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This short story is called "The Story-Teller", written by Saki. In this story, an aunt and her nieces (2) and nephew take a train to Templecombe (which is an hour away). Her nieces and nephew were restless and kept pestering their aunt with question after question. The aunt decides to tell them a story but fails to entertain the children. The bachelor sitting next to the aunt offers to tell he nieces and nephew an interesting story, proving that storytelling isn't as hard as she believes it to be. The bachelor tells the children a story about a perfect little girl (Bertha) who always behaved and did the right things; she even wore several medals such as a medal for obedience, punctuality, and good behavior! To honor her goodness, the prince of the country allowed her to walk in his park once a week (which no children were ever allowed in). The park was beautiful and filled with many colorful animals. Suddenly a wolf comes and chases Bertha. She then hides in a big bush, hoping that the wolf wouldn’t find her. As the wolf skeptically tries to sniff out Bertha from the bush, she trembles in fear which causes her medals of goodness to clink against one another. Once the wolf hears the sounds of the medals, he dashed into the bush, dragged Bertha out, and devoured her. Although the story ended badly, the aunt’s nieces and nephew enjoyed the story and its unique twist. The aunt disapproves of the story, as it gives a bad moral, but the bachelor was able to give them a proper story and keep them quiet (unlike the aunt). My favorite part of the story was when Bertha got eaten by the wolf. Even though it’s messed up, it shows that not all stories have a happy ending, no matter how morally good the character is. Others should read this short story because it implies that each story has its own unique twist, whether it’s a funny, happy story or a dark and terrifying one.
Reviewed by: Brianna P.
