"''Sredni Vashtar''" is a
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
by
Saki
Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultur ...
(Hector Hugh Munro), written between 1900 and 1911 and first published in his 1912 short story collection ''The Chronicles of Clovis''. It has been adapted for opera, film, radio and television.
Plot
Conradin, a sickly 10-year-old boy, lives in the care of his despised, overbearing and controlling cousin Mrs De Ropp. He relies on his vivid imagination not only to keep him strong enough to survive, but also to serve as his escape from the real world. Rebelling against Mrs De Ropp's oppressive care, Conradin secretly keeps two animals in an unused garden shed: a hen, which he adores, and a
polecat
Polecat is a common name for several mustelid species in the order Carnivora and subfamilies Ictonychinae and Mustelinae. Polecats do not form a single taxonomic rank (i.e. clade). The name is applied to several species with broad similarities ...
-
ferret
The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, Domestication, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their Hybrid (biol ...
, which he fears and keeps locked in a hutch. Gradually, Conradin begins to venerate the ferret as a god, naming it Sredni Vashtar. He worships it weekly, bringing offerings of flowers and berries, and stolen nutmeg for special occasions.
Mrs De Ropp grows concerned over Conradin's visits to the shed. She discovers the hen, and sells it. She announces the sale to Conradin, expecting a protest, but to her surprise the boy does not respond. But in secret, he changes his worshipping rituals and asks of his god an unnamed boon: "Do one thing for me, Sredni Vashtar".
When Conradin's visits to the shed do not cease, Mrs De Ropp investigates further, and discovers the locked hutch. Suspecting
guinea pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...
s, she ransacks his room, finds the key, and goes down to the shed, forbidding Conradin to leave the house. While she is gone, Conradin slowly begins to accept defeat, knowing that his god was not real and that his cousin will come out of the shed in triumph. But when Mrs De Ropp fails to reappear after some time, Conradin begins to chant a song of victory. Eventually he sees the ferret emerge from the shed, with dark wet stains around its jaws and throat. It passes out into the garden.
A sour-faced maid announces tea and asks for Mrs De Ropp. Conradin tells her that she has gone to the shed, and makes himself a piece of buttered toast. As he enjoys his toast, there are screams from the maid, calls for help from the kitchen staff, and later the sound of something heavy being carried into the house. As voices discuss fervently who should break the news to the boy, Conradin calmly makes himself another piece of toast.
Adaptations
On September 15, 1941, an adaptation of "Sredni Vashtar" began the premiere episode of the
CBS Radio
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
series ''
The Orson Welles Show
''The Orson Welles Show'' was an unsold television talk show pilot directed by Orson Welles. It has never been broadcast or released in its entirety. Filming began in September 1978 and the project was completed around February 1979. It ran 74 min ...
''.
Blanche Yurka
Blanche Yurka (born Blanch Jurka, June 19, 1887 – June 6, 1974) was an American stage and film actress and director. She was an opera singer with minor roles at the Metropolitan Opera and later became a stage actress, making her Broadway debu ...
portrayed Mrs. De Ropp, with Conrad Binyon as Conradin and
Brenda Forbes
Brenda Forbes (14 January 1909 – 11 September 1996) was a British-born American actress of stage and screen.
Personal life
Born as Dorothy Brenda Taylor in Wandsworth, London, the daughter of Ernest John and Ethel Louise Taylor. Her m ...
as Matilda.
"Sredni Vashtar" has been adapted as a
chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas such as Pergoles ...
three times. In 1988 the composer
Robert Steadman
Robert Steadman (born 1 April 1965) is a British composer
of classical music who mostly works in a post-minimalist style but also writes lighter music, including musicals, and compositions for educational purposes. He also teaches, writes arti ...
and the author
Richard Adams wrote the 75-minute ''Sredni Vashtar''. In 1996 Cuban-born composer
Jorge Martin
Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker".
The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...
and librettist Andrew Joffe with the American Chamber Orchestra produced ''Beast and Superbeast'', a group of four chamber operas based on stories by Saki, including "Sredni Vashtar". Martin also composed a ''Piano Fantasy on Sredni Vashtar'' In 2010 the story was again adapted by Nicholas Pavkovic and Jim Coughenour and performed at the
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California. As of 2021, it had 480 students.
History
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgh ...
.
This story was adapted for American television and aired on a ghost anthology series called ''
Great Ghost Tales
''Great Ghost Tales'' is an American horror television series that aired Live from July 6 until September 21, 1961. The program was the summer replacement for ''The Ford Show''.
Premise
An anthology of scary stories hosted by Frank Gallop.
Cast ...
'' on August 24, 1961. "Sredni Vashtar" was the basis of the 1979 horror film ''The Orphan'', also known as ''Friday the 13th: The Orphan'', by the director John Ballard. In 1980 it was adapted for ''
Spine Chillers
''Spine Chillers'' was the name of two separate supernatural television series, broadcast on the BBC.
1980s series
''Spine Chillers'' was a 1980 British children's supernatural television series produced by the Jackanory team and broadcast on BBC ...
''. In 1981, the short film ''
Sredni Vashtar
"''Sredni Vashtar''" is a short story by Saki (Hector Hugh Munro), written between 1900 and 1911 and first published in his 1912 short story collection ''The Chronicles of Clovis''. It has been adapted for opera, film, radio and television.
P ...
'' by British director
Andrew Birkin
Andrew Timothy Birkin (born 9 December 1945) is an English screenwriter and director. He was born the only son of Lieutenant-Commander David Birkin and his wife, actress Judy Campbell. One of his sisters is the actress and singer Jane Birkin.
W ...
won a
BAFTA award and was nominated for an
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
. In 2003 Angela M. Murray produced a version of the story in the ''Tartan Shorts'' series for the BBC, set in Scotland and including
shadow puppet
Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-ou ...
ry. "Sredni Vashtar" was further adapted with two other Saki stories for a 2007 broadcast on BBC4 titled ''Who Killed Mrs De Ropp?''
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...
read the story as part of the 1978 BBC series ''
Late Night Story''.
The story has inspired film directors of the Czech Republic three times: Vaclav Bedric's cartoon film of 1980, Martin Faltyn's 1981 graduation film from the
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, meaning
''All-Russian State Institute of Cinemat ...
, and Pavel Marek's 1995 graduation film from the
FAMU. It has even been the inspiration for a Czech rock band, who named themselves after the story.
References
External links
*
*
{{Gutenberg, no=3688, name=Chronicles of Clovis ''by Saki'
Horror short stories
Works by Saki
1912 short stories
Short stories adapted into films
Works adapted into operas