GEORGE AND MARTHA BACK IN TOWN

Further episodes—some characteristically sly, each one engaging—in the delicately balanced friendship of portly hippos George and Martha. In "The Box," Martha succumbs to temptation—and George doesn't blow her cover. ("'You don't think I opened that little box?' said Martha. 'Of course not,' said George.") "The High Board" finds George quaking—and Martha covering (with a splash) for him. "The Trick" he plays on her then prompts her to do him one better—with, however, a ruse that echoes the first story's box full of jumping beans. The cleverest turnabout comes in "The Job": swimmer Martha warns lifeguard George to be "very strict," to allow "no horsing around"—and then blows up when he's strict with her. ("Martha was right—this is a hard job?') Tops for gentle give-and-take is "The Book"—where George, fleeing Martha's interruptions, reads that "Sometimes we are thoughtless without even knowing it." He goes to find her; she disarmingly apologizes;they both confess their loneliness. The magic, as always, is the economy of means.