One day some of their neighbours were having a family reunion. After drinking his fill the grandfather put a tall, thin empty wine bottle on the table next to a
squat
tin of pork
"Who do these remind you of?" he asked. Before anyone could guess he gave the answer. "That tall woman downstairs and that short husband of hers
Everyone burst out laughing and went on laughing
through the meal.
What had brought such a pair together?
This was a mystery to the dozens of households living in Unity Mansions. Ever since this couple moved in, the old residents had eyed them curiously Some
registered a question mark in their minds, while others put their curiosity
into words. Tongues started wagging, especially in wet weather when the two of them
went out and it was always Mrs. Tall who held the umbrella. If
anything dropped to the ground, though, it was simpler for Mr. Short to pick it up. Some old ladies
at a loose end would gesticulate, finding this
comic
,
and splutter with laughter. This set a bad example for the children who would burst out laughing at sight of
the pair and hool, "Long carrying-pole, big, low
stool!" The husband and wife pretended not to hear and kept their tempers, paying no attention. Maybe for this
reason their relations with their neighbours remained rather cool
. The few less officious ones simply nodded a greeting when they met. This made it hard for
those really intrigued by them
to find out more about them. For instance, how did they hit it off? Why had they married? Which gave way to the other? They
could only speculate.
This was an old-fashioned block of flats with large sunny rooms and wide, dark corridors. It stood in a big courtyard with a small gatehouse. The man who
lived
there was
a tailor, a decent fellow. His wife, who brimmed over with energy, liked to call on her neighbours and gossip. Most of all she liked to ferret out
their secrets. She knew exactly how husbands and wives got on, why sisters-in-law quarrelled, who was lazy, who hard-working, and how much everyone
earned. If she was
unclear about anything she would leave no stone unturned to get at the truth. The thirst for knowledge makes even the ignorant wise. In this
respect she was outstanding. She analyzed conversations, watched expressions, and could even tell what people were secretly thinking Simply by using her
nose, she knew which household was eating meat or fish, and from that could deduce their income. For some reason or other, ever since the sixties each
housing estate had chosen someone like this as a "neighbourhood activist," giving legal status to these nosey-parkers so that their officiousness could have full
play. It seems the Creator will never waste any talent.
Though the tailor's wife was indefatigable she failed to discover how this incongruous couple who passed daily before her eyes had come to marry She
found this most frustrating, it posed a formidable challenge. On the basis of her experience, however, and by racking her brains she finally came up with a
plausible explanation: either husband or wife must have some physiological deficiency Otherwise no one would marry someone a whole head taller or shorter
Her grounds for this reasoning were that after three years of marriage they still had no children. The residents of Unity Mansions were all convinced by this
brilliant hypothesis
But facts are merciless. The tailor's wife was debunked and lost face when Mrs. Tall appeared in the family way. Her womb could be seen swelling from day
to day, for being relatively far from the ground it was all too evident. Regardless of their amazement, misgivings or embarrassment, she gave birth to a line
baby When the sun was hot or it rained and the couple went out, Mrs. Tall would carry the baby while Mr. Short held the umbrella. He plodded along comically
on his plump legs, the umbrella held high, keeping just behind his wife. And the neighbours remained as intrigued as at the start of this illassorted, inseparable
couple. They went on making plausible conjectures, but could find no confirmation for any of them
The tailor's wife said, "They must have something to hide, those two. Why else should they keep to themselves? Wel, it's bound to come to light some day
just wait and see


what problem do the neighbors have with mrs tall and mr short