The Hat Of Gandhi

Ying has returned to the hotel. She's in a better mood now.

Who wants to go to Zoo Barcelona?

I do, says Terence.

I do, says Baby Pierre

Not me, says Daniel O'Connell. I'm staying in, to bone up on spiders.

And indeed, he is sitting on the spider book, open at Loxosceles.

Zoo Barcelona? says Gaius. You'll enjoy that, Terence. If I remember correctly, it's the home of an albino gorilla, named Snowflake.

Ahem! coughs Ying. It died.

Luckily, Terence has not had enough time to get excited about Snowflake. While Baby Pierre is an atheist, and a free thinker.

So the expedition goes ahead, regardless.

They walk to Zoo Barcelona. Ying pays, and they enter.

An old Zoo, but modern, in that they have open enclosures.

Terence stares at an iguana.

The iguana stares back.

You can pat me, says the iguana.

Don't, says Ying.

Sorry, says Terence. I'm a morning person.

What does that mean? asks the iguana.

See this tee shirt? says Terence.

The connection is too deep for the iguana.

And Ying is not having it.

Not! says Ying. Not a morning person. You'll just have to accept it.

It's the afternoon, says Terence. Ha ha! I'm not what I'm not in the morning!

Terence looks at Baby Pierre. Did he hear that piece of cleverness?

No, his Sancho Panza hat has slipped down. He didn't hear it.

You look like a yellow hat walking, says Terence.

A train whizzes by.

.....

Later at dinner.

Everyone has met at La Rambla, a tapas bar.

Terence is full of the train.

We went on the train, says Terence.

Did you? says Kong, picking at his Bosquito (salami).

How did you like it? asks Gaius, chewing a lump of Monchego Viejo (sheep's milk cheese).

It went FAST, says Terence.

And did you see Snowflake? asks Daniel O'Connell, from behind a Jabali (wild boar chorizo).

It died, says Baby Pierre.

Tragic, says Daniel O'Connell.

In two thousand and three, says Ying, reaching for the Tapas Menu.

What did you think of the Zoo, Baby Pierre? asks Sweezus, poking at a plate of Albondigas de Cordero (Spanish meatballs)

Couldn't see it, says Baby Pierre. It was a choice of hat or no hat. Anyway I don't approve of animals enclosed in tight spaces.

Like your head was, says Terence. In your stupid hat

I'm not an ANIMAL, says Baby Pierre. And my hat is a noble hat.

Don Quixote wears the noble hat, says Arthur, who up to now has been silent, scoffing golden fried Patatas Bravas with spiced tomato sauce and aioli. Your hat belongs to his servant.

Did you have to say that? asks Ying. Haven't we had enough discord?

But Baby Pierre is not discombobulated.

There is a nobility in service, says Baby Pierre.

He is thinking of Gandhi.

De acuerdo! says the waiter, taking Arthur's plate away, before he has finished.