简介下面每一则故事的主角都是一种凶悍的动物。它们伤害或吞噬着人类的情景，透射出动物凶残的兽性。故事虚悬、离奇。但让我们更加惊疑的是：这些动物会突然出现在雅致的房间里、芬芳的花园或幽静的小片林地间那些被我们认为是安全、文明的场所。它们为什么会在那儿？为什么Saki把这些猛兽带到了我们的家里？答案是，我们希望它们在那儿。当然，我们并不想让真正的狼总是呆在我们的花园里，那会兴味索然。但有时，当我们遇到了不速之客，或者内心深处很厌恶却又不得不表现出彬彬有礼的时候，一只真正的狼有时会非常有用。Saki所描写的动物时而滑稽，时而残忍；但总能撕破我们的伪装，暴露出我们心底的真实情感。Saki（赫克托休芒罗）生于1870年。他是一位记者和作家，以写精彩的短篇故事闻名，1916年他死于第一次世界大战中。Sredni VashtarSredni VashtarConradin was ten years old and was often illThe boy is not strong，said thedoctorHe will not live much longerButthe doctor did not know about Conradins imagination InConradins lonely， loveless world，hisimagination was the only thing that kept him aliveConradins parents were dead and he lived with his auntTheaunt did not like Conradin and was often unkind to himConradinhated her with all his heart， but heobeyed her quietly and took his medicine without arguing Mostlyhe kept out of her wayShe had no placein his world His real， everydaylife in his aunts colourless， comfortlesshouse was narrow and uninteresting Butinside his small， dark head exciting andviolent thoughts ran wild In the brightworld of his imagination Conradin was strong and brave Itwas a wonderful world， and the aunt waslocked out of itThe garden was no fun There wasnothing interesting to do He wasforbidden to pick the flowers He wasforbidden to eat the fruit He wasforbidden to play on the grass But behind some trees， ina forgotten corner of the garden， therewas an old shed Nobody used the shed， andConradin took it for his ownTo him it became something between a playroom and a church Hefilled it with ghosts and animals from his imagination Butthere were also two living things in the shed Inone corner lived an old， untidy-lookingchicken Conradin had no people to love，and this chicken was the boys dearest friendAndin a dark， secret place at the back ofthe shed was a large wooden box with bars across the front Thiswas the home of a very large ferret with long， dangerousteeth and clawsConradin had bought theferret and its box from a friendly boy， wholived in the village It had cost himall his money，but Conradin did not mindHewas most terribly afraid of the ferret， buthe loved it with all his heart It washis wonderful，terrible secret Hegave the ferret a strange and beautiful name and it became his godThe aunt went to church every Sunday Shetook Conradin with her， but to Conradinher church and her god were without meaning Theyseemed grey and uninterestingThe truegod lived in the shed， and his name wasSredni VashtarEvery Thursday， in the cool，silent darkness of the shed，Conradintook presents to his god He tookflowers in summer and fruits in autumn， andhe made strange and wonderful songs for his god Sometimes，on days when something important happened，Conradin took special presentsHestole salt from the kitchen and placed it carefully and lovingly in front ofthe ferrets boxOne day the aunt had the most terrible toothache Itcon tinued for three days Morning andevening Conradin put salt in front of his god Inthe end he almost believed that Sredni Vashtar himself had sent the toothacheAfter a time the aunt noticed Conradins visits to the shedIts not good for him to play out there in the cold，she said She could always find a reasonto stop Conradin enjoying himself Thenext morning at breakfast she told Conradin that she had sold the chickenShe looked at Conradins white face , and waitedfor him to cry or to be angry ButConradin said nothing； there was nothingto sayPerhaps the aunt felt sorry Thatafternoon there was hot buttered toast for tea Toastwas usually forbidden Conradin loved it，but the aunt said that it was bad for himAlso， itmade extra work for the cook Conradinlooked at the toast and quietly took a piece of bread and butterI thought you liked toast， the auntsaid crosslySometimes，said ConradinIn the shed that evening Conradin looked sadly at the empty corner wherehis chicken had lived And， forthe first time， he asked his ferret-godto do something for himDo one thing for me， Sredni Vashtar，hesaid softlyHe did not say what he wanted SredniVashtar was a god， after all Thereis no need to explain things to godsThen，with a last look at the empty corner， Conradinreturned to the world that he hatedAnd every night， in the shed and inhis bedroom， Con radin repeated againand againDo one thing for me， Sredni VashtarSo Conradins visits to the shed continued Theaunt no ticed， and went to look in theshed againWhat are you keeping in that locked box？she asked Im sure youre keeping ananimal there Its not good for youConradin said nothingThe aunt searched his bedroom until she found the key to the box Shemarched down to the shed It was a coldafternoon， and Conradin was forbidden togo outside From the window of thediningroom Conradin could just see thedoor of the shed He stood and wait