William Tell Told Again

by P.G. Wodehouse

Friesshardt and Leuthold lay on the ground beside the pole, feeling very sore and bruised, and thought that perhaps, on the whole, they had better stay there. There was no knowing what the crowd might do after this, if they began to fight again. So they lay on the ground and made no attempt to interfere with the popular rejoicings. What they wanted, as Arnold of Sewa might have said if he had been there, was a few moments' complete rest. Leuthold's helmet had been hammered with sticks until it was over his eyes and all out of shape, and Friesshardt's was very little better.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Childrens, British Literature

54 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 40 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.

An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.

Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Swiss, against their Austrian foes,
Had ne'er a soul to lead 'em,
Till Tell, as you've heard tell, arose
And guided them to freedom.
Tell's tale we tell again -- an act
For which pray no one scold us --
This tale of Tell we tell, in fact,
As this Tell tale was told us."
P.G. Wodehouse, William Tell Told Again

this is one of the reasons I love Wodehouse so!

** Project Gutenberg **

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very quick and easy read! I’ve always been interested in reading a bit more of the William Tell story, and I thoroughly enjoyed this telling that had Wodehouses dry humour sprinkled throughout.

[Peter Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of this early Wodehouse, perhaps because its a children's book which came as both illustrated with rhymes and a straight short narrative. The poem version is fun comic doggerel, but the prose is an interesting look as both a stykle developing and also a stab at writing for kids. There is little condescension, but there are less linguistic jokes (though considering his future, the lions share of gags based on the complexity of Germanic Swiss names is a little ironic). It is recognisably Wodehouse though, even if the subject matter is beyond his silly posh nobs, and a fascinating, fun and informative read - bearing in mind all I knew about Tell was the apple trick - which apparently is basically 50% of what there is to know.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sic semper tyrannis.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't until I started reading this that I realized, besides William Tell shooting an apple off someone's head with a bow and arrow, that I didn't really know anything else about the legend. I picked this up in a search of P.G. Wodehouse's books, but was really happy to learn more about the Swiss folk hero and Wodehouse's writings.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

What fun! I was familiar with the whole shooting an apple off the head of his son theme, but I had never read the whole thing, before. Certainly, this version paints the general populace as total idiots, and William Tell as a true hero!

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one on my kindle and zipped through it. I haven't read any other historical farces by Wodehouse, but he handles it very well! It felt a bit like Monty Python.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Wodehouse's most engaging effort.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

With “William Tell Told Again” P. G. Wodehouse ventured into the area of Children’s literature. Originally published on November 11th, 1904, the story fits exactly the title, as Wodehouse retells the legend of William Tell in kind of a “Fractured Fairy Tales” manner. Of course, retelling a legend which is fairly straight-forward is considerably different then the carefully crafted twisting tales that Wodehouse is famous for, and even different than his earlier school stories which tended to have not quite so many twists to them. Nevertheless, Wodehouse does an admirable job of turning the legend into a light, quick, and enjoyable read.

Wodehouse takes some liberties with the legend itself, and of course turning it into a humorous light-hearted story changes it quite a bit from the serious telling of the tale. One device which does well is the adding in of characters like “Arnold of Sewa”, a man who always thinks he should be chosen for the important jobs, but apparently the rest of the townspeople don’t agree as he ends up sitting on the sidelines complaining how he could have done better. At the same time, some of the changes prove problematic at times, especially when the story is at its most serious point. Wodehouse pretty much has to abandon the humor at that point and rely on the characterizations from earlier in the book to carry the reader through to the end.

All in all this is a decent foray into children’s literature and was a nice diversion after four books of school stories. Adding to the story itself are the illustrations which are mixed in with the story, and the verse which accompanies each illustration. In this way, one gets two telling of the story, one in verse and the other a novel. The illustrations are by Philip Dadd, and the verse was written by John W. Houghton.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could almost hear Edward Everett Horton voicing this fractured fairy tale. Much like the episodes that aired in between the much better Rocky & Bulwinkle and time travel segments, this was passably enjoyable and a quick read. If you are reading PG Wodehouse in order this is a nice break from the schoolboy books.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

#5 in the great Wodehouse read-through. Quaint with a charming absence of profoundity. Not quite as funny or fluent as the public school stories, but still silly. Wodehouse doesn’t quite find his rhythm here.

[Misa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Wodehouse and I liked it so much. I like to read different things at the same time and this one being the classic one of my current TBR. I've read before a short version of the legend of William Tell in French (Guillaume Tell) but this one was way better and fun to read.

[Brian G · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short charming Children's book from PG Wodehouse
A retelling of the William Tell story with flashes of the humour that will make his name
Free on Gutenburg

3 stars

[Garry Nixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of chuckles, but, honestly, this one really is for the completists.

[Diane Madlon-Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Bookosaurus (A book a day keeps reality away) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was better than the earlier school books written by Wodehouse. It was a short read and I finished it in one sitting. Even though it's meant for kids, this adult enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Toni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of my favorite Wodehouse stories.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun telling. Although this was written early in the 1900s, it felt like it had a sixties vibe. It reminded me of how Sherman and Peabody might have told the story.

[Chambodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, kinda fun, and informative, in that I barely remembered William Tell's story. Silly humor that may still appeal to kids.

[Olly Colluphid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the Project Gutenberg HTM edition online.

A short story recount of the tale with some nice added humour, but not as polished as later Wodehouse.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting ready for my first trip to Switzerland.

[D'face · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wodehouse retells the William Tell story to accompany some illustrations for a children’s book with some humour and observations on human behaviour.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short little humorous, Wodehousian take on the William Tell legend.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable children's retelling by P.G. Wodehouse of the William Tell story with fun illustrations, available from Project Gutenberg.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Youtube

[Peter Schutz]

Read to my unborn child

[Payton]

Read on my trip to Switzerland!

[Vinaya Wagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short read about William Tell, a legendary Swiss hero who is said to have fought against tyranny. A bit humorous, this was a story I didn't know. So, it was a fun read.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good retelling of the classic tale.

[Vaishali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty funny :)
But of course… it’s P.G. Wodehouse !
Spoiler alert : There’s a rare dash of humanism and depth of reflection as William Tell strikes the arrow at the apple. Wow… didn’t expect to see that in a Wodehouse tale, but wonderfully done…