# Herr Slossenn Boschen — Three Men in a Boat character guide

> Herr Slossenn Boschen in Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Herr Boschen

**First appearance:** 0019-xviii

## Snapshot

A German professor and singer whose mournful comic ballad at a riverside inn is ruined by J.'s mistranslation of its tragic ending.

## Who they are

Herr Slossenn Boschen is a visiting German who performs a song at an inn along the Thames, expecting his audience to grasp its sorrowful climax. J., who does not understand a word, laughs uproariously at what he assumes is a joke — and the room, taking its cue from him, joins in. The episode matters because it stages the book's recurring theme of misunderstanding and misplaced confidence, and because it shows how quickly a self-assured Englishman can turn a solemn occasion into a farce.

## Links

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