The Butler (short story)

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The Butler is a short story by the British writer Roald Dahl (1916–1990). It was first published in the American travel magazine Travel + Leisure in May 1974 under the original title at the time, The Butler Did It . In later publications, the short story is called The Butler . The German translation Der Butler by Hansgeorg Bergmann was published in 1980 in the collection I see what you do not see .

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The nouveau riche George Cleaver moves into an elegant house in London with his wife . They hire French chef Monsieur Estragon and English butler Tibbs for an insane salary . With these two skilled workers, the cleavers want to achieve a higher social status as upstarts . They invite you to dinner parties with lavish food several times a week. But the companies don't seem to be working out that well despite the excellent food and faultless service. There is a lack of momentum and a good mood. The butler cites the cheap, hideous Spanish red wine as the reason, which does not go well with such an excellent meal. Cleaver then has the wine cellar filled with the most expensive and rarest Bordeaux wines . In order to gain further reputation as a wine connoisseur, he reads through a lot of knowledge from specialist books. Tibbs teaches him how to properly taste the wine . Cleaver now displays the acquired knowledge in front of his guests. Still, societies are not getting better. Tibbs cites the large amount of vinegar that the chef has added to the salad dressing on Cleavers' instructions as the reason. As a result, according to Tibbs, the guests cannot taste the wine.

On the same evening Cleaver describes the opinion of the butler as nonsense in front of the assembled guests and makes fun of him. Then Cleaver introduces a supposed 1945 Château Lafite . The butler then explains that in reality, as always, Cleaver has tasted the same cheap Spanish red wine. According to Tibbs, Cleaver did not show the necessary reverence for the precious Bordeaux wines, as the regular cocktails before dinner and the large amount of vinegar in the salad spoiled the taste of the wine. Then the butler explains in front of the angry Cleaver and the shocked company that he always exchanged the wines beforehand and enjoyed them with Monsieur Tarragon.

"The butler bowed ... and walked to the front door of the house into the street, where Monsieur Estragon was already stowing their luggage in the trunk of the little car they had bought together."

See also

literature

  • Roald Dahl: The Butler, in: I see what you don't see, Reinbek 1980, p. 39 – p. 42
  • Donald Sturrock: Storyteller. The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl, New York and London 2010

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ The Butler Did It - more information
  2. ↑ Sturrock, p. 626
  3. ↑ The Butler, p. 42