Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Mr. Badger

They waited patiently for what seemed a long time, while stomping on the snow to keep them from freezing. At last they heard someone inside shuffling towards the door, and as the Mole said to the Rat, it sounded like a man walking in slippers too big for the heels; Smart, because that's exactly what it is. Then there was the sound of the latch being pulled, and then the door opened a few inches, enough to reveal a long nose and sleepy, half-closed eyes. "Well, next time," said a gruff and suspicious voice, "I'm about to lose my temper. Who is it this time, waking people up in the middle of the night? Speak!"

"Oh, Badger," cried the Rat, "let us in, please. It is I, the Rat, and my friend the Mole, and we are lost in the snow." "What, it's the Rat, my dear little one!" said the Badger, in a completely different tone. "Come in, you two, at once. Oh, you must be exhausted. I didn't expect that! Lost in the snow!" The way! And it's in the primeval forest, and it's so late at night! But come in." The two of them scrambled in, one falling on top of the other, happy and relieved to hear the door close behind them. The Badger, in his night-gown, with slippers that did tear his heels, and a flat candlestick in his hand, had probably just gotten out of bed when they called the door.He looked down at them kindly and patted them both on the head. "Critters shouldn't come out on nights like these," he said fatherly, "and I'm afraid you're messing around again, Rat. But come on, come into the kitchen. There's a first-rate fire there, Everything for dinner."

He walked ahead with a candle in his sandals, and they followed him, putting their arms on each other to get ahead of each other, through a long, dark, and, to be honest, very worn-out passage, into what looked like a central hall. They can vaguely see that there are some branch roads leading out of it. They are very long, like tunnels, very mysterious, and there is no end in sight.There were also doors in the hall--solid oak doors that looked comfortable.Badger opened one of the doors, and they were presently in a kitchen, bright and warm, with a fire. The floor is paved with smooth red bricks, and wood is burning in the large fireplace, which is attractively embedded in the wall and is not afraid of the wind at all.On either side of the fire were two high-backed armchairs facing each other, arranged for sitting and talking.In the middle of the room was a long table, planks resting on trestles, with benches on each side of the table.At one end of the table was an armchair, drawn out.On the other side of the table lay the Badger's leftovers from a simple but rich supper.At the far end of the room was a cupboard with rows of immaculate white dishes on shelves.

From the rafters overhead hung hams, bunches of dry grass, net sacks of onions, and baskets of eggs.This place looks suitable for heroes to hold a banquet when they are triumphant. Many people who are tired of the harvest can sit around the table laughing and singing to celebrate the harvest. Two or three friends who don’t pay attention to food can also sit down comfortably and contentedly. Free to eat, smoke and chat.The red-brick floor smiles at the soot-blackened ceiling; the high-backed oak chairs, shiny with long sitting, look merrily at each other; Shine all things differently. The kind Badger put them each on a high-backed chair to enjoy the fire, and ordered them to take off their wet clothes and boots.Then he brought them dressing-gowns and slippers, and himself washed the Mole's shins in hot water.The wound was covered with sticking plaster until everything was arranged as well as possible, and in this light and heat the two weather-beaten animals were at last warmed and dry, stretching out their tired legs forward, their backs Hearing the amusing ping-pong-pong of the table, the two storm-driven animals now felt as though they had entered a safe haven, miles away from the cold and deserted primeval forest they had just left. Far away, their suffering has become a nightmare that is about to be forgotten.

When they were at last fully warmed, the Badger invited them to sit down at the table, whereupon he had been busy setting supper.They panicked at first, but when they finally did see the supper in front of them, the real question was: which one should they attack first?Since all foods are so tempting, wouldn't it be nice to eat one first and wait for the other until they favor it?For a long time there was no way to talk, and when it slowly resumed, it was also regrettable, with a mouth full of food.The Badger didn't care about that at all, or whether they were leaning their arms on the table, or both were talking at the same time.He didn't socialize, so he didn't think such things were worth noticing at all (of course we know he's wrong, he's too narrow-minded, because everyone pays attention to these rules, although it will take a lot of work to explain why) .He sat in his arm-chair at the head of the table, and listened to the two of them telling their stories, nodding solemnly now and then; nothing seemed strange or startling to him, and he never intervened to say, "I tell you It’s over!” or: “Exactly what I’ve been saying!” Not saying they should do this or that, or that they shouldn’t do this or that.The Mole began to feel very fond of him.

