# When Papa Swore in Hindustani explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by P. G. Wodehouse.

## What happens

Colonel Reynolds threatens to shoot his daughter Sylvia's pug, Tommy, for destroying his carnations. Sylvia loves the dog because it was a gift from Reginald Dallas, whom the colonel refused to let her marry after Dallas outshot him during a hunt. When the colonel eventually shoots Tommy, nineteen young neighbors each send a replacement pug, hoping to win Sylvia's favor. The colonel, furious, forces the removal of the dogs and, impressed by Dallas's absence from the scheme, finally consents to Sylvia marrying him.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Marriage

Sylvia's love for Reginald Dallas and the colonel's eventual consent to their marriage drive the plot.

### Comedy and Misunderstanding

The farcical situation of nineteen pugs arriving and the colonel's exasperation provide comic relief.

## Character check-ins

### Tommy

Sylvia's pug, shot by Colonel Reynolds for digging up carnations.

### Henry Pifield Rice

Not directly present; no relevant excerpt.

## Key lines

> That infernal dog of yours has been at my carnations again!

Your dog has ruined my flowers once more.

_Colonel Reynolds confronts Sylvia about Tommy's destruction._

> I shall shoot him on the spot you would be doing him a kindness.

I will kill him immediately, which would be a favor to him.

_The colonel threatens to shoot Tommy if he misbehaves again._

> Nineteen young men were struck, quite independently of one another, with a brilliant idea.

Nineteen men each independently thought of sending a pug to Sylvia.

_The comedic premise of multiple suitors sending replacement dogs._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/when-papa-swore-in-hindustani
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