Without me, Jeeves!

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PG Wodehouse (1904)

Without me, Jeeves! (Original title: Joy in the Morning , also published in the USA under the title Jeeves in the Morning ) is a comical novel by the British author PG Wodehouse , which was first published in the USA in 1946 and almost a year later in Great Britain. In Germany the novel was also published under the title Schwamm over it, Sir and To Help, Jeeves! The translation currently published by Suhrkamp Verlag is by Thomas Schlachter.

As in many novels and short stories, the main protagonists of the plot are Bertie Wooster and his trusted personal butler, Reginald Jeeves . Bertie Wooster is persuaded, not least by Jeeves, to pay a visit to the mansion of his fearsome aunt Agatha and her husband Lord Worplesdon, although he knows that his ex-fiancée Lady Florence Craye will also be there. Mistakes make him fear that his ex-fiancée will return to him, while her current fiancé pursues him with jealousy. At the same time, Wooster must ensure that his friend George 'Boko' Fittleworth succeeds in convincing Lord Worplesdon that he is a worthy candidate for the hand of his ward Zenobia 'Nobby' Hopwood. It is only thanks to Jeeves' intervention that everything turns out well.

PG Wodehouse was working on this novel as early as 1939. The Wodehouse, who lives in Le Touquet, France, was initially interned after the German invasion of France. He finished his novel in Germany after his wife Ethel brought him the unfinished manuscript when she joined him in Berlin. The novel is now considered a classic in British humor. The British newspaper The Guardian recorded 2009 Without Me, Jeeves! Made the list of 1000 Must-Reads, along with a number of other Wodehouse novels. Robert McCrum also included the novel in the Guardian's list of the Top 100 English-Language Novels .

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Part 1

While buying a gift for Jeeves in a London bookstore, Bertie happens to meet his ex-fiancée Florence Craye , a very educated young woman who tried hard to raise Bertie's educational level during the engagement period. She falsely gets the impression that Bertie - not least because of her influence - is currently reading Spinoza and has just bought her own, recently published novel Spindrift . Shortly thereafter, Bertie happens to meet his former classmate D'Arcy 'Stilton' Cheesewright and discovers that Stilton is now engaged to Florence and is prone to Othello-like jealousy attacks.

In the meantime, Lord Percy Worplesdon, ship magnate, father of Florence and second husband of Bertie's aunt Agatha , turned to Bertie's butler Jeeves and sought his advice: He must arrange a secret meeting with the American businessman Chichester Clam in order to talk to him Discuss a top-secret business transaction. Jeeve's solution to this problem is to have Bertie take a few days' vacation at Cottage Wee Nooke near Lord Worplesdon, Bumpleigh Hall, in the village of Steeple Bumpleigh. This would not only give Jeeves the opportunity to make use of the excellent fishing opportunities in the region. The two businessmen could also use the cottage as a secret meeting place. Aunt Agatha also wants to take advantage of Bertie's upcoming trip to Steeple Bumpleigh: Her nephew is supposed to pick up a brooch that is intended for her stepdaughter Florence as a birthday present from the jeweler and bring it to Bumpleigh Hall. She herself is on a different mission: Her son from her first marriage, who is in a boarding school, has mumps and needs her personal care.

Bertie drives to the country with Zenobia 'Nobby' Hopwood, an old friend. She confesses to him that she is secretly engaged to Bertie's old friend George 'Boko' Fittleworth, a writer who also lives in Steeple Bumpleigh. Boko was also briefly engaged to Lord Worplesdon's daughter Florence, and Lord Worplesdon has since developed such a deep dislike for Boko that it is unlikely that he will consent to the relationship. However, Nobby succeeds in getting Bertie to promise that he will stand up for the couple. Upon arriving at Steeple Bumpleigh, one of the first people Bertie meets is his old college colleague Stilton, who is on duty as a village policeman. His fiancée Florence is annoyed by this unpredictable activity of her fiancé, she sees in him a future member of parliament. Stilton is convinced that Bertie is still mourning Florence and wants to regain her hand. He tells him to leave Steeple Bumpleigh as soon as possible. At Cottage Wee Nooke, Bertie then meets Florence's young brother, a boy scout who resolutely wants to do a good deed every day. The cottage burns down when Edwin tries to clean the chimney with gunpowder and paraffin. Lord Worplesdon blames Bertie for the fire. While Lord Worplesdon gives shelter to Jeeves, who has meanwhile traveled by train, Bertie has to look for refuge with his friend Boko. In the mess, the brooch that Aunt Agatha had planned as a birthday present for Florence is also lost and Jeeves has to travel to London to find a replacement for the brooch.

