The Toys of Peace and other papers, by Saki

Richard Crowest

‘We are merely trammelled by the ordinary decent conventions of civilised society.’

  • 10 minutes 59 seconds
    For the Duration of the War
    “It was there, among the gooseberry bushes and beneath the medlar trees, that the temptation to the perpetration of a great literary fraud came to him.”
    20 September 2018, 4:45 pm
  • 8 minutes 40 seconds
    The Cupboard of the Yesterdays
    “War is a cruelly destructive thing.”
    31 January 2018, 8:00 pm
  • 7 minutes 29 seconds
    The Purple of the Balkan Kings
    “Luitpold Wolkenstein drank his coffee, but the flavour had somehow gone out of it.”
    31 December 2017, 1:45 pm
  • 6 minutes 19 seconds
    The Image of the Lost Soul
    “There floated up to him, through the noise and bustle of the Cathedral world, a faint heart-aching message from the prisoner in the wicker cage far below.”
    30 November 2017, 6:50 pm
  • 13 minutes 50 seconds
    Hyacinth
    “‘Children with Hyacinth’s temperament don’t know better as they grow older; they merely know more.’”
    22 October 2017, 5:20 pm
  • 10 minutes 19 seconds
    The Oversight
    “‘Intensive bear-gardening was Sir Richard’s description of the whole affair, and I don’t think he exaggerated.’”
    11 August 2017, 5:15 pm
  • 12 minutes 54 seconds
    The Sheep
    “‘I’m afraid I lost touch with the audience rather over that remark,’ said the Sheep afterwards.”
    31 May 2017, 1:35 pm
  • 9 minutes 33 seconds
    The Occasional Garden
    “‘It’s too large to be ignored altogether and treated as a yard, and it’s too small to keep giraffes in.’”
    1 May 2017, 12:15 pm
  • 12 minutes 48 seconds
    The Seven Cream Jugs
    “This particular scion was known by the ignominious and expressive label of Wilfrid the Snatcher.”
    30 March 2017, 10:05 pm
  • 11 minutes 36 seconds
    Shock Tactics
    “‘Don’t forget the jewels. They are a detail, but details interest me.’”
    31 January 2017, 9:45 pm
  • 10 minutes 32 seconds
    Morlvera
    “They were the sort of toys that a tired shop-assistant displays and explains at Christmas time to exclamatory parents and bored, silent children.”
    24 December 2016, 11:30 pm
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