Ветер в ивах
The River Bank
"
"Aren’tthey—aren’ttheyverynicepeopleinthere?"saidtheMoleatriflenervously.
"W-e-ll,"repliedtheRat,"letmesee.Thesquirrelsareallright.Andtherabbits—someof’em,butrabbitsareamixedlot.Andthenthere’sBadger,ofcourse.Helivesrightintheheartofit;wouldn’tliveanywhereelse,either,ifyoupaidhimtodoit.DearoldBadger!Nobodyinterfereswithhim.They’dbetternot,"headdedsignificantly.
"Why,whoshouldinterferewithhim?"askedtheMole.
"Well,ofcourse—there—areothers,"explainedtheRatinahesitatingsortofway."Weasels—andstoats—andfoxes—andsoon.They’reallrightinaway—I’mverygoodfriendswiththem—passthetimeofdaywhenwemeet,andallthat—buttheybreakoutsometimes,there’snodenyingit,andthen—well,youcan’treallytrustthem,andthat’sthefact."
TheMoleknewwellthatitisquiteagainstanimal-etiquettetodwellonpossibletroubleahead,oreventoalludetoit;sohedroppedthesubject.
"AndbeyondtheWildWoodagain?"heasked;"whereit’sallblueanddim,andoneseeswhatmaybehillsorperhapstheymayn’t,andsomethinglikethesmokeoftowns,orisitonlycloud-drift?"
"BeyondtheWildWoodcomestheWideWorld,"saidtheRat."Andthat’ssomethingthatdoesn’tmatter,eithertoyouorme.
