It’s strange, but I used to not like this chapter. So much that I almost always skipped over it. Reading it now, I think I was crazy. I love this chapter.
Dulce Domum is latin for “Sweetly at Home”. Very appropriate. The entire chapter reminds of the feeling I get when I’ll walk by a house that I grew up in. All the memories come rushing back and, like the Mole, it makes me want to go back for just a bit. In this chapter the Mole gets to go back for an evening. And how fun that he gets to bring his new friend with him into his past.
If you could do what mole does and bring a friend to look into your past, what house would you bring that person back to? I know the house I would go to.
And doesn’t Ratty shine in this chapter?
What did you all think? (I had to include this picture of the field mice. Aren’t they cute!)
I love the friendship that Rat and Mole have!! How sweet Rat is every time he tries to make Mole feel good about his home and what it provides. I also love how Rat sends the little field mouse to get all the best food. You know he just wants Mole to look good to all his old little friends and have a great evening. And then when it’s time to go to bed he praises Mole again for his home. The whole chapter was so endearing.
Every time the chapter ends with them heading off to bed in a warm cozy house after a good meal and good talk it makes me feel so cozy and long for my own bed. It’s the best feeling to go to bed with. Does anyone else agree?
My favorite part is the beautiful Christmas carole. How sweet that Mr. Grahame wrote such a hymn for animals.
I feel like Mole when I drive through the Bay Area, past the neighborhoods I wandered as a child. I literally feel that tug, something there pulling me to come visit, just come in and let it be under my feet one more time, like it owns me.
It’s strange, not to be too dramatic, but the older I get, the more I feel that tug, that desire to go see my old haunts; I really think it’s my soul, getting ready to go to heaven.
Yes, Suzanne, how wonderful is the description of getting in bed? I loved being in bed reading that, I was practically rolling all over with glee.
Levi, you’re right. We see what a great bloke Ratty is, oh, I just fell in love with him.
Jacque, he reminded me a bit of you when you saw our new trailer, very kind.
Even though you’re a boat-person, you appreciated it.
Attractive Member:
I totally agree about going to bed. Didn’t Todd nail it on Sunday talking about going to bed when it’s storming outside? I think that is one of my favorite feelings.
Mom:
I love that Christmas Carol too. It’s interesting to think that animals were there to greet Jesus when he was born. If he had been born in modern times, Jesus might have gone years without meeting an animal. I wonder if the animals in the stable knew who he was? Maybe they sensed it.
I know what you mean about old houses, Mom. The two houses that stick out in my head are Pine Street and The Ridge. Maybe just because we don’t live there anymore. There was so much happiness in those places. The house on Stockdale is great but I was all teenaged and angst-ridden there. I don’t miss that time very much.
Also, there’s something amusing in how dramatic the Mole’s decorations are. The busts of Queen Victoria are funny to think of in a mole burrow.
I miss that time very much, but Suzanne and the ugliest, naughtiest children in the world are worth my broken heart.
Ha, you’re right about the decorations; I adored the part, no, never mind, I shall leave gleanings for the others.
Sydney, might you have an offering? Do you have something you’d like to share with your fellows? Hmmmm?
Every chapter just keeps getting better! The field mice are so cute, and I loved their little carol. I like what a brata Mole was with his naughty attitude about how dreary his house seems compared to Ratty’s fine house. I really annoy Steve when I read this book cus I do that annoying thing where you kinda chuckle to yourself while you read, and can’t really give good explanations why. Poor Steve.
I’ve always really liked this chapter. I completely understand Mole’s yearning for his old home, but then his contentment with just a visit. ‘Cause, you know, Montana has GREAT summers, but winter…
I love the carol, too.
And the little garden/courtyard thing with the busts makes me laugh. Especially when combined with the beer-mug rings on the tables. (Huzzah! Here’s to good Queen Vic!)
Rat cracks me up in this chapter. Even when he’s mean to his friend, it’s completely unintentional. And then, when they’re in Mole’s house and he’s telling Mole what to do and where things are.
“Now, I’ll fetch the wood and the coals, and you get 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!”
Now THAT’S a friend–one who’s comfortable enough to boss you about in your own house, and who you don’t mind doing so!
Oh, and Rosalyn, I do the same chuckle-to-yourself thing–when reading the book and everyone’s comments here on the blog, too. I think trying to explain the comments to Graham is even harder, because I have to explain the book, then what someone said, and how I thought the same thing, or not, and this has become just like one of those explanations…
Serena, it’s weird how there’s a “home or house” you dream about, isn’t it? Is your’s in Montana? I think it’s usually the house you lived in through the ages of 5-11, at least for me.
I know, I’ve tried to explain what the book’s about and why it’s so wonderful and it sounds sort of lame.