to death by a large boa constrictor named Dolores, only to be saved by a white poodle and snake charmer named Estrella — who turns out, naturally, to be the love he’s been looking for. And the daughter of a garbage collector, as well.

Favorite little moment: “Why worry and get wrinkles? It would happen.”

Favorite passage: “Tiffky Doofky jumped to his feet. He was wide awake and in the coils of a boa constrictor! He tugged at the powerful snake, but it only tightened its hold. ‘Help!’ he shouted. ‘Help!’ But soon he could shout no longer. The breath of life was being pressed out of him. He decided to face death with dignity. The sun was now on the rim of the earth, about to leave this gruesomein the HB.

The internal dynamics of NGC 1851 has therefore influenced the evolution of its stars, introducing effects not reproducible by standard models. In turn, the dynamical evolution induced by the external gravitational field of the Galaxy has also very probably contributed to the modification of the present-day stellar population of NGC 1851, as strongly suggested by the anomalously flat global mass function.

IS wishes to thank the [*Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias*]{} for providing a nice work environment during the reduction stage, and the [*Fondazione A. Gini*]{} for partial financial support. M. Catelan is warmly acknowledged for comments that improved many of the points discussed. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous referee for suggestions that improved the original manuscript, and to Terry Mahoney for a careful revision