--- title: The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 1: Mr. Badger (the door in the snow and the fire-lit kitchen) — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 1: Mr. Badger (the door in the snow and the fire-lit kitchen)», a lesson of the books course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: The moment he hears it is Ratty, the Badger's voice changes complete --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/) [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 IV, p… # The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 1: Mr. Badger (the door in the snow and the fire-lit kitchen) Lesson 37 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 20 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/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/). - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/2/) — The moment he hears it is Ratty, the Badger's voice changes completely: «Come along in, both of you, at once.» He is in his dressing-gown with a candle, on his way to bed, but he pats their heads like a kind old uncle and leads them down a shabby passage to his kitchen. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/3/) — The kitchen is the warmest, safest room you can imagine: a big log fire, a red brick floor, high-backed benches, hams and onions hanging from the beams, plates winking on the dresser. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/4/) — Badger gives them dry clothes and slippers, washes Mole's cut leg and puts a plaster on it. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/6/) — Nobody talks for a long time, and when they do, they talk with their mouths full and their elbows on the table — and Badger doesn't mind a bit. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/7/) — He listens to their whole adventure and never once says «I told you so». - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/8/) — Mole begins to like him very much. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/10/) — Mole says the footsteps sound like someone «walking in carpet slippers that were too large for him and down at heel» — «which was intelligent of Mole, because that was exactly what it was». (Down at heel = worn out and squashed at the back.) - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/11/) — The Badger's first words are gruff: «Now, the very next time this happens, I shall be exceedingly angry.» (Exceedingly = very.) - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/12/) — On hearing the Rat, he cries «What, Ratty, my dear little man!» «in quite a different voice», and says they «must be perished» (perished = frozen right through). - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/13/) — He wears a long dressing-gown, carries a flat candlestick, and «had probably been on his way to bed». - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/14/) — He pats both their heads and says «This is not the sort of night for small animals to be out.» - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/16/) — The passage is «long, gloomy, and, to tell the truth, decidedly shabby»; other tunnels branch off from a central hall, «mysterious and without apparent end». - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/17/) — The kitchen has a red brick floor, a log fire between two chimney-corners, two high-backed settles (settle = a long wooden bench with a high back), a long table on trestles, and hams, herbs, onions and eggs hanging from the rafters. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/18/) — The book says it is a place «where heroes could fitly feast after victory, where weary harvesters could line up in scores along the table» (fitly = rightly) — and the plates «grinned at pots on the shelf», as if the room itself were smiling. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/19/) — Badger gives them dressing-gowns and slippers, and «bathed the Mole's shin with warm water and mended the cut with sticking-plaster». - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/21/) — Badger does not mind table manners, because he «did not go into Society» (Society = smart, polite company). - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/22/) — The writer jokes that he was wrong, «because they do matter very much, though it would take too long to explain why». - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/23/) — Badger «nodded gravely at intervals as the animals told their story», and did not seem surprised or shocked at anything. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/24/) — Badger «never said, “I told you so”» or that they ought to have done something else. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/25/) — «The Mole began to feel very friendly towards him.» - ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 4: The Wild Wood (the door-scraper, the door-mat, and a green door)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/36-willows-ch3-part4-the-door-scraper/) - next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 2: Mr. Badger (bad news of Toad, a winter promise, and two lost hedgehogs)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/)