Floodlights and Goalposts

An online commonplace book

Ratty the optimist

The Rat paid no heed to his doleful self-reproaches. He was running here and there, opening doors, inspecting rooms and cupboards, and lighting lamps and candles and sticking them up everywhere. “What a capital little house this is!” he called out cheerily. “So compact! So well planned! Everything here and everything in its place! We’ll make a jolly night of it. The first thing we want is a good fire; I’ll see to that – I always know where to find things. So this parlor? Splendid! Your own idea, those little sleeping-bunks in the wall? Capital! Now, I’ll fetch the wood and the coals, and get you a duster, Mole – you’ll find one in the drawer of the kitchen table – and try and smarten things up a bit. Bustle about, old chap!”

Fascinating how Kenneth Grahame sets the scene here without describing Mole’s home directly. Instead he paints the scene by rendering it through Ratty’s joyful perspective.

Can one get away with saying Captial! When something is good?

Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. United Kingdom, Welbeck Editions, 2021. p89


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