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Gabriel-Ernest
inspiration for later British writers, including P.G. Wodehouse.
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION His work is also comparable to other masters of the satirical
short story from different contexts, such as the American
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF SAKI writer Dorothy Parker.
The son of a British colonial Inspector General, Hector Hugh
Munro, better known by his pen name Saki (some of his writing KEY FACTS
was also published under the name H. H. Munro), was born in
British-controlled Burma in 1870. Following in his father’s • Full Title: Gabriel-Ernest
footsteps, Saki also joined the colonial police in Burma, but was • When Written: London
forced to return to England permanently due to illness. After • Where Written: 1908–1909
working as a foreign correspondent for the Morning Post in
• When Published: 1909
Eastern Europe, Saki found success as a writer of short stories,
publishing several collections including Reginald in Russia, The • Literary Period: Edwardian Era
Chronicles of Clovis, and Beasts and Super-Beasts, as well as • Genre: Short Story, Comic Horror, Social Satire
multiple novels. Saki is believed to have been gay, having never • Setting: Rural England
married, but was forced to keep that part of himself hidden due • Climax: Van Cheele realizes that Gabriel-Ernest is a
to the criminalization and ostracization of homosexuality in werewolf and attempts to reach him before sunset.
Edwardian England. Saki enlisted to fight in World War I, and
• Antagonist: Gabriel-Ernest
was killed in France in 1916.
• Point of View: Third Person

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
EXTRA CREDIT
The Edwardian era, which lasted from Queen Victoria’s death
Acrimonious Aunts. On a visit to England in 1872, Saki’s
in 1901 to the beginning of World War I in 1914, was a time of
mother, Mary, was charged by a cow. She subsequently
great prosperity and technological advancement in British
miscarried, dying of complications, leading Saki’s father to send
society. While the British Empire was at its height and few
his children back to England to be raised by their strict,
could imagine the coming destruction of the world wars and
tyrannical aunts. Many of Saki’s characters were modeled after
how it would affect Britain’s place in the world, writers of the
these aunts, who are typically portrayed sarcastically and
Edwardian era began to take a more skeptical look at their
unfavorably.
society and its beliefs. Despite the general turn toward
criticizing the ideals of the previous Victorian era, Edwardian
literature was very stylistically diverse. Through exposing, Russian Research. Saki also published a serious work of
mocking, or criticizing social structures of bias, discrimination, history, The Rise of the Russian Empire, in 1900. Highly
and oppression, writers like Saki encouraged their society to interested in and knowledgeable about Eastern Europe, his
confront its darker side, as well as tackling the growing sense of work for the Morning Post took him to the Balkans and Saint
anxiety many felt because of the rapid historical changes they Petersburg, where he personally witnessed the failed 1905
were experiencing. Russian Revolution, before returning to London by way of
Paris.
RELATED LITERARY WORKS
Saki was greatly influenced by leading late-Victorian and PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY
Edwardian writers before him, Oscar Wilde in particular.
Wilde’s satires, such as The Importance of Being Earnest and A “Gabriel-Ernest” is set in the English countryside, in and around
Trivial Comedy for Serious People, shine a similarly sarcastic light the woods belonging to local landowner and justice of the
on the hypocritical power structures of Edwardian society. peace Van Cheele. Van Cheele’s friend Cunningham’s visit is
Likewise, Wilde’s gothic novel The Picture of Dorian Grey shares concluding, and on the way to the train station he tells Van
Saki’s concern for depicting social criticism through fantasy. Cheele that there is a “wild beast” in his woods. Van Cheele is
Other related authors of the time include Lewis Carroll and concerned with the state of his woods, but only a superficial
Rudyard Kipling, who also used the short story form to explore level, and dismisses Cunningham’s cryptic statement without
both society and the supernatural. Saki himself was an much thought. On his walk through the woods that afternoon,
however, he discovers a naked 16-year-old boy who claims to