When the supper was really finished at last, every animal felt its bellies were swollen now, and cared nothing about anyone or anything for a moment, and they sat round the great burning pyre again, feeling What a joy it was to sleep so late, to be so free, and so full; and after they had chatted casually, the Badger said heartily, "Now! Tell me about your affairs there. Brother Toad is having a good time." How about it?" "Oh, it's getting worse," said the Rat gravely.Meanwhile the Mole leaned back in his high chair, warmed by the firelight, with his feet up above his head, and tried to look really sad. "There was another crash just last week, and it was pretty bad. You see, he insists on driving himself, and he can't. If he hires a good, safe, well-trained driver, give him a good Pay him everything, and he will drive well. But he doesn’t, he is confident that he is a natural driver, he doesn’t need to learn, and no one can teach him anything, and the consequences will be disastrous.”

"Then how much has he had?" Badger asked sullenly. "Do you mean the carriage incident or the carriage?" asked the Rat. "Oh, it's the same thing with Toad anyway, there's a crash for every car. That's the seventh. As for the others... you know his garage? Well, it's full--not at all. Fake, piled up to the roof - full of car junk, none as big as your hat! That's where the first 6 cars go." "He's been in the hospital three times," interposed the Mole, "and as for the fine he'll have to pay, it's a dreadful thought."

"Yes, that's only part of the trouble," went on the Rat. "Toad is rich, we all know that, but he's not a millionaire. Traffic rules. Kill or go bankrupt—one or the other, just a matter of time. Badger! We're all his friends—shouldn't we do something about it?" Badger thought hard for a while. "See," he said sharply at last, "of course you know there's nothing I can do right now?" His two friends, who understood his thoughts very well, agreed with him completely. According to the rules of animals, do not expect an animal to do anything tense, or adventurous, or even mild, in this unseasonable winter season.They were all drowsy--some of them were really asleep.They were all more or less affected by the weather; they were all at rest during hard days and nights in which every muscle was put to the test and every ounce of energy was strained.

"All right then!" the Badger went on, "but when the year really turns, the nights are shorter and the days are longer, and I wake up in the middle of the night, feeling restless, and wanting to see the light of day--it's really a bad idea." No light—just get up and do something...you know! . . . " Both animals nodded solemnly.they know! "Well, when the time comes," went on the Badger, "we—that's you and me, and our friend the Mole—we'll keep Toad in check, and we won't let him run amok. We To bring him back to his senses, by force if necessary. We're going to make him a brainy toad. We're going to... you're asleep, Rat!"

"I haven't!" replied the Rat, waking up. "He's fallen asleep two or three times since supper," said the Mole, laughing.He himself felt sober, even raw, though he didn't know why.This was, of course, because he was a subterranean creature by nature, and the Badger's home was perfectly suited to him, and made him feel right at home; while the Rat slept every night in a bedroom with the window open on a breezy river, Naturally, the air here feels stagnant and oppressive. "Well, it's time for us all to go to bed," said the Badger, rising to his feet and taking up the flat candlestick.

