This is the podcast. Yeah, the podcast.
Is starting. What's the?
Podcast it's all going to be all right in the air.
It's going to be You've got some worries, my dear little arise.
Rest your busy minds because it's finally time the stories
from now and then. Hey, everybody, welcome back to
Stories from Now and then. My name is Captain Blunderface
and I'm here in the old library back with another story.
Well, another part of a story that is.
Deprecatus is fully asleep. I'm not sure right now if I
should wake him up to hear the rest of the story or just let
him sleep. He was so excited to hear it,
but he also loves to nap. What should I do?
I suppose cats are known for naps, so maybe he wants to do
what he was born to do, but maybe he feels he has naps
covered. Maybe he wants to be known for
appreciating stories. Out of all the cats, he's up
there for story appreciation. While I decide what to do, we
have a shout out for Thea and Charlie from Salt Lake City, UT.
Thea is 6 and Charlie is 4 and they especially love Deprecatus
and want to know what he looks like and how he came to live in
the old library. Well, Thea and Charlie, today's
story is for you and I can tell you that Debra Caddis fur is
longer than most cats and that he has blue eyes.
He's also pretty fast when he wants to zoom around the
library. His fur color could be described
as oh, sorry, looks like I just got a message from our sponsor.
Today's episode is brought to you by the All New Stories from
Now and Then Coloring book. We have pages that match the
stories and you can color along as you listen.
To learn more, check out our Instagram profile at Stories
from Now and Then. And with that, we'll see if
Deprikatis wakes up on his own, and we'll let Nicola take it
away for Wind of the Willows Part 4.
Good old Badger and Rat and Mole were really trying to help by
keeping Toad at home. They thought he couldn't get in
trouble if he was just inside, but he tied his bed sheets
together and he climbed out of his window.
And now bad news. He's in big trouble.
He's been caught by a policeman and he's now been arrested.
Do you think the friends can help him now?
Let's find out in this final part, The Wind in the Willows,
Part 4. The story, gathered in fragments
and completed later with many interruptions from Toad himself,
ran. Thus he had stopped a motor car
upon the road by admiring it extravagantly, persuaded its
owner to let him sit inside for one brief educational moment,
and then, seized by old desire, had driven away at full speed
while the owner shouted behind him.
Naughty Toad, that's not his car.
And unfortunately for Toad, roads contain policemen.
He tried to explain that he didn't mean to steal the car,
but the judge didn't believe him and he sent him to prison.
When Rat first heard this, he covered his face.
When Mole heard it, he said surely prison will cure him.
When Badger heard it, he answered, we shall hope so,
though hope has disappointed us before.
Yet prison did what lectures had not for the first time in Toad's
life. The days passed heavily.
Toad, deprived of comfort, applause and movement, found
prison life intolerably dull. The walls were bare.
Meals arrived without ceremony. No one admired his opinions.
Worst of all, no one believed his explanations.
At last, for perhaps the first time in many months, he sat
quietly and thought about his own behaviour.
It was during one such melancholy afternoon that
kindness came unexpectedly. The jailer's daughter, who
brought his meals, had heard enough of Toad's speeches to
feel pity despite herself. You do seem miserable, she said.
My dear young lady, said Toad sadly.
I am a ruined creature, once master of a noble house, now
fallen among iron bars. This speech, being delivered
with genuine sorrow, affected her.
A plan soon formed. The following evening she
returned, carrying a bundle. Inside were the plain clothes of
a washerwoman. To escape as you are is
impossible, she whispered. But no one looks twice at the
laundry. Toad stared.
At first he refused, mostly because he didn't like to wear
the bonnet. But there was no other way, and
so, awkwardly disguised, he left prison, pushing a laundry cart,
trying very hard to appear ordinary.
The escape succeeded, chiefly because Toad looked like such a
funny washer woman that no one suspected it could actually be a
disguise. At last he reached a river, and
by great good fortune he found a small boat drifting loose near
the bank. Too tired to worry, he just
climbed in and pushed off. The river accepted him quietly.
Evening spread across the water. Reeds whispered.
For the first time since his imprisonment began, Toad felt
something like peace. But peace did not last long, for
the boat belonged to a barge woman returning downstream.
