Bumblegoose was never quite the goose that he could or should have been, but he did it anyway. On inner levels, there are his own doubts, fears and insecurities, too numerous to mention. On outer levels, he must deal with the three powerful henchladies, Mrs. White, Mrs. Pumphrey and Miss Daisybush, in their usual militant mood. At a time when the Pond community is moving from a simple way of living to a new technological age, he must adapt to the changing times. In the background, there is always lurking danger, culminating in a direct confrontation with his archrival and nemesis, the behemoth Fang. Was Bumblegoose a classical hero, as the Northern tradition suggests, or was he just a bumbling fool who got lucky and benefited from his wise friends, as the Southern tradition claims? Or was he actually a transcendent being from another dimension, with strange and marvellous powers, as the Oral traditions assert? Only the reader can discern fact from fiction, legend from myth, uncovering in the process the true nature of the reality of those perilous times.
