Rat is essentially playing host here, and it’s important to him to make sure his guest feels comfortable and heard (hence choosing particular foods). The wayfarer starts to really enchant Rat’s imagination with his stories, making Rat feel like he’s already traveling the world and not stuck at home. It’s interesting when the wayfarer says he knows Rat will follow. After all, in the first pages of the book, Rat told Mole that the Wide World wasn’t something to concern himself with. Now, it seems like Rat might go against that and leave his home for the Wide World after all.