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 friend. '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 野树林 
　  
　　很长时间以来鼹鼠一直想见獾，他时常把这个愿望告诉水鼠，但水鼠似乎对此无动于衷。 
　　他总是说：“没问题，獾总有一天要经过这儿，到时我会把他介绍给你。” 
　　“你能不能邀请他吃饭或别的什么？”鼹鼠问道。 
　　“他不愿意来。他讨厌人群、派对、聚餐和诸如此类的事。” 
　　“那么，我们是不是应该去拜访他？” 
　　“噢，不！”水鼠答道，“他非常害羞，他根本就不喜欢来访。我跟他很熟，但我从没去过他家。而且去那儿也不大可能，因为他刚好住在野树林中间。” 
　　“你说过要告诉我一些关于野树林的事，但你从没谈过。他们——他们那儿的人不是很好吗？” 
　　“喔，”水鼠说，“松鼠很好，还有野兔——他们中大多数都不错，当然还有獾。他喜欢住在那儿，而且谁也没敢给他找麻烦。” 
　　“但是谁会惹麻烦呢？”鼹鼠问。 
　　“有那么一些，”水鼠不紧不慢地继续说，“黄鼠狼……大白鼬……雪貂等等。大部分时间里他们一般都不错，但是，在黑暗中你别想背对着他们的，这是事实。不要担心獾，他总有一天要经过这儿的。” 
　　但是夏天过去了，獾还是没来过。 
　　不久，白天越来越短，寒冷的天气使得动物们都呆在他们舒适的家里。水鼠在冬季也是早睡迟起，瞌睡很多。在短短的白天里，他在家里写些歌，干些小活。当然，总是有些动物来串门，围坐在火炉边舒舒服服地闲聊，说说故事，回忆逝去的夏日里的美好时光和冒险经历。 
　　一天下午，水鼠在火炉前安睡，鼹鼠决定独个儿出去，到野树林里散散步。“也许，”他想，“我能碰见獾先生，然后我可以作个自我介绍。” 
　　那天下午很冷，天空阴沉沉的。鼹鼠向前赶着路，享受着冬日里的宁静，一会儿，他就看见了前面野树林黑黝黝的轮廓。 
　　这是一个陌生的，阴暗的地方，他起先一点也不害怕，反而觉得很兴奋。他向森林深处走着走着，光线越来越淡，树木长得越来越密。现在一切非常安静，黑暗似乎一下子笼罩下来，将鼹鼠与外面的世界隔绝开来。 
　　然后，出现了许多脸。 
　　从他的眼角，鼹鼠觉得他看见了一张脸正从一个洞里盯着他：一张小小的，窄窄的脸，一双锐利而不友善的眼睛。当他转过去直视它时，那小东西便不见了。 
　　他一边向前奔着，一边告诉自己不要犯傻。他走过一个又一个洞，哇——是的！一双双眼睛在盯着他，然后又消失在黑暗里。很快，每个洞里都有一张脸，用那充满仇恨的眼睛观察着他。 
　　鼹鼠感到他得避开这些脸，于是他离开这条道，向树林最茂密处奔去。 
　　这时，口哨声响了。 
　　他刚听到这种柔和的声音时，觉得是从身后远远的地方发出的。然后这哨声似乎又来自于他的前面，而且声音更响。鼹鼠停下来，听了一会儿，然后继续向前赶路。他努力使自己平静下来，但他的心跳得飞快。他孤立无援，而且夜很快就要降临了。 
　　然后啪喀声开始响了。 
　　起先他以为只是落叶声，但声音越来越大，越来越近，鼹鼠知道是什么了。这是小脚奔跑的声音——在他身后，身前，以及他的四周。整个树林似乎都活了，奔跑着，跟随着，追赶着什么东西或什么人。鼹鼠吓坏了，也开始跑，但他不知道身在何处。他跑进树林和灌木丛里，摔倒在这个或那个东西上面或里面，然后爬起来继续跑。最后他发现一棵老树根部有个深深的黑洞，他掉了进去，累得再也跑不动了。他躺在那儿，听着外面的哨声和脚步声，吓得浑身发抖。现在他知道了为什么水鼠不想谈野树林，为什么田野和河岸上别的小动物从不来这儿，因为现在鼹鼠他自己感受到了它——野树林的恐惧。 