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be living there, hunting for “flesh” at night, including “child- Gabriel-Ernest (The Bo Boy)
y) – Gabriel-Ernest is a mysterious, wild
flesh.” The boy disappears into the woods, leaving Van Cheele boy living in Van Cheele’s woods, who may or may not be a
disturbed. werewolf. Gabriel-Ernest tells Van Cheele that he hunts for
Van Cheele remembers that local game, livestock, and even the “flesh” at night, including game and livestock, as well as “child-
miller’s child recently went missing, but dismisses any flesh.” Bold and arrogant, he sneaks into Van Cheele’s house the
connection to what he hopes was only the boy’s twisted joke. next morning and catches him off guard. Flustered and forced
He is also concerned for his own reputation, which could be to come up with a story on the spot, Van Cheele tells his aunt
damaged if it becomes known that there is a strange boy in his that the boy has lost his memory, whereupon she insists on
woods. Returning home for dinner with his aunt, Van Cheele is taking him in and gives him his name, “Gabriel-Ernest.” The
unusually quiet. The next morning, he resolves to go visit evidence for Gabriel-Ernest’s lycanthropy is vague, though
Cunningham and find out what he meant about a wild beast. Gabriel-Ernest’s cryptic comments do line up with
Before he can do so, however, the boy appears in his own home. Cunningham’s claim to have watched him transform. Also,
Caught off guard, Van Cheele tells his aunt that the boy has lost many animals and a child did go missing during the period in
his memory. She insists on taking care of him, naming him which Gabriel-Ernest claims to have been hunting. Ultimately,
Gabriel-Ernest, and setting him to work helping her teach her little is clear about Gabriel-Ernest himself, leading the other
Sunday school class. characters to project their hopes and fears onto this strange,
naked boy—or werewolf.
Van Cheele travels to see Cunningham, who tells him what he
saw: at sunset, a boy, presumably Gabriel-Ernest, was standing Cunningham – Cunningham is an artist and friend of Van
naked on the hillside. The moment the sun set, however, he was Cheele’s. After visiting Van Cheele he claims to have seen a
replaced by a wolf. Van Cheele hurries home as fast as he can. “wild beast” in the woods. Unlike the talkative Van Cheele,
When he arrives, he learns that his aunt sent Gabriel-Ernest to Cunningham is a man of relatively few words. As his choice of
take the Toop child home. Running after them, Van Cheele fails career would indicate, he is more given to understanding the
to get there before dark, hearing a scream as the sun sets. Only world and expressing himself visually. This, along with his
Gabriel-Ernest’s clothes are found, leading some, including Van mother’s death from “brain trouble,” leads to some hesitation
Cheele’s aunt, to believe that the child fell into the mill-race and on his part about telling Van Cheele his story, as Cunningham
Gabriel-Ernest jumped in to save it, drowning in the process. seems to almost not believe himself. Of course, it is possible
Miss Van Cheele puts up a memorial to Gabriel-Ernest in their that in telling Van Cheele about Gabriel-Ernest’s
church, but Van Cheele refuses to support the memorial or transformation into a wolf at sunset, Cunningham has been
believe this version of events. describing some kind of visual fantasy. The language he uses,
calling the naked boy a “wild faun of Pagan myth,” suggests an
attitude that is more artistic than analytic.
CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS Miss VVan
an Cheele – Miss Van Cheele is Van Cheele’s aunt, who
lives with him on their estate. A doting, oblivious older woman,
Van Cheele – Van Cheele, the protagonist of “Gabriel-Ernest,”
she is very fond of her nephew and encourages his superficial
is a landowner, parish councillor, and justice of the peace who
“naturalism.” Keeping herself occupied with teaching Sunday
lives with his aunt in a large Victorian home. A self-styled
school, Miss Van Cheele is very excited about the arrival of
naturalist, Van Cheele has a great but superficial love for
Gabriel-Ernest (whom she names), as she longs to see herself
nature. He keeps a stuffed bittern on display in his study and
as a charitable patron. This leads her to ignore his strange
takes frequent observational strolls through his woods, not so
behavior entirely, entrusting the Toop child to his care and
much to understand nature “as to provide topics for
eventually putting up a memorial to him in the local church.
conversation afterwards.” When his friend Cunningham warns
him of the “wild beast” in his woods, he is dismissive at first. As The TToop
oop Child – The Toop child is an unnamed, ungendered
the truth about Gabriel-Ernest becomes clear—that, at sunset, child who disappears along with Gabriel-Ernest. A member of
he turns into a werewolf—Van Cheele attempts to stop him Miss Van Cheele’s Sunday school class, the Toop child is sent
from eating any more children. His motivation, however, is self- home with Gabriel-Ernest close to sunset, and they are both
interested, as he is driven by fear both for his reputation and presumed drowned in the mill-race. If Gabriel-Ernest is indeed
personal safety; he is also driven by a powerful fear of the a werewolf, however, then it is more likely that he ate the Toop
unknown. While Van Cheele is unable to save the Toop child child. The Toop family, however, chooses to believe the first
from Gabriel-Ernest, he does stand up for what he believes to explanation, in no small part due to the fact that, as the story
be the truth, refusing to support his aunt’s Gabriel-Ernest sarcastically puts it, they have 11 other children and are
memorial, indicating that the events of the story have shaken “decently resigned to [their] bereavement.”
him out of his complacent and easy old life.

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amiss, telling himself that Gabriel-Ernest’s strange behavior
TERMS and references to “child-flesh” are nothing but a sick joke. Miss
Van Cheele, meanwhile, is so charmed by Gabriel-Ernest’s
Stuffed Bittern – A bittern is a long-necked species of bird, part
story of memory loss that she overlooks strange and sinister
of the heron family. Van Cheele keeps a stuffed, or
clues and embraces him as a personal project and Sunday
taxidermized, bittern as decoration in his study, showing his
school helper, even ensuring he is remembered as a hero after
interest in nature—or at least his desire to present himself as
he disappears. The lack of evidence other than Gabriel-Ernest’s
interested in nature.
discarded clothes leaves room for her to believe that he
Mill-Race – A mill-race is a fast-moving current of water, either drowned trying to save the Toop child, and not that he ate the
manmade or redirected, which is used to turn a mill wheel. child after transforming into a wolf (although it is not clear than
Because of this, it can be quite dangerous, leading some of the Van Cheele ever told her his theory). Overall, the Van Cheeles’
characters in “Gabriel-Ernest” to presume that the missing reactions to Gabriel-Ernest show how desperately people will
children fell into the mill-race and drowned, rather than that suppress and distort reality in order to uphold appearances
they were eaten by Gabriel-Ernest. that make sense to them.
Parish Councillor – The parish council is the lowest level of
local government in England. As a parish councillor, Van Cheele SOCIAL STATUS AND HYPOCRISY
holds a position of power in his community.
Closely intertwined with appearance and reality in
Justice of the PPeace
eace – A justice of the peace is a local magistrate “Gabriel-Ernest” are the themes of social status
who primarily deals in minor legal cases. Van Cheele’s position and hypocrisy. The efforts of the characters to
as a justice of the peace is prestigious but, the story implies, protect their status and use it in self-serving ways lead almost
does not come with many actual responsibilities. directly to the story’s tragic and arguably avoidable conclusion.
The narrator tells readers that Van Cheele is not only a local
landowner, but a “parish councillor and justice of the peace.”
THEMES Consequently, his primary concern upon encountering Gabriel-
Ernest in the woods is not so much safety as his own
In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color-
reputation. Van Cheele is able to quickly dismiss the idea that
coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes
Gabriel-Ernest actually ate the miller’s baby, but is less
occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have
confident that he could avoid the stigma that would come with
a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in
public knowledge of the “savage,” naked boy living in his woods.
black and white.
In particular, he fears that he will be held financially responsible
for the missing livestock Gabriel-Ernest may have eaten, and so
APPEARANCES VS. REALITY he avoids saying anything about his discovery until the boy
The relationship—and tension—between arrives at his house. Van Cheele’s aunt’s ill-fated decisions are
appearance and reality is a central theme in likewise motivated by an inverted but equally misguided
“Gabriel-Ernest,” influencing both events and how awareness of social status, as she sees herself as a kind of
characters react to them. The author suggests that not only can philanthropist helping Gabriel-Ernest. The narrator ironically
appearances be deceiving, but that people will go to great notes that “A naked homeless child appealed to Miss Van
lengths to ignore evidence that things are not what they seem. Cheele as warmly as a stray kitten or derelict puppy would have
Van Cheele, as the owner of his woods, is highly concerned with done.” Fixated on this romantic idea, she avoids any close
how they appear to others, and much less interested in the scrutiny of Gabriel-Ernest or his behavior, giving him access to
actual state of things. Rather than seeking to really understand the Toop child who subsequently disappears, and after his
what he sees on his regular walks, Van Cheele builds up a disappearance has him memorialized as a hero. Miss Van
repository of facts for later conversations, giving himself the Cheele’s feelings about Gabriel-Ernest have very little to do
appearance of being a “great naturalist.” His expectation that with observed reality, but rather her narcissistic desire to be
reality conform to its external appearance is an important part the charitable patron of the “unknown boy.” Both of the Van
of why Cunningham’s remark about the wild beast in his Cheeles’ efforts to maintain a certain kind of social
woods is so concerning to him. In fact, once Van Cheele position—either protecting one’s wealth or using it to appear
considers that the woods may not be as tranquil as they appear, morally superior—lead not only to hypocritical words and
he realizes he has already noticed—and until now actions, but also to the Toop child’s death. Though the Van
ignored—signs of disturbance: the lack of game, missing Cheeles’ out-of-touch concerns are humorous, the author uses
livestock, and the miller’s lost child. Van Cheele tries his best to them to make a more serious point, showing how
restore his sense of calm and convince himself that nothing is preoccupation with status at the expense of honesty—to

