SAKI
IoNRADIN wAs TEN years old, and the doctor had pro-
Sredni Vashtar
'sArI' whose real name was H. H. Munro,
was born in Burma in r87o, of a family with
strong Anglo-Indian military connexions. His
childhood was spent largely in England,
where he attended Bedford Grammar School,
After spending some time with his father on
the continent, he went to Burma to join the
Militaly Police in r893.
Some time alter he had been invalided
home, he decided to earn his living by
writing in London. FIis first baok The Rise of
the Russian Empire was completed in IBgg, and
from then on he trdvelled widely in Europe as
a journalist, and also became known as a
short story writer.
In lgo8 he returned to Bngland and
established his reputation as a very successful
writer of tragi-comic stories. In r9r4 he joined
the Army and went to Francc where he fought
until he was killed in November Ig16.
/a'.
Unounced his professional opinion that the boy would"not live
another five years. The doctor was silky and effete, and counted
for little, but his opinion was endorsed by Mrs De Ropp, who
counted for nearly everything. Mrs De Ropp was Conradin's
cousin and guardian, and in his eyes she represented those
three-fifths ofthe world that are necessary and disagreeable and
real; the other two-fifths, in perpetual antagonism to the fore-
going, were summed up in himself and his imagination. One of
ihese days Conradin supposed he would succumb to the master- to
ing pressure of wearisome necessary things-such as illnesses and
.oddti.tg restrictions and drawn-out dullness. Without his
imagination, which was rampant under the spur of loneliness, he
would have succumbed long ago.
Mrs De Ropp rvould never, in her honestest moments, have
confessed to herself that she disliked Conradin, though she might
have been dimly aware that thwarting him'for his good' was a
duty which she did not find particularly irksome. Conradin hated
her with a desperate sincerity which he was perfectly able to
mask. Such few pleasures as he could contrive for himself gained zo
an added relish from the likelihood that they would be displeasing
to his guardian, and from the realm of his imagination she was
locked out-an unclean thing, which should find no entrance.
In the dull, cheerless garden, overlooked by so many windows
that were ready to open with a message not to do this or that' or
a reminder that medicines were due, he found little attraction.
The few fruit-trees that it contained were setjealously apart from
his plucking, as though they were rare specimens of'their kind
blooming in an arid waste; it would probably have been difEcult
to fin,l a market-gardener who would have offered ten shillings 3o
for their entire yearly produce. Irr a forgotten cornei, however,
almost hidden behind a dismal shrubbery, was a disused tool-
shed of respectable proportions, and within its walls Conradin
found a haven, something that took on the varying aspects of a
play-room and a cathedral. He had peopled it with a legion of
iamiliar phantoms, evoked partly from fragments of history and,
partly from his own brain, but it also boasted two inmates of
hesh ancl bloocl. In one corner lived a ragged-plurnaged Houdan
hen,1 on which the boy lavished an affection that had scarcely
r.roih.. outlet. Further back in the gloom stood a large hutch, 4o
divided into two compartments, one of which rvas fronted with
l Houdan
hen: a type of large-crested fowl of Turkish origin'
B3
 SAKI
1
iron bars. This was the abode of a largc polccat_fcrrctr
close SREDNI VASH'TAR
butcher-boy had or,.. rm.lggted, cage and all, After a while conradin's ahsorption in the tool-shed began to
l1*:|:ldly quarters,
rnro.rts.present in exchange for a long_secreted hoard oi irttract the notice of his guardian. 'rt is not good for hirn"to be
small silver. Conradin was.dreadfiIlly afraid pottering dorvn there in all weathers.'she promptly decided, and
fanged beast, but it was his most treasurea
If tfr. Utnf ,fr*f_ :rt breakfast one morning she announced that ihe Houdan hen
porr.rriorr. i;;;iy
presence in the tool-shed was a secret had been sold and taken away overnight. With her short_sighteJ
and fearfuljoy, to U. f."pi
scrupulously from the knowledge of the cyes she peered at Conradin, waiting for an outbreak of ,ag! urrJ
Woman, ls'he privatjy
dubbed his cousin. And one jay, out of H.u,r"., sorrow' which she was ready to rebuke with a florv of exleilent
l<nows what
rnaterial..he spun the beast a wlnderful name, precepts and reasoning. But Conradin said nothing: the.e was
ancl liom that
moment it grew into a god and a religion. The nothing to be said. Something perhaps in his white i.t f.." gu.r.
in religion once a week at a church
\,V";*l;;;lg; ,o her a momentary qualm, for at tea that afternoon there"rvas ro
UV, and tool< Conradin
"""". *1,
