--- title: The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 2: Mr. Badger (bad news of Toad, a winter promise, and two lost hedgehogs) — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 2: Mr. Badger (bad news of Toad, a winter promise, and two lost hedgehogs)», a lesson of the books course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Full and warm by the fire, the friends chat, and Badger --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/) [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 2: Mr. Badger (bad news of Toad, a winter promise, and two lost hedgehogs) Lesson 38 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 28 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/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/0/) — Full and warm by the fire, the friends chat, and Badger asks how old Toad is getting on. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/2/) — Toad has smashed his seventh motor-car; his coach-house is piled to the roof with bits of cars; he has been in hospital three times and paid huge fines. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/3/) — Sooner or later he will be killed or ruined. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/4/) — The Rat asks: shouldn't his friends do something? - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/5/) — Badger says he can't do anything now — it's winter, and in winter no animal is expected to do anything brave or busy. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/7/) — Halfway through his speech, he notices the Rat is asleep. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/8/) — The Mole feels lively underground — he is a digger, and Badger's house suits him; the Rat, used to a breezy river bedroom, feels sleepy and shut in. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/9/) — Badger shows them to a room half full of apples, potatoes, nuts and honey, with two little white beds smelling of lavender. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/10/) — Next morning they come down very late and find two young hedgehogs eating porridge. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/11/) — They got lost in the snow on the way to school and knocked at Badger's back door. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/12/) — And where is Badger? - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/13/) — «Busy» in his study, they say — which everyone knows means asleep in his arm-chair with a red handkerchief over his face. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/14/) — After supper each animal «felt that his skin was now as tight as was decently safe» — a funny way of saying they were stuffed full. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/15/) — Badger asks «How's old Toad going on?» The Rat: «Oh, from bad to worse … Another smash-up only last week, and a bad one.» - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/17/) — He thinks he is «a heaven-born driver» whom nobody can teach. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/18/) — If he'd only pay «a decent, steady, well-trained animal» to drive for him, «he'd get on all right». - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/19/) — Badger asks «Smashes, or machines?» The Rat: «it's the same thing—with Toad. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/20/) — This is the seventh.» Toad's coach-house is «piled up to the roof—with fragments of motor-cars, none of them bigger than your hat!» The Mole adds: «He's been in hospital three times», and the fines are «simply awful». - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/26/) — The bedroom is «half bedchamber and half loft», half full of Badger's winter stores: apples, turnips, potatoes, nuts and jars of honey. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/27/) — The beds are clean and smell «beautifully of lavender». - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/28/) — Rat and Mole were out of their clothes and into bed in about thirty seconds. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/30/) — The elder hedgehog: «Me and little Billy here, we was trying to find our way to school—mother would have us go, was the weather ever so». - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/33/) — He adds: «Mr. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/34/) — Badger he's a kind-hearted gentleman, as everyone knows». - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/35/) — They «made so bold as to knock» (dared to knock) at Badger's back door. - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/36/) — The Rat tells him «You needn't ‘sir’ me quite so much». - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/37/) — In the old days poor children were taught to call richer people «sir»; today we'd say everyone deserves the same respect. - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/39/) — Talk in this lesson: «skint» (UK) = with no money left; «rizz» = charm; «canny» (North East England) = nice, or quite; «cwtch» (Wales) = a cuddle, a cosy corner; «y'all» (southern US) = you all. - ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 1: Mr. Badger (the door in the snow and the fire-lit kitchen)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/) - next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 3: Mr. Badger (the Otter comes through the snow, and the best home is underground)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/39-willows-ch4-part3-the-otter-and-underground-homes/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/)