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oneself or to others—has harmful consequences for society him,” a foretaste of greater fears to come. When Gabriel-Ernest
more broadly. crosses the pool towards him moments later, he covers his
throat “Almost instinctively.” Van Cheele’s inability to
WILD VS. DOMESTIC understand the boy feels like a primal threat, even though he
can’t prove that the boy intends to harm him.
Set in the English countryside, “Gabriel-Ernest”
takes place in a natural environment which has Unable to solve the mystery of the boy’s presence and thereby
been heavily reshaped by human life. The mystery quell his fear, Van Cheele is abnormally quiet that evening at
of Gabriel-Ernest suggests that while humans may like to dinner. The next day, however, “his cheerfulness partially
believe they control nature, the line between wild and domestic return[s],” as he believes that consulting Cunningham about
is actually thin and unpredictable .In fact, the very idea of a what he saw in the woods will resolve his doubts.
werewolf suggests that the clear division between wild and Unfortunately for Van Cheele, hearing Cunningham’s story
domestic is a false binary, and challenges the idea that humans only fills him with terror, leading him to uncharacteristically
can neatly separate them. Until Gabriel-Ernest’s arrival, Van “[tear] off at top speed towards the station,” hoping to stop
Cheele sees the woods not as true wilderness, but a Gabriel-Ernest in time. Far from being something he can
domesticated realm under his control. His stuffed bittern is master, preferably easily, the reality of the mystery proves to be
emblematic of his relationship to nature. As the narrator something that Van Cheele may be powerless to even
sarcastically describes, Van Cheele’s interest in the natural life understand, let alone control. His changing emotional states
of the woods is aimed at providing fodder for conversation, not show how Van Cheele’s thinking is powered primarily by fear,
“assisting contemporary science,” and he is confident that there not curiosity. When the cause of the Toop child’s death is
is nothing in the woods besides game and perhaps “A stray fox ambiguous, it is unclear just how much Van Cheele’s fear of the
or two and some resident weasels. Nothing more formidable.” unknown was justified, but his arrogance and pretense to
While Van Cheele is disturbed by his encounter with Gabriel- understanding the world around him seem humbled by his
Ernest in the woods, his life is truly upended when Gabriel- encounter with Gabriel-Ernest—or have at least been depicted
Ernest shows up inside his house the next day. Ironically, and by Saki with pointed irony.
much to Van Cheele’s frustration, his aunt is utterly oblivious to
Gabriel-Ernest’s wild nature, giving him his prim and proper
new name and setting him to work in her Sunday school class, SYMBOLS
of all places. This comedic sequence of events goes to show Symbols appear in teal text throughout the Summary and
that the line between the wild and the domestic, so important Analysis sections of this LitChart.
to Van Cheele’s worldview, is much less clearly defined than he
thinks—and hopes—it is. What is clear, however, is that the
sense of normalcy—and security—that Van Cheele took for THE WEREWOLF
granted before Gabriel-Ernest’s appearance may never return. The werewolf, or “wild beast,” symbolizes Van
As the mystery in the woods shows, humans can never really Cheele’s—and society’s—limited ability to control
claim to have total knowledge—and with it, total control—over or understand nature, and the consequent fear of the unknown
nature. this provokes. When Cunningham first tells Van Cheele that
there is a wild beast in his woods, it is so far from the norm he is
FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN used to that he almost fails to register it. Van Cheele, in his
Fear of the unknown underlies many of Van arrogant and mistaken belief that his superficial knowledge of
Cheele’s observations and deductions in “Gabriel- the woods is comprehensive, rejects the idea that they could
Ernest,” leading him to conclusions that, while contain something more dangerous than a fox or weasel. While
probable, cannot actually be proven as fact. By showing how the still-undefined wild beast of Cunningham’s story and its
fear of the unknown can motivate—and distort—reasoning, the potential traces—the missing game, livestock, and miller’s
author demonstrates the limits of human knowledge and child—represent the threat that nature can pose, this
control of the world. Van Cheele is presented as a man of symbolism is further developed in the form of the werewolf.
knowledge, but a man who wants to possess knowledge, not a Gabriel-Ernest, as a werewolf—both a human boy and a wild
man who truly wants to learn. While the first appearance of beast—demonstrates that nature is not only mysterious and
Gabriel-Ernest is quite an “unexpected apparition,” Van Cheele even dangerous, but that one cannot draw a clear boundary
is most disturbed by the way that this naked boy’s presence between human life and the natural world. Even Gabriel-
undermines his mastery of the woods and their contents. As he Ernest’s human form is characterized as wild; his eyes have “an
talks to Gabriel-Ernest, Van Cheele “began to have an irritated almost tigerish gleam in them,” his “weird low laugh” is
feeling that he was grappling with a problem that was eluding “pleasantly like a chuckle and disagreeably like snarl,” and even