"Come, you two, and I'll show you to your rooms. To-morrow morning as you please—breakfast whenever you like!" He led them both into a long room that looked half bedroom, half storeroom.The Badger's winter stores were everywhere, taking up half the room—heaps of apples, turnips, potatoes, baskets full of nuts, jars of honey; The small bed looked soft and inviting. Although the sheets on the bed were rough, it was clean; it smelled like lavender.The Mole and the Rat had thrown off their clothes in less than thirty seconds, and hurried among the sheets and sheets, in good spirits and contentment. At the behest of the good Badger, the two weary animals came down to breakfast very late next morning, and found a blazing fire in the kitchen, and two little hedgehogs sitting side by side on a bench by the table, Eating oatmeal in a wooden bowl. As soon as the two little hedgehogs saw the two of them coming in, they put down their spoons and bowed their heads politely. "Now, sit down, sit down," said the Rat cheerfully, "and go on to your porridge. Where did you two little fellows come from? Lost your way in the snow, I suppose?" "Yes, sir," said the older of the two little hedgehogs politely, "me, and this little Billy want to find the way to school... and mother wants us to go to school in such bad weather... we Of course we got lost, sir, and Billick was terrified and started crying, and he was a little too timid. At last we happened to be at the back door of Mr. Badger's house, and we knocked boldly, sir, because Mr. Badger had a very good heart. , everyone knows this..." "I see," said the Rat, cutting thin slices off the side of a piece of bacon, while the Mole cracked some eggs into the frying pan. "How's the weather out there? You don't have to say 'sir' to me so much," added the Rat. "Oh, it's very bad, sir, the snow is terribly deep," said the little hedgehog. "You gentlemen, don't go out to-day." "And Mr. Badger?" asked the Mole, heating the coffee-pot before the fire. "The master has gone to his study, sir," answered the little hedgehog. "He said he was very busy this morning, so don't bother him." Naturally, everyone present fully understood this explanation.In fact, as mentioned above, there are 6 months of intense activities in a year, and 6 months of being thirsty or actually asleep. In the next 6 months, when someone comes or something happens, you can't always shirk and say you want to sleep.This excuse is too old-fashioned.It was well known to the animals that the Badger had retired to his study after a hearty breakfast, and settled himself in an arm-chair with his legs crossed and his face shaded by a red cloth handkerchief, that at this time of year , "busy" in his usual way. The front doorbell rang loudly, and the Rat, who was eating his buttered toast getting greasy, called the little Billy the Hedgehog to see who called the door.There were loud footsteps in the hall, and Billy was back in a moment, followed by the otter.The otter rushed to embrace the Rat, and said hello affectionately. "Let go!" said the Rat, with a mouth full of food, splashing. "I think I'll find you here," said the Otter cheerfully. "There was a panic when I got to the bank this morning. They say the Rat hasn't come home all night--and the Mole--something terrible must happen." the snow covers all your tracks, of course. But I know that when people are in trouble, they mostly come to the badgers, or else the badgers know it, so I've come right here through the old woods and the snow Yes! Hey, it's so beautiful, the sun came up while walking through the snow, lighting up the black tree trunks! Every now and then, while walking in the silence, a pile of snow would suddenly fall from the branches and make people jump Run to find a place to hide. Snow castles and snow caves pop up at night... and snow bridges, snow flats, snow walls... I really want to stay and play for a long time. There are big branches broken by snow everywhere, robins Perched and danced on them proudly, as if they had broken the branches. A jagged line of geese flew overhead, high in the gray sky, and a few rooks circled the treetops, inspecting and A distasteful expression flapped its wings and flew home; but I could not meet a sane creature to inquire about. About half way, I came across a rabbit crouching on a tree stump, wiping its paws. He looked at his stupid face. When I crept up behind him and put a front paw on his shoulder hard, he fainted. I gave him a slap or two on the head. He regained his senses. At last I found out from him that one of them had seen the Mole last night in the primeval forest. He said he heard it while chatting in the hole, and the Rat is a very good friend. The Mole was in a bad situation and lost his way. 'They' came out and chased him round and round. 'Then why don't you do something about it?' I asked. Thousands, they're big, great fellows, as fat as butter, and your holes go in every direction, and you could have taken him in the hole and made him safe and comfortable, at least to try.''What, we ?' he just said. 