"The Interlopers" by Saki - The Story

Question 1

Where does the story take place?

Answer 1

“In a forest of mixed growth somewhere on the eastern spurs of the Carpathians”

Question 2

Whose family won possession of the disputed land in the lawsuit?

Answer 2

The von Gradwitz family. Ulrich’s grandfather won the “famous lawsuit.”

Question 3

What can you infer about the characters from their unwillingness to compromise?

Answer 3

Both characters are stubborn and somewhat arrogant in their inability to compromise.

Question 4

At the beginning of the story, what is Ulrich’s wish?

Answer 4

Ulrich wants to find George poaching on his land, so he can be alone with him with no witnesses.

Question 5

What happens to the two men when the tree falls?

Answer 5

The beech tree pins both men down, leaving them injured and helpless until someone comes to rescue them.

Question 6

What is each man’s hope for rescue?

Answer 6

For their men to seek them out and find them.

Question 7

In what condition does the fallen tree leave each man?

Answer 7

Ulrich: One arm numb beneath him and the other held in a tangle of branches. Both legs pinned beneath the tree, twigs had slashed the skin of his face.

Georg: “Alive and struggling”, helplessly pinned down, nearly blinded with blood trickling across his eyes.

Question 8

Why do the men decide to end their feud?

Answer 8

They had foolishly “quarreled like devils” their whole lives, and decided there are better things in life than getting the better of a boundary dispute.

Question 9

What are some dangers the characters might face in a setting like this one?

Answer 9

They could freeze, starve, die of thirst, or get eaten by animals like wolves.

Question 10

Why was Ulrich not able to shoot at Georg when given the opportunity?

Answer 10

Because of the “code of a restraining civilization”, which prohibits shooting someone without warning or words exchanged.

Question 11

What does Ulrich offer to share with Znaeym while awaiting rescue?

Answer 11

A flask of wine.

Question 12

What is Ulrich hunting?

Answer 12

Ulrich is hunting for Georg Znaeym.

Question 13

What do the men do in an attempt to attract attention?

Answer 13

Yell for help.

Question 14

Who are the main characters of the story?

Answer 14

• Ulrich von Gradwitz

- Georg Znaeym

Question 15

What is the weather like?

Answer 15

Cold, stormy, and windy.

Question 16

How long has the land dispute lasted for?

Answer 16

3 generations.

Question 17

How does Georg respond to Ulrich’s offer of wine?

Answer 17

He was hesitant and shocked.

Georg also says that he does not drink wine with an enemy.

Question 18

What do the figures that Ulrich spots coming towards them turn out to be? How many?

Answer 18

9 or 10 Wolves.

Question 19

What type of tree fell on the pair

Answer 19

A beech tree

Question 20

Who was the one that spotted the wolves

Answer 20

Ulrich

Question 21

What do Ulrich and Georg hold in their hands when they meet each other in the forest?

Answer 21

Each had a rifle in his hands

Question 22

How many people did Georg bring?

Answer 22

Seven men

Question 23

Why do Ulrich and Georg dislike each other at the beginning of the story?

Answer 23

Both characters dislike each other because they are from separate families that have disputed an area of forest in the Carpathians for generations.

Question 24

What type of tree traps Georg and Ulrich?

Answer 24

A beech tree

Question 25

What was Ulrich’s situation after the tree had pinned him down?

Answer 25

Stretched on the ground:

• One arm numb beneath him
• The other held almost as helplessly in a tight tangle of forked branches
• Both legs were pinned beneath the fallen mass.

Injuries:

• Fractures
• Twigs had slashed his face

Question 26

What were Ulrich’s injuries after the beech tree pinned him down?

Answer 26

• Had fractures
• Descending twigs had slashed the skin of his face
• Drops of blood from his eyelashes (he was bleeding)

Question 27

What were Georg’s condition and injuries after the beech tree had fallen?

Answer 27

He was nearly blinded by the blood which trickled across his eyes.

