The Politeness of Princes
Encyclopedia
"The Politeness of Princes" is a short story
by P. G. Wodehouse
, which first appeared in the United Kingdom
in the July 1902 issue of The Captain
. It is a school story, set at Wrykyn school.
The story later appeared in the United States
in the collection The Swoop! and Other Stories
(1979), and was the title story of the Project Gutenberg
eBook The Politeness of Princes and Other School Stories.
.
Eventually, Seymour notices his tardiness, and begins to punish him for arriving late. Chapple, taking advice from his friends, tries leaving the sheets off his bed, so the cold will wake him; he pulls them on again and sleeps on. He tries setting his watch ahead; he forgets to wind it and is later than ever. Finally, he tries leaving his blankets off and setting his watch ahead, but wakes far too early.
Taking a stroll round the school to kill time until breakfast, Chapple runs into another boy who is off to do some carpentry
; he joins him, but loses track of time in the workshop, and misses breakfast once more.
Chapple is moved into the main dormitory, an older boy taking his place in the small room. He no longer arrives late for breakfast...
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
, which first appeared in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the July 1902 issue of The Captain
The Captain (1900s magazine)
The Captain was a magazine for young boys, published monthly in the United Kingdom from 1899 to 1924.It is perhaps best known for printing many of P. G. Wodehouse's early school stories, such as many of those featured in the collection Tales of St. Austin's...
. It is a school story, set at Wrykyn school.
The story later appeared in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the collection The Swoop! and Other Stories
The Swoop! and Other Stories
The Swoop! and Other Stories is a collection of early short stories and a novella by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on April 11, 1979 by The Seabury Press, New York, four years after Wodehouse's death....
(1979), and was the title story of the Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
eBook The Politeness of Princes and Other School Stories.
Plot
Chapple, a boy in Seymour's house, has trouble dragging himself out of bed in time for breakfast; sleeping in a small room by himself, he generally arrives just as the other boys are leaving, and has to charm the staff into providing him with food and coffeeCoffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
.
Eventually, Seymour notices his tardiness, and begins to punish him for arriving late. Chapple, taking advice from his friends, tries leaving the sheets off his bed, so the cold will wake him; he pulls them on again and sleeps on. He tries setting his watch ahead; he forgets to wind it and is later than ever. Finally, he tries leaving his blankets off and setting his watch ahead, but wakes far too early.
Taking a stroll round the school to kill time until breakfast, Chapple runs into another boy who is off to do some carpentry
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
; he joins him, but loses track of time in the workshop, and misses breakfast once more.
Chapple is moved into the main dormitory, an older boy taking his place in the small room. He no longer arrives late for breakfast...
See also
- List of Wodehouse's school stories
External links
- Free eBook of The Politeness of Princes at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...