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“Clothed, cleaned, and groomed,” he loses “none of his Gabriel-Ernest Quotes
uncanniness in Van Cheele’s eyes.” While at the story’s
‘There is a wild beast in your woods,’ said the artist
conclusion it is left unclear whether or not Gabriel-Ernest
Cunningham, as he was being driven to the station. It was the
really was a werewolf, and whether he really ate the Toop child
only remark he had made during the drive, but as Van Cheele
and the miller’s child, Van Cheele’s faith in his knowledge of
had talked incessantly his companion’s silence had not been
both nature and people—and what separates the two—has
noticeable.
been deeply shaken.
‘A stray fox or two and some resident weasels. Nothing more
formidable,’ said Van Cheele. The artist said nothing.
LIGHT AND DARKNESS
‘What did you mean about a wild beast?’ said Van Cheele later,
The boundary between light and darkness, or day when they were on the platform.
and night, symbolizes the ambiguous, unknowable
‘Nothing. My imagination. Here is the train,’ said Cunningham.
line between the social and natural categories that make up Van
Cheele’s world. Van Cheele’s routines are precisely structured
around the day, as he enjoys his morning cigarette and his Related Characters: Van Cheele, Cunningham (speaker)
afternoon walk, among other pleasures. At night, a civilized
person is expected to be safely at home, leading to Van Cheele’s Related Themes:
great surprise when Gabriel-Ernest tells him that he not only
lives in the woods, but hunts in them at night, “on four feet.” Van Related Symbols:
Cheele assumes at first that Gabriel-Ernest is working with
“some clever poacher dog,” showing how he associates Page Number: 35
nighttime with illicit activities like poaching.
Explanation and Analysis
While this assumption is incorrect, Van Cheele’s suspicions are
Placed at the very beginning of the story, this dialogue
not unfounded. He learns from Cunningham that at sunset
introduces the characters Cunningham and Van Cheele,
Gabriel-Ernest becomes a werewolf, shedding his form as a
along with several key symbols and themes. Cunningham’s
wild, naked boy and instead assuming that of “a large wolf,
statement about the wild beast immediately suggests this
blackish in colour, with gleaming fangs and cruel, yellow eyes.”
symbol’s importance to the story going forward, and
Like the nighttime during which he hunts, the dark color of the
ominously suggests some kind of danger that’s not yet clear.
wolf is inscrutable, further emphasizing the mysteriousness of
Cunningham’s strange, enigmatic personality is also
his appearance. The fear that this transition into darkness
established, suggesting that not only are things perhaps not
inspires in Van Cheele is, ironically, made even stronger by the
what they seem, but that the reader should be careful
beauty of the sunsets immediately preceding it. When
trusting how he (and other characters) interpret events to
Cunningham sees Gabriel-Ernest, he is watching “the dying
come. Van Cheele’s oblivious, self-centered, and talkative
glow of the sunset,” and assumes that Gabriel-Ernest is doing
nature is also introduced. Along with the suggested
the same. Likewise, Miss Van Cheele comments on the beauty
discrepancy between appearance and reality in Van
of the sunset to Van Cheele, unaware that it signals not only the
Cheele’s woods, this passage shows the uneasy balance
coming night, but Gabriel-Ernest’s transformation into the
between the wild and the domestic which Van Cheele takes
form of a wolf.
for granted, if he is aware of it at all. Nevertheless, while
perplexed by Cunningham’s remark, Van Cheele is not afraid
just yet; the statement is too vague, and Cunningham too
QUO
QUOTES
TES unreliable of a source (and Van Cheele himself simply too
Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the oblivious) for him to treat it with the seriousness it later
Everyman’s Library edition of Selected Stories published in becomes clear it deserves.
2017.

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He had a stuffed bittern in his study, and knew the names ‘You can’t live in these woods,’ said Van Cheele.
of quite a number of wild flowers, so his aunt had possibly ‘They are very nice woods,’ said the boy, with a touch of
some justification in describing him as a great naturalist. At any patronage in his voice.
rate, he was a great walker. It was his custom to take mental
‘But where do you sleep at night?’
notes of everything he saw during his walks, not so much for
the purpose of assisting contemporary science as to provide ‘I don’t sleep at night; that’s my busiest time.’
topics for conversation afterwards. When the bluebells began Van Cheele began to have an irritated feeling that he was
to show themselves in flower he made a point of informing grappling with a problem that was eluding him.
every one of the fact; the season of the year might have warned
‘What do you feed on?’ he asked.
his hearers of the likelihood of such an occurrence, but at least
they felt that he was being absolutely frank with them. ‘Flesh,’ said the boy, and he pronounced the word with slow
relish, as though he were tasting it.
‘Flesh! What flesh?’
Related Characters: Van Cheele, Miss Van Cheele
‘Since it interests you, rabbits, wild-fowl, hares, poultry, lambs
Related Themes: in their season, children when I can get any; they’re usually too
well locked in at night, when I do most of my hunting. It’s quite
Page Number: 35 two months since I tasted child-flesh.’
Explanation and Analysis
In this passage Van Cheele’s character is further developed, Related Characters: Van Cheele, Gabriel-Ernest (The Boy)
showing that his talkativeness is closely connected to both (speaker)
his hobbies and his social position, as he strives to keep a
Related Themes:
constant supply of nature-related conversation-starters
ready. There is a good deal of irony in his aunt referring to
Related Symbols:
him as a “great naturalist”; the moniker clearly doesn’t apply
to Van Cheele’s facile, superficial relationship to the woods
Page Number: 36
he owns, and indicates Miss Van Cheele’s own oblivious,
even foolish attitude as she praises and encourages him. Explanation and Analysis
Similarly, Van Cheele’s “naturalist” conversations clearly This dialogue between the boy and Van Cheele, immediately
have nothing to do with the listener’s actual interest but are following the former’s introduction, characterizes the boy
in fact aimed at demonstrating Van Cheele’s own as wild and unpredictable and foreshadows future events
intelligence, or the appearance of it. What Saki suggests and discoveries. While it is surprising enough for Van
here is the completely surface-level relationship the Van Cheele to come across a naked boy in his woods, it is what
Cheeles, and by extension others of their social class, have the boy says, even more so than his strange appearance,
with the world around them. This passage also hints that that really disturbs him. Van Cheele’s first recourse is to his
their total lack of interest in the reality beneath social position; as the owner of the woods, he attempts to
appearances will have consequences as the story assert his property rights over the boy. This has little effect,
progresses, as Cunningham has already indicated that the and while in the moment it may seem that the boy is simply
natural environment in the woods may not be quite what being rude and disrespectful, it becomes clear that, in fact,
Van Cheele thinks it is. the rules of society do not apply to him. Hunting at night
and feeding on flesh, the boy describes himself with
animalistic qualities that, for the moment, only confuse Van
Cheele, who is unable to incorporate them into any logical
explanation for the situation. The objects of the boy’s
appetite offer further, truly disturbing clues, as the boy
suggests that he has been feeding on “child-flesh.” While this
points to a clear connection between the boy and the wild
beast, and hints that that symbol is also closely linked to
nighttime, at present Van Cheele is most disturbed by his
inability to understand—bringing the theme of fear of the
unknown to the forefront.

