The Web Elk

The final test was very difficult indeed.

A word came up on the screen. It was either NUMBER, or LETTER. After that, a number and a letter would appear on the screen. If the preceding word had been NUMBER, then you had to press 'Y' if the number was even, and 'N' if it was odd. If, on the other hand, the preceding word had been LETTER, then you had to press 'Y' if the letter was a vowel, and 'N' if it was a consonant.

If this is multi tasking, said Pliny, I don't like it. But I'm not going to give up now.

He practiced a few times, then decided he would use his technique of pressing 'Y' all the time. But as he had kept his right finger hovering over the 'N', he found himself pressing it accidentally every now and again.

This will not be helping at all, he muttered.

At last it was finished.

All he had to do was press Results, to find out what kind of Web Animal he was.

He pressed it. Nothing happened.

'Sorry. There are some technical difficulties', he read on the screen.

I don't believe it! he exclaimed. After all the time I've spent on the dratted thing!

But just then the technical difficulty ended, and his results came up.

You are a Web Elk, he read. Slow moving, sociable and specialised.

Slow moving! he frowned. I blame that on the cup of tea and the chocolate biscuit. Sociable! I don't know how I qualify as that! Specialised! That doesn't sound like me. I'm interested in a multitude of things. What a silly test.

What Web Animal did you turn out to be, Pliny? I asked, hearing him muttering.

A Web Elk, he answered. But I have some reservations.

A Web Elk, Pliny? Rather you than me.