Jaroslav Tvrdik started out as an army steward. He went on to become a government minister, then chairman of a national airline, and is soon to be appointed an ambassador to China.



Our man in Beijing? Manciple Tvrdik kept his mouth shut and looked the other way.

Some weeks ago, I compared auditor Jan Dzvonik to the pardoner among Chaucer’s Canterbury pilgrims. Dzvonik has been selling indulgences to the likes of Miroslav Kalousek, Bohuslav Sobotka, Martin Roman and Jaroslav Tvrdik, in their several ministerial and managerial functions, for over twenty years (for the highlights of his career, see here).

And if Dzvonik is the pardoner among the pilgrims, Jaroslav Tvrdik is the manciple.

A manciple was the man in charge of purchasing provisions for young monks. Trvdik started out as one (a manciple, not a young monk), buying provisions for the Czech army’s several military colleges. He has since moved up in the world, replacing socks, salami and sauerkraut with military hardware and commercial aircraft, in his role as Czech defence minister and then as chairman of the Czech national airline.

Chaucer’s manciple is an unappealing, shallow character. He tells the tale of Phoebus, a jealous husband who keeps his much younger wife locked up at home, together with a caged white crow that talks. When the crow tells him that his wife has a lover, he murders her and places a curse on the crow, turning his white feathers black and his melodious voice into an unmelodious screech.

The manciple is an illiterate cynic. He explains that the moral lesson of his tale of jealous husbands, murdered wives and mutilated crows is simple: if you want to stay out of trouble in life, mind your own business or end up like the crow.

Our own latter-day manciple, Jaroslav Tvrdik, would acknowledge the good sense of the lesson drawn by his medieval counterpart. After all, here is a man who has pulled the wings off Czech Airlines and screwed hundreds of its former employees.

And instead of being tarred and feathered (eggs are wasted on him), Manciple Tvrdik is set to become the country’s next ambassador to China thanks to Czech head of state Milos Zeman. And Pardoner Dzvonik remains chairman of CEZ's ultimate source of forgiveness, its Internal Audit committee.

The moral lesson to be drawn is simple: if you wish to get on in the Czech Republic, keep your mouth firmly shut and look the other way while the taxpayers you serve get well and truly screwed -like Phoebus's unfortunate young wife.