Short Stories by Saki

Author Biography

Hector Hugh Munro (Dec 18, 1870 - Nov 14, 1916) was a witty British author who published
under the pen name Saki or H.H. Munro. As a writer, Munro (Saki) was a master of the short
story form and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker.
Hector H. Munro was born December 18, 1870, in Burma, to a British army officer and his
wife. After the death of his mother in 1873, Saki and his siblings were sent to Britain to be raised
by their aunts. Saki’s father retired from the army in 1888 and thereafter took Saki and his
sibling on many trips to the European continent. Saki went to Burma in 1893 as a police officer.
However, he soon contracted malaria and returned to Britain the following year. He moved to
London in 1896 with the hopes of becoming a writer.
In 1899 Saki published his first short story, “Dogged,” and the next year he published a
nonfiction book about the history of Russia. Also that year, Saki collaborated with political
cartoonist Francis Carruthers Gould to create “Alice in Westminster,” a series of satirical pieces
that attacked the British government’s handling of the Boer War in South Africa. The series was
published in the Westminster Gazette and later collected in a book titled The Westminster
Alice(1902). Saki and Gould collaborated again two years later on a similar project.
In 1902 Saki became a foreign correspondent for the Tory Morning Gazette. At the same time,
he continued publishing short stories in the Westminster Gazette. In 1908 Saki left the field of
journalism to devote himself to fiction writing. He published short stories regularly through
1914, by which time he had also resumed work as a journalist.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Saki enlisted for military service. He was sent
to the trenches in France in November. He served in numerous battles, but continued to write
during the war years. He wrote many articles about the military life for the army newspaper. Saki
was killed by sniper fire on November 14, 1916.
The Toys of Peace, and Other Papers, which included “The Interlopers,” was published in 1919.
Another posthumous collection, The Square Egg, and Other Sketches, with Three Plays, was
published in 1924 and included Saki’s wartime writings.
 The Open Window
<1>
"My aunt will be down(downstairs)presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a very self-possessed(calm, confident,
and in control of your feelings)young lady of fifteen; "in the meantime you must try and put up with
me."(to accept someone or something unpleasant in a patient way)
Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct something which should duly(proper)flatter(to
praise) the niece of the moment without unduly(very, to a greater degree)discounting(to not value,
disregard)the aunt that was to come. Privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal
visits on a succession of total strangers would do much towards helping the nerve cure which he
was supposed to be undergoing.
"I know how it will be," his sister had said when he was preparing to migrate to this rural
retreat(a peaceful and private place where you can go in order to rest); "you will bury yourself down there
and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever from
moping(to feel bored or unhappy and show no interest in doing anything). I shall just give you letters of
introduction to all the people I know there. Some of them, as far as I can remember, were quite
nice." (a letter by someone else that explains who you are, which you can give to a person you have not met
before)
Framton wondered whether Mrs. Sappleton, the lady to whom he was presenting one of the
letters of introduction came into the nice division.
"Do you know many of the people round here?" asked the niece, when she judged that they
had had sufficient silent communion. (a special relationship with someone or something which makes you
feel that you understand them very well)
"Hardly a soul," said Framton. "My sister was staying here, at the rectory(a house where the
priest of the local church lives),
you know, some four years ago, and she gave me letters of
introduction to some of the people here."
He made the last statement in a tone of distinct regret.
"Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?" pursued(continue)the self-possessed
young lady.
"Only her name and address," admitted the caller. He was wondering whether Mrs. Sappleton
was in the married or widowed state. An indefinable(impossible to describe
or explain clearly)something about the room seemed to suggest masculine habitation.
"Her great tragedy happened just three years ago," said the child; "that would be since your
sister's time."
"Her tragedy?" asked Framton; somehow in this restful country spot tragedies seemed out of
place.(inappropriate, unwelcome)
< 2 >
"You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon," said the
niece, indicating a large French window that opened on to a lawn.
"It is quite warm for the time of the year," said Framton; "but has that window got anything to
do with the tragedy?"
"Out through that window, three years ago to a day, her husband and her two young brothers
went off(depart) for their day's shooting. They never came back. In crossing the
moor(an uncultivated area covered with low-growing vegetation and often high but poorly drained.)to their
favourite snipe-shooting ground they were all three engulfed (to cover or surround something in a way
that harms or destroys it)in a treacherous(very dangerous)piece of bog(an area of low wet muddy ground,
sometimes containing bushes or grasses). It had been that dreadful wet summer, you know, and places
that were safe in other years gave way(breaks or falls down) suddenly without warning. Their
bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of it." Here the child's voice lost its self-
possessed note and became falteringly(weak and lacking in confidence) human. "Poor aunt always
thinks that they will come back someday, they and the little brown spaniel that was lost with
them, and walk in at that window just as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open
every evening till it is quite dusk. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her
husband with his white waterproof coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing
'Bertie, why do you bound?(run/jump)' as he always did to tease her, because she said it got on
her nerves.( to annoy someone a lot) . Do you know, sometimes on still, quiet evenings like this, I
almost get a creepy(scary)feeling that they will all walk in through that window - "
She broke off(stop speaking) with a little shudder(a quick uncontrolled shaking movement). It was a
relief to Framton when the aunt bustled(go quickly)into the room with a whirl of apologies for
being late in making her appearance.
"I hope Vera has been amusing you?" she said.
"She has been very interesting," said Framton.
"I hope you don't mind the open window," said Mrs. Sappleton briskly(speaking quickly); "my
husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting, and they always come in this way.
They've been out for snipe(a bird with a long thin beak that lives mainly in wet areas)in the
marshes(an area of soft wet land)today, so they'll make a fine mess over my poor carpets. So like
you menfolk (men collectively), isn't it?"
< 3 >
She rattled on(talk incessantly and tiresomely )cheerfully about the shooting and the scarcity of
birds, and the prospects for duck in the winter. To Framton it was all purely horrible. He made a
desperate but only partially successful effort to turn the talk on to a less ghastly(terrifying)topic,
he was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a fragment of her attention, and her eyes
were constantly straying past him to the open window and the lawn beyond. It was certainly an
unfortunate coincidence that he should have paid his visit on this tragic anniversary.
"The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and
avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise," announced Framton, who
laboured under the tolerably widespread delusion(to function/operate with the unyielding belief in
unrealistic)that total strangers and chance acquaintances are hungry for(wanting or needing something
very much) he least detail of one's ailments and infirmities(bad health caused by old age or illness), their
cause and cure. "On the matter of diet they are not so much in agreement," he continued.
"No?" said Mrs. Sappleton, in a voice which only replaced a yawn at the last moment. Then
she suddenly brightened into alert attention - but not to what Framton was saying.
"Here they are at last!" she cried. "Just in time for tea, and don't they look as if they were
muddy up to the eyes!"
Framton shivered slightly and turned towards the niece with a look intended to convey
sympathetic comprehension. The child was staring out through the open window with a
dazed(unable to think clearly, especially because of a shock, accident) horror in her eyes. In a chill shock
of nameless fear Framton swung round(to move in a particular direction with a smooth
curving movement)in his seat and looked in the same direction.
In the deepening twilight three figures were walking across the lawn towards the window,
they all carried guns under their arms, and one of them was additionally burdened with a white
coat hung over his shoulders. A tired brown spaniel kept close at their heels. (the back part of
your foot, below your ankle)Noiselessly they neared the house, and then a hoarse (low rough)young
voice chanted(to keep shouting or singing a word or phrase many times)out of the dusk: "I said, Bertie,
why do you bound?"
 Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel
(small pieces of stone used for making paths and roads) drive, and the front gate were dimly noted stages
in his headlong(fast, quick) retreat. A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to
avoid imminent(likely to happen) collision.
< 4 >
"Here we are, my dear," said the bearer(someone whose job is to carry something ) of the white
mackintosh, coming in through the window, "fairly muddy, but most of it's dry. Who was that
who bolted out( leave suddenly and as if in a hurry) as we came up?"
"A most extraordinary man, a Mr. Nuttel," said Mrs. Sappleton; "could only talk about his
illnesses, and dashed off(to leave quickly or suddenly)without a word of goodby or apology when
you arrived. One would think he had seen a ghost."
"I expect it was the spaniel," said the niece calmly; "he told me he had a horror of dogs. He
was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of
pariah(someone who everyone hates and avoids, outcast)dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug
grave with the creatures snarling(if an animal snarls, it makes a low angry sound and shows its teeth ) and
grinning(to smile widely) and foaming(to have bubbles coming out of one’s mouth )just above him.
Enough to make anyone lose their nerve."
Romance at short notice(without much warning time for preparation) was her speciality.

