Tea by Saki is the short story of James Cushat-Prinkly, a young gentleman who is on the lookout for a life companion. After inheriting “a comfortable little legacy it really seemed the correct thing to do to set about discovering someone to share it with him.” The “woman-folk” of his family settle for Joan Sebastable, “the most suitable woman in his range of acquaintance” to become his wife. On his way to Joan’s house, James realizes that he would arrive just in time for the afternoon tea. As he “detested the whole system of afternoon tea,” James stops by Rhoda Ellam’s place, “a sort of a remote cousin,” where he has a great time.
Author
Known British writer Hector Hugh Munro under pen name Saki published his witty and sometimes bitter short stories in collections, such as The Chronicles of Clovis (1911). His sometimes macabre satirized Edwardian society and culture. People consider him a master and often compare him to William Sydney Porter and Dorothy Rothschild Parker. His tales feature delicately drawn characters and finely judged narratives. "The Open Window," perhaps his most famous, closes with the line, "Romance at short notice was her specialty," which thus entered the lexicon. Newspapers first and then several volumes published him as the custom of the time. His works include * a full-length play, The Watched Pot , in collaboration with Charles Maude; * two one-act plays; * a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire , the only book under his own name; * a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington ; * the episodic The Westminster Alice , a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland ; * and When William Came: A Story of London under the Hohenzollerns , an early alternate history. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and Joseph Rudyard Kipling, influenced Munro, who in turn influenced Alan Alexander Milne, Sir Noel Pierce Coward, and Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.