Seeing a stranger in her boat, she approached and demanded to
know who he was. Toad, abandoning his washerwoman
disguise, confessed enough of his troubles to win her
reluctant sympathy. She agreed to take him part of
the way home, provided he worked.
This proved difficult, for Toad admired labour far more than he
performed it. By the time morning came he had
tangled the ropes, dropped equipment and nearly upset the
breakfast kettle. The barge woman's patience ran
out at the next landing. She put him ashore firmly,
though not unkindly. Still, Toad was closer to home,
and he had learned something alarming.
Wild Toad had been in prison. Rough creatures from the
Wildwood stoats and weasels mainly had occupied Toad Hall.
The servants were gone. The doors were watched.
The house itself had been taken from Toad.
At first he could not believe it.
My hall? Impossible.
But by afternoon he had seen enough from a distance to know
it was true. Hiding in the bushes, Toad
watched the stoats and the Weasels moving around his house,
lighting fires, eating food and treating the place like it was
their own. Toad was outraged and genuinely
distressed. He loved Toad Hall deeply, and
now he could not enter his own front door.
He found Rat and Mole by the river that evening, where they
had just heard rumour of his escape.
Rat, seeing Toad muddy, bonnetless and exhausted, said
only well. Mole embraced him at once.
Badger, summoned quickly, listened without interruption to
the whole story. When Toad finished, Badger
stood. Tonight we take back Toad Hall.
And so, after dark, the four set out through fields beneath
hedges. Then, by narrow underground
passages known only to Badger, they reached an old, forgotten
tunnel leading directly beneath Toad Hall.
The air smelled of earth and old stone.
Their Lantern light moved softly across brick walls laid long
ago. Above them, faintly, came
distant voices from occupied rooms.
At last they reached a concealed panel opening behind the pantry.
Badger lifted it carefully. They could hear voices now,
laughter, careless footsteps, plates knocked roughly upon
tables. Ready, whispered Rat.
The moment the panel opened, Badger moved first.
He emerged with such force and certainty that surprise did half
the work before resistance began.
Rat followed swiftly. Mole, though trembling, found
courage in movement itself. Toad came last, shouting more
loudly than necessary, but with admirable enthusiasm.
The stoats and weasels, caught entirely unprepared by the four
animals appearing from the walls, lost heart quickly.
Some fled upstairs, some through windows, some directly out the
front door. Within minutes the hall belonged
again to its rightful owner. Silence returned.
Gradually. A chair righted, a lamp relit.
The old clock in the corridor ticked as though nothing unusual
had happened. Toad stood in the centre of his
hall and looked around. Then he spoke very quietly.
I have been a fool. The others didn't know what to
say, because this from Toad was very surprising.
After a while, Badger nodded Yes, he said often.
Toad accepted this, but he added, I shall try to improve.
Rat looked doubtful but kind. Mole smiled openly.
They sat together in the great dining room to have breakfast
while the sun rose and the wind moved softly through the
willows. All was well, All had always
been well. All would be well again.
I do really love a happy ending when everything gets put right
and friends come together. These four friends could not be
more different, each one of them very unique.
But the friendship they have is so strong and so special that
they can do amazing things together, like fight off all
those stoats and weasels, just the four of them, you know?
Here's a question for everybody listening which creature would
you like to be friends with the most?
Would it be the cosy and friendly mole, or the brave and
joyful Rat? Perhaps the exciting,
adventurous toad? Or maybe the wise old badger?
They're all so special, it's fun to think about.
OK, back to you, Captain. That is the whole story.
Wind in the Willows is officially wrapped.
Thank you to everybody for tuning in and we hope you
enjoyed our first four part story.
Oh Deprecatus, He woke up just in time for the whole story,
didn't you? Did you end up hearing the whole
thing? Great.
So Deprecatus, what was your favorite character?
You know what, I think that was my favorite character too.
Remember, if you'd like a shout out, just send us Adm on
Instagram at stories from now and then.
And if you haven't seen the new stories from now and then
coloring book, go check out our Instagram page as well.
Stories from now and then is narrated by the amazing Nickel
award music by Captain Blunderface and Captain
Blunderface played by Evan Wiebe.
We will see you all next time on.