Curious Animal Tales

Written by Saki

Narrated by Cathy Dobson

A quartet of short stories by Britain’s raconteur supreme, Hector Hugh Munro, better known under his pseudonym “Saki”. This collection brings together four of his most curious and amusing tales, all of which involve animals. Saki’s satirical take on the morals and eccentricities of Edwardian society, combined with a compelling narrative and an unexpected ending draw keep the reader hanging on until the very last word.

'Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger': Mrs. Packletide is determined to shoot a tiger in order to get one up on her arch rival Loona Bimberton. In a comical and at times ironic sequence of events, Mrs. Packletide finds herself at the mercy of another rival, just when she had least expected it.

'Tobermory': When Mr. Cornelius Appin announces that he has succeeded in teaching the cat, Tobermory, to speak, nobody in the house party believes him. But when Tobermory makes his entrance and begins to reveal the kind of personal secrets only a cat can know about the assembled company, chaos breaks out. Tobermory must be destroyed at all costs.

'The Mouse': When Theodoric Voler boards a train he finds he is not alone in the compartment. Not only is there a female companion asleep in one corner, there is a mouse that has hidden itself inside his clothes. Can the sensitive and prudish young man manage to undress and extricate the mouse without his female companion waking up?

'Esme': The Baroness recounts a hunting story with a twist. Instead of a fox, the quarry turns out to be an escaped hyena, which adopts her and Constance Broddle and leads them to cover up a heinous killing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Door Consulting
• Release date: May 2, 2011
• ISBN: 9781467667920

Saki

Saki (1870-1916) was the pen name of British novelist and short story writer Hector Hugh Munro. Born in British Burma, Munro was the son of Inspector General Charles Augustus Munro of the Indian Imperial Police and his wife Mary Frances Mercer. Following his mother’s death from a tragic accident in 1872, Munro was sent to live in England with his paternal grandmother. In 1893, he returned to Burma to work for the Indian Imperial Police but was forced to resign in just over a year due to serious illness. He moved to London in 1896 to pursue a career as a writer. He found some success as a journalist and soon published The Rise of the Russian Empire (1900), a work of history. Emboldened, he began writing stories and novels, earning praise for Reginald (1904), a short story collection, and When William Came (1913), an invasion novel. Known for his keen wit and satirical outlook on Edwardian life, Munro was considered a master literary craftsman in his time. A gay man, he was forced to conceal his sexual identity in order to avoid criminal prosecution. At 43 years of age, he enlisted in the British cavalry and went to France to fight in the Great War. He was killed by a German sniper at the Battle of the Ancre.