'Something? Call us rabbits?' So I slapped him again and walked away from him. There's nothing I can do with him. But I figured out something, if I'm lucky enough to run into 'them again ' and I'll know more...or they'll know more." "Are you not at all ... this ... nervous?" Mole asked, thinking of the primeval forest, and the horror of yesterday returned to his heart. "Nervous?" laughed the Otter, showing his strong white teeth. "If any of them tried to do something to me, I'd make him nervous. Now, Mole, fry me some slices of ham, you're a good man." My friend. I'm very hungry, but I have a lot to say to the Rat. I haven't seen him for a long time." So the good-tempered Mole cut off some slices of ham, let the two little hedgehogs fry them, and went back to eat his breakfast.And now the Otter and the Rat, head to head, talked vigorously in their river-speak, which flowed without end, and poured down like the babbling river itself. A plate of fried ham had just been eaten, and when the plate was sent back for more, Badger came in, yawned, rubbed his eyes, and greeted everyone politely in his quiet and simple way. "It must be time for lunch," he said to the Otter, "you'd better stay and eat with us. You must be hungry, and it's so cold this morning." "No!" replied the Otter, winking at the Mole. "Seeing these two gluttonous little hedgehogs eating fried ham, I feel very hungry too." In fact, the two little hedgehogs only ate porridge, and it took so much effort to fry the ham. They just started to feel hungry, so they timidly looked up at Mr. Badger, but they were afraid of embarrassment and dared not say a word. "Well, you boys should go home to your mother," said the Badger kindly. "I'll ask someone to show you the way. I'm sure you don't need to eat dinner tonight." He gave them 6p each, patted their heads, and they waved their hats respectfully, raised their hands to touch their foreheads, and walked away. up. Everyone soon sat down to lunch together.The Mole happened to arrange to sit next to Mr. Badger, and the other two were still absorbed in their conversation about the river, and nothing could separate them, so the Mole took this opportunity to tell Badger that he felt so comfortable that he was at home. . "As soon as you're down there," he said, "you know where you are. Nothing happens, nothing happens to you. You make up your own mind, you don't have to listen to anyone else's opinion or think about what they say. The things above your head are always the same, just let them go, don’t worry about them. If you want to take care of them, go up there, there are plenty of things above, waiting for you.” Badger just smiled at him. "You're saying exactly what I'm saying," he replied, "that there's no safety, or peace and quiet, anywhere but under the ground. Besides, you've got big plans to expand—well, you dig Dig it, that's it! If you think the house is too big, you plug a hole or two, that's it again! No architects, no craftsmen, no people climbing the wall to see what you say, and don't care about the weather. Now Look at the Rat. When the flood rises two feet, he'll have to move into a rented house; uncomfortable, inconvenient, and outrageously expensive. Take the Toad. I don't have a problem with Toad Manor; It's the nicest house in the neighborhood, and a fine house. But if there's a fire—what's Toad? Say the tile blows off, or the walls come down or crack, or the windows break—Toad But what to do? If the room isn't ventilated—I hate it most myself—what about the toad? No, go up there, it's nice to roam and live out of doors for a while, but finally go back down to the ground— —that's my idea of ​​home!" The Mole wholeheartedly agreed, and in the end the Badger was on good terms with him. "After lunch," he said, "I'll show you around my little place. I can see you'll like it. You know what a residential building looks like, yes." After lunch, while the other two were sitting by the fire again engaged in a heated argument on the subject of eels, Badger lit his lantern, and bade Mole to follow him.They walked through the hall, down a central passage, and the flickering light of a lantern lit up rooms on either side, some as small as a chest of drawers, some as big and grand as a toad's dining-room.A narrow passage made a 180-degree turn, leading them to another passage, and the same thing started all over again. The Mole could not help being struck by the grand scale and extent of all this, the length of the dark passages, the strong vaults of the overstuffed storerooms, the stone buildings here and there: columns, arches, paths, and so on. "My God, Badger," he said at last, "how much time and energy you've got for all this work? It's astonishing!" "If it was me," said the Badger simply, "it would indeed be astonishing. But to be honest, I didn't do anything at all--just cleared out the passages and rooms when I needed them. Here There is much more all around. I see that you do not understand, and I must explain to you. Long ago, where the primeval forests now tremble, before the trees were planted and grown as they are now, there was a Cities—cities of