Boys will be boys
AA Gill is the father of six-year-old twins — one boy, one girl, brought up in the same way. Why do they play so differently?
Beetle prefers weapons, but will help to arrange Edie’s doll’s house (Manuel Vazquez)
The drummer stands straight, stiff and splendid in scarlet and black bearskin.
His epaulettes gleam, straps are blancoed, polished boots face ten-to-two.
The drum hangs by his side, the sticks hover ready to tap out the rhythm of
war. The rest of his regiment lies in tatters: a Life Guard has lost his
head, a gun limber is turned on its side, its crew passed into the ranks of
Opposite him are the lines of blue-coated French, bayonets fixed. Their
cavalry, a single Polish lancer, gallops in from the left. Things are not
looking good for the drummer. The air echoes with the sounds of volleys —
Bang! Bang! The French fire back — Frap! Frap! Suddenly, out of the sky,
swoops a pterodactyl. It grips the drummer and lifts him up, across the
table, over the carpet to the back of the armchair where the reserves wait: