The Most Dangerous Game (Richard Connell) — graded reader B1–B2

The Most Dangerous Game

A graded reader · Richard Connell · B1–B2

Warm-up

• Do you like adventure stories or survival films? Which ones?

• Have you ever been lost, outdoors or in a strange city? What did you do?

• Would you like to visit a wild tropical island? What would you take?

• Do people hunt in your country? How do most people feel about it?

The author and the book

Richard Connell (1893–1949)

Richard Connell was born in 1893 in Poughkeepsie, New York. His father edited the local newspaper, and when Richard was just ten, he was already writing about baseball games for it.

When his father was elected to the US Congress, Richard worked as his secretary. After his father died in 1912, he studied at Harvard University, where he edited both the student newspaper, The Crimson, and the comic magazine, the Lampoon.

In the First World War, he served in France with the US Army, and he edited his camp's newspaper. After the war, he wrote short stories for popular American magazines. Later he moved to Beverly Hills, in California, and wrote for films. His story for Meet John Doe (1941) was nominated for an Oscar. He died in Beverly Hills in 1949.

"The Most Dangerous Game" first appeared in Collier's magazine on 19 January 1924. The first film of the story came out in 1932, and many more have followed.

Key words

game

quarry

hound

wild animals that people hunt for sport; also, a contest with rules and a winner

the animal (or person) that a hunter is chasing

a hunting dog that follows animals by their smell

trap

at bay

something made to catch an animal or a person by surprise

trapped by hunters, with no way to escape, and forced to turn and fight

Let's talk

• Connell fought in a real war. How might that change the way someone thinks about killing?

• Is hunting a sport? Where would you draw the line?

• "Game" can mean a contest, or animals that people hunt. Why might the title use this word?

• Which animal do you think is the most dangerous to hunt? Why?

PART 1 OF 4

Ship-Trap Island

PART 1 · SHIP-TRAP ISLAND

"Off there to the right, somewhere, is a large island," said Whitney. "It's rather a mystery."

"What island is it?" Rainsford asked.

"The old maps call it Ship-Trap Island. Sailors have a strange fear of the place. I don't know why."

Rainsford looked out into the hot, black Caribbean night. "I can't see it. It's like black velvet."

"We'll reach Rio in a few days," said Whitney. "Then we'll have some good hunting up the Amazon. Great sport, hunting."

"The best sport in the world," agreed Rainsford.

"For the hunter," said Whitney. "Not for the jaguar."

"Don't talk nonsense, Whitney. You're a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?"

"Perhaps the jaguar does. I think they understand one thing: fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death."

"Nonsense," laughed Rainsford. "The world is made up of two kinds of people: the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters."

Whitney was quiet for a moment. "The crew were nervous today. Even the captain. He told me, 'This place has an evil name among sailors, sir.' And as we passed the island, I felt a sudden chill. A kind of dread."

"Pure imagination," said Rainsford.

Whitney went to bed, but Rainsford stayed on deck with his pipe. The night was warm and sleepy.

PART 1 · SHIP-TRAP ISLAND

Suddenly he heard a sound off to the right. He was an expert, so he couldn't be wrong. Somewhere in the darkness, someone had fired a gun three times.

Rainsford jumped up onto the rail to see better. His pipe hit a rope and fell from his mouth. He reached for it, too far, and lost his balance. His cry was cut short as the warm waters of the Caribbean closed over his head.

He came up and shouted, but the yacht raced on. Its lights grew smaller, and then they were gone.

He remembered the shots. They had come from the right, so he swam that way, slowly, saving his strength. After a long time, he heard a high, screaming sound: an animal in terrible fear and pain. Then a pistol shot.

At last he heard the sea breaking on rocks. He pulled himself up a cliff and fell into the deepest sleep of his life.

When he woke, it was late afternoon. Near the shore, the plants were crushed and stained red. Then he found an empty cartridge.

"A twenty-two," he said. "That's strange. It must have been a large animal. The hunter had courage, to go after it with such a light gun."

He followed the prints of hunting boots. As night came, he saw lights, many lights, all in one enormous building with pointed towers: a great château on a cliff above the sea.

He knocked. The door opened suddenly. In front of him stood the largest man he had ever seen, with a black beard down to his waist. In his hand was a long revolver, pointing straight at Rainsford's heart.

Book club

PART 1 · SHIP-TRAP ISLAND

1. What did Whitney and Rainsford disagree about at the start?

2. How did Rainsford fall into the sea?

3. What clues did Rainsford find near the shore?

4. Rainsford says the world is made of "hunters and huntees". Do you agree?

5. Do you think animals feel fear the way people do?

6. Who do you think lives in the château? What happens next?

PART 2 OF 4

A new animal

PART 2 · A NEW ANIMAL

"Don't be alarmed," said Rainsford, with a smile. "I'm not a robber. I fell off a yacht. My name is Sanger Rainsford, of New York City."

The giant's eyes did not change. Then a tall, slender man in evening clothes came down the marble stairs and held out his hand.

