in 'Barbertje has to hang': letting an innocent person pay for a case, and distracted: it must and will happen
After Barbertje, a woman in the play that precedes Multatuli's Max Havelaar (1860).
A certain Lothario is accused of murdering his wife Barbertje. When Lothario argues that he is not a murderer but a good man, the judge considers that as self-conceit, all the more reason to hang him.
Barbertje appears herself, however, as living proof of Lothario's innocence.
The judge acknowledges that the charge of murder is dropped but that of self-delusion remains. "Servant, take that man away," says the judge, "he must hang." So some strange twist has resulted in 'Lothario must hang' being changed to 'Barbertje must hang'.
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