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And then, as Van Cheele ran his mind over the various
depredations that had been committed during the last Page Number: 39
month or two, he came suddenly to a dead stop, alike in his walk
and his speculations. The child missing from the mill two Explanation and Analysis
months ago – the accepted theory was that it had tumbled into This passage makes explicit what was only suggested
the mill-race and been swept away; but the mother had always earlier: that Van Cheele has some power and importance in
declared she had heard a shriek on the hill side of the house, in his community. Not only is he the owner of a relatively large
the opposite direction from the water. It was unthinkable, of property, including his woods, but he holds legislative and
course, but he wished that the boy had not made that uncanny judiciary offices as well. These roles are not necessarily
remark about child-flesh eaten two months ago. Such dreadful particularly involved, however, and given what has so far
things should not be said even in fun. been revealed of Van Cheele’s character, it is likely that he
occupies them in a largely ceremonial manner.
Related Characters: Van Cheele, Gabriel-Ernest (The Boy) Nevertheless, this quote demonstrates that not only is Van
Cheele invested in the appearance of normality in his woods
Related Themes: for his own comfort, but also out of concern for his social
and financial position. Van Cheele’s deep selfishness is
Page Number: 38 further emphasized by his concern for both his reputation
Explanation and Analysis and the possibility of a monetary fine from his association
with the boy, after he has just considered the far graver
This passage shows Van Cheele beginning to see a possibility that the boy was responsible for the
connection with deeply troubling implications, as he puts disappearance of a child. A justice of the peace who is
together what the boy said to him with recent events in the unwilling to investigate a potential murder is clearly not the
area. He realizes that the missing livestock and game, which most dedicated servant of the law.
he saw as isolated, unimportant incidents, if he noticed at
all, may be part of the same problem. This emphasizes the
discrepancy between appearance and reality once again and
shows how, until now, Van Cheele unconsciously avoided ‘Where’s your voice gone to?’ said his aunt. ‘One would
taking seriously the small pieces of evidence that suggested think you had seen a wolf.’
something was amiss,. Most disturbing, however, is the Van Cheele, who was not familiar with the old saying, thought
potential connection he draws between the boy’s joke, or the remark rather foolish; if he had seen a wolf on his property
what Van Cheele hopes was a joke, about “child-flesh,” and his tongue would have been extraordinarily busy with the
the miller’s missing child. Here Van Cheele sees the subject.
horrifying possibility that the boy really did eat the child,
and literally stops in tracks. Unable to make sense of it, Van
Related Characters: Miss Van Cheele (speaker), Van
Cheele does his best to reject this conclusion, telling himself
Cheele
that it must have been nothing more than a sick joke on the
boy’s part. While this is clearly not enough to truly soothe Related Themes:
his growing fear, it shows how far he will go, even overruling
his own intuition, to convince himself that things are what
Related Symbols:
they seem and nothing more.
Page Number: 39

His position as a parish councillor and justice of the peace Explanation and Analysis
seemed somehow compromised by the fact that he was This passage helps link the symbol of the wild beast and the
harbouring a personality of such doubtful repute on his wolf or werewolf together, as well as connecting them, by
property; there was even a possibility that a heavy bill of implication, to the boy. The degree to which Van Cheele has
damages for raided lambs and poultry might be laid at his door. been thrown off balance by his encounter is made clear by
his very uncharacteristic silence, which his aunt comments
on with an old idiom. At the time the story takes place,
Related Characters: Van Cheele
wolves had already been extinct in England for at least 200
years, and this idiom is therefore quite disconnected from
Related Themes:

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Cunningham was not at first disposed to be
any real sense of danger. The irony of Miss Van Cheele’s communicative.
statement, foreshadowing future revelations, is that
‘My mother died of some brain trouble,’ he explained, ‘so you
perhaps Van Cheele really did see a wolf, in the form of the
will understand why I am averse to dwelling on anything of an
boy. Likewise, if his tongue was “extraordinarily busy with
impossibly fantastic nature that I may see or think I have seen.’
the subject,” even at the risk of being misunderstood,
perhaps unfortunate events to come could have been
avoided. Van Cheele, however, does not realize how Related Characters: Cunningham (speaker), Van Cheele
ironically appropriate his aunt’s remark is, and Miss Van
Cheele remains, characteristically, completely unaware as Related Themes:
well.
Related Symbols:

