Short Stories of Saki (H. H. Munro)
Short Stories of Saki (H. H. Munro) |
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ReginaldPublished: 1904 Monro's first collection of short stories is itself extremely short; twenty or so in under forty pages in this edition. Most of them are not really stories, but little anecdotes, providing context for a witty remark from effete, advanced and cynical Reginald. These include what is probably Saki's most famous phrase: "She was a good cook, as cooks go, and as cooks go, she went." The purpose of these vignettes is to satirise society. This is done as much through the character of Reginald as it is through what he says and does. He is a product of high society, and yet something of an outsider in that he does not take it seriously. Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward are the kind of figures that Reginald brings to mind; Wilde was clearly an influence on Saki, and Coward, who wrote the introduction to this collected edition of his work, was an admirer. REGINALDI did it--I who should have known better. I persuaded
Reginald to go to the McKillops' garden-party against his
will.
REGINALD ON CHRISTMAS PRESENTSI wish it to be distinctly understood (said Reginald) that I
don't want a "George, Prince of Wales" Prayer-book as a
Christmas present. The fact cannot be too widely known.
REGINALD ON THE ACADEMY"One goes to the Academy in self-defence," said Reginald.
"It is the one topic one has in common with the Country
Cousins."
REGINALD AT THE THEATRE"After all," said the Duchess vaguely, "there are certain
things you can't get away from. Right and wrong, good
conduct and moral rectitude, have certain well-defined
limits."
REGINALD'S PEACE POEM"I'm writing a poem on Peace," said Reginald, emerging from a
sweeping operation through a tin of mixed biscuits, in whose
depths a macaroon or two might yet be lurking.
REGINALD'S CHOIR TREAT"Never," wrote Reginald to his most darling friend, "be a
pioneer. It's the Early Christian that gets the fattest
lion."
REGINALD ON WORRIESI have (said Reginald) an aunt who worries. She's not really
an aunt--a sort of amateur one, and they aren't really
worries. She is a social success, and has no domestic
tragedies worth speaking of, so she adopts any decorative
sorrows that are going, myself included.
REGINALD ON HOUSE-PARTIESThe drawback is, one never really KNOWS one's hosts and
hostesses. One gets to know their fox-terriers and their
chrysanthemums, and whether the story about the go-cart can
be turned loose in the drawing-room, or must be told
privately to each member of the party, for fear of shocking
public opinion; but one's host and hostess are a sort of
human hinterland that one never has the time to explore.
REGINALD AT THE CARLTON"A most variable climate," said the Duchess; "and how
unfortunate that we should have had that very cold weather at
a time when coal was so dear! So distressing for the poor."
REGINALD ON BESETTING SINS - THE WOMAN WHO TOLD THE TRUTHThere was once (said Reginald) a woman who told the truth.
Not all at once, of course, but the habit grew upon her
gradually, like lichen on an apparently healthy tree. She
had no children--otherwise it might have been different. It
began with little things, for no particular reason except
that her life was a rather empty one, and it is so easy to
slip into the habit of telling the truth in little matters.
REGINALD'S DRAMAReginald closed his eyes with the elaborate weariness of one who has rather nice eyelashes and thinks it useless to conceal the fact.
REGINALD ON TARIFFSI'm not going to discuss the Fiscal Question (said Reginald);
I wish to be original. At the same time, I think one suffers
more than one realises from the system of free imports. I
should like, for instance, a really prohibitive duty put upon
the partner who declares on a weak red suit and hopes for the
best. Even a free outlet for compressed verbiage doesn't
balance matters.
REGINALD'S CHRISTMAS REVELThey say (said Reginald) that there's nothing sadder than
victory except defeat. If you've ever stayed with dull
people during what is alleged to be the festive season, you
can probably revise that saying. I shall never forget
putting in a Christmas at the Babwolds'. Mrs. Babwold is
some relation of my father's--a sort of to-be-left-till-
called-for cousin--and that was considered sufficient reason
for my having to accept her invitation at about the sixth
time of asking; though why the sins of the father should be
visited by the children--you won't find any notepaper in that
drawer; that's where I keep old menus and first-night
programmes.
REGINALD'S RUBAIYATThe other day (confided Reginald), when I was killing time in
the bathroom and making bad resolutions for the New Year, it
occurred to me that I would like to be a poet. The chief
qualification, I understand, is that you must be born. Well,
I hunted up my birth certificate, and found that I was all
right on that score, and then I got to work on a Hymn to the
New Year, which struck me as having possibilities. It
suggested extremely unusual things to absolutely unlikely
people, which I believe is the art of first-class catering in
any department. Quite the best verse in it went something
like this -
THE INNOCENCE OF REGINALDReginald slid a carnation of the newest shade into the
buttonhole of his latest lounge coat, and surveyed the result
with approval. "I am just in the mood," he observed, "to
have my portrait painted by someone with an unmistakable
future. So comforting to go down to posterity as 'Youth with
a Pink Carnation' in catalogue--company with 'Child with
Bunch of Primroses,' and all that crowd."
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Map started on Nov. 5, 2009
