The Interlopers

“The Interlopers” is one of the best-known short stories by British author Hector Hugh Munro (H. H. Munro), who wrote under the pseudonym Saki. As is typical of the author’s style, the story uses nature to question the morals and manners of humanity, especially of the more elite classes. Saki is also known for his twist endings, of which this story is a prime example. Other works by Saki include “The Open Window” and “The Story-Teller”

This guide refers to the edition of the story in EMC Publishing’s Mirrors & Windows anthology, Level IV, published in 2009.

At the start of the story, Ulrich von Gradwitz is patrolling a forest in the Carpathian Mountains on a stormy winter night. He is not hunting game but rather his enemy, Georg Znaeym. The two men are enemies because of a long-standing family feud. Two generations ago, their families went to court over who owned that particular strip of land. While the court ruled in favor of the von Gradwitz family, the Znaeym family still disputes their claim. Decades of arguing and poaching have led to this confrontation between Ulrich and Georg, who are the current heads of their respective families and bitter rivals since childhood.

Ulrich sees that the roebucks (small European deer), which normally shelter during storms, are on the run, as are other animals that normally sleep at night. He assumes this disturbance is a sign that Georg is nearby, and shortly afterward he encounters the man around the side of a large beech tree. The two men stare at each, both aware that this is the long-sought moment to destroy his enemy. However, they are both also aware that it would be dishonorable to shoot one’s neighbor “in cold blood and without word spoken” (17). Before either man can speak or make a move, however, the narrator says that “nature’s own violence overwhelmed them both” (17). A large branch of the tree crashes down upon them.

Ulrich, whose legs and one arm are pinned, struggles before realizing the branch is too heavy to move. Blood runs into his eyes from cuts on his head, but he sees that Georg is similarly trapped and temporarily blinded. When Georg mocks Ulrich for being trapped in his own forest, Ulrich makes a threat that a “poacher” caught on someone’s land would be in a worse position than they are in now. Both men threaten each other with having the branch rolled on top of the other man when their foresters find them, as there would be no outside witnesses to report that their enemy had not merely died when the branch fell on them. It is, they agree, a chance to be rid of the other without any “interlopers” intervening. Both men understand—without saying so—that it is a matter of chance whose men arrive first.

After resigning themselves to waiting, Ulrich manages to unscrew his wine flask and drink, which revives him. He looks at his enemy, the narrator says, “with something like a throb of pity” (19), seeing that he is in the same painful condition. He offers him a drink. Georg refuses since he can’t see well enough to take the flask and on the grounds that he does not drink with his enemies.

As the minutes pass, an idea forms in Ulrich’s mind. He declares that if his men arrive first, he will have them free Georg as a sign of friendship. He states that “there are better things in life than getting the better of a boundary dispute” (20). This idea takes hold in Georg’s mind, too, and he talks about how amazed all the area residents would be to see the new friendship between the old enemies. He accepts Ulrich’s offer of friendship and pledges to host Ulrich for holidays and never again to hunt upon his land without invitation.

The two men quietly contemplate the bright future that their vows of peace will bring. They each hope that their men are the first to arrive on the scene, but this time it is not so that they may kill the other but so they can be the first to, the narrator says, “show honorable attention to the enemy that had become a friend” (20).

When the wind dies, they decide to shout for help together to hasten their rescue. Ulrich sees figures coming through the wood toward them. Georg realizes they are not his men when Ulrich states that there are nine or 10, as he did not have that many people with him. As the figures draw nearer, Ulrich also realizes they are not his men either, for they are, in fact, wolves.