a bit of jeeves & wooster

[cimorene]

"A little trouble last night with the minons of the law, Jeeves," I said. "Quite a bit of that Eugene-Aram-Walked-between-with-gyves-upon-his-wrists stuff."

"Indeed, sir? Most vexing."

"Yes, I didn't like it much, but the magistrate - with whom I have just been threshing the thing out - had a wonderful time. I brought a ray of sunshine into his drab life, all right. Did you know that these magistrates were expert comedians?"

"No, sir. The fact had not been drawn to my attention."

"Think of Groucho Marx and you will get the idea. One gag after another, and all at my expense. I was just the straight man, and I found the experience most unpleasant, particularly as I had had no breakfast that any conscientious gourmet could call breakfast. Have you ever passed the night in chokey, Jeeves?"

"No, sir. I have been fortunate in that respect."

-p.g. wodehouse, jeeves and the feudal spirit (aka bertie wooster sees it through), 1954

if i ran to lj to post it every time i found a passage of wodehouse that i thought might have been the greatest thing ever, i would spend a great deal of my free time typing. but i figure it's all right every now and then. i keep staring in marvel at this passage - i find it nearly impossible to articulate what is so funny about this type of dialogue. it's almost like magic.