An Epic Passage

I only got a few pages in Nancy's letters last night, I was so tired from rushing all day long and running, but I did manage to get to a hilariously funny part (well for me it is). This is a description by Nancy of when she would have her Oxford friends over for the weekend. Obviously they did not please her Farve too much, as they called the Boer War (which he fought in and lost a lung in) the Bore War, among other things. His most cutting insult was to call someone a "sewer", which he actually got from the word suar,which is Hindi for pig (he worked on a tea plantation for a while in his 20s in India). So here we go...(Lord R is Lord Redesdale [Farve],N.M. Nancy Miford, Jim L.M James Lees-Milne,Diana her sister,Muv Mother).

" I sometimes think that parties here are more misery than pleasure. The argument ran on the usual lines.

Lord R. Why not show the Cavell film, a good thing if we do hurt the feelings of the Germans.

N.M. Why is everyone so cross because the Germans shot a spy, surely we shot spies ?

Lord R. Yes shot them but we didn't begin by breaking their legs & slowly shooting upwards.

N.M. I suppose Edith C stood quite still on her broken legs while they went on up. How people can believe these awful lies I can't imagine.

Jim L.M. Anyhow talking of atrocities the worst in the whole war were committed by the Australians.

Lord R. (shouting) BE QUIET AND DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND (loud aside) young swine.

General discomfiture

Diana (loud aside) I wish people needn't be so rude to their guests.

N.M. (loud aside) Of course we know that your generation really enjoyed the war & what you all want more than anything is another war but as it happens we don't want one.

Muv (sarcastically) Oh yes we enjoyed it enormously.

Exeunt all to bed, trembling with rage."

I expect that the humor of this is lost on most others except myself, some 100 year old Englishmen and the rare odd Mitford addict.

Don't worry, I will have an even more obscure and funny passage soon!