‘Too Dear!’ tells the story of Monaco, a small kingdom in Europe. The author’s intention is to parody the efforts of the modern state to violently restrain crime. Monaco had a small population, a small army and was ruled by a kinglet. Since it was a very small kingdom, it had meagre financial resources. The people lived peacefully but somehow a murder was committed. The criminal was tried as per the existing rules of the state and was finally sentenced to death. But, there was neither a guillotine machine nor an executioner in the state.

Therefore the king and the ministers made sincere attempts to borrow them from their neighbours the French Government and the King of Italy. After weighing the pros and cons of incurring a huge expenditure the king gave up the idea of getting the criminal executed and changed it to imprisonment for life. This cost the king 600 francs. When the king reflected over the cost, it struck him that the cost would become a big burden if the criminal lived another fifty years.

Again, the king and his ministers met discussed the issue and dismissed the guard believing that the criminal would run away on his own. But the criminal refused to go. Finally, the criminal was offered a small pension and paid one-third of his annuity as advance. He left the prison and emigrated to another country.

Thus, there is a streak of humour in the story throughout The author’s intention is to prod the reader with the following serious questions:

• Why should ‘violence’ be punished with violence only?
• What is the purpose of trying the criminal in a court of law and decreeing punishment?
• Why are crimes committed and how can they be prevented?
• What is the role of the government in crime prevention?
• What guarantee is there that the ‘truth’ is revealed when the criminal is tried in a court of law?  How can the miscarriage of justice be prevented?
• How can the court ensure that the convicted criminal is given punishment commensurate with the crime?
• What is the role of the government in ensuring that the family of the criminal is not put to hardship after the execution of a criminal?
• How much time should a country, like Monaco, whose resources are limited, spend on trial and punishment of criminals?