A. A. Milne 125
Heute ist der Winnie-the-Pooh-Verfasser so berühmt, dass man ihn nur noch als Winnie-the-Pooh-Verfasser kennt. Den studierten Mathematiker, Satire-(”Punch”-)Redakteur, Dramatiker und eben Kinderbuchverfasser verband aber auch eine lebenslange Leidenschaft mit dem Schachspiel. Lange Passagen finden sich im Werk - man möge mir nachsehen, dass ich (wie fast immer) nicht übersetze.
Im folgenden Kreuzverhör kommt der arglose Befragte durch die Mitgliedschaft im Schachclub zu Fall - seine Glaubwürdigkeit ist danach schlicht nicht mehr haltbar.
“Exactly!” he said. “And was that or was that not on the night when
you were turned out of the Hampstead Parliament for intoxication?”“I never was.”
“Indeed? Will you cast your mind back to the night of April 24th,
1897? What were you doing on that night?”“I have no idea,” said Jobson, after casting his mind back and
waiting in vain for some result.“In that case you cannot swear that you were not being turned out of
the Hampstead Parliament–”“But I never belonged to it.”
Rupert leaped at the damaging admission.
“What? You told the Court that you lived at Hampstead, and yet you
say that you never belonged to the Hampstead Parliament? Is THAT
your idea of patriotism?”“I said I lived at Hackney.”
“To the Hackney Parliament, I should say. I am suggesting that you
were turned out of the Hackney Parliament for–”“I don’t belong to that either.”
“Exactly!” said Rupert triumphantly. “Having been turned out for
intoxication?”“And never did belong.”
“Indeed? May I take it then that you prefer to spend your evenings
in the public-house?”“If you want to know,” said Jobson angrily, “I belong to the Hackney
Chess Circle, and that takes up most of my evenings.”Rupert gave a sigh of satisfaction and turned to the jury.
“At LAST, gentlemen, we have got it. I thought we should arrive at
the truth in the end, in spite of Mr Jobson’s prevarications.” He
turned to the witness. “Now, sir,” he said sternly, “you have
already told the Court that you have no idea what you were doing on
the night of April 24th, 1897. I put it to you once more that this
blankness of memory is due to the fact that you were in a state of
intoxication on the premises of the Hackney Chess Circle. Can you
swear on your oath that this is not so?”A murmur of admiration for the relentless way in which the truth had
been tracked down ran through the court. Rupert drew himself up and
put on both pairs of pince-nez at once.“Come, sir!” he said, “the jury is waiting.” But it was not Albert
Jobson who answered. It was the counsel for the prosecution. “My
lord,” he said, getting up slowly, “this has come as a complete
surprise to me. In the circumstances, I must advise my clients to
withdraw from the case.”
(Aus: The Barrister).
Gewisse Degenerationserscheinungen Justizias scheinen schon länger vorhanden zu sein.