“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.

“It is quite warm for the time of the year,” said Framton; “but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?”

“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 someday, 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 – ”

She broke off with a little shudder. It was a relief to Framton when the aunt bustled into the room with a whirl of apologies for being late in making her appearance.

“I hope Vera has been amusing you?” she said.

“She has been very interesting,” said Framton.

“I hope you don’t mind the open window,” said Mrs. Sappleton briskly; “my husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting, and they always come in this way. They’ve been out for snipe in the marshes today, so they’ll make a fine mess over my poor carpets. So like you menfolk, isn’t it?”

She rattled on cheerfully about the shooting and the scarcity of birds, and the prospects for duck in the winter. To Framton it was all purely horrible. He made a desperate but only partially successful effort to turn the talk on to a less ghastly topic, he was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a fragment of her attention, and her eyes were constantly straying past him to the open window and the lawn beyond. It was certainly an unfortunate coincidence that he should have paid his visit on this tragic anniversary.

“The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise,” announced Framton, who laboured under the tolerably widespread delusion that total strangers and chance acquaintances are hungry for the least detail of one’s ailments and infirmities, their cause and cure. “On the matter of diet they are not so much in agreement,” he continued.

“No?” said Mrs. Sappleton, in a voice which only replaced a yawn at the last moment. Then she suddenly brightened into alert attention – but not to what Framton was saying.

“Here they are at last!” she cried. “Just in time for tea, and don’t they look as if they were muddy up to the eyes!”

Framton shivered slightly and turned towards the niece with a look intended to convey sympathetic comprehension. The child was staring out through the open window with a dazed horror in her eyes. In a chill shock of nameless fear Framton swung round in his seat and looked in the same direction.

In the deepening twilight three figures were walking across the lawn towards the window, they all carried guns under their arms, and one of them was additionally burdened with a white coat hung over his shoulders. A tired brown spaniel kept close at their heels. Noiselessly they neared the house, and then a hoarse young voice chanted out of the dusk: “I said, Bertie, why do you bound?”

Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel drive, and the front gate were dimly noted stages in his headlong retreat. A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid imminent collision.

“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.

“It is quite warm for the time of the year,” said Framton; “but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?”

“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 someday, 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 – ”

She broke off with a little shudder. It was a relief to Framton when the aunt bustled into the room with a whirl of apologies for being late in making her appearance.

“I hope Vera has been amusing you?” she said.

“She has been very interesting,” said Framton.

“I hope you don’t mind the open window,” said Mrs. Sappleton briskly; “my husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting, and they always come in this way. They’ve been out for snipe in the marshes today, so they’ll make a fine mess over my poor carpets. So like you menfolk, isn’t it?”

“Here we are, my dear,” said the bearer of the white mackintosh, coming in through the window, “fairly muddy, but most of it’s dry. Who was that who bolted out as we came up?”

“A most extraordinary man, a Mr. Nuttel,” said Mrs. Sappleton; “could only talk about his illnesses, and dashed off without a word of goodby or apology when you arrived. One would think he had seen a ghost.”

“I expect it was the spaniel,” said the niece calmly; “he told me he had a horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just above him. Enough to make anyone lose their nerve.”

Romance at short notice was her speciality.

The Open Window by Saki: Characters

Framton Nuttel’s sister 

Framton Nuttel’s sister once spent time in the same town to which Framton has come for relaxation. She has given him a number of letters of introduction with which he is to make himself known to a number of people in the town. Mrs. Sappleton is the recipient of such a letter, and it is this that brings Nuttel to her home.

Mr. Framton Nuttel 

Mr. Framton Nuttel suffers from an undisclosed nervous ailment and comes to the country in the hope that its atmosphere will be conducive to a cure. He brings a letter of introduction to Mrs. Sappleton in order to make her acquaintance for his stay in her village. While he waits for Mrs. Sappleton to appear, her niece keeps him company and tells him a story about why a window in the room has been left open. He believes her story, that the window remains open in hopes that Mrs. Sappleton’s husband and brother, who the niece says are long dead, will one day return. Later, when Nuttel looks out the window and sees figures approaching who match the descriptions of the long-dead hunters in the niece’s story, he suffers a mental breakdown and flees the house.

Ronnie 

Ronnie is Mrs. Sappleton’s younger brother, who, with Mr. Sappleton, has been away on a hunting expedition.

Mr. Sappleton 

Mr. Sappleton is Mrs. Sappleton’s husband. He has been away during most of the story on a hunting expedition with Mrs. Sappleton’s younger brother, Ronnie.

Mrs. Sappleton 

Readers are first led to believe that Mrs. Sappleton is a widow, keeping vigil for her departed husband and brother, who have disappeared during a hunting trip. She lives with her young niece.