　　这段时间里，水鼠正舒服地睡在暖暖的火炉前。当他醒来，看看四周，没有看到他的朋友。他叫了几声“阿鼹！”，没有回答，他便站了起来，走进客厅。 
　　鼹鼠的帽子不见了，靴子也不在。 
　　水鼠走出屋子，四处看了看。雨后的地面很松软，他能清楚地看见鼹鼠所走的路线——直指野树林。 
　　水鼠显得非常严肃，站在那儿想了一会儿。然后他转身回到屋里，取了一杆枪和一根粗重的木棍，穿过田野向树林奔去。 
　　树林里几乎漆黑一片，哨声和啪嗒声几乎是同时开始。但是当洞里的脸看见水鼠手中的枪和粗棍时，便马上消失了，一切又恢复了平静。水鼠开始耐心地在树林里搜寻，并一直叫着：“阿鼹，阿鼹！你在哪里？是我——我是老阿鼠！” 
　　最后他非常非常高兴地听到了低低的带有哭腔的回答声，很快他便在树底里找到了鼹鼠的藏身处。 
　　“噢，阿鼠！”鼹鼠哭叫着，“我真高兴见到你！我好害怕，我都不知该怎么说！” 
　　“我能理解，”水鼠和善地说，“你看，鼹鼠，独自来这儿真不是好主意。我们河边动物如果有事非来不可时总是三三两两地来这儿。当然如果是獾或水獭，那就没问题。” 
　　“勇敢的癞蛤蟆先生肯定高兴独自来这儿，是不是？”鼹鼠问。 
　　“老蛤蟆？”水鼠大声地笑起来，“他甚至不敢把他的鼻子伸进野树林——他怕得要死！” 
　　鼹鼠听了这个觉得有点儿开心，但他还是太累而不能启程回家。于是他躺在一些干叶上睡着了，水鼠坐在他的身边耐心地等待着。 
　　鼹鼠醒来感到好多了，便准备离开这儿。水鼠把头伸出洞口，这时鼹鼠听到水鼠叫到：“啊呀，啊呀！” 
　　“怎么啦，阿鼠？”鼹鼠问。 
　　“下雪了，”水鼠答道，“雪下得可大啦。但是我们不能在这儿呆一晚上——这太冷，而且很危险。我们得马上动身，这样还有些希望。麻烦的是，我真的不知道我们在哪儿，雪天里什么看起来都与往日不同。” 
　　的确是变了样。雪像白色的毛毯覆盖了一切，遮了小路，改变了树林和灌木丛的形状。一小时以后，他们又湿又冷，累得浑身酸疼，但还是不知道身在何处。 
　　他们坐下来休息了一会儿，又继续向前赶路，这时鼹鼠突然叫了起来，向前摔扒在地。 
　　“噢，我的腿！”他叫道，“有个好硬的东西磕了我的腿。” 
　　“让我看看，”水鼠说着，坐到他的身边。 
　　“好深的一个口子，”他有些吃惊地说，“我想知道什么……”突然他站起来，开始在雪地里挖着。 
　　“你在干什么，阿鼠？”鼹鼠问。 
　　水鼠只是不停地挖。然后他发现了什么，马上开始激动地绕着它跳舞。 
　　“看这，鼹鼠！”他喊道，“就看这！” 
　　鼹鼠看了看，然后又看看他的朋友，“这是门铲，为什么对门铲这么感兴趣？” 
　　“你难道不懂？你这个傻蛋。”水鼠叫道。 
　　“我知道是有人大意，把门铲乱扔在野树林中间绊人。而且当我回家时——” 
　　“噢，天哪！”水鼠叫道，“停止你那论调，赶快挖！难道你想在雪地里度过整个晚上？” 
　　鼹鼠便按吩咐干着，尽管他觉得他朋友有些疯疯傻傻。这俩朋友挖呀挖呀，经过十分钟的辛苦努力，他们终于成功了。 
　　鼹鼠原以为他们挖的是一个雪堆，但现在他看见雪下有一扇门。一扇绿色的门，旁边有一根长长的门铃拉绳，门上用大大的字体写着：  
　  
獾 先 生  
　  
　　鼹鼠吃惊地向后坐倒在雪地上。“噢，水鼠！”他叫道，“你真聪明而我真是太笨了！” 
　　“不要说这些了，”水鼠说，“赶快站起来拉那个门铃，我来敲门。” 
　　鼹鼠便去拉门铃，水鼠则用他的棍子猛敲着门。他们能听见从地底下一个远远的地方传来的低沉悠长的门铃声。 
　　　    


 