Book excerpt: In this, the fifth title in the Menagerie series, you meet again the Rueful Rabbit, luckiest of mortals, with an unscrupulous guardian angel at his side; Karapet, the unluckiest player on this side of the equator - and the other side too, of course; Charlie the Chimp, the black sheep of the family; and Walter the Walrus, the point-count specialist. With Papa's arrogance, the Toucan's humility, the Secretary Bird's pedantry and Molly the Mule's rampant feminism, they make every deal vibrate and sparkle. The Hideous Hog remains all but insufferable as he clashes daily with destiny, and in the final episode confronts the prince of darkness himself.