The Road, the Load, and the Tree Toad
by Marcus Malone
A short fable about two brothers, a road, a load, and of course, a tree toad.Bribery, corruption and Norwegian penises: a satirical tale of two cultures.Thanks to her grandmother’s way of dealing with her constipation, the Shanghai policeman’s daughter grows up believing that the sun shines out of her backside. Her temper and screaming fits are so notorious that nobody dares to marry her – even though her father is offering a large sum of money. An inspector in the Shanghai police, he has accumulated a small fortune in bribe money, but what he really desires is a grandchild. When he suggests that Norway might be a suitable place to search for a spouse, his daughter readily agrees: having been reliably informed that Norwegian men have very large penises.But Norway turns out to be a bit of a culture shock for the Shanghai policeman’s daughter. Not only does Oslo resemble a small provincial town when compared to Shanghai, but every one is very honest and nobody will take a bribe. Moreover, whilst she is impressed by the size of Norwegian men’s penises, they are apparently unaware as to what they are supposed to do with them.