# ■ 3 The Wild Wood

The Mole had wanted for a long time to meet the Badger. 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. '

You said you would tell me about the Wild Woo, 'said the Mole, 'but you never did. Aren't they-aren't they very nice people in there?'

Well, 'said the Rat, 'the squirrels are all right, and the rabbits-most of them. And Badger, of course. He likes living there. And nobody gives him any trouble. '

But who could give trouble?' asked the Mole.

There are, well, others, 'the Rat went on slowly. 'Weasels…stoats…ferrets, and so on. They're all right in a way. Most of the time. But, well, you wouldn't want to turn your back to them in the dark, and that's a fact. Don't worry about Badger. He'll come along one day. '

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 day, he wrote songs and did small jobs in the house. And, of course, there were always animals calling in for a comfort able talk round 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, 'he thought, 'I'll meet Mr Badger, and then I can introduce myself. '

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.

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 an other hole, and another, and-yes! Eyes were looking at him, then disappearing 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 and listened, 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. 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 in 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. Be cause now, the Mole had felt it himself-the Terror of the Wild Wood.

All this time the Rat, warm and comfortable, was sleeping in front of his fire. When he woke up, he looked round for his friend, but the Mole was not there. He called out' Moly! 'several times, and when he heard no answer, he got up and went out into the hall.

The Mole's hat was missing, and so were his boots.

The Rat left the house and looked around. The ground was soft from rain, and he could see clearly which way the Mole had gone-straight towards the Wild wood.

The Rat stood thinking for a moment, looking very serious. Then he went back into the house, took a gun and a thick heavy stick, and hurried away across the fields.

Inside the wood it was nearly dark, and the whistling and the pattering began almost at once. But when the faces in the holes saw the Rat's gun and his thick heavy stick, they disappeared immediately, and everything became still and quiet. Patiently, the Rat began to search the wood from end to end, calling all the time, 'Moly, Moly! Where are you? It's me-it's old Rat! '

At last, to his great happiness, he heard a little answering cry, and soon he found the Mole in his hiding-place in the tree.

Oh, Ratty! 'cried the Mole. 'I'm so pleased to see you! I've been so frightened, I can't tell you! '

I can understand that, 'said the Rat kindly. 'You see, Mole, it's really not a good idea to come here alone. We river bankers always come in twos or threes, if we have to come here. Of course, if you're Badger or Otter, then there's no problem. '

Surely the brave Mr Toad is happy to come here alone, isn't he?' asked the Mole.

Old Toad?' said the Rat, laughing loudly. 'He doesn't put his nose inside the Wild Wood-much too frightened! '

The Mole felt a little happier when he heard this, but he was still too tired to start the journey home. So he lay down to sleep under some dry leaves, while the Rat sat next to him, patiently waiting.

The Mole woke up feeling much better, and ready to leave. The Rat put his head out of the entrance of the hole, and then the Mole heard him say, 'Oh dear, oh dear! '

What's the matter, Ratty?' asked the Mole.

Snow, 'replied the Rat. 'It's snowing hard. But we can't stay here all night-it's too cold, and too dangerous. We'll just have to start walking, and hope. The trouble is, I don't really know where we are, and in the snow everything looks so different. '

It did indeed. The white blanket of snow covered everything, hiding the paths, changing the shapes of the trees and bushes. An hour later, they were wet, cold, aching with tiredness, and had no idea where they were.

They sat down for a rest and were moving on again when the Mole gave a sudden cry and fell forward on his face.

Oh, my leg! 'he cried. 'I've hit my leg on something really hard. '

Let's have a look, 'said the Rat, sitting down beside him. 'That's a very deep cut, 'he said, surprised. 'I wonder what…'Suddenly, he got up and began to dig in the snow.

What are you doing, Ratty?' said the Mole.

The Rat just went on digging. Then he found something, and immediately began to dance round it excitedly.

Look at this, Mole! 'he shouted. 'Just look at this! '

The Mole looked. Then he looked at his fried. 'It's a doors-craper. Why get excited about a door-scraper?'

Don't you understand, you silly animal?' cried the Rat.

I understand that somebody's been very careless, leaving a door-scraper lying in the middle of the Wild Wood, for other people to fall over. And when I get home----'

Oh, dear, oh dear! 'cried the Rat. 'Just stop arguing, and dig! Or do you want to spend all night in the snow?'

The Mole did what he was told, although he thought his friend was going crazy. The two animals dug and dug, and after ten minutes' hard work they were successful.

