The Null Device

Herpes Trout

Ophelia Dahl recounts having Roald Dahl as a father, and discusses the first draft of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
The plot was completely different; there were 10 children, not five, all of them with names like Herpes Trout, and each child was more disgusting than the last, characterised by some terrible human flaw that would lead to their downfall. The first draft involved a burglary at Wonka's house, which Charlie foiled and was thus granted a lifetime's supply of chocolate. The other drafts get closer and closer to the published version. Why, I wondered, had he never told us about Herpes Trout, or Elvira Entwistle? They were cast-offs, thrown away, not even worth mentioning during supper, but for me it was like discovering lost siblings.

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