03-01-06-风语河岸柳 [15]
So far everything was going well for Toad. The train hurried through the night, taking him away from the hateful prison. But Toad's luck didn't last for long.
There came a moment when the engine-driver put his head out of the window and looked back.
'That's strange, ' he said. 'There's a train behind us, coming up very fast. I can see it in the moonlight. I think they're chasing us! I wonder what…' And then the engine-driver gave Toad a long hard look.
So Toad had to tell the true story of his crime and his escape. The engine-driver looked very serious. He thought for a bit, then said, 'I don't like policemen telling me what to do. And I don' t like to see an animal crying. So cheer up, Toad! This is what we' ll do. In a mile or two the train goes through a wood. I'll slow down there, and you'll be able to jump off the train and get away in the dark. '
Half an hour later both trains had disappeared into the night, and Toad was hiding under some dead leaves in the middle of a strange wood. There, he fell asleep and didn't open his eyes again until early morning. He woke up cold and hungry-but still free!
His next adventure was with a barge on a canal. He had walked out of the wood and found a road, which after a while began to run along the side of a canal. Toad liked the idea of getting a free ride, so when he saw the barge coming along the canal, he quickly jumped from the canal bank on to the end of the barge. Then the barge-woman turned and saw him. Toad was ready with his story.
'I'm a poor unhappy washerwoman, ' he began.
But the barge-woman, Toad quickly discovered, was a most unpleasant person. She came up to Toad and looked hard at his face under his bonnet. ' Washerwoman indeed! You' re a fat lazy little toad, that' s what you are! ' she said rudely. 'Get off my barge! ' And she actually pushed Toad off the barge into the canal.
Toad swam to the bank and climbed out. He was wildly angry. How could he punish this rude and terrible person
Then he saw the horse which was pulling the barge, and an idea came to him.
Two minutes later he was riding the horse across the fields away from the canal. Behind him, the barge-woman was shouting and screaming angrily. Toad rode on, laughing at his own great cleverness.
Later that morning he met a man with a caravan, who was cooking over a fire in a field. Toad sold him the barge-woman's horse for a good price and a hot breakfast. He ate and ate until he was almost too full to move . But he still had a long way to go to get home, so he got up and went on. The sun was shining brightly, his clothes were dry again, and the new coins made a pleasant sound in his pocket. He took off the bonnet, which was too hot, and began to think about all his adventures and escapes.
'Ho, ho! ' he said to himself. 'What a clever Toad I am! How brave! How intelligent! No problem is too difficult for Toad! ' He began to sing a song about himself as he walked along, although there was no one to hear it. It was perhaps the most boastful song that any animal ever sang.
If there's a need the world to save,
Then send for Mr Toad!
There's none so clever, none so brave,
As famous Mr Toad!
There was a lot more of it, and it got more and more boastful as it went on.
He came to a road and began to walk along it, hoping for an-other free ride. After a time he saw a small cloud of dust coming up the road behind him, and he heard the noise, that beautiful noise, of a motor-car. He stood in the middle of the road and when the car saw him, it began to slow down.
And then a terrible thing happened. Toad recognized the car and the people in it. And what is worse, the people recognized Toad.
'It's the car thief! ' they shouted. 'The criminal who has escaped from prison! Stop him! Catch him! '
Toad turned and ran. He picked up his skirts and ran faster than he had ever run in his life. But the people from the car were now running after him, shouting and screaming at him to stop. They chased him through a wood, across fields, up a hill, and down into a valley. Once Toad looked back and saw that two policemen had joined the chase. He tried to run even faster, but he was a fat animal and his legs were short, and the people were catching up with him.