Defeated, Ms. Denny, who has suffered from manic-depression for 35 years, returned home, her ballot uncast, as it has been in every election since she first registered to vote 15 years ago.

How do you know? asked Mr Pond rather snappishly and in unusual irritation.

The Iranians likewise enjoy myths about the origin of the Iranian peoples, their glorious past, the superiority of their language and the need to use it for political unification, a xenophobia about strangers or newcomers, and an immense irridenta.

It is true that Ramsay’s cantos are occasionally weakened by a self-concious antiquitarianism as seen in the old-fashioned marriage customs, such as the ‘bedding of the bride’ and the ‘riding of the stang’, of which he makes too much; but these are minor faults in an otherwise lively and brilliant piece of work.