(defun transpose (x)
   (apply #'mapcar (cons #'list x)))

(defun showh (h &key
              (indent 0) (stream t) (before "") (after "")
              (if-empty "empty")
              (show #'(lambda (x)
                        (format stream "~a~a = ~a~%"
                           (nchars indent) (first x) (rest x))))
              (lt #'lt)
	      (limit nil)
	      (ltfun #'car))
 (if (zerop (hash-table-count h))
     (format stream "~a~a~a" before if-empty after)
     (let (l)
       (format stream "~a" before) 
       (maphash #'(lambda (k v) (push (cons k v) l)) h)
       (mapc show 
	     (if (not (null limit))
		 (subseq (sort l #'(lambda (a b)
			     (funcall lt (funcall ltfun a) (funcall ltfun b)))) 0 limit)
		 (sort l #'(lambda (a b)
			     (funcall lt (funcall ltfun a) (funcall ltfun b))))))
       (format stream "~a" after)
       h)))