with her, but to him the c'urch service toast on the table, a delicacy which she usually banned on the
ur. alien rite in the
House of Rimmon.z, Every T.hursday, ln it ground that it rvas bad for him; also because ihe making of it
silence of the toolshed, he worshipp"a?it[
. dim anJ ;"rry 'gave trouble', a deadly offence in the middle_class feriinine
mystic anrl elaborate
ceremonial before the wooden huici wrrere dwert eye.
sredni vashtar,
the great ferret. Red flowers in their reuro"
o.rd scarlet berries in
'I thought you liked toast,' she exclaimed, rvith an injured air,
the winter-time were offered at._his shrine, fbr observing that he did not touch it.
he was . g;; ;;;
laid some special stress on the fierce impatient side 'Sometimes,' said Conradin.
of.tf;irrgr, u,
opposed to the Woman's religion, whi.h, as In the shed that evening there was an innovation in the worship
1br a.s Co'radin
could observe, went to great t."gilt in the contrary of the hutch-god. Conradin had been wont to chant his praisei,
direction. zo tonight he asked a boon.l
And on great {bstivals powdered iutmegB was strewn
in lront oI. 20
his hutch, an important feature of th.'off"ri.rg 'Do one thing for me, Sredni Vashtar.'
being that the
nutmes had to be stolen. These festivals .,vere The thing rvas not specified. As Sredni Vashtar was a god he
oi.i...grr"lu. o...rr-
chicfly appoinred to cclebrare somc pJssing evenr. must be supposed to know. And choking back a sob as he r*ooked
X:":11-e.re
(Jn one occasion, when \4rs De
Ropp suffered Irom acutJ tooth_ at that other empty corner, Conradin went back to the world he
ache for three days, Conradin t.pi the festival a".i"g th" so hated.
"p in persuading
e,ntir; th1e.1 days, and almost ,,l.".uCi.l
himself
And every night, in the welcome darkness of his bedroom, and
that Sredni Vashtar was personally responsible fbr
the toothache.
every evening in the dusk of the tool-shed, Conradin's bitter
If
the. malady had lasted fbr anoiher iuy
the supply ol nutmeg
Iitany2 went up: 'Do one thing for me, Sredni Vashtar.'
would have given out. Mrs De Ropp noticed that the visits to the shed did not cease,
The Houian hen was never drawn into the cuit 3o and one day she rnade.a furtherjourney ofinspection.
of.sr.drri
Vashtar. Conradin had long ago settled thatshe;-;";;;#;: 'What are you keeping in that lockecl hutch?, she,asked. ,f Zo
tist.a,He did not pretend*to'have the re'motest believe it's guinea-pigs. I'll have them all cleared away.,
knowledge as
Conradin shut his lips tight, but the Woman ransacked his
:. yl", an,Anabaptist was, but he privately hoped that i;*;;
very respectable. Mrs De Ropp ivas ttre ground bedroom till she found the carefully hidden key, and forthwith
plan on iig
:flr:'L9 rvhrchTtjhe based and detested all respeitability. marched down to the shed to complete her discovery. It was a
I polecat-f'erret: a cross cold afternoon, and Conradin had been bidden to keep to the
between a rarge weasel and a small animar used to house. From the furthest window of the dining-room the- door of
catch rabbits.
2 The House the_shed could just be seen beyond the cornei of the shrubbery,
of Rimmon: the temple of Babylon mentioned
3 nutmeg: in the Bible. and there Conradin stationed himself. lle saw the Woman enter,
a spice macle from the nuts r"'n.rt Indian tree.
"f tupiiu_ should
Anabaptisr: a persou who believes tfr"i and then he imagined her opening the door of the sacred hutch
.a
ministered to adults. only be ad_ I 4o
a boon: a favour or special request.
2 litany: a form of prayer used in pubiic worship.
B4
B5
SAKI
and peering down with her shortsighted eyes into the thick
straw bed where his god lay hidden. Perhaps she would prod at
the straw in her clumsy impatience. And Conradin fervently
breathed his prayer for the last time. But he knew as he prayed
that he did not believe. He knew that the Woman would come
out presently with that pursed smile he loathed so well on her
face, and that in an hour or two the gardener would cafty away
his wonderful god, a god no longer, but a simple brown ferret in
a hutch. And he knew that the Woman would triumph always
as she triumphed norv, and that he would grow ever more sickly ro
under her pestering and domineering and superior wisdom, till
one day nothing would matter much more with him, and the
doctor would be proved right. And in the sting and misery of his
defeat, he began to chant loudly and defiantly the hymn of his
threatened idol:
'Sredni Vashtar went forth,
His thoughts were red thoughts and his teeth were white.
His enemies called for peace, but he brought them death.
Sredni Vashtar the Beautiful.'
And then ofa sudden he stopped his chanting and drew closer eo
to the window-pane. The door of the shed still stood ajar as it had
been left, and the minutes were slipping by. They were long
