A. .~i"'ple African,fetishor did it II,eansOll,ething 'I,uc/,deeper PGideon sighed.She was a stranger to him, but he bought herhydrangeas and accepted her hyena just thesame; what would Hernando do?B'(CATHERINEGARRETTandPATRICIA HOGANPage Twenty-sixIt was a bunch of riotous hydrangeas, andMandarine had arranged them in a china hyenain the florist's shop window. Mandarine sighed andpouted her rosebud lips in the way that womencalled vulgar and men adorable.Everything had gone wrong that day; businesswas slow, it was raining and to make thingsworse Gideon, her young man, hadn't telephoned., To Mandarine, the orange hyena was the onlybright thing in her life.Mandarine's last customer was buying with desperate,determined abandon. He impressed her asbeing the strong silent type, but a boy at heartAs he handed Mandarine his £1.14.9, in correctchange, he gave such a melancholy smile thatshe impulsively seized the hyena, "Oh do, do havethis too"."Well ... er . _ . it's very nice, but . .." "Oh, Ididn't mean buy it," said Mandarine hurriedly, "it'sjust a present".STRUAN
Llewellyn Jones, through a haze of thought, sawthe girl staring earnestly up at him. "Why", hethought, "she does have good teeth". He murmeredslowly, "It's er . . . it's very kind of you .""Don't forget to . wax him weekly", called Man darine as she watched him depart like a victoriouswarrior bearing his spoils, with that touching buttough look which flowers give to big men. Th eorange hyena was being carefully borne upsidedown beneath a sheaf of poppiesIn the taxi Llewellyn thought gloomily of GossamerMurtagh - Gossamer who half tormented,half promised him. She accepted his companywith that light touch he could never quite grasp.Everything else in Llewellyn's life was orderly andbusiness like. But the image of a certain pale,thin, pock-marked face tormented him beyondmeasure every night and every morning and frequentlyduring the day.As Llewellyn scrambled out of the taxi his eyesfell upon the hyena. As he replaced them, hethought how easy it would be to leave it lyingthere in all its phosphorescent orange glory, butthe thought of the girl who had given it to himmade him snatch it up guiltily.Half an hour later he rang Gossamer's door bell.The door opened immediately, and there she wasin a chunky dress, and her hair slicked backfrom her face with a magic touch of hair spray."Th is is for you ," he muttered, pushing thehyena into her hands. He was always embarrassedwhen he saw Gossamer. To change the subject ,he muttered tenderly, "Why, your teeth are whitetonight".Gossamer gave him a long , drawn-out sigh. "Oh"she sighed, " Oh . . . isn't that sweet". Llewellynsaid briefly "Sorry I'm late, left it in the taxi ,"Gossamer lifted her face , and with a start Llewellynsaw tear drops falling from her misty eyes .Awkwardly, he patted her sh oulder and noted almostsubconsciously, how thin and bony she was . Resistinga wild urge to escape, Llewellyn askedcuriously. "What is it?""Oh nothing Llewellyn," sniffed Gossamer, arrestingthe tears which were playing havoc withher water-proof mascara."It's just that my present . . . the hyenawho else could ever have thought of such a gift."It was then, as Llewellyn looked deep into hercrossed, bloodshot eyes, that Llewellyn knew heloved this girl; especially her endearing habit ofgoing cross-eyed when emotionally disturbed."Don't forget to wax the hyena weekly," croonedLlewellyn weakly.Gossamer's mother, Mrs. Murtagh, was drinkingher third cup of tea in an endeavour to thwart thedesire to peep from behind the refrigerator tosee how her daughter was faring. She was pouringyet another cup of tea when Gossamer and Llewellynburst into the room. "Goodness children", shemurmered indulgently, "Do mind your teeth,"The faces of the couple were flushed, Gossamer'swith triumph, and Llewellyn's with the sheepishpink which illumines the features of self-consciousyoung men when under emotional duress. "Mother,this is for you", said Gossamer as she handedMrs. Murtagh the orange glory, "Llewellyn gaveit to me, but I wanted you to have it because-" ."Mother!" said Llewellyn scarlet to the neckwith feeling. Mrs. Murtagh now understood thatSTRUANher daughter would not have to share a fiat withunmarried girl-friends ever again.When they had gone , Mrs . Murtagh stared atthe hyena which lay placidly in her lap. Somethingabout it made her put it hastily on the mantlepieceand fill it with hydrangeas. The sight ofhydrangeas growing from the hyena's back wasincongruous to say the least. As she was contemplatingth is, the door was opened by the curlyheaded grocery boy, with her box of vegetableson his shoulders."Hello there Gideon," she said, "Doing yourown delivery?" Gideon liked the way she saidhis name. It sounded somehow, more masculine."Well , Mrs. Murtagh, today's been desperatelybusy, but I think I've remembered all yours grapes, potatoes, and a really lovely lettuce", hesaid, fingering the crisp leaves lovingly."Hope to take my best girl out tonight," hesaid. "Trouble is, I meant to get her a present.Nice gesture, I thought, but I clean forgot in therush. It is a pity".He wore the helpless look of a true man."Gideon", said Mrs . Murtagh, suddenly "Let megive you something for her. The hyena smiled indulgentlyas he was handed to a new pair ofhands.So, on a clear, sparkling night, with a haze ofstars and the moon just beginning to rise , Gideonarrived at a house where the lights were shiningthrough the dusk. He carried the orangehyena lightly masked in tissue paper which he hadremoved from a box of Granny Smiths.He rang the bell and a voice called, "Oh Giddy,I was thinking of you _". "Me too," he said. "I'vebrought you a present, you have to wax it weekly,"he added.Mandarine stared at the orange hyena andbegan to lau gh helplessly in a manner whichwould have done justice to the object of hermirth.MORAL: It's a small world - OR Beware ofthe orange hyena.More and More People- Eve SampsonOne of the mos t serious problems confrontingthe world today is the problem of over-population:In the last century the population of the worldhas almost doubled and statisticians predict thatby 1980 it will have reached 4000 million. What ismore, if the rate of increase is maintained, thefigure will be doubling every 40 years until, 730years from now, each human being will have onlyone square foot of his own on which to live.Let us first examine the reasons for this populationexplosion which has taken place comparativelyrecently. Probaly the most important oneis the great increase in medical knowledge whichhas taken place in the last hundred years. Mensuch as Pasteur and Lister have launched a campaignon infectious diseases which has the effectPage Twenty-seven
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