The Mongoose bought a leather cap
she thought would make her friend look smart;
he thought himself a sporty chap,
and now he really looked the part.

He got himself a library card,
and read thick books with serious frowns;
repairing houses looks quite hard,
but Badgers know the ups and downs

of keeping homes quite free of damp -
their walls and ceilings sound and dry.
A Badger's sett must bear his stamp,
or else some wandering fox might pry.

(For foxes love a badger's home
if they can find unoccupied
a sett that badgers never roam -
whether they left, or whether they died.)

The Badger bought a clipboard, and
a pencil for behind his ear;
he learned of concrete, stone and sand,
and went to buy some building gear.

He costed all the things he'd need,
then brought the Mongoose, who, meanwhile,
had spent a pretty pile indeed
to clothe herself in regal style.

She bought a little parasol
that suited dolls about her size;
she walked around, and thought it droll
to dress herself in human guise.

Her furry tail she sometimes wrapped
in silk; at other times, left bare,
she bore it up aloft, or strapped
it neatly round her derriere.

The two of them arrived in style
at 'Bricks R Us', and there she paid
enormous sums for Badger's pile
of purchases. "You count as 'trade',"

the staff advised them. "Even rats
who buy as much as this get free
a ghetto blaster, party hats,
and just this week, a willow tree."

The Mongoose was about to bite
the Manager; a rat, indeed!
But Badger answered quite polite,
and ushered her away, with speed.