The Wind in the Willows: Chapter Eleven Summary & Analysis

Rat pulls Toad out of the river by his scruff. Toad is relieved and happy—at his friend’s house, he won’t have to worry about being caught or about trying to be a lowly washerwoman. Immediately, in a shout, Toad starts to tell Rat about his exploits. But Rat very seriously tells Toad to go clean up and change so he looks like a gentleman. Then they can talk. Toad considers arguing but then sees himself in a mirror and heads right upstairs. In clean clothes, Toad thinks everyone was an “idiot” for ever mistaking him for a washerwoman.

Downstairs, Rat has lunch ready on the table. As Toad eats greedily, he tells Rat about his adventures, focusing on his cleverness and boasting. But Rat becomes more and more serious. Finally, when Toad is done talking, Rat asks if Toad doesn’t see that he’s made a fool of himself. Does he really think being imprisoned, insulted, and thrown into the water by a woman is amusing? And all because he needed to steal a car? Cars are nothing but trouble, but does Toad really need to steal them? It would be better to be bankrupt than a convict. Also, this reflects terribly on Toad’s friends—Rat is getting tired of people saying he spends time with jailbirds.

Fortunately, Toad has a good heart. Though he genuinely thinks his exploits were fun and has to work hard to suppress strange noises (like “poop-poop!”), he sighs and says Rat is right. He’s done with cars after his dip in the river, though he has another idea related to cars. Seeing Rat recoil, Toad says they can talk about it later—but for now, he’d like to have coffee with Rat and then stroll home to live a quiet, respectable life. He wants to entertain his friends, not go on adventures.

Suddenly excited, Rat shouts that clearly, Toad hasn’t heard: the stoats and the weasels have taken over Toad Hall. Rat explains that when Toad was imprisoned, everyone gossiped. Everyone on the river stuck up for Toad, but animals in the Wild Wood said Toad got what he deserved and was never coming back. Badger and Mole tried to defend Toad to other animals, and they also moved into Toad Hall to make sure it was ready for Toad when he returned. Well, one dark night, armed weasels, ferrets, and stoats stormed Toad Hall. Badger and Mole couldn’t hold them back. Wild Wooders have been living at Toad Hall since then, apparently making a mess, sleeping in late, and singing vulgar songs. They tell people they plan to stay for good.

At this, Toad gets up and says he’ll go get rid of them, refusing to listen to Rat’s warnings. He marches to his gate with a big stick, where he encounters a ferret. As he starts to sputter at the ferret, the ferret lifts a gun and shoots at him. Fortunately, Toad drops to the ground, so the bullet doesn’t hit him. He scampers back to Rat’s house. Rat says it’s no good to try again, but Toad takes Rat’s boat up the river anyway. From the river, Toad Hall looks tranquil and deserted—until, when Toad is under the bridge, a boulder falls through the front of the boat. The boat sinks, and Toad looks up to see two laughing stoats. He heads back to Rat’s house again.

Rat angrily says that he told Toad what would happen—and now, Toad has ruined one of Rat’s suits and lost his favorite boat. Rat snaps that it’s a wonder Toad keeps friends at all. Toad immediately apologizes and promises to seek Rat’s approval for everything he does going forward. Appeased, Rat tells Toad to sit down for supper and be patient. They can’t do anything until they’ve spoken with Mole and Badger. Toad realizes he hasn’t asked after his friends. Rat explains that while Toad was out gallivanting, Badger and Mole have been camping and keeping an eye on Toad Hall, planning how to get it back. Rat says that Toad really doesn’t deserve such loyal friends.

Toad sobs and agrees with Rat—until he hears supper dishes on a tray and is immediately distracted. Rat reminds himself that Toad has been eating prison food for a while, so he encourages Toad to eat. Then, after supper, someone knocks on the door. It’s Badger, and Badger looks like he’s been away from home for some time. He’s muddy and tousled, but he grips Toad and welcomes him home. Badger then serves himself cold pie. Toad is concerned, but Rat says that Badger is always a bit short when he’s hungry. Not long after, Mole lets himself in and immediately dances around Toad. He says Toad must be clever to have gotten away. 

Rat tugs on Mole’s sleeve, but it’s too late. Toad puffs up and says his friends don’t think he’s clever—but he escaped from the strongest prison in the country, captured a train, and took advantage of people with his disguise. Mole says he’d love to hear the story while he eats. But as Toad pulls out his coins and says he got them dealing horses, Rat grumpily tells him to be quiet. He asks Mole for an update, and Mole says little has changed: the sentries throw stones and laugh at them. Deep in thought, Rat starts to say what Toad should do. But Mole interjects with what he thinks Toad should do, and Toad interrupts that nobody can order him around.

Badger tells Rat, Mole, and Toad to be quiet. Once he has their attention, he makes them wait quietly while he finishes eating. Then, he turns to Toad, scolds him, and says that Toad’s father would be ashamed. When Toad sobs, Badger says they can forget the past. But they still have to figure out how to take Toad Hall, and they can’t just storm it. Badger says he has a secret: there’s an underground passage leading from the riverbank to the middle of Toad Hall. Toad is dismissive, but Badger says that Toad’s father told him about it. Toad’s father made Badger swear to not tell Toad about it except in case of emergency, since Toad can’t keep secrets.

Toad sulks for a moment, and then acknowledges that he has “the gift of conversation.” Badger then explains that Otter disguised himself as a sweep and went to Toad Hall. He learned that the Chief Weasel’s birthday is tomorrow night, so everyone will be in the dining hall—unarmed. There will be sentinels, of course, but fortunately the passage leads into the butler’s pantry. They can then jump out and scare the weasels out of Toad Hall. With the plan settled, Badger sends everyone to bed.

Toad is, at first, too excited to sleep, but he soon falls asleep and dreams of winding up in Toad Hall, triumphant and with friends willing to praise his cleverness. By the time he wakes up late in the morning, everyone else is done with breakfast. Mole is out, Badger is reading, and Rat is busily divvying up weapons. Toad picks up a big stick, swings it, and says he’s going to “learn ‘em.” Rat scolds him; “learn ‘em” isn’t good English. Badger says it’s fine English, and anyway, they want to “learn ‘em,” not “teach ‘em.” Rat isn’t convinced, but he defers to Badger.

Soon after, Mole tumbles in the door. He says he’s been pestering the stoats. He put on Toad’s washerwoman outfit and went to Toad Hall, where he teased the sentries. Toad praises Mole, but privately, he’s jealous—he would’ve done what Mole did, if only he’d thought of it first and hadn’t overslept. Mole continues his story and says that when the sergeant came up, he said that tonight, a hundred bloodthirsty badgers, boats of rats, and armies of toads will storm Toad Hall to take it back. Mole ran away then, but he peeked back, and the sentries were clearly nervous. Toad laments that Mole spoiled everything, but Badger says Toad has no sense. Mole did wonderfully. This makes Toad jealous again.

The bell rings for lunch, so everyone eats, and then Badger excuses himself to take a nap. Rat resumes his weapon preparations, while Mole takes Toad outside and asks Toad to tell him about his adventures. Mole is a good listener, and Toad gladly tells his story—but it’s not truthful. It’s more the story of what might have happened if Toad had thought of things in time, but that’s what makes a good story, after all.