Vera 

Vera is the niece of Mrs. Sappleton, the woman to whom Framton Nuttel plans to give a letter of introduction. She is a teller of tales, a young woman whose forte is “romance at short notice.” She is an exquisite and intuitive actress, equally skilled at deceit and its concealment. While Nuttel waits with her for Mrs. Sappleton to appear, Vera relates an elaborate story surrounding a window in the room that has been left open. It is this story, of the death of some relatives who went hunting long ago, that eventually causes Framton Nuttel’s breakdown. She tells Nuttel that the window is left open as a sign of her aunt’s hope that the dead hunters will one day come home and provides a detailed description of the men, their behavior and attire. After Nuttel flees upon seeing these men return, just as Vera has described them, Vera invents a story explaining his departure as well. Saki refers to Vera as “self-possessed,” which literally means that she has self-control and poise. In the context of this story, it is clear that this is the quality that allows her to lie so well—Vera’s self-possession allows her to maintain a cool head and calm believability while relating the most outlandish of tales.

QUESTIONS

Question 1:

Why had Framton Nuttel come to the “rural retreat”?

Answer:

Mr. Framton Nuttel was suffering from a nerve disorder and was worried about his health condition. His doctor recommended him to take a break from his city life. Hence, he had come to the “rural retreat” as a measure to undergo treatment for his nerve problem in the peaceful environment of the countryside.

Question 2:

Why had his sister given him letters of introduction to people living there?

Answer:

Nuttel did not know people in the countryside. Hence, his sister gave him letters of introduction to people living there so that he would not feel lonely and isolated while he visited the countryside for his nerve ailment treatment. She was aware that he would speak less and his nerve disorder would get worse from moping. One of those letters of introduction was of Mrs. Sappleton.

Question 3:

What had happened in the Sappleton family as narrated by the niece?

Answer:

The niece told Mr. Nuttel that around three years ago, Mrs. Sappleton’s husband and her two young brothers went off for their day’s shooting. They never returned. While they were crossing the moor to their favorite shooting ground, all three of them were engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog. It was a dreadful wet summer and even the places that were once safe in other years suddenly gave way without any warning. However, their bodies were never recovered.

Question 4:

What did Mrs. Sappleton say about the open window?

Answer:

When Mrs. Sappleton met Mr. Nuttel, she said that her husband and her two young brothers would enter the house through the open window. Hence, she kept it open till it was dark and hoped that Mr. Nuttel had no problem in keeping the window open.

Question 5:

The horror on the girl’s face made Framton swing around in his seat. What did he see?

Answer:

When Framton turned around his seat after seeing the horror on the girl’s face, he noticed a silhouette of three men with guns and a dog in the midst of evening light. Then there was a hoarse young voice that called out to the dog. Seeing this, Nuttel agreed to the description given by Vera and realized it was indeed right.

Question 6:

Why did Framton rush out wildly?

Answer:

Vera told Mr. Nuttel that her aunt, Mrs. Sappleton’s husband, and her two young brothers were missing for three years. When Framton saw a silhouette of three men with guns and a dog in the midst of evening light, he thought these were their ghosts and he rushed out wildly in fear.

Question 7:

What was the girl’s explanation for his lightning exit?

Answer:

The girl explained that Framton made a lighting exit because of the spaniel dog. She mentioned that Nuttel told her that he had a horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just above him. Hence, that time when he heard the spaniel bark outside, he left the place at lightning speed.

Question 8:

Is this a mystery story? Give a reason for your answer.

Answer:

While explaining the mystery of the big open French window, Mrs. Sappleton’s niece created an imaginative story with a mysterious backdrop. Later, when the three men with guns arrive with a dog, it made Framton believe as though he had seen ghosts and he rushed out of the house wildly in fear. Hence, we can say that the story “The Open Window” contains various elements of a mystery.

Question 10:

You are familiar with the ‘irony’ of the situation in a story. (Remember the cop and the Anthem in Class VII Supplementary Reader!) Which situations in ‘The Open Window’ are good examples of the use of irony?

Answer:

Irony refers to a situation in which something which was supposed to have a particular result, on the contrary, it has an opposite or different result. In the story, ‘The Open Window’, Mr. Framton Nuttel goes to visit the countryside with the hope to find a cure for his nerve ailment. But when Mrs. Sappleton’s niece plays a prank on him, he could not deal with fear and makes a lightning exit from that place. He mistakes Mrs. Sappleton’s husband and her two young brothers for ghost and leaves the house without bidding goodbye to her.

AN OPEN WINDOW 

SHORT CLIPS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuX4mp70-wA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU9NmM-1sAQ