Saki, "Tobermory" (Myanmar)

It’s December 13. Welcome back to the 2021 Short Story Advent Calendar—a literary globetrotting adventure featuring 25 stories from 25 different countries.

Our editor, Alberto Manguel, is providing daily commentary on each of the stories he selected for this year’s calendar.

Here he is on Saki’s story, “Tobermory”:

Saint Francis believed that animals could speak and he addressed his sermons not only to his fellow human beings but also his brothers the birds and his sisters the fishes. H. H. Munro (who made his name writing brilliant ironic stories under the name “Saki”) lends his Mr. Cornelius Appin a similar belief, or at least the belief that animals are capable of learning human language. Set among the English upper class that Saki, born in the then-British colony of Burma (now Myanmar), relentlessly mocked, the story of Tobermory the Speaking Cat is peppered with aphorisms worthy of Oscar Wilde and foreshadows the absurd humour of Monty Python.

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What did you think of today's story? Use the hashtag #ssac2021 on Twitter and Instagram to check in with your fellow advent calendarians. And check back tomorrow for commentary on the next story!