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Sunday 8 November 2009

Reasons to be cheerful

Theodore Dalrymple on the joy of seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary — in gooseberries, for example, even in human beings

Again, subjects to which I previously gave no thought, and which I should lightly have dismissed as being of no great interest, can suddenly appear of enormous moment and fascination as the result of chance meetings. A few years ago I was attending a murder trial when I had the great good fortune to meet Dr Zakaria Erzinclioglu, who introduced himself with the memorable words, ‘I’m just a simple fly man.’ He was so self-deprecatingly humorous and ironic that one felt an immediate affection (and deep respect) for him. He was, in fact, the foremost forensic entomologist in the country, and it was upon his evidence that the whole trial turned. You can often tell the exact date of death of a corpse by the nature of the fauna that feast upon it; and while we waited to enter the courtroom, Dr Erzinclioglu brought out his graphs and tables, and showed me how, by measuring the maggots of various species, it was possible to arrive at the date of death of a corpse with an astonishing degree of certainty. Under his infectiously enthusiastic tuition, I came to believe that there was no more important or interesting study in the world, and wished only that my life had taken a different path many years ago. Nor has my interest ever quite subsided, and I have read several books on the subject since, including some by him. I discovered also that the simple fly man was a man of wide culture and broad sympathies, who wrote good prose. Alas, Dr Erzinclioglu died suddenly at a very early age, as I discovered one day from reading the obituary page in the Daily Telegraph. I was sad, of course, though I doubt that many men could face death more fulfilled by their lives than he had been; but my brief acquaintance with him reassured me that men of genuine worth, distinction and integrity still exist, and can succeed. And for this we all have reason to be cheerful.

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