Mr.

HAVLENA’S VERDICT - Karel Capek

Karel Čapek introduced and made popular the frequently used

international word robot, which first appeared in his play R.U.R.
in 1920. ... The word robota means literally "corvée", "serf
labor", and figuratively "drudgery" or "hard work" in Czech.
Theater play: Rossum's Universal Robots
Born: 1890, Malé Svatoňovice
Profession: Journalist, Writer
Sibling: Josef Čapek, Helena
Karel Čapek
Čapek (1890-1938) was a noted novelist, playwright, and
essayist. He was perhaps the best-known Czech literary
figure of the 1920s and 1930s.
Born in northeastern Bohemia on Jan. 9, 1890, Karel Čapek was
the son of a physician. He studied philosophy at the Czech
University of Prague, where he was influenced in his thinking
by Henri Bergson and by modern American philosophy. In 1914
he earned a doctorate. He remained, except for numerous travels
abroad, in Prague until the end of his life. In 1935 he married the
well-known actress Olga Scheinpflugóva.
Literary Works
The Czech author Karel Čapek's first creative phase (1908-
1921) was marked by close collaboration with his brother,
Joseph, who later became a distinguished painter. This period in
his writing career culminated in two collections of short stories.
The central motif of Wayside Crosses (1917) is the mechanism
of modern civilization—"Everything that we touch becomes a
tool. Even man." The second collection, Painful Stories (1921;
Eng. trans. Money and Other Stories), deals with middle-class
life. It is no accident that the decisive role in almost all the
stories is played by money. The characters in these books are,
for the most part, helpless victims of forces that have
overwhelmed them. ngd
In his second phase (1921-1932) Čapek emerged as a dramatist,
novelist, journalist, and writer of travel sketches. Some of his
comedies as well as his novels from this period are utopian. Best
known, especially to American theatergoers, is his visionary
play R. U. R. (1920), a sharp criticism of capitalism which
introduced the word "robot" into the English language. Another
comedy of this period, portraying the postwar situation in the
world, is the ballet or revue From the Insect World (1921),
written in collaboration with his brother and translated into
English as The World We Live In.
During this period Čapek also became prominent as an essayist.
His deep humanity and his belief in ordinary man were
expressed in an enjoyable book of humorous
sketches, Gardener's Year (1922). Best known, however, and
widely translated were his popular travel books on England,
Italy, Spain, Holland, and Scandinavia.
In the collection entitled Fairy Tales (1931), a veritable treasure-
house of pure storytelling, Čapek revealed his sincere
understanding of childhood, his sense of humor, and C the light
touch characteristic of his fiction during the middle period.
His third and final creative phase (1932-1938) was marked by
his highest achievement: a philosophical trilogy of distinguished
novels which first appeared in serial form in newspapers
between 1932 and 1934. The novels— Hordubal,
Meteor, and An Ordinary Life—center on the problems of truth
and reality. Čapek tells the same story from three different
points of view, and in this respect he is sometimes compared to
such masters of perspective in modern fiction as Henry James
and Joseph Conrad.
Between 1934 and 1938 Čapek wrote a biography of Tomáš
Masaryk, founder and first president of Czechoslovakia, told as
far as possible in Masaryk's own words. The first two volumes
of this popular work were translated into English as President
Masaryk Tells His Story (1934) and Masaryk's Thought and
Life (1938).
Čapek proved to be a bitter foe of dictatorship, attacking it
forcefully in his last works written for the stage: Power and
Glory (1937; Eng. trans. The White Scourge) and his last
play, The Mother, written under the impact of the Spanish Civil
War and the threat of Hitler against Čapek's own country. A few
weeks after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, Čapek died in
Prague on Dec. 25, 1938.
Further Reading
Two monographs on Čapek are available in English: William
Edward Harkins, Karel Čapek (1962), a critical study; and
Alexander Matuška, Karel Čapek: An Essay (1964; trans. 1964),
a biographical and critical survey.
Mr. Havlena’s ‘Verdict is an interesting account of an imaginary
criminal case which got wide publicity. The author highlights
the general trend of reporting sensational criminal case in
newspaper almost every day in order to attract the reading
public. Police news reporters used to hatch out novel cases for
themselves and could find a regular market for them. Mr.
Havlena the person who supplied the case in the essay was a law
student who discontinued his studies. Still he was well-versed in
legal matters, especially criminal cases. He used to supply cases
for police reporters. His cases were well received by the readers
and he was paid in terms of cigar and beer. One day Havlena
imagined a case. It was the case of an old bachelor who had a
quarrel with a widow who lived opposite to him. So he got a
parrot and trained it well so that wherever the lady appeared on
her balcony it screeched out at the top of its voice “You slut”
which means “dirty woman” The widow brought an action
against him for defamation of character. The district courts
sentenced him to fourteen days imprisonment. This case
appeared in about six newspapers under various headlines such
as “Far from the Madding Crowd “Landlord and Poor Widow”
“Accusation against parrot” etc. The ministry of Justice decided
to file an appeal against the order of the district court and asked
for the particulars of the case from the newspaper. When this
was taken to the knowledge of Havlena, he got angry, drew up a
detailed statement to vindicate the Verdict and sent it to the
Ministry of Justice. It was not taken notice of by Ministry and
Havlena stopped giving judgments afterwards. However,
Havlena was not prepared to take this disgrace lying down. Soon
he was back in business.
He got a parrot, trained it up and made it utter the words ‘You
slut’ at the old woman living opposite to his house. Contrary to
his expectation the woman was not offended by the words
uttered by the parrot. Havlena tried his best to persuade her to
bring an action against him and at last succeeded in his attempt.
She brought an action for defamation of character. When the
case came up for trial, Havlena gave a long speech admitting all
the allegations against him. But the magistrate wanted to hear
the parrot and adjourned the case. At the next hearing the parrot
was brought to the court. The parrot uttered the words ‘you slut’
towards all persons irrespective of sex. Therefore, it became
clear that the words were not intended to defame the woman.
Havlena strongly argued, that it was his intention to defame her.
However the court found no reason in it and acquitted Havlena.
Havlena went out of the court in anger, saying that he would file
an appeal in the High Court. The appeal was also dismissed and
thereafter Havlena was found loitering about the street like a lost
soul. - Karel Capek’s attempt to bring to light the tendency
among the reading public to go after interesting police reports is
commendable