--- title: The Wind in the Willows, chapter VIII, part 4: Toad's Adventures (the chase, the tunnel and the night wood) — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The Wind in the Willows, chapter VIII, part 4: Toad's Adventures (the chase, the tunnel and the night wood)», a lesson of the books course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: The train rattles off with Toad in the engine's cab; fields, cow --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/) [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 VIII,… # The Wind in the Willows, chapter VIII, part 4: Toad's Adventures (the chase, the tunnel and the night wood) Lesson 55 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 19 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/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/0/) — The train rattles off with Toad in the engine's cab; fields, cows and hedges fly past, and he skips and sings, dreaming of supper, money and praise at Toad Hall — the strangest washerwoman the driver has ever seen. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/1/) — Then the driver hears another engine behind them, and in the moonlight he sees it crowded with warders waving halberds, policemen waving truncheons and detectives waving revolvers, all shouting «Stop, stop, stop!» - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/2/) — Toad falls on his knees in the coal and confesses who he is; he says he only «borrowed» a motor-car, but the driver calls him a wicked toad — and still decides to help, because he dislikes motor-cars, bossy policemen and the sight of an animal in tears. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/4/) — He laughs for the first time since prison, but soon he remembers it is late, he has no money and no supper, and the wood is cold, dark and unfriendly: night-jars rattle, an owl brushes his shoulder, a fox teases him about missing socks, and at last he makes a bed of leaves in a hollow tree and sleeps till morning. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/5/) — Toad «eagerly scrambled up into the cab of the engine» (the cab = the driver's place); «The guard waved his welcome flag» and the train moved out. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/6/) — Thinking of Toad Hall, money and «praise and admiration at the recital of his adventures» (recital = telling), he «began to skip up and down and shout and sing». - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/8/) — The driver hears something: «we're the last train running in this direction to-night, yet I could be sworn that I heard another following us!» - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/9/) — Toad feels «a dull pain in the lower part of his spine» — that is how fear feels to him. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/10/) — The chasing engine is full of «Men like ancient warders, waving halberds; policemen in their helmets, waving truncheons; and shabbily dressed men in pot-hats ... plain-clothes detectives ... waving revolvers and walking-sticks» (halberd = long pole with an axe-blade; truncheon = police club; pot-hat = bowler hat). - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/11/) — Toad confesses: «I am not the simple washerwoman I seem to be! - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/12/) — I have no children waiting for me ... - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/13/) — I am a toad — the well-known and popular Mr. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/14/) — Toad, a landed proprietor» (a landowner). - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/16/) — The driver: «I fear that you have been indeed a wicked toad, and by rights I ought to give you up to offended justice. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/17/) — But you are evidently in sore trouble and distress, so I will not desert you.» - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/21/) — Toad «jumped, rolled down a short embankment, picked himself up unhurt, scrambled into the wood and hid»; when the chase has passed he has «a hearty laugh — for the first time since he was thrown into prison». - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/23/) — A fox says: «Hullo, washerwoman! - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/24/) — Half a pair of socks and a pillow-case short this week! - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/25/) — Mind it doesn't occur again!» Toad looks for a stone to throw, cannot find one, and is vexed (annoyed). - ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter VIII, part 3: Toad's Adventures (no money, no pocket, and the engine-driver)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/54-willows-ch8-part3-no-money-no-pocket/) - next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter IX, part 1: Wayfarers All (change in the air)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/56-willows-ch9-part1-change-in-the-air/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/)