Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-07
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the Bookloper

Z. ". Lucas characterized the perfect
hostess as one who placed in the guest
chamber volume Of O. Henry's stories
or one of Sakis. Saki is the nom de
plume of Hector Hugo Munro, who chose
1t from the name of the cupbearer in
the "Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyam. In
the volume THE Short Stories of Saki, -
a compilation of stories from Munro's
various volumes, there is a short biog-
raphy by his sister, Ethel M. Munro.
The three Munro children were left to
the care of a grandmother and two
aunts, in a villa near Barnstaple, North
Devon, while their father, widower,
was In India, as a major in the Bengal
Staff Corps and inspector general Of
the Burma police. The characters Of
the two aunts and their entire lack of
sympathy with children account for the
various aunts pictured in the stories of
Saki. Childhood, though it dragged,
finally passed for the Munro children
and Hector Munro went away to school,
went abroad with his father, who had
then retired, and, in 1893, went to q
post his father had secured for him in
the military police In Burma. After
seven attacks of fever in IS months, he
was obliged to return to England. He
was soon earning his living by writing
political SatireS and stories. In 1900 was
published his only serious book, THE
Rise of the Russian Empire" In 1902
he went to the Balkans as correspondent
for the Morning Post and in 1904, 1905
and 1905 was in Poland, Russia and
Paris for the same paper. After that he
lived chiefly in London, writing for va
rious periodicals and publishing num-
Der of volumes of stories and sketches,
among them THE Unbearable Bassing-
ton," when william Came" The
Westminster Alice" Reginald" "Regi-
nald in Russia "The Chronicles of
Clovis Beasts and Super Beasts .
The Toys of Peace" and 1.-The Square
Egg" In 1915 Hector Munro went to
France and shortly wrote to his sister
I'VE are holding a rather hot part OF
the line" In November, 1915, he was
killed IN the trenches.
X X x
The stories Of Saki are very brief,
compact, and often lacking In defined
plot. Their charm is in their sophisti-
Gated humor, which often finds express
sion in epigram. Some of the epigrams
Of Saki will best give an idea of his
style. People may say what they like
about the decay of Christianity: the re-
ligious system that produced green
chartreuse can never really die" There
ought to be technical education classes
on the science of present-giving." ITO
be clever in the afternoon argues that
one is dining nowhere in the evening. .
II hate posterity-it's so fond of having
the last word" ITO die before being
painted by Sargent is to go to heaven
prematurely." ITO have reached 80
is 10 I'M fotI d., o.
nation must have its victims. You can't
expect the fatted calf to share the en-
thusiasm of the angels over the prodi-
gals return" There always have been
men who have gone about despairing of
the future, and when the future ar
rives 1t says nice, superior things about
their having acted according to their
lights. 1t Is dreadful to think that other
peoples grandchildren may one day rise
up and call one amiable. There are mo-
mentS when one sympathizes with
Herod." Hors d'oeuvreS have always
a pathetic interest for me- said Regi-
maid; they remind me of ones childhood
that one goes through, wondering what
the next course is going to be like-and
during the rest of the menu one wishes
enc had eaten more of the hors d'oeu-
vres." "I know If were served up at
cannibal feast I should be dreadfully
annoyed If any one found fault with me
for not being tender enough, or having
been kept too long" Scandal is merely
the compassionate allowance which the
gay make to the humdrum. Think how
many blameless lives are frightened by
the blazing indiscretions of other peo-
ple!" Trouble is not one of those fan
cles you can take up and drop at any
moment; it's like grouse-moor or the
opium habit--once you start it you've
got to keep it up." THE young have as
pirations that never come to pass, the
old have "reminiscences of what never
happened. It's only the middle-aged
who are really conscious of their limita-
tons" There was once (said Regi-
nald) q woman who told the truth. Not
all at once, of course, but the habit
grew upon her gradually, like 1chen on
an apparently healthy tree. She had
no children-otherwise it might have
been different. II should like, for in
stance, really prohibitive. duty put
upon the partner who declares on a
weak red suit and hopes for the best"
X
"Any one who cares for imaginative
writing would be missing the elephant
IN the circus If he passed by the Rus
sian novels of the last century" says
lines of his reading course Russian
Literature" just published by the
American Library Association. Mr..
Yarmolinsky selects Gogol, Goncharov,
Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as
those whose works mark the high point
of Russian literature, although he also
discusses Chekhov, whose plays are
frequently produced in America, as
we'll as many other writer's whose f1c-
ton expresses the peculiar genius of
Russia. BY picturing the old regime
too wildly, these writer's helped, often
without intention, to bring about its
downfall. The characters they have
created, however, are important to
Americans not as serfs or mobiles, but as
human beings, portrayed with an in
sight which penetrateS every mood and
passion. Soviet authors, with the ex-
ception of Cork, who also wrote before
the revolution, are omitted because Mr..
Yarmolinsky believes that it is too soon
to estimate them. He feels. that, while
their work shows much vitality and
promise" it has also the doubtful
quality of youth" study outline ac-
companying this course is divided into
IL lessons suitable for use by individ-
uals or groups. Both the booklet,
which is one of the Reading with
Purpose" series, and the titles suggested
for further reading, may be obtained at
public libraries.
X X II
At the request of his children, John
Bright wrote a simple account of his
interview with Queen Victoria, when he
became president of the Board of Trade,
under Mr.. Gladstone. In his '"Diaries"
John Bright tells that the Queen kindly
dispensed with those portions of the
ceremony which he, as a Quaker, felt
difficulties about-that is, being Sworn
in" and kneeling to kiss her hand. John
Bright always got on extremely we'll
with Queen Victoria, who probably liked
his sturdy independence, his love of
family and home, and his intense pa
triotism.
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