Page Number: 41
A naked homeless child appealed to Miss Van Cheele as
warmly as a stray kitten or derelict puppy would have Explanation and Analysis
done. This brief passage is quite important, suggesting a radically
‘We must do all we can for him,’ she decided, and in a very short different interpretation of the entire story. As the reader
time a messenger, dispatched to the rectory, where a page-boy was shown at the beginning of the story, Cunningham is a
was kept, had returned with a suit of pantry clothes, and the strange, enigmatic individual, a man of few words who does
necessary accessories of shirt, shoes, collar, etc. Clothed, clean, not try especially hard to make himself understood. This of
and groomed, the boy lost none of his uncanniness in Van course is perfectly fine for his friend Van Cheele, who
Cheele’s eyes, but his aunt found him sweet. prefers to do the talking himself and leave the listening to
‘We must call him something till we know who he really is,’ she others, but given what Cunningham says here, perhaps the
said. ‘Gabriel-Ernest, I think; those are nice suitable names.’ reader should be skeptical of his testimony. As an artist,
Cunningham is already predisposed to the visual, seeing the
world in striking, painterly images, such as that of the wild
Related Characters: Miss Van Cheele (speaker), Van beast. Taken together with the knowledge that his mother
Cheele, Gabriel-Ernest (The Boy) died of “brain trouble,” and his own description of what he
saw in Van Cheele’s woods as something “of an impossibly
Related Themes: fantastic nature” that he avoids dwelling on, the reader
could interpret Cunningham’s vision as just that: a fantasy.
Page Number: 40

Explanation and Analysis

This passage establishes how Miss Van Cheele’s self- ‘Suddenly I became aware of a naked boy, a bather from
centered, hypocritical concern with social status, both her some neighbouring pool, I took him to be, who was
own and others’, differs from and reinforces Van Cheele’s. standing out on the bare hillside also watching the sunset. His
While Van Cheele is most concerned with maintaining his pose was so suggestive of some wild faun of Pagan myth that I
position and avoiding any damage to his reputation, his aunt instantly wanted to engage him as a model, and in another
longs to see herself as a philanthropist of sorts, and is moment I think I should have hailed him. But just then the sun
instantly taken with the supposedly lost boy as a result. This dipped out of view, and all the orange and pink slid out of the
has much less to do with the boy himself than with the idea landscape, leaving it cold and grey. And at the same moment an
he represents to her; indeed, Miss Van Cheele seems to pay astounding thing happened – the boy vanished too!’
hardly any attention to the boy’s actual appearance or ‘What! vanished away into nothing?’ asked Van Cheele
behavior. She asks no questions at all, taking Van Cheele’s excitedly.
very brief explanation that the boy has lost his memory at
‘No; that is the dreadful part of it,’ answered the artist; ‘on the
face value and immediately filling in the blanks with her
open hillside where the boy had been standing a second ago,
fantasies of charity. This leads her to not only clothe and
stood a large wolf, blackish in colour, with gleaming fangs and
clean him, but to give him the name Gabriel-Ernest, a high-
cruel, yellow eyes.’
class-sounding and thus highly ironic moniker for a wild,
deceitful, and potentially dangerous boy.

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Related Characters: Van Cheele, Cunningham (speaker), Related Characters: Van Cheele, Gabriel-Ernest (The Boy),
Gabriel-Ernest (The Boy) Miss Van Cheele

Related Themes: Related Themes:

Related Symbols: Related Symbols:

Page Number: 41 Page Number: 43

Explanation and Analysis Explanation and Analysis

As the previous passage suggests, Cunningham’s This passage, which concludes the story, ties together the
description of Gabriel-Ernest’s transformation from naked tension between appearance and reality with a powerful
boy to fearsome wolf is a vivid image, but is also not stroke of irony. The other characters, not having observed
necessarily the truth. If Cunningham did see what he Gabriel-Ernest up close or learned what Van Cheele has
describes, then the wild beast and Gabriel-Ernest are one heard from Cunningham, all choose to believe the plausible
and the same: a werewolf. This also makes explicitly clear explanation that he died trying to save the Toop child. Mrs.
what the connection between the symbols of the wild beast Toop, with 11 other children, seems to need the lost child
and nighttime is, as Gabriel-Ernest transforms into a wolf less than she does a sense of normalcy, echoing the way the
after sunset and begins to hunt. This at last provides a Van Cheeles prioritized this stability above all else
plausible explanation for all the seemingly disconnected, throughout the story. Similarly, the disappearance of
disturbing events in Van Cheele’s woods. Per this Gabriel-Ernest and lack of clear evidence that he was a
interpretation, Gabriel-Ernest is not only responsible for werewolf leads Miss Van Cheele to double down in her
the missing game and livestock, but the disappearance of belief that she was being a great philanthropist by helping
the miller’s child as well, and, it is hinted, further horrors to him, and so she refuses to see that he could have been
come. This would also explain the boy’s own bizarre responsible for the child’s death. Indeed, for Miss Van
behavior, such as his nakedness and his choice to live in the Cheele, the Toop child’s disappearance seems much less
woods. At the same time, if the reader rejects Cunningham’s significant than Gabriel-Ernest’s alleged heroism, leading
testimony, Gabriel-Ernest may not be responsible, though in her to have a memorial put up for him in their local church.
that case his own bizarre behavior remains unexplained. Regardless of what really happened, it seems that this
interpretation will be the one remembered for posterity, a
bitter comment from Saki on how society remembers the
truth. Van Cheele, however, refuses to support the Gabriel-
Mrs Toop, who had eleven other children, was decently
Ernest memorial, a rare occasion of resistance to his aunt.
resigned to her bereavement, but Miss Van Cheele
Whether this indicates genuine growth for him in other
sincerely mourned her lost foundling. It was on her initiative
spheres of life, however, is left unclear.
that a memorial brass was put up in the parish church to
‘Gabriel-Ernest, an unknown boy, who bravely sacrificed his life
for another.’
Van Cheele gave way to his aunt in most things, but he flatly
refused to subscribe to the Gabriel-Ernest memorial.

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SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.

GABRIEL-ERNEST
As Van Cheele is driving his guest, the artist Cunningham, back This opening passage sets the story in the English countryside. Van
to the train station from his house in the countryside, Cheele’s position of power in his community as the owner of the
Cunningham tells him that “There is a wild beast in your woods is alluded to, as well as his neglect of them, as he ignores
woods.” Van Cheele answers that there are foxes and weasels, Cunningham’s disturbing warning. Cunningham’s remark about a
but nothing larger or more dangerous. Cunningham says wild beast in the woods introduces a sense of foreboding, and Van
nothing more, and the talkative Van Cheele at first pays his Cheele’s inability to fully dismiss its presence could suggest that, on
ominous statement no mind. Arriving at the train station, Van some level, he fears the unknown and allows this fear to shape his
Cheele asks Cunningham what he meant by what he said. beliefs. His initial insistence that only small, harmless animals live
Instead of answering him, Cunningham tersely responds on his land suggests that he feels a sense of control and perhaps
“Nothing. My imagination,” and as his train arrives, he departs superiority over the natural world. Yet the beast raises the
without saying anything more. possibility that what appears to be true (at least from Van Cheele’s
perspective) may not align with reality. Cunningham’s enigmatic
personality and potential lack of reliability are also highlighted in his
reluctance to elaborate.

