A simple and heart-warming fable, one might think – in which case, one would reveal oneself to be an innocent nincompoop.

读者会认为是个简单而温馨的寓言——在种情况下，读者会暴露自己是个天真的傻瓜。

Mussolini is bad enough but he's essentially a nincompoop.

墨索里尼确实很坏 但他其实是个傻子。