"It is a very great pleasure and honour," he said, with a slight accent, "to welcome Mr Sanger Rainsford, the famous hunter, to my home. I've read your book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet. I am General Zaroff."

He was handsome, with vivid white hair, but his eyebrows and pointed moustache were as black as the night. His eyes were black too, and very bright.

"Ivan is very strong," said the general, "but he cannot hear or speak. He is a Cossack. So am I." When he smiled, Rainsford saw red lips and pointed teeth.

Ivan brought Rainsford a fine suit from a London tailor, then led him to a great dining hall. On the walls hung the heads of lions, tigers, elephants and bears. Rainsford had never seen better ones.

The dinner was excellent. But there was one small thing that made Rainsford uncomfortable. Every time he looked up, the general was studying him carefully.

"That Cape buffalo is the largest I've ever seen," said Rainsford. "I've always thought it was the most dangerous of all big game."

PART 2 · A NEW ANIMAL

The general smiled his strange red-lipped smile. "No. You are wrong, sir. Here on my island, I hunt more dangerous game."

"Tigers?"

"No. Tigers no longer interest me. I live for danger, Mr Rainsford."

He told his story. When he was five, his father, a rich man in the Crimea, gave him a little gun. He killed his first bear at ten. After the revolution, he left Russia with his money and hunted all over the world.

"But one night in the Amazon, a terrible thought came to me. Hunting was beginning to bore me! It had become too easy. I always got my quarry. Always. There is no greater bore than perfection.

An animal has only its legs and its instinct. And instinct is no match for reason."

"So what did you do?"

"I had to invent a new animal to hunt. So I bought this island and built this house. I asked myself, 'What makes the ideal quarry?' And the answer was: 'It must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason.'"

"But no animal can reason," said Rainsford.

"My dear fellow," said the general, "there is one that can."

Rainsford stared at him. "But you can't mean—"

"And why not?"

Book club

PART 2 · A NEW ANIMAL

1. How did General Zaroff already know who Rainsford was?

2. Why did hunting begin to bore the general?

3. What three things must the "ideal quarry" have, according to Zaroff?

4. Zaroff is polite, rich and well educated. Does that make him more or less frightening?

5. Have you ever got bored of something you once loved? What did you do?

6. What will Rainsford say or do now?

PART 3 OF 4

Outdoor chess

PART 3 · OUTDOOR CHESS

"I can't believe you're serious, General Zaroff. What you're talking about is murder."

The general laughed. "A modern young man like you, with such old-fashioned ideas about the value of human life! Surely your experiences in the war—"

"Did not make me accept cold-blooded murder," said Rainsford. "I'm a hunter, not a murderer."

"Life is for the strong," said the general calmly, "and, if necessary, it is taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I hunt sailors from cargo ships. A good horse or dog is worth more than twenty of them."

"But they are men," said Rainsford angrily.

"Exactly. That is why I use them. They can reason, a little. So they are dangerous."

"But where do you get them?"

The general winked. "This island is called Ship-Trap." He pressed a button, and far out at sea, lights flashed. "They show ships a channel where there is none. They can crush a ship as easily as I crush this nut." He dropped a walnut and crushed it under his heel.

Then he explained his game. He gave the sailor food, a hunting knife and three hours' start. He followed with a small pistol. "If my quarry escapes me for three whole days, he wins. If I find him," the general smiled, "he loses."

"And if he refuses to be hunted?"

"Then I give him to Ivan. Ivan once whipped prisoners for the Tsar. They always choose the hunt."

Rainsford could not sleep that night.

PART 3 · OUTDOOR CHESS

In the courtyard below, huge black hounds moved in the moonlight. Just before morning, far off in the jungle, he heard a pistol shot.

At lunch, the general looked bored. "The hunting was not good last night. The fellow lost his head."

"General," said Rainsford, "I wish to leave this island at once."

The general's face suddenly brightened. "Tonight," he said, "we will hunt, you and I."

"No, General. I will not hunt."

The general looked at Ivan, standing in the corner with his arms crossed. "As you wish. But you'll find my idea of sport more fun than Ivan's. Your brain against mine. Outdoor chess! If I don't find you by midnight of the third day, my boat will take you to the mainland. Avoid the south-east swamp.

We call it Death Swamp. I shall not follow till dusk. Au revoir, Mr Rainsford."

The gates shut behind him. Rainsford left a trail full of loops, like a fox, and at night climbed a big tree.

Near morning, someone came slowly along his trail. It was General Zaroff. He stopped right under the tree and lit a black cigarette. His eyes moved slowly up the tree, and stopped just before they reached Rainsford's branch. He smiled, blew a smoke ring, and walked away.

Why had he smiled? Rainsford went cold. The general was playing with him! He was saving him for another day's sport. The general was the cat. He was the mouse.

Book club

PART 3 · OUTDOOR CHESS

1. How does the general bring sailors to his island?

2. What are the rules of the general's "game"?

3. Why did the general walk away from the tree?

4. "Life is for the strong." How would you answer the general?