“The Open Window” by SAKI (H. H. Munro)

Story Study Guide

1. Identify the two main characters in the story.

2. Who encourages Framton to embark on a journey?
3. Fully describe the story’s setting, including place and time (month and approximate
year).
4. In whose home is Framton during the majority of the story? Who greets him upon his arrival?
5. Vera tells Framton a ghastly story. Thoroughly summarize the story.
6. What's the common point between MrFramton Nuttel and the reader? Did you find out
whether Mrs Sappleton's husband and brother were present (real) or just one of Vera's
inventions?
7. Describe Framton’s departure from the rectory. What caused his departure?
8. What explanation does Vera offer when Framton leaves the rectory? How is her
explanation ironic?
9. Describe and analyse the characters (Vera, Mr Nuttel and Mrs Sappleton). Don't forget to
justify quoting from the text
10. Explain how Vera laid out a devilish trap for Mr. Nuttel and why she liked doing so.
11. After having read “The Open Window,” is Vera’s story true? How do you know?
12. What does the last sentence of the story mean?
13. Through whose eyes do we see most of the story? How does this point of view affect the
way we read the story?
14. Modern short stories often include several clues, a twistand a surprise ending. Show that
this is a case here. (A twist: an unexpected change or development, very often at the end of a
short story. A surprise ending: an ending that comes as a shock to the reader .A clue: an
indication, that properly interpreted, may lead to a full understanding of something or the
discovery of something hidden. )
15. Justify the title. Explain that the part played by the open window is essential.
16. What was the author's purpose? (Show that the story can be regarded as a series of jokes.
Identify the jokes, then for each of them, say who is telling it, who is being fooled).