Stranger than Fiction 19 January 1987

Trevor Leggett was head of the Japanese Department of the BBC.

This is one of his broadcasts to Japan

Zubari for 19 January 1987

Hello listeners! Today the talk is something about truth and fiction. ‘Truth is stranger than fiction’ is a well-known saying in English. Few people know where it originated. In fact it is from the long satirical poem by Lord Byron called Don Juan:

‘Tis strange – but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction.’

When I was a boy, I used to despise such mysterious sayings of the poets. I can remember saying sarcastically, ‘It’s true to say that I walked to school this morning.  It’s a fiction to say that I flew here on wings.  Its it stranger to walk to school than to fly there on wings?’

I never got a satisfactory answer to this sort of common-sense objection to poetry. The seniors used to say: ‘Poetry is talking about far more profound things than walking to school. I used to think that they just said this because they did not know what to say. I began to dislike poetry, and would not read it. Not till I went to Japan did I take any interest in it. When I saw that so many people there were keen poets, I began to think that perhaps it was not stupid after all.

Well, the phrase: ‘Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction’ came up in my life recently; and I had to think about it. I was preparing my income-tax accounts for last year, and I had to account for my one-month business trip to Japan. The British Income Tax is very strict, and I must tell them everything that I earned in Japan during my stay there.

Then, I have to show that the cash which I spent in Japan is roughly the same as the income which I received in Japan during the trip, from lectures and so on. If my expenses were higher than what I received in cash in Japan, the British Income Tax Inspector will ask: ‘How did you pay these expenses? There must be some income which you have not told us about.’

The figures ought to be very roughly the same.  The accountant was looking at all the receipts and papers; suddenly he put his pen down, and gave a long whistle. ‘What is wrong? I asked. ‘Aren’t the figures roughly in agreement?

‘No, they are not roughly in agreement.’ He said, though, ‘They are in exact agreement.

I have this in all my experience!

© Trevor Leggett