The Mole had thought that they were digging into a snow bank, but now he saw that there was a door under the snow. A green door, with a long bell-pull beside it, and a name on it in big letters which said:

MR BADGER

The Mole fell backwards on the snow in surprise. 'Oh, Rat! 'he cried. 'How clever you are! And how stupid I am! '

Never mind all that, 'said the Rat. 'Just get up and pull on that bell, while I knock on the door. '

The Rat banged on the door with his stick, and the Mole pulled. And from somewhere far under the ground they could just hear the sound of a deep, slow bell.

■ 3 野樹林

很長時間以來鼴鼠一直想見獾，他時常把這個願望告訴水鼠，但水鼠似乎對此無動於衷。

他總是說：“沒問題，獾總有一天要經過這兒，到時我會把他介紹給你。”

“你能不能邀請他吃飯或別的什麼？”鼴鼠問道。

“他不願意來。他討厭人群、派對、聚餐和諸如此類的事。”

“那麼，我們是不是應該去拜訪他？”

“噢，不！”水鼠答道，“他非常害羞，他根本就不喜歡來訪。我跟他很熟，但我從沒去過他家。而且去那兒也不大可能，因為他剛好住在野樹林中間。”

“你說過要告訴我一些關於野樹林的事，但你從沒談過。他們——他們那兒的人不是很好嗎？”

“喔，”水鼠說，“松鼠很好，還有野兔——他們中大多數都不錯，當然還有獾。他喜歡住在那兒，而且誰也沒敢給他找麻煩。”

“但是誰會惹麻煩呢？”鼴鼠問。

“有那麼一些，”水鼠不緊不慢地繼續說，“黃鼠狼……大白鼬……雪貂等等。大部分時間裡他們一般都不錯，但是，在黑暗中你別想背對著他們的，這是事實。不要擔心獾，他總有一天要經過這兒的。”

但是夏天過去了，獾還是沒來過。

不久，白天越來越短，寒冷的天氣使得動物們都呆在他們舒適的家裡。水鼠在冬季也是早睡遲起，瞌睡很多。在短短的白天裡，他在家裡寫些歌，幹些小活。當然，總是有些動物來串門，圍坐在火爐邊舒舒服服地閒聊，說說故事，回憶逝去的夏日裡的美好時光和冒險經歷。

一天下午，水鼠在火爐前安睡，鼴鼠決定獨個兒出去，到野樹林裡散散步。“也許，”他想，“我能碰見獾先生，然後我可以作個自我介紹。”

那天下午很冷，天空陰沉沉的。鼴鼠向前趕著路，享受著冬日裡的寧靜，一會兒，他就看見了前面野樹林黑黝黝的輪廓。

這是一個陌生的，陰暗的地方，他起先一點也不害怕，反而覺得很興奮。他向森林深處走著走著，光線越來越淡，樹木長得越來越密。現在一切非常安靜，黑暗似乎一下子籠罩下來，將鼴鼠與外面的世界隔絕開來。

然後，出現了許多臉。

從他的眼角，鼴鼠覺得他看見了一張臉正從一個洞裡盯著他：一張小小的，窄窄的臉，一雙銳利而不友善的眼睛。當他轉過去直視它時，那小東西便不見了。

他一邊向前奔著，一邊告訴自己不要犯傻。他走過一個又一個洞，哇——是的！一雙雙眼睛在盯著他，然後又消失在黑暗裡。很快，每個洞裡都有一張臉，用那充滿仇恨的眼睛觀察著他。

鼴鼠感到他得避開這些臉，於是他離開這條道，向樹林最茂密處奔去。

這時，口哨聲響了。

他剛聽到這種柔和的聲音時，覺得是從身後遠遠的地方發出的。然後這哨聲似乎又來自於他的前面，而且聲音更響。鼴鼠停下來，聽了一會兒，然後繼續向前趕路。他努力使自己平靜下來，但他的心跳得飛快。他孤立無援，而且夜很快就要降臨了。

然後啪喀聲開始響了。

起先他以為只是落葉聲，但聲音越來越大，越來越近，鼴鼠知道是什麼了。這是小腳奔跑的聲音——在他身後，身前，以及他的四周。整個樹林似乎都活了，奔跑著，跟隨著，追趕著什麼東西或什麼人。鼴鼠嚇壞了，也開始跑，但他不知道身在何處。他跑進樹林和灌木叢裡，摔倒在這個或那個東西上面或裡面，然後爬起來繼續跑。最後他發現一棵老樹根部有個深深的黑洞，他掉了進去，累得再也跑不動了。他躺在那兒，聽著外面的哨聲和腳步聲，嚇得渾身發抖。現在他知道了為什麼水鼠不想談野樹林，為什麼田野和河岸上別的小動物從不來這兒，因為現在鼴鼠他自己感受到了它——野樹林的恐懼。