Question 28

What did Georg and Ulrich do when they meet in the forest, and why? What were they thinking?

Answer 28

• Georg and Ulrich both glared at one another for a long, silent moment.
• They both had hate in their hearts and murder uppermost in their minds.
• However, they could not shoot each other due to the code of a restraining civilization.

Question 29

Who are Georg and Ulrich waiting for towards the end of the story? What do they do?

Answer 29

Georg and Ulrich are waiting for their men to come to their rescue. They try to yell for help from their men.

Question 30

Why couldn’t Georg see clearly?

Answer 30

He was nearly blinded by the blood dripping from his eyes.

Question 31

What was Georg’s reaction to Ulrich’s offer (when both of them become stuck)?

Answer 31

Georg was hesitant and shocked when Ulrich offered a flask of wine.

Question 32

What were the forest lands of Gradwitz like?

Answer 32

They were of wide extent and well stocked with game; the narrow strip of precipitous woodland that lay on the outskirt was not remarkable for the game it harbored or the shooting it afforded but most jealously guarded of all its owner’s territorial possessions.

Question 33

The feud might have been compromised if the….

Answer 33

personal ill will of the two men had not stood in the way.

Question 34

What did Ulrich band together?

Answer 34

Ulrich banded together his foresters to watch the dark forest to keep a lookout for the prowling thieves whom he suspected of being afoot from across the land boundary.

Question 35

Where did Ulrich place his men before going to meet Georg?

Answer 35

On the crest of the hill in ambush

Question 36

What lay around Georg and Ulrich after they were pinned down by the trees?

Answer 36

A thick-strewn wreckage of splintered branches and twigs.

Question 37

What did Georg say to Ulrich as he was struggling?

Answer 37

He gave a snarling laugh and said that Ulrich had not been killed as he ought to be, but caught in his stolen forest. That was real justice, according to him.

Question 38

What was Ulrich’s response to Georg’s insult?

Answer 38

Ulrich claimed that he was caught in his own land and that his men would come to rescue him in ten minutes of time. He said it was a shame for Georg to be found poaching on a neighbor’s land.

Question 39

Georg said that he and Ulrich would fight this quarrel for how long?

Answer 39

They will fight the quarrel out to the death, without any cursed interlopers to come between them.

Question 40

What did each of the men pray for?

Answer 40

That their men would be the first to arrive and show the honorable attention to the enemy that had become a friend.

Question 41

What was Ulrich waiting for at the beginning of the story?

Answer 41

He was waiting for a beast (Georg Znaeym) of the woods to come within range of his vision, and, later, of his rifle.

Question 42

What was the most jealously guarded of all of Ulrich’s territorial possessions?

Answer 42

The forest lands of Gradwitz in the Carpathians.

Question 43

The neighbor feud had grown into what?

Answer 43

It grew into a personal one since Ulrich had come to be the head of his family.

Question 44

A fierce shriek of the storm had what?

Answer 44

It was answered by a splitting crash over their heads and a falling beech tree thundered upon them.

Question 45

A fierce shriek of the storm had what?

Answer 45

It was answered by a splitting crash over their heads and a falling beech tree thundered upon them.

Question 46

What is ironic about the fact that Georg and Ulrich were both trapped by the trees?

Answer 46

They had both wished for the other to be harmed, yet they were harmed together

Question 47

Why were Ulrich’s legs not crushed by the fallen beech tree?

Answer 47

His heavy shooting-boots helped protect his legs

Question 48

If Ulrich were to die, what would Georg send to his family?

Answer 48

Georg would send his “condolences” to Ulrich’s family if Ulrich was found dead under the beech tree by his men.

Question 49

The narrow strip of precipitous woodland that lay on the outskirts were not remarkable for what?

Answer 49

They were not remarkable for the game it harbored or the shooting it afforded, but the most jealously guarded of all its owner’s territorial possessions.