The Wind in the Willows: A Retelling for Curious Readers

A look inside

The opening of The Wind in the Willows: A Retelling for Curious Readers, free to read.

1. 

   Messing About in Boats

   A warm, green smell drifted down the tunnel, and the Mole, up a ladder with his whitewash brush, sneezed. Achoo! Spring was tickling his nose. He looked at his burrow, half white and dripping, and at his black fur, speckled all over. “Bother!” said the Mole. “O blow! Hang spring-cleaning!” Down went the brush. Off he dashed, leaving his coat on its hook.

2. 

   An old rabbit guarding a gap in a hedge watched a dusty stranger race across the meadow, kicking up his heels. It was the Mole, fresh out of his dark tunnel. The rabbit held out a paw. “Sixpence for the privilege of passing by the private road!” The Mole laughed, shouted “Onion-sauce!” and trotted past. On he wandered, sniffing every flower, until he found something new: a river, glittering, gurgling, and never still.

3. 

   “Hullo, Mole!” The Mole nearly toppled into the river. He had forgotten anyone else was in the world. Across the water, someone small and neat waved from a doorway. It was the Water Rat! Soon his little boat bumped the Mole’s bank. “I’ve never been in a boat before in all my life,” said the Mole, wobbling aboard. The Rat stared. “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolutely nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

4. 

   The Rat brought a basket so full its lid would not shut. “What’s inside?” asked the Mole. “Cold chicken, cold ham, cold beef, pickles, rolls, sandwiches, lemonade—” said the Rat, all in one breath. “Stop, stop!” cried the Mole. “This is too much!” Later the Mole pointed at a dark line of trees. “That’s the Wild Wood,” said the Rat. “We river-bankers don’t go there much. Badger lives in the middle of it, and nobody interferes with him.”