I was standing on a beach where a group of people had lined up along the shore about 20 meters from the water. In the water in front of the people was lined a row of hippopotami. It was soon apparent the hippopotami were going to race from the water to their owners.

Suddenly the race began. The bank was rather steep where I was standing, but leveled off to become almost flat farther down the line. All the people began calling their hippos and the hippos began heading toward their owners. The man nearest me was frantically coaxing his hippo. The hippo was having a difficult time because the bank was so steep there. Finally the hippo reached him and the man screamed out he had won. He ran down the line of the other contenders. He was suddenly disappointed to see two hippos at the end of the line where the bank was almost level had beaten him.

The prize was already being given to the owner of the two hippos. The winner was talking to his wife and showed great affection for his hippos. He had erected a sign indicating one of the hippos had made it to him in 84 seconds. He said he had also won the contest the previous two years.