Saki was the pseudonym of short story writer Hector Hugh Munro. He adopted the name in 1900, and it's believed to have been taken from a character from the works of the Persian poet, Omar Khayyam. Most famous for his short stories, Saki also wrote novels and many articles of journalism. He remains an important figure in the tradition of modern English writers. Besides his short stories, he wrote a full-length play, The Watched Pot, in collaboration with Charles Maude; two one-act plays; a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire, the only book published under his own name; a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington; the episodic The Westminster Alice, a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland, and When William Came, subtitled A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns, a fantasy about a future German invasion and occupation of Britain. In Chaplet, a conflict arises spontaneously when a chef's new dish is presented to the diners just as the restaurant orchestra strikes up the popular tune of the moment, the title song. The rage of the chef when the conductor insists on immediately repeating the melody leads him to drown the latter in a soup tureen. Saki satirises at the same time the tendency for restaurant orchestras to play the same song ad nauseum and that of the diners to appreciate it ad infinitum, the latter encouraging the former and fraying the nerves of the staff… You can listen online to free English audiobook “Chaplet” by Saki on our website. Enjoy it!