people, see? Here we are standing, they live, they walk, they talk, they sleep, they do their work. Here they hang their horses and pendulums. Feast, and ride from here to war, and to trade. They have power, and money, and great builders. They built cities to last, because they thought their cities would last forever." "But what happened to them after that?" asked the Mole. "Who can tell?" said the Badger. "Men come...they stay a while, they prosper, they build cities...and they go away. That's what they do. But we stay. I hear Long before that city was built, there were badgers here. Now there are badgers again. We are a patient animal, we could move out for a while, but we waited, patiently, and we came back. Later And so it will be." "Well, what about when they're gone, I say after the people are gone?" said the Mole. "Wait till they're gone," went on the Badger, "the wind and the incessant rain ruled over everything patiently, endlessly, year after year. Maybe we Badgers did our little bit to help a little Busy - who knows? Everything falls, falls, gradually - becomes ruins, flat ground, everything disappears without a trace. Then everything grows, grows, and gradually, the seeds grow into saplings, and the saplings grow The thorns and ferns climbed to help. The leaves piled high and drowned everything, and the running water brought the silt when the snow and ice melted in winter. Over time, our home prepared us again. Well, we move in. I'm on top of us, on the ground, and the same thing happens. Animals come here, like the way this place is, settle down, expand, prosper. They don't care about the past— —They never cared; they were too busy. Naturally the place is a little bumpy and full of holes; but it's a good thing. And they don't care about the future—maybe the humans will move back—for a while—as old look. The old forest is now full of people; as usual there are good, bad, mediocre animals - I will not name them. The world is made of - all kinds of things. But about They, I think this time you know something yourself." "I do understand a little," said the Mole, trembling a little. "Well, well," said the Badger, patting him on the shoulder, "you know, this is the first time you've had to deal with them. They're not so bad after all; we all have to live and let others live. But I'll see you tomorrow." Spread the word, and I don't think you'll be in any more trouble. Any of my friends can come and go in this place, and if not, I'd know what it is." When they returned to the kitchen, they found Ho Shu fidgeting around.The underground atmosphere oppressed him and irritated his nerves, as if he was really afraid that the river would flow away if he didn't watch over it.He had therefore put on his overcoat and put his pistol back in his belt. "Come on, Mole," he said anxiously, as soon as he saw them. "We have to go while it's daytime. Don't spend another night in this primeval forest." "It's all right, my good friends," said the Otter, "I'll walk with you, and I know every path with my eyes closed. If there's a head that needs a punch, you can give it all to me, and I'll punch it. " "You needn't worry, Rat," added the Badger calmly. "My passages are farther than you think, and I have safe holes leading to the edge of the wood in several directions, but I'm not afraid of anyone knowing. They. You must go, you can take one of my shortcuts. Now you sit down with peace of mind." But the Rat was in a hurry to get off, up to his river, so the Badger took up his lantern again, and led the way along a damp and airtight passage, which curved up and down, and partly dome-shaped. , partly through solid rock, the road was tiring and seemed miles away.At last the sunlight began to peek through the vine-clad bushes at the entrance of the passage.The Badger bade them hasty good-bye, hastily pushed them out of the opening, re-made the opening as inconspicuous as possible with creepers, bushes, dead leaves, etc., and backed away. The others found themselves standing on the edge of the primeval forest.Behind them, untidy heaps of rocks, brambles, and roots; The great old river, and the red winter sun low on the horizon.Otters who knew all the paths led the way, and they headed straight for the far fence.When they got there, they stopped and looked back, and saw the whole primeval forest thick and dense against the vast white background.Then they turned at the same time and trotted home, back to the fire and the familiarity it shone, to hear the merry sound of the river outside their windows, the river they knew and trusted whatever it was, its Never surprise or frighten them. As the Mole hurried on, longing to be home again, among the things he knew and loved, he saw clearly that he was an animal of the plow and hedge, as well as of the furrow, of the frequented The pasture, the path by which you wander at night, and the cultivated garden are inseparably bound together.Let the other suffer the rigors of nature, the stoicism, or the conflict of reality; he must be wise, and must remain in his happy circle, where the amusing things will last him a lifetime.