5. Did Rainsford really have a choice? What would you have done?

6. How can Rainsford survive three days? What would you try?

PART 4 OF 4

A beast at bay

PART 4 · A BEAST AT BAY

"I will not lose my nerve," said Rainsford.

He found a huge dead tree leaning on a smaller living one, and worked hard with his knife. Then he hid and waited. The cat came back to play with the mouse.

The general followed the trail perfectly. His foot touched a branch, and the dead tree crashed down. He jumped back, but it hit his shoulder. He did not fall. Rainsford heard him laugh.

"Rainsford! Not many men know how to make a Malay man-catcher. Luckily, I too have hunted in Malacca. I shall be back. I shall be back."

Rainsford ran for hours. At night his foot sank into soft mud. Death Swamp. That gave him an idea. He dug a deep pit, set sharp stakes in the bottom, and covered it with branches.

Then he hid.

He smelled the general's cigarette. Branches cracked. Something screamed in pain. Rainsford jumped up, then pulled back. Three feet from the pit stood a man with a torch.

"You've done well, Rainsford. Your Burmese tiger pit has taken one of my best dogs. I think I'll see what you can do against my whole pack."

At dawn came a sound that taught Rainsford new things about fear: the baying of hounds. Ivan was leading the pack, with the general behind. Rainsford remembered a trick from Uganda. He tied his knife to a young tree, bent it back, and fixed it with a vine across the trail. Then he ran.

The barking stopped. He climbed a tree and looked back. General Zaroff was still on his feet. But Ivan was not.

PART 4 · A BEAST AT BAY

The hounds came on. Rainsford reached a gap in the trees. It was the sea. Across a small bay stood the château. Twenty feet below him, the water roared. He heard the dogs. Then he jumped far out into the sea...

At the cliff, the general shrugged. He drank some brandy and hummed a tune from an opera.

That evening, two small things spoiled his excellent dinner. It would be difficult to replace Ivan. And his quarry had escaped. Of course, the American hadn't played the game, the general thought.

At ten, he locked himself in his bedroom. He looked down at his hounds. "Better luck another time," he called. Then he switched on the light.

A man, who had been hiding in the curtains of the bed, was standing there.

"Rainsford!" screamed the general. "How in God's name did you get here?"

"Swam," said Rainsford. "I found it quicker than walking through the jungle."

The general smiled. "I congratulate you. You have won the game."

Rainsford did not smile. "I am still a beast at bay," he said, in a low, hoarse voice. "Get ready, General Zaroff."

The general made one of his deepest bows. "I see. Splendid! One of us will be food for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford..."

He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided.

Book club

PART 4 · A BEAST AT BAY

1. What traps did Rainsford make, and what happened with each one?

2. How did Rainsford escape from the hounds?

3. Where was Rainsford waiting for the general at the end?

4. "I am still a beast at bay." What does Rainsford mean?

5. Why do you think Rainsford came back to the château instead of escaping?

6. The story ends in a bedroom, not with the fight. Why do you think Connell did that?

Big questions

1

On the yacht, Rainsford didn't care how a jaguar feels. Does he care now?

2

Is there a real difference between hunting animals and what Zaroff does? Why or why not?

3

In the end, is Rainsford a hunter, a murderer, or something else?

4

Zaroff says, "Life is for the strong." Where do you see this idea in the world today?

5

Zaroff is charming, cultured and cruel. Can good manners hide a bad person?

6

This story is over a hundred years old. Why do films and games still copy it?

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · SKIP OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

Part 1 · 1 Whether animals feel fear. Whitney thought a jaguar understands the fear of pain and death; Rainsford said nobody cares how a jaguar feels.

Part 1 · 2 He heard three gunshots, jumped onto the rail to see better, reached for his falling pipe and lost his balance.

Part 1 · 3 Crushed plants stained red, an empty .22 cartridge, and the prints of hunting boots.

Part 2 · 1 He had read Rainsford's book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet.

Part 2 · 2 It had become too easy. He always got his quarry, and animals had only instinct, which is no match for reason.

Part 2 · 3 Courage, cunning and, above all, the ability to reason.

Part 3 · 1 He uses lights that show ships a channel where there is none, so they crash on the rocks.

Part 3 · 2 The man gets food, a hunting knife and three hours' start. The general follows with a small pistol. If the man escapes for three days, he wins; if not, he loses. If he refuses, he is given to Ivan.

Part 3 · 3 He was playing with Rainsford, like a cat with a mouse, and saving him for another day's sport.

Part 4 · 1 A Malay man-catcher (a falling dead tree), which hurt the general's shoulder; a Burmese tiger pit, which killed one of his best dogs; and a knife tied to a bent young tree, which stopped Ivan.

Part 4 · 2 He jumped from a high cliff into the sea.

Part 4 · 3 In the general's bedroom, hiding in the curtains of the bed.