Pig or not pig
Pig or non-pig (original title: Pigs have Wings ) is a comic novel by the British-American writer PG Wodehouse , which belongs to the Blandings Castle saga with Lord Emsworth , Galahad Threepwood , the fattening pig Empress of Blandings and Butler Beach as the main protagonists. It is the seventh novel in the work of Wodehouse to be set in Blandings Castle.
Lord Emsworth rivals his neighbor, the heavyweight Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe , for the highest award at the Shropshire Agricultural Show in the fattening pig category . Actually, Emsworth's favorite pig, the Empress von Blandings, is supposed to win a third time in a row, but it seems as if Sir Gregory is planning to rob her of victory with sinister machinations. At the same time, there are several love entanglements at Blandings Castle, which the always imaginative Galahad brings to a happy end.
The novel was published between August 16 and September 20, 1952 as a serialized story in the American magazine Collier's Weekly . On October 16, 1952, Doubleday published the story in book form on the US market and in the same month it came out on the British book market.
action
Starting position
The news that Matchingham-based neighbor Sir Gregor Parsloe-Parsloe has maliciously acquired an extremely large, fat fattening pig in Kent, which he will exhibit at the upcoming Shropshire Agricultural Show, causes a great deal of excitement at Blandings Castle. Lord Emsworth fears that he will now be unable to win the winner's medal in the fattening pig category for the third time in a row with his favorite pig, the Empress of Blandings. His brother Galahad and his butler Beach, on the other hand, have more financial worries; You have both bet considerable sums that the Empress will win this time too.
Sir Gregory, on the other hand, is just coming to the conclusion that his engagement to Gloria Salt may have been premature. The well-trained tennis player has put her overweight fiancé on a strict diet. He seeks advice from Lady Constance Keeble, Lord Emsworth's most energetic sister and one of the few people at Blandings Castle who is open to him. Lady Constance recommends "Slimmo", one of the newest diet drinks to reduce his weight. In order not to give himself the nakedness of acquiring this remedy in the pharmacy, Sir Gregory instructs his butler Binstead to procure six large packs of “Slimmo”. There is nothing in the figure of Butler Binstead to suggest that he himself needs such funds:
“This Binstead is one of those young and lively butlers, when you meet them you feel that they are not butlers in the deepest and most sacred sense, but merely glorified lackeys. He had nothing of Beach's measured majesty, but was slim and brisk. While it is fair to say that he had never behaved as extreme as this before, he looked like he was capable of turning a wheel or sliding down the banister at any moment. "
The solemn Butler Beach at Blandings Castle has also been concerned about its weight gain for some time and, when it purchases a bottle of "Slimmo", it witnesses how Butler Binstead places a bulk order for the same product. In the opinion of Galahad and Butler Beach, the quantity and the ordering person only allow one conclusion: the purchases are intended to incapacitate the Blandings Castle fattening pig so that the Matchingham pig will carry the price home. To make matters worse, Monica Simmons, who is entrusted with the care of the Empress von Blandings, turns out to be a niece of Sir Gregory. The now very concerned Galahad decides to bring Butler Beach's niece Maudie Stubbs to Blanding Castle. Maudie Stubbs, characterized by much of what can be described as “adults only”, has had an adventurous past. Runaway from home, curvy Maudie worked in a bar under the stage name Maudie Montrose, where she became a hugely popular barmaid. Galahad knows her from those years - and Sir Gregory, who was still impoverished at the time and had no title of nobility, was an admirer of the lady. Maudie Stubbs is now widowed a second time - she has inherited a private detective agency from her second deceased husband and Galahad hires her as a private detective to fend off attacks on the Empress von Blandings. At Blandings Castle he introduces her as Mrs. Bunbury, who is said to be an old friend of the American dog biscuit maker Donaldson. Donaldson, in turn, is the father-in-law of Lord Emsworth's son Freddie. His youngest daughter Penny is currently a guest at Blandings Castle.
Love entanglements
Penny Donaldson is having some troubles herself at the moment and so willingly cooperates with Galahad to introduce Maudie Stubs as Mrs. Bunbury to Blandings Castle. She is in love with the destitute writer Jerry Vail, a choice of partner that runs the risk of failing due to the destitution of the chosen one. Should he manage to find someone who will lend him 2000 pounds, he has the option of buying into a private clinic. That could give him the financial independence necessary to finally get a hold of Penny Donaldson. However, a misunderstanding first leads to a falling out between the two lovers. Penny Donaldson has traveled to London for the day and is hoping to evade Lady Constance Keeble's supervision under some pretext and secretly go out to dinner with Jerry Vail. But he has to cancel this appointment to meet his old friend, tennis player Gloria Salt, who lures him with the fact that she has an idea how he can get the 2000 pounds that he needs so badly. Your proposal is that he become Lord Emsworth's new private secretary. If he showed himself sufficiently interested in pigs, this very Lord Emsworth would surely lend him the necessary money. His meeting with Gloria Salt does not go unnoticed. Since their date fell through, Penny Donaldson allows Lord Vosper to take her to dinner, to which Lady Constance wants to marry her. In the restaurant she sees her chosen one with a strange, attractive woman and now agrees to the engagement with Lord Vosper, which her aunt Lady Constance, who has been married to, has long sought.
