of running water; and with his ear to the reed-stems he caught, at
intervals, something of what the wind went whispering so constantly
among them.



II

THE OPEN ROAD

'Ratty,' said the Mole suddenly, one bright summer morning, 'if you
please, I want to ask you a favour.'

The Rat was sitting on the river bank, singing a little song. He had
just composed it himself, so he was very taken up with it, and would
not pay proper attention to Mole or anything else. Since early morning
he had been swimming in the river, in company with his friends the
ducks. And when the ducks stood on their heads suddenly, as ducks
will, he would dive down and tickle their necks, just under where
their chins would be if ducks had chins, till they were forced to come
to the surface again in a hurry, spluttering and angry and shaking
their feathers at him, for it is impossible to say quite ALL you feel
when your head is under water. At last they implored him to go away
and attend to his own affairs and leave them to mind theirs. So the
Rat went away, and sat on the river bank in the sun, and made up a
song about them, which he called


'DUCKS' DITTY.' All along the backwater, Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling, Up tails all!