Part 2

In order to increase his standing with Lord Worplesdon, Boko came up with the idea that his intervention should prevent a break-in at Bumpleigh Hall. Bertie Wooster is supposed to take on the role of the burglar. However, while Bertie prepares the break-in, he is interrupted by Edwin. who hears noises from his nursery.

To calm his nerves, Bertie wanders through the nocturnal garden and meets Jeeves, who tells him that Lord Worplesdon and Chichester Clam now want to meet in a garden shed after the cottage Wee Nooke burned down. Boko, who is also wandering around in the garden to prevent the alleged break-in attempt at the right moment, thinks Chichester Clam is a man who actually tries to break into the country estate and locks it in the garden shed. His already precarious relationship with Lord Worplesdon is further strained. This mishap also strains the relationship between Boko and Nobby, so that their engagement also seems to be endangered, which Bertie sees calmly:

“I must admit that the matter did not give me any headaches. Boko, who had stood in the ring with his Dulzinea in person and had experienced an explosion in which the shreds had just flown, had of course believed that the end of the world had come and that the Last Judgment was going to the point with unusual vehemence. But for me, the calm and serene observer, the whole thing was pure routine. You shrugged your shoulders and recognized the matter for what it was: Kinkerlitzchen. "

Jeeves suggests that there should be an argument between Lord Worplesdon and Bertie Wooster the following morning, in which Boko intervenes on behalf of Lord Worplesdon. In the meantime, Edwin has gone to the nocturnal garden, mistaken Bertie for a burglar and knocks him down with a stick. Bertie also learns from Edwin that the couple Florence and Stilton also fell out. The supposedly lost brooch was found by Edwin, who brought it to Florence as an alleged birthday present from Bertie. She is now completely convinced that Bertie has tender feelings for her. To Bertie's horror, Florence wants to revive her engagement to Bertie.

Bertie returns to Boko's cottage and eventually agrees to take on the argument with Lord Worplesdon. Boko, on the other hand, will help him to anger Florence so that there will be no renewed engagement between the two. Bertie learns from Jeeves that the reason for the breakup of the engagement between Boko and Florence was a kick in the buttocks that Boko gave Florence's young brother Edwin. Bertie wants to achieve the same and punishes Edwin in a similar way in the presence of Florence. This time it doesn't work, but Florence is even taken with Bertie's action; Edwin has just messed up her scrapbook where she keeps her book reviews.

part 3

Nobby promises to release Bertie from his threatened engagement by showing Florence an old letter from Bertie, in which Bertie speaks negatively about Florence. In return, Bertie Jeeves is supposed to implement the dispute with Lord Worplesdon, in which Boko takes on the role of the mediator. However, the plan does not come to fruition: the moment Bertie arrives in Lord Worplesdon's study, he witnesses Boko being forcibly thrown out of the garden by the gardener. His uncle is also in a surprisingly good mood: he invites Bertie to champagne and cigars and even congratulates Bertie on his energetic behavior towards Edwin. Bertie had done what he had long wanted to do, but could not implement in his father role. The forgiving Lord Worplesdon even seeks Bertie's advice on how to finally implement the secret meeting with Chichester Clam. In the end, it is Jeeves who suggests that an upcoming fancy dress ball near Steeple Bumpleigh be chosen as a gathering. Lord Worplesdon finally agrees to this plan: his wife Agatha, who is hostile to such frivolous events, has not returned to Bumpleigh Hall after all.

