Playing with friends on the rive

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本周将读一本英文儿童小说《柳林风声》，以下的内容改写自这本书的第一章。直接用英文写的，没有先写中文再翻译，如有写得不对的地方，欢迎指正，一起提高。

This week I will read the children’s literature The Wind in the Willow in English edition.

Today, I’ve read the first chapter of the story-on the river bank, to say more exactly, that is playing with friends on the bank.

Before telling you about the story, I’ll say that I could even feel their joy while reading the story, because the story just happened in spring, and I am reading the story in spring too.

Let’s begin.

The story was telling from an animal, the mole.

He was busying cleaning his little home which was built in a cellarage under the earth. The mole might be the first animal who woke so early in spring, meanwhile, many other animals gradually woke from their long winter dream. 

While the mole was busing cleaning the house, he was calling by some magic sounds above, quivering of the earth or shouting of something, he could not tell what it was, but was appealed by that magic power. He started to scrabble and scrooge, again and again,working busily with his paws and muttering to himself: "up we go, up we go”.

Finally, his snout came out into the sunlight. Soon, he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow. The sunshine struck on his fur, soft breezes caressed on his brow, happy birds singing above him, he felt everything around him is wonderful, anything is better than painting the walls in his small home.

He could not stop wandering about, like an excited, newly-free man who was just set free from seclusion of a prison.

(I really like the description of the beginning of the story, I think the mole ‘s eager of coming out of the earth is very similar to the breathtaking moment when Shawshank-the main character of the film The ShawshankRedemption- was climbing in the smelly ditch trying his every strength to escape from the prison.)

When the mole wandered to a river bank, he met his first friend- the water rat, who was very skillful at rowing a boat and always lived in the river. The rat invited the mole to travel with him on his small boat. Sure the mole did as he was invited. The two friends had a wonderful time together. 

On the way, they met otter, who was waken by the noise on the river. The three friends chatted cheerfully about their meeting after the dull, long winter, then they started to count which animals had come out on the river. That is to say, they are wondering who else had woke from the long winter dream.

After a little while, they began to eat their lunch on the grass. The food was delicious and was taken from their luncheon-basket that was always packed by the rat for his excursion. Then the afternoon was getting low, they were tired and decided to go home.

 It was again the rat to be the captain to row the boat, but the mole was jealous to the rat’s rowing skills, he wanted to row himself. You know, this is the mole ‘s first touch to a boat so how can he even row a boat, the rat certainly rejected the mole’s request, he told mole to be patient and he could only row till he got a few lessons of row.

​However, the mole’s pride made him do totally wrong. While the rat was rowing and chattering with him, the mole suddenly grabbed the sculls, and tried to make a great dig at the water, but he missed the surface altogether and made the boat bottom up, the mole and the rat all fell into the river.

Finally, the mole was rescued by the rat. 

The dismay mole, wet without and ashamed within, sat in the stern of the boat, and apologized to his friend. Fortunately, his friends, the generous rat forgave him and even asked him to visit his home for a few days, then he could teach the mole how to row and treat him at home.

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