這段時間裡，水鼠正舒服地睡在暖暖的火爐前。當他醒來，看看四周，沒有看到他的朋友。他叫了幾聲“阿鼴！”，沒有回答，他便站了起來，走進客廳。

鼴鼠的帽子不見了，靴子也不在。

水鼠走出屋子，四處看了看。雨後的地面很鬆軟，他能清楚地看見鼴鼠所走的路線——直指野樹林。

水鼠顯得非常嚴肅，站在那兒想了一會兒。然後他轉身回到屋裡，取了一杆槍和一根粗重的木棍，穿過田野向樹林奔去。

樹林裡幾乎漆黑一片，哨聲和啪嗒聲幾乎是同時開始。但是當洞裡的臉看見水鼠手中的槍和粗棍時，便馬上消失了，一切又恢復了平靜。水鼠開始耐心地在樹林裡搜尋，並一直叫著：“阿鼴，阿鼴！你在哪裡？是我——我是老阿鼠！”

最後他非常非常高興地聽到了低低的帶有哭腔的回答聲，很快他便在樹底裡找到了鼴鼠的藏身處。

“噢，阿鼠！”鼴鼠哭叫著，“我真高興見到你！我好害怕，我都不知該怎麼說！”

“我能理解，”水鼠和善地說，“你看，鼴鼠，獨自來這兒真不是好主意。我們河邊動物如果有事非來不可時總是三三兩兩地來這兒。當然如果是獾或水獺，那就沒問題。”

“勇敢的癩蛤蟆先生肯定高興獨自來這兒，是不是？”鼴鼠問。

“老蛤蟆？”水鼠大聲地笑起來，“他甚至不敢把他的鼻子伸進野樹林——他怕得要死！”

鼴鼠聽了這個覺得有點兒開心，但他還是太累而不能啟程回家。於是他躺在一些幹葉上睡著了，水鼠坐在他的身邊耐心地等待著。

鼴鼠醒來感到好多了，便準備離開這兒。水鼠把頭伸出洞口，這時鼴鼠聽到水鼠叫到：“啊呀，啊呀！”

“怎麼啦，阿鼠？”鼴鼠問。

“下雪了，”水鼠答道，“雪下得可大啦。但是我們不能在這兒呆一晚上——這太冷，而且很危險。我們得馬上動身，這樣還有些希望。麻煩的是，我真的不知道我們在哪兒，雪天裡什麼看起來都與往日不同。”

的確是變了樣。雪像白色的毛毯覆蓋了一切，遮了小路，改變了樹林和灌木叢的形狀。一小時以後，他們又溼又冷，累得渾身痠疼，但還是不知道身在何處。

他們坐下來休息了一會兒，又繼續向前趕路，這時鼴鼠突然叫了起來，向前摔扒在地。

“噢，我的腿！”他叫道，“有個好硬的東西磕了我的腿。”

“讓我看看，”水鼠說著，坐到他的身邊。

“好深的一個口子，”他有些吃驚地說，“我想知道什麼……”突然他站起來，開始在雪地裡挖著。

“你在幹什麼，阿鼠？”鼴鼠問。

水鼠只是不停地挖。然後他發現了什麼，馬上開始激動地繞著它跳舞。

“看這，鼴鼠！”他喊道，“就看這！”

鼴鼠看了看，然後又看看他的朋友，“這是門鏟，為什麼對門鏟這麼感興趣？”

“你難道不懂？你這個傻蛋。”水鼠叫道。

“我知道是有人大意，把門鏟亂扔在野樹林中間絆人。而且當我回家時——”

“噢，天哪！”水鼠叫道，“停止你那論調，趕快挖！難道你想在雪地裡度過整個晚上？”

鼴鼠便按吩咐幹著，儘管他覺得他朋友有些瘋瘋傻傻。這倆朋友挖呀挖呀，經過十分鐘的辛苦努力，他們終於成功了。

鼴鼠原以為他們挖的是一個雪堆，但現在他看見雪下有一扇門。一扇綠色的門，旁邊有一根長長的門鈴拉繩，門上用大大的字體寫著：

獾 先 生

鼴鼠吃驚地向後坐倒在雪地上。“噢，水鼠！”他叫道，“你真聰明而我真是太笨了！”

“不要說這些了，”水鼠說，“趕快站起來拉那個門鈴，我來敲門。”

鼴鼠便去拉門鈴，水鼠則用他的棍子猛敲著門。他們能聽見從地底下一個遠遠的地方傳來的低沉悠長的門鈴聲。