The exception and the rule
By: Bertolt Brecht ; translated by Ralph Manheim
Contributors: Manheim, Ralph, 1907-1992, translator; Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2014
Place of publication: London]
Language: eng
Work titles: Ausnahme und die Regel
Description: The 'Exception and the Rule' is a parable about exploitation, telling the story of a rich merchant travelling across the desert and being increasingly cruel to his porter so they can travel as fast as possible. When their water supplies run low, the porter offers him a drink from his water bottle, but the merchant thinks he is being attacked by the porter, and shoots him. In the following courtroom scene, the brutal logic of the judge finds the merchant innocent because of his cruelty. The didactic Lehrstc̈ke (or 'learning-plays') were written during 1929 and 1930.
Notes: This translation previously issued in print: in The measures taken and other Lehrstücke. London: Methuen, 1977.

Translated from the German.