Halloween Reading by Saki
H.H. Munro Delivers Chills and Wit Simultaneously
Saki was a voluminous writer, leaving behind many short stories, journalism work, two novels, and three plays. His life was cut short when he enlisted to fight in World War I, leaving one to wonder what other work he might have produced.
But his unique style has survived on, and appeals to many varied types of readers. His work is characterised by fear, wit, and humour. Truly, a bit of something for everyone.
“The Open Window”
This short story begins with an innocent conversation between a visitor and the 15-year-old niece of the house. Innocent and innocuous, it would seem.
But soon things change, and the visitor finds himself in a strange, whirling atmosphere of confusion and terror.
The niece, in gentle chatting with the visitor, suddenly changes the tenor of the conversation by pointing to a large French window that opened onto a lawn. She told of her aunt’s great tragedy.
- “Out that window, three years ago to a day, her husband and two young brothers went off for their day’s shooting. They never came back. …they were all three engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog.” The niece says on quiet evenings, such as the present one, she almost feels they will return.
- As the twilight deepens, and the aunt appears, so do three (very real) figures approaching the house.
- When the visitor notes them, he makes a hasty retreat, as described by Saki: “…the hall door, the gravel-drive, and the front gate were dimly noted stages in his headlong retreat. A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid imminent collision.”
Pure fear has engulfed the visitor, as well as readers. But they are soon relieved of their horror by Saki’s final sentence about the niece: “Romance at short notice was her specialty.”
“Laura”
This short story is witty and fast-moving. The heroine, named Laura, is dying, and she is talking to her friend Amanda about reincarnation. Here, Saki not only displays his unique wit, but also touches on elements of religion.
Reincarnation could be seen as rather a scandalous idea in his day, yet by writing about it in an utterly British way, with wit rather than fervour, he makes it seem possible.
Laura proclaims to Amanda that she would probably first return as something playful and lovely, such as an otter. Then she says if she is a good otter, she might return in human form, probably “a little brown, unclothed Nubian boy…”
- Her friend Amanda rather laughed off Laura’s unorthodox ideas, but Laura is not bothers and, in fact, inconveniences everyone by dying one day early.
- Immediately, an otter appears on the estate where Amanda lives with her uptight husband, Egbert, killing his best chickens and destroying his best flower beds.
- Egbert hunts the “fine she-otter,” kills it, yet comments on how human its eyes looked just before it died. Amanda, who “was one of those who shape their opinions rather readily from the standpoint of those around them,” became rather ill and was taken abroad by Egbert to recuperate.
- Whilst in Egypt, from in Egbert dressing room there issued a loud volley of curses, and Egbert finally issued forth. Amanda, with “amused curiosity,” asked what was wrong. Egbert announces that all of his clothes had been thrown in the bathtub by a “best of a naked brown Nubian boy.”
The story ends: “And now Amanda is seriously ill.”
One cannot read the story without laughing, but Saki also raises deeper questions about life after death, intelligence, precognition, and existence.
He does not dwell on these subjects, but merely raises them for speculation in the readers’ minds. He teases with them, encouraging readers to think for themselves, a fine feat indeed.
“Tobermory”
This most British of stories begins with a house-party comprised of an eclectic mix of personalities. One announces he has taught the family cat, Tobermory, to speak English. Thus begins an uproar that affects everyone, most of all, Tobermory.
- “Hadn’t we better have the cat in and judge for ourselves?” asks the Lady of the house.
- Tobermory appears, and he is quite at ease conversing with the people on a level above some of their capabilities.
- Tobermory knows all of the guests’ secrets, as well as those of the estate owners, and shares them freely, causing quite an uproar. It is determined that Tobermory must be got rid of, and conveniently, the rectory cat bests him in a fight, and his body is found in some shrubs.
But readers should not despair: Tobermory’s teacher tried to teach an elephant how to speak English. The elephant “…broke loose and killed an Englishman who had apparently been teasing it.”
Whilst the death of Tobermory is tragic in the scheme of life, those whose secrets he knew were secretly glad he was gone and unable to spread information about their private lives.
Saki does not let the reader grow too sad about Tobermory’s demise; the point is the small-mindedness of the people, and the animals’ apparently greater mental abilities and thought processes.
Both Tobermory and the elephant were annoyed with being bothered, and had better things to do than sit around and make insipid conversation.
Saki thankfully left many writings behind satirising Edwardian societey, but these three short stories illustrate his skills at developing fear, exhibiting wit, and creating humour.
Source: Tobermory and Other Stories, by Saki, Phoenix, 1998.
H.H. Munro (1870-1916)
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