Getting started
Have you ever told a story that wasn't quite true, just to see how someone would react? The girl in this short story does exactly that, and she is very good at it.
The Open Window was written by Saki, the pen name of the British writer Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916). He is famous for short, witty stories with surprising endings, often set among the English upper class around 1900. The story was published in 1914 in the collection Beasts and Super-Beasts. Saki died in the First World War in 1916. Because he died more than 70 years ago, his texts are in the public domain and you can read them in full.
In this lesson you read the first half of the story and make predictions about the second half.
Auf Deutsch: Du liest die Geschichte in zwei Teilen. Lies Teil 1 einmal zügig für den Überblick (skimming) und dann ein zweites Mal genau. Unbekannte Wörter erschließt du aus dem Kontext oder mit der Vokabelliste.
Before reading: vocabulary
| word | meaning |
|---|---|
| self-possessed | calm and confident |
| to endeavour | to try hard (formal) |
| nerve cure | a long rest to treat a nervous illness |
| letter of introduction | a letter that introduces you to people you don't know |
| rectory | the house of a priest (here: where the sister stayed) |
| French window | a large glass door that opens onto a garden |
| moor, bog | wild, wet land; soft wet ground you can sink into |
| snipe | a small bird that people hunted |
| to engulf | to swallow up completely |
| falteringly | in an unsteady, hesitating way |
| to bound | to jump, to run with big steps |
The text: part 1
Saki: The Open Window (1914), paragraphs 1 to 15
(1) “My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel,” said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; “in the meantime you must try and put up with me.”
(2) Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct something which should duly flatter the niece of the moment without unduly discounting 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.
(3) “I know how it will be,” his sister had said when he was preparing to migrate to this rural retreat; “you will bury yourself down there and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever from moping. 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.”
(4) Framton wondered whether Mrs. Sappleton, the lady to whom he was presenting one of the letters of introduction, came into the nice division.
(5) “Do you know many of the people round here?” asked the niece, when she judged that they had had sufficient silent communion.
(6) “Hardly a soul,” said Framton. “My sister was staying here, at the rectory, you know, some four years ago, and she gave me letters of introduction to some of the people here.”
(7) He made the last statement in a tone of distinct regret.
(8) “Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?” pursued the self-possessed young lady.
(9) “Only her name and address,” admitted the caller. He was wondering whether Mrs. Sappleton was in the married or widowed state. An undefinable something about the room seemed to suggest masculine habitation.
(10) “Her great tragedy happened just three years ago,” said the child; “that would be since your sister’s time.”
(11) “Her tragedy?” asked Framton; somehow in this restful country spot tragedies seemed out of place.
(12) “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.
(13) “It is quite warm for the time of the year,” said Framton; “but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?”
(14) “Out through that window, three years ago to a day, her husband and her two young brothers went off for their day’s shooting. They never came back. In crossing the moor to their favourite snipe-shooting ground they were all three engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog. It had been that dreadful wet summer, you know, and places that were safe in other years gave way 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 human. “Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back some day, 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?’ as he always did to tease her, because she said it got on her nerves. Do you know, sometimes on still, quiet evenings like this, I almost get a creepy feeling that they will all walk in through that window—”
(15) She broke off with a little shudder.
Source: Saki, Beasts and Super-Beasts (1914), text from Project Gutenberg, public domain. Paragraph 15 is the first sentence of an original paragraph that was split for the division into two parts (paragraphs 15 and 16).
Explanation
Understanding the situation
Short stories often start in the middle of a situation. You have to collect information from small details. Ask the W-questions:
- Who? Framton Nuttel, a nervous man; a fifteen-year-old girl (later called Vera), the niece of Mrs Sappleton.
- Where? In the sitting room of a country house, with a large French window open onto the lawn.
- When? An afternoon in October, around 1900.
- What? Framton is visiting strangers in the country to cure his nerves. His sister has given him letters of introduction. While he waits for Mrs Sappleton, the niece tells him about a "tragedy".
- Why? The niece explains why the window is open: her aunt is waiting for her husband and brothers, who died in a bog three years ago.
Reading between the lines
Some details are important later. Good readers mark them:
- The niece first checks what Framton knows: "Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?" (paragraph 8)
- Her voice "lost its self-possessed note" only when she tells the sad part (paragraph 14).
- Details are very exact: the white waterproof coat, the brown spaniel, the song "Bertie, why do you bound?"
Auf Deutsch: Markiere beim zweiten Lesen Textstellen, die dir merkwürdig vorkommen. Kurzgeschichten arbeiten mit Andeutungen. Was wie eine Nebensache wirkt, wird später oft wichtig.
Making predictions
A prediction is a guess based on clues in the text. Write it like this: I think that … because in paragraph … it says …
Examples
Example 1: A summary of part 1
The story is about Framton Nuttel, a nervous man who visits Mrs Sappleton in the country because his sister has given him a letter of introduction. While he is waiting, Mrs Sappleton's fifteen-year-old niece tells him that her aunt's husband and two brothers died in a bog three years ago. She says that her aunt still keeps the window open because she believes they will come back.
The summary is in the simple present, answers the W-questions and does not quote the text.
Example 2: A prediction with evidence
I think the niece is not telling the truth. In paragraph 8 she asks Framton whether he knows anything about her aunt. It seems as if she wants to make sure that he cannot check her story.
Rule
Read a short story in steps: skim for the gist, then read closely and mark details. Answer the W-questions. Make predictions and support them with a reference to the text (paragraph number).
Exercises
Grundlagen
- Answer the questions in full sentences. a) Why has Framton come to the country? b) Why does his sister give him letters of introduction? c) What happened three years ago, according to the niece?
- True or false? Correct the false statements. a) Framton knows Mrs Sappleton well. b) The window is open because it is a hot summer day. c) The aunt's youngest brother was called Ronnie.
Weiter
- Find three details in paragraph 14 that make the niece's story sound real. Explain why these details are convincing.
- How does Framton feel during the conversation? Find two quotations that show his feelings.
Knobeln
- Write a prediction (60 to 80 words): What will happen when Mrs Sappleton comes into the room? Support your idea with at least two references to the text.
Lösungen
- a) He is undergoing a nerve cure. He needs rest and quiet in the country (paragraph 2). b) She is afraid that he will not speak to anyone and that his nerves will get worse from being alone (paragraph 3). c) The aunt's husband and her two young brothers went shooting and died in a bog on the moor. Their bodies were never found (paragraph 14).
- a) False. He knows only her name and address (paragraph 9). b) False. It is an October afternoon. The niece says the window is open because her aunt is waiting for the men (paragraphs 12 and 14). c) True (paragraph 14).
- For example: the exact date (three years ago to a day), the explanation of the accident (that dreadful wet summer … places that were safe in other years gave way), the white waterproof coat, the brown spaniel and the song Bertie, why do you bound?. Exact, everyday details make a story sound like a real memory.
- For example: He feels uncomfortable and doubtful: Privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal visits … would do much towards helping the nerve cure (paragraph 2). He is surprised and uneasy: somehow in this restful country spot tragedies seemed out of place (paragraph 11).
- Expected: a clear prediction, for example that the aunt will behave strangely and frighten Framton, or that the niece's story will turn out to be false. At least two references with paragraph numbers, for example the niece's question in paragraph 8 and the creepy feeling in paragraph 14.