The Open Window
By Saki
 |
| The Open Window |
Introducing the author
Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 –13 November 1916),
better known by the pen name Saki, is an eminent English novelist and short
story writer. His stories depict human behaviour in interesting and playful
situations and are remarkable for gentle humour and sparkling wit.
Summary
In the story, Frampton Nuttel who is suffering from nervousness goes to a calm and quiet place for his treatment. He calls on a family friend there. He meets a fifteen years old girl, Vera. She is a very calm and confident girl. She tells Frampton that her aunt, Mrs. Sappleton will soon come downstairs. He had with him the letters of introduction given to him by his sister. His sister told him that in the countryside, he will meet only a few people. If he feels unhappy there his condition may deteriorate.
Vera asked him whether he knows many people there. He replied to her that he did not know anybody here. His sister who visited the place four years back gave him letters of introduction to some of the people. He said that he only knew her aunt’s name and address.
Vera told him that about three years ago, her aunt’s husband and two brothers have gone out for shooting. She pointed to a large window that opened in the lawn. She told him that they had all gone out from that window and never returned. The wet spongy ground swallowed them and also their bodies were never recovered.
She further said that Mrs. Sappleton always keeps this window open until it is dark in the hope that they would come back someday. Sometimes, Vera also feels that someday they will come through that window along with their dog as they did before.
In the meantime, Mrs. Sappleton came and apologized for being late. She said that her husband and brothers had gone for shooting birds. She told Nuttel that she has kept the window open for them to enter into the house so that they do not spoil the carpet with their muddy shoes.
Nuttel tried to change the topic but she continued talking about shooting and shortage of birds. He realized that her eyes were directed to the window and lawn and was paying only a little attention to him. Suddenly she looked towards the window and cried that they were on time for tea. Frampton shivered with fear and turned towards Vera to express sympathy. But she was looking through the window with horror in her eyes.
He swung in his chair and looked towards the window. He saw three figures carrying guns walking across the lawn towards the window. A brown coloured dog was with them. Nuttel hastily came out from there. The man came in through the window and asked Mrs. Sappleton who rushed out of the house. She said that he was Nuttel who talked only about his illness. He ran as if he saw some ghosts.
However, Vera said that he was afraid of dogs as once a group of dogs chased him into a graveyard. He spent a night in a newly dug grave and the dogs growling all around him.
Question Answer
Unit-1
1. What did Mrs. Sappleton say about her husband and brothers to Mr. Nuttel?
Ans: Mrs. Sappeleton said that her husband and brothers would come home directly from shooting, and they always came in through the open window. They had been out for snipe in the marshes that day. She talked merrily about the shooting and the scarcity of birds, and the prospects for duck in winter.
2. How did Mr. Nuttle react to her?
Ans: A man of nervous disposition as he was, Framton felt ill at ease to listen only to Mrs. Sappleton’s strange story of her husband and brothers. Vera had already told her the story of open the window. He knew that Mrs. Sappleton took little notice of him and her eyes were constantly directed towards the open window. As a result, Mrs. Sappleton’s story of her husband and brothers was purely horrible to him. He made a vain effort to switch over to another topic. It was an unfortunate coincidence that he had paid his visit on this tragic anniversary.
Unit-2
1. Why did Mr. Nuttel leave Mrs. Sappleton’s house in a hurry?
Ans: The haunting party that comprised Mrs. Sappleton’s husband and her brothers and their spaniel really returned in the dim light of the afternoon. They were walking across the lawn towards the window. They all carried guns under their arms. One of them had a white coat hung over his shoulders. A tired brown spaniel closely followed the three figures. They neared the house saliently. As soon as Nuttel saw them, he was horrified at the thought that they were ghosts of the dead. Therefore, he left Mrs. Sappleton’s house in hurry.
2. How did Vera explain the cause of the Nuttel’s sudden disappearance?
Ans: When the hunting party and their spaniel really returned in the dim light of the afternoon, poor Nuttel was horrified at the thought that they were the ghosts of the dead and suddenly left the place. Vera calmly invented another story to explain Mrs. Nuttel’s sudden departure. She explained that the poor fellow was terribly afraid of dogs for he had once been chased by a group of stray dogs on the banks of the Ganges and he was forced to spend one whole night in gravel.
3. How does Vera create romance at short notice in the story?
Ans: Vera is capable of inventing stories from her own mind on any person or situation within a few seconds. When she knows that Mr. Nuttel is a stranger to the family, she invents a story on the poem window of the house and narrates it to Mr. Framton Nuttel. That story makes Nuttel terrified. When the Nuttel runs away from the house at the moment of return of Mrs. Sappleton’s husband and her two brothers considering them ghosts, Vera, justifies it by telling another story to Mrs. Sappleton this proves that ‘ romance at short notice is Vera’s specialty.
4. What light does the extract throw on the character of Vera?
Ans: The story, the open window’ is built around Vera. She is young. She is fifteen. She is cool, confident and composed. She is a fascinating entertainer. She treats Framton Nuttel well. She is a picture of confidence. She handles a nervous person like Framton quite amicably. She has a flair for inventing plausible stories. She sees the open window and quickly decides to tell him a story.
5. What do you know about Mrs. Sappleton as outlined in the extract?
Ans: Mrs. Sappleton is Vera’s aunt. She is known to Nuttel’s sister. At the suggestion of his sister, he had called on Mrs. Sappleton is in the married state or the widowed state. According to Vera’s description, Mrs. Sappleton never sees the dark side of life. She is exceedingly optimistic. She is convinced that her husband and two brothers will come back one day. They had gone for shooting through the window three years ago and never came back. But still, she has not given up hope. She has not lost her heart.