Jerry Vail actually becomes Lord Emsworth's private secretary and finds there that his chosen one has recklessly got engaged to another in an act of jealousy. The misunderstanding between the two is quickly cleared up. However, Penny cannot get rewarded that easily. Lady Constance, who is happy to have provided her with a suitable partner, would otherwise send Penny back to her American family and thus separate the two lovers. Lord Vosper is also not happy about his engagement to Penny Donaldson - he meets Gloria Salt again at Blandings Castle, with whom he was once in love. A frivolous argument on the tennis court tore the two apart several years ago. The encounter makes the love between the two flare up again. As a Harrow student, however, he cannot easily break his word to Penny.
resolution
The problem of the two so unwillingly engaged is resolved by Galahad: He explains to Lord Vesper how much Penny regrets having entered into the engagement with him. Gloria Salt, in turn, dissolves her engagement to Sir Gregory by letter, who is very relieved about this, and together with Lord Vosper she prefers to disappear in secret from Blandings Castle. Lady Constance, whose discontent is feared, is to be informed by a letter after the wedding.
The sudden appearance of Sir Gregory's pigkeeper, George Cyril Wellbeloved, at the gates of Blandings Castle also gives Galahad the opportunity to take action that could secure victory in the “Finisher” category at the next show. The swinekeeper Wellbeloved, who was very fond of alcohol, was once the caretaker of the Empress von Blandings. The temptation of a higher salary made him move to Sir Gregory's camp and he now looks after the fattening pig Rosa, the pride of Matchingham. However, Sir Gregory's will to win has resulted in Pigkeeper Wellbeloved's current alcohol ban - a ban that results in none of the pubs around Matchingham Wellbeloved serving an alcoholic beverage. Desperation has driven him to Blandings Castle, where Galahad and Butler Beach willingly meet him. While Butler Beach supplies Wellbeloved with plenty of alcohol, Galahad Rosa steals Matchingham's pride and locks it in a ranger's hut. When Wellbeloved finds an empty stable on his return to Matchingham, the latter steals the Empress von Blanding and locks her in Rosa's stable. Sir Gregory is said to be so hidden that his pig was stolen. He also quickly finds out where Rosa is being held because he is following Beach, who is bringing her food. Galahad quickly realizes that Wellbeloved knows the hiding place. The pig is therefore housed in the kitchen of a house that is to be rented out.
Meanwhile, Lord Emsworth ponders Maudie Stubbs. His attempts to convince Maudie of his affection for her over a tête-à-tête have failed:
- He stood still and made "Uh"
- Again there was silence.
- "The moon," said Lord Emsworth, pointing to it.
- "Yes," said Maudie.
- "Hell," said Lord Emsworth, paying him a well-deserved tribute.
- "Yes," said Maudie.
- "Very bright," said Lord Emsworth. "Oh yes, very, very bright". For a moment he seemed to be about to chat gently, babbling. But the inspiration left him and with a "Exactly, exactly" he disappeared again.
Lord Emsworth prefers to solicit Maudie in a letter that she should find in her room. A little later, Galahad clears up Lord Emsworth of Maudie's true identity. Lord Emsworth, shaken by the thought of having to call his Butler Beach Uncle Sebastian after marrying Maudie, instructs his private secretary Jerry to retrieve the letter. Jerry, caught by Lady Constance, is released immediately by her. So that Jerry stays close to his Penelope, he rents a room in the village and chooses the house in whose kitchen is currently still the pig Rosa, the pride of Matchingham.
In parallel with these developments at Blandings Castle, Maudie Stubbs went to Matchingham. As a barmaid she knew the then impoverished Sir Gregory, who had not yet inherited a title of nobility. The two not only had a relationship, but also wanted to get married. She now wants to give Sir Gregory her opinion, because she waited in vain for him as bridegroom at the church door. It turns out the same thing happened to both of them - there was a misunderstanding about the wedding day. Both also discover that their feelings for one another are far from extinguished.
Galahad, on the other hand, rushes to the house that Jerry rented to prevent him from running into the pig there. But this has long since happened and not just this: For fear of being accused of stealing pigs, Jerry first prevented the pigkeeper Wellbeloved and a little later a police officer from entering the kitchen in the late evening hours. Galahad then brings Rosa back to Matchingham that night, finds the Empress von Blandings in her stable, swaps the two pigs for one another and then locks the Empress in the kitchen of the house. Butler Beach makes sure that the Empress feels comfortable in the kitchen and is arrested there the next morning. Pig keeper Wellbeloved recognized his Rosa by the grunt the night before and informed Sir Gregory that his pig had been kidnapped. Sir Gregory then arranged for the arrest. To the shame of Sir Gregory, however, the pig that stands in the kitchen of the cottage rented by Jerry turns out to be the Empress of Blandings. Galahad is now making sure that Lord Emsworth actually pays Jerry 2,000 pounds in thanks for his accommodation with the Empress. And Butler Beach is also being compensated for his arrest. Under the pretext that Beach is planning to sue Sir Gregory for wrongful imprisonment, Galahad convinces his scandal-shy sister to pay Beach 500 pounds as hush money.
Trivia
- Mrs. Bunburry, the name by which Maudie Stubbs is introduced at Blandings Castle, is borrowed from Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest .
- Maudie Stubbs is not the only slightly advanced woman whose character PG Wodehouse compares to Mae West . Bertie Wooster's red-faced, fox-hunting-loving Aunt Dahlia has a comparable figure.
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
- Felicitas von Lovenberg: A wooden expression appeared on Jeeves' face , review of Woodhouse's work on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his first novel, Frankfurter Allgemeine, September 17, 2002.
- Thomas Herrmann: Virtuoso transmissions of English language jokes: A workshop talk with Thomas Schlachter , NZZ, October 14, 2008.