We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding.

Three Men in a Boat Chapter 14 Summary

Wargrave, Shiplake and Sonning. George cooks stew for supper. Montmorency’s dislike of the tea kettle. George attempts to play the banjo but is discouraged by all. George and the author take a walk and lose their way. Harris feels unwell.

The three friends now moved past Wargrave and Shiplake. The author shared some local information about the beautiful towns. They went on shore at Sonning and took a walk around the pretty village. Later, they decided to go back to one of the Shiplake islands, instead of heading for Reading that night.

Once they were settled, George volunteered to cook an Irish stew for supper. The author and Harris sat down to peel potatoes for it, but found that it was a very tough job. In the end, they just added unpeeled potatoes. They also put in all the leftovers that they had found in the hamper. Montmorency brought a dead water rat for the stew, but they were not sure whether or not it was in a sarcastic spirit.

After they ate, the kettle was put on for tea. Montmorency did not trust the kettle and every day, when it began to boil and sputter, he would growl at it. Now, he sprang at it, burnt his nose and ran away howling in pain. He never attacked the kettle again.

After supper, George took out the banjo, but had to put it away as Harris said he had a headache. Montmorency also never cooperated when George tried to play the banjo. In fact, George never did learn to play, as everyone around seemed very discouraging. The author was reminded of the story of a fellow who faced great discouragement when he tried to play the bagpipes.

Harris was not feeling very well after supper, so the other two left him in the boat and went for a walk. It was almost eleven when they returned, and a light rain had started to fall. However, they could not remember where exactly their boat was moored and did not find it till past midnight, when they had all but given up hope.

When they finally got into the boat, they saw that Harris seemed strange and sad. When the others asked him about it, he explained that they had moored near a swan’s nest. Harris had to fight off the swans, but he was not very clear about the details. He had no recollection of any swans the next morning. George and the author slept well, but Harris had a disturbed night, as he constantly woke up looking for different articles of clothing.