Don't judge a book by its cover

There were several remarkable families in our town and I immediately recall the Mograbies and the Beans.

Let me tell you something about the Beans:

There were five boys and a girl called Emmy, who was the eldest.  I knew two of the younger boys, Joseph and Les, very well. The youngest of the family was one Effie.  Although I speak of Joseph, the only name by which he was known, was "Os" (Ox). It was quite a simple matter. Mr. Bean was a cattle speculator and the name "Os" followed logically. Les was not known as Les but as "Luis" (Louse) Bean. the father was known for his public-spiritedness, but far removed from being a wealthy man.

When we were in standard 4, a small incident occurred which I have always remembered, concerning Os. I hope I am given the opportunity one day to ask him whether he recalls it. Our Afrikaans teacher, a man by the name of Beuning, was asking the class what they intended doing when they grew up.

In reply to the question, Os said that he wanted to become a doctor and I remember clearly Mr. Beuning, the master, saying: "Jou pa sal moet baie beeste verkoop as jy 'n dokter wil wees." (Your dad will have to sell a lot of cattle if  you want to be a doctor.) Little did Mr Beuning know that it was not only Os who wanted to become a doctor, but Luis as well.

The story continues: Os passed into Matric, Luis into Standard 9, but in the new year, whereas Os came to school in the usual way, Luis was missing. To cut a long story short, the Beans had discovered that University books were very expensive, and deduced that if they started together as medical students, they would be able to share the text books.

Needles to say, both became doctors and in addition to that, their younger brother Effie also became a doctor as did one of the older brothers. So the family produced four doctors. I think this was one case in Mr Beuning's life where his pessimism proved to be unfounded.

They were all keen sportsmen and Effie played rugby for Witwatersrand University and subsequently for Transvaal.  The achievement of producing four doctors in the family may not sound extraordinary today, but in those days, to come by higher education was extremely difficult. Had I met Mr Beuning in later life, I would have liked to quote the Afrikaans idiom: "Moenie 'n man op sy baadjie takseer nie."