minutes, but they slipped by nevertheless. I{e watched the
starlingsr running and flying in little parties across the lawnl
he counted them over and over again, with one eye always on
that swinging door. A sour-faced maid came in to lay the table
for tea, and still Conradin stood and waited and watched. Hope
had crept by inches into his heart, and now a look of triumph be-
gan to blaze in his eyes that had only known the wistful patie4ce of
defeat. Under his breath, with a furtive exultation, he began once 3o
again the pean2 of victory and devastation. And presently his
eyes were rewarded: out through that doorr,vay came a long, lorv,
yellow-and-brown beast, with eyes a-blink at the waning day-
light, and dark wet stains around the fur ofjaws and throat.
Conradin dropped on his knees. The great polecat-ferret made
its way down to a small brook at the foot of the garden, drank
for a moment, then crossed a little plank bridge and was lost to
sight in the bushes. Such was the passing of Sredni Vashtar.
1 lines 35 & S6).
starlings: small black birds with brown spots.
t pean: a song of triumph.
86
SREDNI VASHTAR
'Tea is ready,' said the sour-faced maid; ,where is the mis-
tress ?'
'She went dorvn to the shed some time ago,' said Conradin.
And while the maid went to summon her mistress to tea,
Conradin fished a toasting-fork out of the sideboard drawer anj
proceeded to toast himself a piece of bread. And during the
toasting of it and the buttering of it with much butter anl the
slow enjoyment of eating it, Conradin listened to the noises ancl
silences which fell in quick spasms beyond the dining-room door.
The loud foolish screaming of the maid, the answering chorus of r o
wondering ejaculations from the kitchen region, thJscuttering
footsteps ind hurried embassies for outside h!lp,'and then, aftei
a lull,r the scared sobbings and the shuffiing tieacl of those who
bore a heavy burden into the house.
'Whoever will break it to the poor child ? I couldn,t for the
life of me!' exclaimed a shrill voice. And while they debated the
m-atter among themselves, Conradin made himself another piece
of toast.
Useful Phrases
r to dub someone (page 84, line B)-to give someone a nickname.
a to lay stress on (page 84, line r8)-_to put emphasis on or to attach
particular importance to.
3 to be dashing (page B4,line 35)-full of life, rather exotic.
4 to bewont to do (page 85, line rg)-to be accustomed to, to do
something habitually.
b. ajar (page 86, line zr)-to be partially open.
I 'I19couldn't
6 for the life of me!' (page 87, lines r5 & 16)-I couldn,t
under any possible circumstances.
Qustions to guide the reader and also for further discusion or essa) writing
r Explain carefully what the author is trying to express
in the
following quotations:
a 'The doctor was silky and effete,, (page 83, line 3).
, 'his imagination, which w-as rampant rr.rdei the spu"r ofloneliness,'
(page 83, lines 13 & r+).
c had peopled itwith a legionof familiar phantoms,, (page 83,
-lHe
1 a lull: an interval
of calm.
87
SAKI
d 'the making of it "gave trouble", a deadly offence in the middle- EVELYN WAUGH
class feminine eye' (page 85, lines rz & r3)'
e 'the welcome darkness of his bedroom,' (page 85, iine z6)'
f 'with eyes a-blink at the rvaning daylight,' (page 86. lines 33 & Tactical Exercise
3+).
z What are the significant differences between the separate,-'reli-
gions' of Conradin and Mrs. de Ropp ? What do they tell you
about their different characters?

3 lVhat is Conradin's reaction to the polecat ferret? In what ways

is it (a) similar (6) different to his reaction to his guardian ?

4 Write a brief character sketch of Conradin.

5 'Mrs. de Ropp was the ground plan on whichTohe based and
what extent
detested all respectability' (page 84, lines SS & S6).
do you feel this quotation to be the central theme of the story?
6 Explain the signiiicance of the words in the final paragraph of the
story-'Whoever will break it to the poor child ?'-in the context
of the whole story.

EvELyN wAUcH, the son of a publisher and

literary critic, was born in London in rgo3.
After being educated at Lancing School, and
Hertford College, Oxford, he studied art in
London and then spent a short time teaching
in a private school.
In rgz8 his first novel-Decline and Fall-was
published, and in lg3o he became a Roman
Catholic. During the rggos he travelled
widely and wrote several books based on his
various experiences.
He became a war-correspondent in rg35,
and served as an ofFcer during the Second
World War. From 1937 until his death in
1966, he and his family lived in
Gloucestershire.
He is best known for his novels of social
satire and entertainment. These, with his
travel books and short stories, have made him
one of the most famous of contemporary
English writers.
BB