Lord Emsworth mediates

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Lord Emsworth mediates (original title: Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best ) is a cheerful short story by the British-American writer PG Wodehouse , which was first published in 1926 in the June issue of British Strand Magazine and on June 5, 1926 in the American magazine Liberty appeared. She and her protagonist Lord Emsworth are one of the stories from the so-called Blandings Castle saga . In 1935 the story was included in the short story collection Herr auf Schloss Blandings ; In terms of narrative logic, however, this short story is located between the novels A Lord in Need (first published in 1923) and Sommerliches Schlossgewitter (first published in 1929).

action

Butler Beach , longtime butler at Blandings Castle, is seriously considering resigning after 18 years: he is no longer able to endure the shame of Lord Emsworth's unkempt beard - even Sir Gregory , owner of the neighboring Matchingham Hall estate, couldn’t hold back disapproving looks during their last dinner together. Lord Emsworth, lord of Blandings Castle, is not yet aware of this impending adversity. He is depressed that his younger son Freddie is no longer in the United States, but is back in London. Ever since he secretly ran away with the daughter of dog biscuit maker Donaldson, she married and is now vice president of biscuit marketing, the United States has been his home. PG Wodehouse already stated in the previous short story that the relationship between the father and the then unmarried son was not the best:

“It seemed to the head of the family that he had fathered these offspring only to his constant annoyance. If he let him live alone in London, that worthlessness quickly piled up a mountain of debt, and when he brought him back to Blandings Castle, he would idle around the property, moping. Prince Hamlet must have been just as entertaining for his stepfather in Elsinore. "

A little later, Lord Emsworth found out that there had been a falling out between the spouses: In order to impress his wife, Freddie had secretly drafted a script and had dinner with a prominent film star so that she would advertise his script in Hollywood. He happened to be observed at this meeting by Jane Yorke, a friend of his wife. Yorke reports to Aggie about the secret rendezvous that Freddie has with another wife and Aggie promptly leaves her husband and travels to London to comfort herself over it.

Freddie meets with his father in London and tries to persuade him to stand up for him with his wife. Based on his film knowledge, he is sure that the appeal of a white-haired old father to his wife always bears fruit. Lord Emsworth, refuses - his son has behaved idiotic from his point of view and now has to watch himself how he pulls himself out of the mess. It was only when Lord Emsworth returned to Blandings Castle that he realized what it meant when his son's marriage failed. He would return to Blandings Castle.

"Freddie had previously been to Blandings Castle for a long time and his lordship was of the firm belief that the presence of this boy posed a greater threat to a happy country life than blowflies, aphids or foot and mouth disease."

Lord Emsworth travels back to London after this has matured and visits Aggie's hotel to try to save the marriage of his son and daughter-in-law. The door to the suite that Aggie lives in is open. When Lord Emsworth ventures into the living room of the suite, however, he is eyed so suspiciously by a little yap that Lord Emsworth prefers to take shelter in the bedroom of the suite. There Aggie's friend Jane Yorke confronts him at gunpoint and declares him a jewel thief. His declaration that he is the father-in-law who wants to speak to his daughter-in-law is increasingly believed by Aggie, who comes from the bathroom. Yorke, however, is convinced that the white-bearded man is Freddie in disguise - at that moment the hotel telephone announces that Lord Emsworth has just arrived at the hotel and is on his way upstairs. This second Lord Emsworth turns out to be Freddie, disguised with a flowing white beard. Since his father refused to talk to Aggie to him, he wanted to soften his wife's heart even disguised as Lord Emsworth. While Lord Emsworth is appalled by the horrific parody of himself, Aggie begins to believe her husband's story. A telegram from Hollywood in which Freddie offers $ 1,000 for his script draft confirms Freddie's story. The couple make up with each other.

The story ends with a clean-shaven Lord Emsworth at Blandings Castle, where everything goes on as usual. Butler Beach goes about his business as usual and a thoughtful Lord Emsworth makes him call London to inquire about the plot of the draft script.

expenditure

  • Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (1935)
    • Herr auf Schloss Blandings, Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-442-03418-3 . Translation by Annemarie Arnold-Kubina.

literature

  • Frances Donaldson: PG Wodehouse: A Biography . London 1982, ISBN 0-297-78105-7 .
  • Richard Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. Overlook, Woodstock / NY 2003, ISBN 1-58567-441-9 .

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ↑ PG Wodehouse: The pumpkin in Lord at Blandings Castle , p. 8. Translated by Annemarie Arnold-Kubina.
  2. ↑ PG Wodehouse: Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best in The World of Blandings (anthology), p. 296.