on the spot where the Wild Wood waves
now, before ever it had planted itself and grown up to what it now
is, there was a city--a city of people, you know. Here, where we are
standing, they lived, and walked, and talked, and slept, and carried on
their business. Here they stabled their horses and feasted, from here
they rode out to fight or drove out to trade. They were a powerful
people, and rich, and great builders. They built to last, for they
thought their city would last for ever.'

'But what has become of them all?' asked the Mole.

'Who can tell?' said the Badger. 'People come--they stay for a while,
they flourish, they build--and they go. It is their way. But we remain.
There were badgers here, I've been told, long before that same city ever
came to be. And now there are badgers here again. We are an enduring
lot, and we may move out for a time, but we wait, and are patient, and
back we come. And so it will ever be.'

'Well, and when they went at last, those people?' said the Mole.

'When they went,' continued the Badger, 'the strong winds and persistent
rains took the matter in hand, patiently, ceaselessly, year after year.
Perhaps we badgers too, in our small way, helped a little--who knows?
It was all down, down, down, gradually--ruin and levelling and
disappearance. Then it was all up, up, up, gradually, as seeds grew
to saplings, and saplings to forest trees, and bramble and fern came
creeping in to help. Leaf-mould rose and obliterated, streams in their
winter freshets brought sand and soil to clog and to cover, and in
course of time our home was ready for us again, and we moved in. Up
above us, on the surface, the same thing happened. Animals arrived,
liked the look of the place, took up their quarters, settled down,
spread, and flourished. They didn't bother themselves about the
past--they never do; they're too busy. The place was a bit humpy
and hillocky, naturally, and full of holes; but that was rather an
advantage. And they don't bother about the future, either--the future
when perhaps the people will move in again--for a time--as may very well
be. The Wild Wood is pretty well populated by now; with all the usual
lot, good, bad, and indifferent--I name no names. It takes all sorts to
make a world. But I fancy you know something about them yourself by this
time.'

'I do indeed,' said the Mole, with a slight shiver.

'Well, well,' said the Badger, patting him on the shoulder, 'it was your
first e