛快。我能借著月光看見它，我想他們是在追趕我們！我想知道……”然後司機把不解的眼光盯在癩蛤蟆的臉上。

癩蛤蟆不得不告訴他自己是怎樣犯罪的，又是怎樣逃出來的。司機看起來很嚴肅，他略想了一下，然後說：“我不喜歡警察告訴我該怎麼做。我也不喜歡看動物哭。振作起來，癩蛤螟！這才是我們該做的。過一、二英里，火車要經過一片樹林。到那兒我會把速度放慢，你就可以跳下火車趁天黑逃走。”

半小時後，兩輛火車都消失在夜幕裡。癩蛤蟆藏在一片陌生樹林中的一些落葉下面。他躺在那兒不知不覺就睡著了，直到第二天清晨才睜開眼睛。他又冷又餓——但仍是自由的！

他的下一個冒險經歷是在運河的一條駁船上。他走出樹林看見了一條路，這條路延伸到一條運河邊，他便沿著運河向前跑著。癩蛤蟆喜歡上了搭便車，因此當他看見一條駁船沿河開來時，他毫不猶豫地從河岸跳到船尾。剛巧船婆轉過身看見了他，癩蛤蟆又開始講他的故事。

“我是個可憐的不走運的洗衣婆，”他開始講道。

但他很快發現，這個女人是世界上最不友善的人。她走到蛤蟆跟前，死死盯著無邊帽下蛤蟆的臉。“好一個洗衣婆！你是一隻又肥又懶的小癩蛤蟆，這才是你的真面目！”她粗暴地說著。“滾出我的船！”同時她就真地把癩蛤蟆推入了運河。

癩蛤蟆游到岸邊爬了上來。他氣得要發瘋。怎樣才能治治這個粗魯可惡的老婦人？後來他看見了那隻正拉著駁船的馬，立刻計上心頭。

兩分鐘後，他騎在馬上穿過田野離開了運河。船婆在他身後氣憤地又喊又叫。癩蛤蟆騎著向前，為他自己偉大的聰明之舉開懷大笑。

那天早上，他還遇見了一位駕大篷車的人，他正在野地火堆上燒東西吃。癩蛤蟆開了一個好價把老婦人的馬賣給他並享受了一頓熱乎乎的早餐。他吃呀吃呀直到撐得幾乎不能動。但他想到仍有很長的路要趕，便站起來又出發了。太陽明晃晃地照著，他的衣服又幹了，新得的硬幣在他口袋裡發出令人愉悅的聲音。他覺得太熱便摘下了帽子，開始回顧著他所有冒險和逃跑的經歷。

“嚯，嚯”他自言自語道：“我是多麼聰明的蛤蟆！多麼勇敢！多麼機智！沒有什麼事能難倒我蛤蟆！”儘管沒有誰能聽到，他還是邊走邊唱著讚美自己的歌。這也許是所有動物曾唱過的最最自誇的歌：

如果世界需要人拯救，

那麼去找蛤蟆先生！

沒有誰如此聰明，如此勇敢，

像著名的蛤蟆先生！

還有許多諸如此類的歌詞，反正是吹得越來越離譜。

他上了公路並沿著路向前走，希望再次搭個便車。過不多久，他看見身後有一團塵霧捲來，而且還聽到了那種聲音，那種美妙的引擎之聲。他站在公路中間，司機看見他便開始減速。

然後一件可怕的事發生了。癩蛤蟆認出了汽車和車裡的人。更糟糕的是，這些人也認出了他。

“那是汽車盜賊！”他們叫道，“是剛從監獄裡逃出來的犯人！截住他！抓住他！”

癩蛤蟆轉身就跑。他提著裙襬以他一生中最快的速度向前跑。但是車上的人窮追不捨，在他身後喊著叫著喝令他站住。他們追著他跑過樹林，穿過田野，越過山巒，又追進了山谷。有次癩蛤蟆回頭瞥了一眼，看見又有兩名警察加入這次追捕。他想跑得更快些，但是可憐他身材矮胖雙腿短小，根本無法甩開他們 。

他跑呀跑，跑進一片高高的樹林裡，他又回頭看了看。一瞬間他感到雙腳懸空，緊接著，啪地一聲，他發現自己已在深水裡，冰冷、湍急的水裡。驚恐中，他直接跑進了一條河裡！

河水帶著他向前流，一會兒把他推到這邊，一會兒又推到那邊。棉布外套裹住了他的腿，將他向下拽，他不得不掙扎著讓頭浮在水面上。

“哎呀！”可憐的癩蛤蟆哭喊道，“我下半生再也不想見到汽車了！”

最後他好不容易抓住了河邊的一些水草。他堅持著，但是他太累了，不能將自己拉上岸。這時，他看見河岸邊一個黑洞裡有個亮亮的東西向他湊過來，然後他看見了一張臉。

小小的，褐色的，還有鬍鬚。

是水鼠！