| Jeeves and the Yule-tide Spirit | |
| Author: | P. G. Wodehouse |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Series: | Jeeves |
| Publisher: | The Strand Magazine |
| Release Date: | December 1927 |
| Media Type: | Print (Magazine) |
| Preceded By: | The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy |
| Followed By: | Jeeves and the Song of Songs |
"Jeeves and the Yule-tide Spirit" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, and features the young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. The story was published in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom in December 1927, and in Liberty in the United States that same month. The story was also included as the third story in the 1930 collection Very Good, Jeeves.[1]
In the story, Bertie has fallen in love with the mischievous Roberta "Bobbie" Wickham, though Jeeves has misgivings about her. Bertie wants to get revenge on "Tuppy" Glossop for playing a trick on him, and Bobbie suggests a scheme involving a long stick, a darning needle, and a hot water bottle.
Lady Wickham has invited Bertie to her home, Skeldings Hall, for Christmas. Bertie and Jeeves had originally planned to go to Monte Carlo, but Bertie takes up Lady Wickham's invitation, which disappoints Jeeves. Bertie's Aunt Agatha calls and tells Bertie to behave himself at Skeldings, since Lady Wickham is her friend. Sir Roderick Glossop will also be there, and Aunt Agatha has convinced him to give Bertie another chance to demonstrate that he is not mentally unsound.
At Skeldings Hall, Bertie encounters Lady Wickham, her daughter Bobbie Wickham, and Sir Roderick Glossop, who is surprisingly cordial to Bertie. Bertie sees that Jeeves is upset about missing Monte Carlo, and explains his three reasons for coming to Skeldings: first, there is more Yule-tide spirit in Skeldings; second, Bertie wants to get revenge on Tuppy Glossop, Sir Roderick's nephew, because Tuppy once tricked him into falling into the Drones Club swimming pool; third, Bertie is in love with Bobbie. Jeeves says that Bobbie, though a charming young lady, is too volatile and frivolous for Bertie. Jeeves also believes that Bobbie's vivid red hair is a dangerous sign. Bertie dismisses Jeeves's concerns.
Later, Bertie tells Jeeves that Bobbie proposed a clever scheme for his revenge. Bertie will tie a large darning needle to the end of a long stick, then sneak into Tuppy's room at night and puncture Tuppy's hot water bottle while he is asleep. Jeeves objects, but Bertie insists that Jeeves prepare the stick and needle. Jeeves informs Bertie where Tuppy sleeps. At half-past two on Christmas morning, Bertie sneaks into Tuppy's room and punctures the hot water bottle. Then the door loudly falls shut, which wakes the occupant of the bed, who, to Bertie's surprise, is not Tuppy, but Sir Roderick Glossop. Angry, Sir Roderick tells Bertie that he and Tuppy had changed rooms. He had asked Jeeves to tell this to Bertie. Bertie feels betrayed by Jeeves. His bed ruined, Sir Roderick leaves to sleep in Bertie's bed instead. Defeated, Bertie sleeps on an armchair.
Bertie wakes to see Jeeves standing with tea. Jeeves greets him, "Merry Christmas, sir!".[2] When asked, Jeeves confesses he knew about Tuppy's room change, but had allowed Bertie's plan to proceed in order to ruin any chance of Glossop approving a marriage between his daughter and Bertie. Bertie is instantly moved, and feels he has wronged Jeeves. Jeeves adds that a second incident occurred during the night: while in Bertie's bed, Sir Roderick's hot water bottle was pierced by Tuppy, who thought Bertie was in the bed. As a joke, Bobbie had suggested this idea to Tuppy, after she had suggested the idea to Bertie. Bertie is stunned by Bobbie's betrayal, and does not love her anymore. To avoid Sir Roderick and Aunt Agatha, Jeeves suggests that Bertie go to Monte Carlo, since Jeeves already booked accommodations there and forgot to cancel them. Bertie agrees.
Wodehouse invariably has Bertie Wooster using – or misusing – many literary and Biblical allusions. In this short story, Bertie makes these references:
The story's title is sometimes written as "Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit" or "Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit". It was illustrated by Charles Crombie in the Strand and by Wallace Morgan in Liberty.[3] It appeared in the periodical Scholastic in 1939.[4]
The story was included in the 1932 collection Nothing But Wodehouse, and in the 1949 collection The Best of Wodehouse.[5] The collections Selected Stories by P. G. Wodehouse, published in 1958, and Vintage Wodehouse, published 1978, also featured the story.[6]
The anthology The Fireside Treasury of Modern Humor, published by Simon and Schuster in 1963, included the story.[7]
Bertie Wooster's tendency to abbreviate words caused confusion with printers when this story was printed in Very Good, Jeeves. Wodehouse wrote in August 1930 to Arnold Bennett about a mistake he noticed in the galley proof of the book, stating in his letter to Bennett:
In one place I had written 'festive s.', meaning 'festive season', & they printed it 'festives'. So I wrote on the margin of the galley as follows: – "Not 'festives'. Please print this as two words 'festive s.', – 'festive' one word, 's' another. Bertie occasionally clips his words, so that when he means 'festive season' he says 'festive s.' This is quite clear, isn't it? 'Festive' one word, 's' another?" And so the book has come out with the thing printed as 'festives'. I see now that I didn't make it clear enough."Festives" was used for the 1930 British edition of Very Good, Jeeves, and became "the festivities" in the American edition. It was changed to "Christmas" in the 1931 Jeeves Omnibus.[8] "Festives" appears in the 2008 Arrow Books (British) edition: "'We have here a communication from Lady Wickham. She has written inviting me to Skeldings for the festives.'"[9]
This story was adapted into the Jeeves and Wooster episode "Tuppy and the Terrier", the second episode of the first series, which first aired on 29 April 1990.[10] There are some changes in plot, including:
A reading of "Jeeves and the Yule-tide Spirit" by actor Martin Jarvis in front of an invited theatre audience was first aired on BBC Radio 4 as part of the Jeeves Live series on 17 December 2017.[11]