The Wind in the Willows…

Mole, blind as he was, had been away from his underground home for a very long time, exploring a world of light and adventure with his friend Ratty. One winter’s evening…they explored away from home for a rodent’s eternity…

Mole is walking along with Ratty and suddenly, powerfully, with “recollection in the fullest flood” smells his own home.

“Please stop Ratty!” pleaded poor Mole, in a sudden and powerful tearing anguish of heart. “You don’t understand! It’s my home, my old home! I’ve just come across the smell of it, and it’s close by here, really quite close. And I must go to it, I must, I must! O, come back, Ratty! Please come back!”

I get sad when I read this passage.

Thanks to KRJ for the memory.