Returning home, Van Cheele takes one of his habitual Van Cheele’s attitude toward his woods as a conversation starter
afternoon walks through his woods. He pays close attention to rather than a living, wild place demonstrates his oblivious and
his surroundings as he does, “not so much for the purpose of hypocritical nature, concerned much more with appearances than
assisting contemporary science as to provide topics for reality. This also introduces the importance of social status in the
conversation afterwards.” Van Cheele is quite interested in story. The author shows how, to Van Cheele, the woods are a tool to
plants and animals as a topic of conversation, and his aunt who gain social status, not something to be respected, understood, and
lives with him describes him as a “great naturalist.” In fact, he perhaps even feared.
makes a point of lecturing at his friends and acquaintances
about seasonal changes in his woods, such as when the
bluebells begin to flower.

On this particular walk, however, Van Cheele sees something Van Cheele is not only caught unawares, but is surprised by the fact
quite unusual in the woods: an approximately 16-year-old boy that he’s surprised, further demonstrating how he takes his safety
lying naked by a pool of water, drying himself off in the sunlight. and sense of control over his environment for granted. Likewise, it
Stunned into silence by this surprise, Van Cheele cannot takes this surprise to keep Van Cheele quiet, forcing him to observe
imagine where this “wild-looking” boy with a “tigerish gleam” in more closely rather than just talk. Van Cheele’s recollection about
his eyes could have come from. He recalls that the miller’s wife the missing child hints that things may indeed be amiss in the
lost her baby two months ago—they assumed that it drowned woods, and that there may have been other clues that he has either
in the mill-race—but the difference in age means that this boy not noticed or unconsciously dismissed.
could not be the same child.

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Van Cheele asks the boy what he is doing in his woods; The boy’s sarcasm and lack of deference to Van Cheele, on his own
responding sarcastically, the boy tells him that he lives there, property, is a clear violation of social norms. His strange statements
sleeping during the day and keeping busy at night. When Van and appearance, however, make this the least of Van Cheele’s
Cheele asks him what he eats, the boy responds “Flesh,” that of worries. While Van Cheele most likely also eats “Flesh,” at least that
wild and domestic animals, and “child-flesh,” though he says of animals, the boy’s animal-like descriptions of his hunting plainly
that he has not been able to get his hands on children for two distinguish him from Van Cheele and other humans; what he says
months. Brushing this off as a dark joke, Van Cheele continues about “child-flesh” definitively crosses a line, though whether as a
to question him. The boy tells him that he hunts at night, on bad joke or a terrifying admission is not yet clear. That the boy hunts
four feet, and when Van Cheele asks if he means that the boy at night also places him far outside of social normality. Van Cheele
hunts with a dog, the boy says that no dog would be “very tries to fit the boy into familiar social categories such as criminality,
anxious for [his] company, especially at night.” When Van wondering if he is a poacher and trying to evict him from the woods,
Cheele, feeling increasingly unsettled, tells the boy he cannot but is left with no answers and a growing sense of discomfort about
continue to stay in the woods, the boy takes off into the woods. what he does not know.

Walking home, Van Cheele remembers what Cunningham said Looking back at recent events, Van Cheele realizes that he did
regarding the “wild beast.” Reflecting on both his conversation indeed ignore evidence that something out of the ordinary was
with the boy and recent events in the area, he wonders if the happening in his woods and the surrounding farms. Game, or wild
boy could be responsible. Game, poultry, and other livestock animals hunted for sport, has been missing, as has livestock from
have all been missing lately. Suddenly, Van Cheele connects the nearby farms. Worst of all, the miller’s child went missing. At this
miller’s missing child to the boy’s statement regarding “child- point, however, Van Cheele only has a series of separate incidents
flesh.” Both events took place two months ago, and the miller’s before him and no coherent theory to connect or explain them.
wife maintained that she had heard a scream “on the hill side of Rather than soothing him, this lack of explanation, a feeling Van
the house, in the opposite direction from the water.” Van Cheele is not used to, only deepens his worries.
Cheele struggles to dismiss this disturbing thought.

At dinner, Van Cheele is not his usual talkative self, keeping The implication that Van Cheele, as a landowner, is an important
quiet about his encounter in the woods. He worries that his man is his community is confirmed here, as readers learn that he
social position could be damaged by association with the boy; also holds legislative and judiciary positions. His hypocrisy and
as he is a “parish councillor and justice of the peace,” there is concern for his own status clearly overrule any concern for his
even a chance that he could be fined for the missing poultry and safety or the safety of his community; whether this is because Van
livestock if the boy is really responsible. Van Cheele’s aunt asks Cheele is truly that self-centered or because he simply cannot
him “Where’s your voice gone to? […] One would think you had imagine a genuine danger in his woods is left ambiguous. Van
seen a wolf.” Missing the joke, Van Cheele dismisses her Cheele’s aunt’s joke about seeing a wolf both recalls what
statement, thinking to himself that if he had actually seen a wolf Cunningham said about the wild beast and disturbingly hints what
in his woods, he would most certainly be talking about it. might be happening in the woods. This saying also highlights the
apparent incongruity of danger with the peaceful English
countryside, as wolves became extinct in England at least 200 years
before the time in which this story is set.

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The next day at breakfast, Van Cheele makes up his mind to Van Cheele hopes that by consulting Cunningham, he can solve the
visit Cunningham in the next town over and find out why he mystery and relieve his own worries. That this is suddenly derailed
said what he did about the “wild beast” in his woods. Feeling by the boy’s appearance in his morning-room highlights how fragile
reassured by his plan of action, Van Cheele enters the morning- Van Cheele’s separation of the wilderness from his domestic life is.
room as part of his daily routine and is shocked by the sight of Faced with explaining to his aunt what he cannot even explain to
the boy lying naked on his ottoman. As his aunt enters, Van himself, Van Cheele’s instinctual (and comical) response is to cover
Cheele quickly throws a copy of the Morning Post over the boy, things up, both literally and metaphorically, providing a more
telling her that “This is a poor boy who has lost his way— and socially acceptable explanation for the boy’s wild behavior and
lost his memory.” appearance.

