The Oxford Book of English Short Stories

Numéro d'article 10124754

THE OXFORD BOOK OF ENGLISH SHORT STORIES Edited by A. S. Byatt Oxford · New York OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1998 Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0x2 6DP Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © in the compilation and introductory material A. S. Byatt 1998 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First published 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Within the UK, exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms and in other countries should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The Oxford book of English short stories / edited by A. S. Byatt. 1. Short stories, English. 2. England—Social life and customs—Fiction. I. Byatt, A. S. (Antonia Susan), 1936– PR1309.S5 808’.83—dc21 98–49358 ISBN 0–19–214238–0 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Typeset by Jayvee, Trivandrum, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Bookcraft Ltd, Midsomer Norton, Somerset CONTENTS A. S. BYATT Introduction xv WILLIAM GILBERT The Sacristan of St Botolph 1 CHARLES DICKENS The Haunted House 18 ANTHONY TROLLOPE Relics of General Chassé: A Tale of Antwerp 44 THOMAS HARDY A Mere Interlude 63 MARY MANN Little Brother 93 M. R. JAMES Two Doctors 97 ARTHUR MORRISON Behind the Shade 105 RUDYARD KIPLING “Wireless” 110 H. G. WELLS Under the Knife 127 CHARLOTTE MEW A White Night 139 SAKI The Toys of Peace 155 G. K. CHESTERTON The Tremendous Adventures of Major Brown 160 A. E. COPPARD Some Talk of Alexander 180 P. G. WODEHOUSE The Reverent Wooing of Archibald 188 VIRGINIA WOOLF Solid Objects 204 D. H. LAWRENCE The Man who Loved Islands 210 RONALD FIRBANK A Tragedy in Green 233 SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER A Widow’s Quilt 243 ALDOUS HUXLEY Nuns at Luncheon 250 MALACHI WHITAKER Landlord of the Crystal Fountain 264 V. S. PRITCHETT On the Edge of the Cliff 270 ROSAMUND LEHMANN A Dream of Winter 286 EVELYN WAUGH An Englishman’s Home 295 GRAHAM GREENE The Destructors 311 H. E. BATES The Waterfall 325 T. H. WHITE The Troll 345 ELIZABETH TAYLOR The Blush 355 PENELOPE FITZGERALD At Hiruharama 362 LEONORA CARRINGTON My Flannel Knickers 369 ALAN SILLITOE Enoch’s Two Letters 372 J. G. BALLARD Dream Cargoes 381 JOHN FULLER Telephone 396 JOHN FULLER My Story 398 ANGELA CARTER The Kiss 400 ROSE TREMAIN The Beauty of the Dawn Shift 403 IAN MCEWAN Solid Geometry 420 PHILIP HENSHER Dead Languages 435

Ex-library book.