Lord Worplesdon appears at the costume ball in the Sindbad costume that Bertie originally bought for the ball in London. There is also another encounter between Bertie and Stilton, who is upset about Florence's intention to marry Bertie again. Jeeves steals Stilton's police uniform while he is bathing in the river and persuades the reluctant Bertie to wear it to the fancy dress ball. He appears late at the ball where Lord Worplesdon actually successfully negotiated with Chichester Clam. Although in a good mood because of the successful business negotiations, Lord Worplesdon initially refuses Boko as a partner in his ward. However, he begins to reconcile with the pending relationship after Bertie tells him that the reason for the breakup of the engagement between Boko and Florence was a kick Boko gave Edwin. Lord Worplesdon objections that so far every encounter between Boko and him has ended in disaster, Bertie defused by pointing out that Boko will soon take up a job in Hollywood and thus both will live 6000 miles from Steeple Bumpleigh.

The morning after the costume ball, Stilton arrives at Boko's cottage to arrest Bertie for stealing his uniform. It was Edwin who gave him the decisive hint: When Edwin Bertie tried to put a hedgehog in bed, he discovered the police uniform there too. Stilton has to leave the cottage without being able to arrest Bertie. He is still missing the arrest warrant.

Bertie wants to evade the threat of arrest by returning to London as soon as possible. However, he discovers Lord Worplesdon in the garage, who was accidentally locked there by Boko during the night. Once again, Nobby and Boko's marriage seems to be in danger. The situation is saved by the arrival of Jeeves, who informs Lord Worplesdon that his stepson is now cured of mumps and that Lady Agatha has unexpectedly returned to Bumpleigh Hall as a result. She learned from the maid that Lord Worplesdon had not spent the night at Bumpleigh Hall. Jeeves has the saving idea of ​​how one could explain the nightly absence of Lord Worplesdon without confessing to Agatha that he was at a costume ball that Lady Agatha so loathed: He should explain that he had a long evening with Boko and Nobby about their wedding plans discussed and then, because it was so late, stayed at Boko's cottage.

Stilton also arrives at Boko's Cottage. However, his intention to arrest Bertie is undermined. Lord Worplesdon, in his role as Justice of the Peace, has to sign the warrant for Bertie's arrest, but he refuses to do so. Meanwhile, it seems as if Bertie has been deprived of all possibilities to evade the engagement to Florence: Edwin has destroyed the letter with which Nobby wanted to show Florence how little appreciation Bertie shows her. A change of opinion on the part of Florence saves Bertie from the impending marriage: Outraged by Lord Worplesdon's decision not to sign the arrest warrant for Bertie, Stilton resigns from his post as village policeman. Nothing stands in the way of his career as a member of parliament and Florence returns to him. Jeeves finally confesses to Bertie that Lady Agatha has by no means returned to Bumpleigh Hall. He just made it up to put pressure on Lord Worplesdon. The two leave Steeple Bumpleigh before anyone can find out about them.

Trivia

  • The English title of the novel is derived from Psalm 30: 5; If you cry in the evening, there is cheering again in the morning , in English Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning .
  • The story of Bertie Wooster and Florence Craye's first engagement is told in one of PG Wodehouse's short stories. In Jeeves takes over the helm (first published in 1916), Bertie is not an unwilling fiancé of Florence - it requires the intervention of Jeeves, Bertie's newly appointed valet, to save him from this marriage.

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  1. ↑ E. McIlvaine, LS Sherby, JH Heineman: PG Wodehouse: A comprehensive bibliography and checklist . James H. Heineman, New York 1990, ISBN 0-87008-125-X , pp. 80-81.
  2. ^ F. Donaldson: PG Wodehouse: A Biography. 1982, p. 296.
  3. ↑ 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read: The Definitive List , accessed April 4, 2016.
  4. ↑ PG Wodehouse: Joy in the Morning . P. 130 Translation by Thomas Schlachter.