Compelled by Van Cheele’s story of the boy’s lost memory, Van Van Cheele’s aunt shares his selective vision and hypocrisy, though
Cheele’s aunt insists that the boy is clothed, cleaned, and taken she expresses it somewhat differently; this implies that their
care of. As the boy has no name, she decides to call him Gabriel- obliviousness is at least in part a product of their elite social and
Ernest. While he is no longer naked and dirty, the boy continues class status. The prim and proper clothes, name, and tasks she gives
to worry Van Cheele. Van Cheele’s doubts are further the wild boy, now Gabriel-Ernest, build both dramatic and comedic
supported by the reactions of his animals; his reliable old dog tension, showing how superficially she considers him and his story.
runs out of the house and refuses to come back in, and his The fear Gabriel-Ernest inspires in Van Cheele’s domestic animals
typically cheerful canary chirps quietly and fearfully in its cage. further affirms his wild character, hinting that the animals can intuit
Van Cheele resolves to go see Cunningham at once, while his something Van Cheele does not yet understand, and his aunt is
aunt sets Gabriel-Ernest to work entertaining the children in completely ignorant of.
her Sunday-school class.

Cunningham is not immediately helpful, referring to his As was suggested earlier, Cunningham has a penchant for strange
mother’s death from “brain trouble” to explain his wish to avoid ideas and cryptic statements; perhaps his words should be viewed
thinking too much about fantastic, abnormal events and more skeptically. The way he describes what he saw, and his own
images. At Van Cheele’s urging, however, he tells him what he words about his mother, leave open the possibility that his artist’s
saw. On his last night at Van Cheele’s, Cunningham was imagination has distorted his vision of reality. Nevertheless, he
standing by the hedges watching the sunset, when he noticed a finally offers a compelling, if fantastical, explanation for Gabriel-
naked boy doing the same on the hillside, in a pose “suggestive Ernest’s behavior and the mysterious happenings in and around the
of some wild faun of Pagan myth.” Cunningham was about to woods.
call out to him, hoping to use him as a painting model. As the
sun set, however, the boy vanished. Instead, on the hillside in
the boy’s place stood a large, threatening wolf.

Van Cheele does not wait to hear the rest of Cunningham’s The revelation that Gabriel-Ernest is a werewolf does not relieve
story, taking off for the train station as fast as he can. Deciding Van Cheele of his fears as he had hoped. In fact, knowing the truth
that a telegram to his aunt explaining that “Gabriel-Ernest is a may be even worse. It is uncharacteristic of Van Cheele to learn
werewolf” would not be understood, he feels that his only something so fantastic and not share it immediately, but he now
option is to reach home before dark. Reaching home just realizes that some things are so out of the ordinary they cannot be
before sunset, he learns that his aunt has sent Gabriel-Ernest understood or even effectively communicated. For once his
to take “the little Toop child home,” for safety. Van Cheele runs tendency not to stop and think is in his favor as he launches into
out once again, hoping to reach the Toops’ house before it is action rather than getting caught up in words. His guileless aunt,
too late. however, has been fully taken in by Gabriel-Ernest’s wholesome
appearance ( or the appearance she projected onto him), creating a
perfect opportunity for him to strike again.

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Just before Van Cheele comes in sight of Gabriel-Ernest and Without having seen for themselves what happened, Van Cheele,
the Toop child, the sun goes down and he hears “a shrill wail of his aunt, and the community can only reconstruct the
fear.” There is no sign of either of them except for Gabriel- disappearance of Gabriel-Ernest and the Toop child from the
Ernest’s clothes lying by the side of the road. Because of this, evidence available. This leads many to assume that they both
others assume that the child fell into the mill-race alongside the drowned, making Gabriel-Ernest a hero, while the same evidence
road and Gabriel-Ernest jumped in to save it, drowning in the confirms for Van Cheele that he was a werewolf and ate the child as
attempt, though some workers also claim to have heard the night fell and he transformed into a wolf. Ultimately, however, no
scream that Van Cheele did. one will ever know for sure, leaving the mystery and the fear it
inspired in a permanent state of irresolution for Van Cheele.

As the Toops had 11 children, they do not think of the alleged Most of the community is clearly content to fit the facts into the
drowning as anything more than an ordinary, everyday tragedy, least disturbing narrative, quickly smoothing things over and
let alone something supernatural. Van Cheele’s aunt, however, returning to their regular lives. Miss Van Cheele in particular
is distraught at the loss of Gabriel-Ernest and has a memorial prioritizes her own sense of charity above all else, despite actually
added to the parish church which reads “Gabriel-Ernest, an knowing nothing about Gabriel-Ernest or what happened that
unknown boy, who bravely sacrificed his life for another.” night. Van Cheele, on the other hand, refuses to accept this more
Though Van Cheele often supports his aunt’s wishes, he comfortable explanation. While his blissful ignorance may be gone
squarely refuses to have anything to do with the Gabriel- forever, the story also suggests that he has grown as a character,
Ernest memorial. both viewing the world around him more carefully and coming to
accept the limits of his own knowledge. Of course, it is also possible,
in Saki’s ironic presentation, that the lessons Van Cheele learned
from this will have little to no impact on other parts of his life, and
he will go on living just the way he did before.

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To cite any of the quotes from Gabriel-Ernest covered in the

HOW T
TO
O CITE Quotes section of this LitChart:
To cite this LitChart: MLA
MLA Saki. Gabriel-Ernest. Everyman’s Library. 2017.
Dean, Alan. "Gabriel-Ernest." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 28 Mar CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
2023. Web. 28 Mar 2023.
Saki. Gabriel-Ernest. New York: Everyman’s Library. 2017.
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Dean, Alan. "Gabriel-Ernest." LitCharts LLC, March 28, 2023.
Retrieved March 28, 2023. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/gabriel-
ernest.

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