Old Wives' Tales

Between the trees, down by the lake, there was,
Some time before, a little house. In it,
A man, who is no longer there (because,
Some say, one day his aging throat was slit,
But probably because he was too old
To still be there) lived quietly, until
One day, a badger, fleeing from the cold,
Slipped in the house. The old man, with goodwill,
Offered the badger food, and watched it eat.
Being fed, it slipped back to the wood.
The next day man and house both disappeared.
I always wonder if the badger could
Have been responsible, and yet I feared
To ask the question, lest I seem insane;
But with the badger back, I can't refrain.