--- title: The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 1: The Wild Wood (winter, and the Mole sets out alone) — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 1: The Wild Wood (winter, and the Mole sets out alone)», a lesson of the books course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: The Mole has long wanted to meet the famous Badger, whom everyone talks ab --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/) / The Wind in the Willows, chapter III,… # The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 1: The Wild Wood (winter, and the Mole sets out alone) Lesson 33 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 15 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/0/) — The Mole has long wanted to meet the famous Badger, whom everyone talks about and nobody sees. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/2/) — Frost and mud keep them indoors, the river races past too fast for boating, and the Rat sleeps a lot and writes poems by the fire. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/3/) — The animals tell stories of the summer — which the writer paints as a play where the flowers come on stage one by one, until June arrives. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/4/) — One afternoon, while the Rat dozes in his armchair hunting for rhymes, the Mole quietly decides to go out by himself, explore the Wild Wood, and perhaps meet Mr. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/5/) — It is cold and still under a hard steely sky. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/6/) — The bare winter countryside seems to show him «the insides of things», and he likes it plain and strong. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/7/) — Ahead lies the Wild Wood, «low and threatening, like a black reef». - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/8/) — At first it's fun: twigs crackle, logs trip him, fungus on stumps looks like funny faces. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/12/) — But you must not only take him as you find him, but when you find him.» - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/15/) — The Rat has «never even ventured to call on him at his own home myself», and says «we can't ... he lives in the very middle of the Wild Wood». - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/17/) — But I think we won't go there just now.» - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/18/) — In winter «cold and frost and miry ways kept them much indoors» (miry = muddy), and the swollen river raced past «with a speed that mocked at boating of any sort». - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/20/) — Summer is told as a play with flowers as actors: «Purple loosestrife arrived early», then «Willow-herb, tender and wistful, like a pink sunset cloud», then comfrey, then «the diffident and delaying dog-rose», and last «meadow-sweet ... in amber jerkin» — and then «the play was ready to begin» (diffident = shy; a jerkin = an old short jacket). - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/23/) — «He had got down to the bare bones of it, and they were fine and strong and simple.» — he liked the countryside «undecorated, hard, and stripped of its finery». - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/28/) — Talk in this lesson: «ginnel» (North England) = a narrow alley; «dreich» (Scotland) = grey and wet; «cwtch» (Wales) = a cuddle, or a cosy little place; «adulting» = doing grown-up jobs; «it's giving horror film» = it feels like a horror film; «just now» (South Africa) = in a while. - ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 4: The Open Road (the wreck of the cart, and Toad's new craze)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/32-willows-ch2-part4-the-wreck-and-the-new-craze/) - next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 2: The Wild Wood (the faces, the whistling, the pattering — and the Rat sets out)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/34-willows-ch3-part2-the-terror-of-the-wild-wood/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/)