The Interlopers
Two enemies who have feuded over a strip of forest finally meet face to face, only for nature to deliver a verdict neither expected.
Ulrich and Georg have hated each other for a lifetime over a worthless border of woodland, and on one storm-tossed night they come upon each other in the dark, each hoping to kill the other. Before either can fire, a falling beech tree pins them both to the earth. Trapped side by side, the bitter foes are forced to confront whether their feud was ever worth it.
What happens
Ulrich von Gradwitz patrols a disputed strip of forest on his estate hoping to catch his lifelong enemy, Georg Znaeym, poaching on the contested land. The quarrel began as a lawsuit between their grandfathers and has hardened into personal hatred. On a wild, windy night the two men suddenly come face to face, each armed and tempted to shoot. At that very moment a great beech tree, loosened by the storm, crashes down and pins both men beneath its branches, leaving them trapped within speaking distance of one another. At first they exchange threats, each promising that his own men will arrive first and finish the other. As the cold deepens, Ulrich offers Georg his wine flask and proposes that they end the feud and become friends. Moved, Georg agrees, and the two reconcile, deciding that whoever is rescued first will aid the other. They shout together for help and soon see figures running toward them down the hillside. As the shapes draw near, Ulrich counts them and realizes with horror that they are not men at all but wolves.
Timeline the story arc, beat by beat
- Setup The Inherited Feud
Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym carry on a generations-old quarrel over a narrow, barren strip of disputed forest.
- Inciting The Stormy Hunt
On a wild winter night Ulrich roams the woods, secretly hoping to find and kill his trespassing enemy.
- Rising Face to Face
The two men meet abruptly in the dark, each armed and each hesitating at the brink of murder.
- Crisis The Falling Beech
A storm-loosened beech tree crashes down and pins both enemies to the ground, trapping them together.
- Turn Threats to Truce
After trading boasts about whose men will save them, Ulrich offers his wine and proposes peace.
- Reconciliation Newfound Friendship
Georg accepts, the lifelong feud dissolves, and the men plan to help each other and call off the quarrel.
- Twist The Wolves
They shout for rescue and watch figures approach, only for Ulrich to realize the running shapes are wolves.
Characters and how they connect
Ulrich von Gradwitz
Landowner
The legal owner of the disputed forest who patrols it seeking his enemy, then extends the hand of peace.
Georg Znaeym
Rival
Ulrich’s lifelong adversary who hunts the same woods and finally accepts reconciliation under the tree.
The beech tree
Agent of fate
The storm-felled tree that pins both men and forces the confrontation that changes them.
The wolves
The true interlopers
The pack whose arrival delivers the story’s ironic final blow to the newly reconciled foes.
The grandfathers
Originators of the feud
The earlier generation whose lawsuit set in motion the hatred the two men inherit.
Relationship map
- Ulrich von GradwitzLifelong foes who reconcile under the treeGeorg Znaeym
- Ulrich von GradwitzPinned and humbled by natureThe beech tree
- Georg ZnaeymTrapped beside his former enemyThe beech tree
- The wolvesThe unforeseen threat that ends the truceUlrich von Gradwitz
- The grandfathersBequeath the quarrel he prolongsUlrich von Gradwitz
Themes what the story is really about
The Futility of Feuds
A hatred passed down for generations over worthless land is exposed as senseless the moment death looms.
The Power of Nature
Both proud men are humbled by a tree and a wolf pack, showing how trivial human quarrels are before nature.
Reconciliation Too Late
The enemies achieve peace only at the very edge of destruction, making their growth poignant and doomed.
Fate and Irony
Just as the men resolve to live differently, an indifferent fate denies them the chance to do so.
Symbols & motifs
The Beech Tree
The falling tree symbolizes fate and nature overruling human will, trapping pride and forcing reflection.
The Disputed Strip of Forest
The worthless land embodies the emptiness of the feud, valued only for the pride invested in it.
The Wine Flask
Ulrich’s offered flask becomes a token of peace, the small gesture that dissolves a lifetime of hate.
The Wolves
The pack represents the real interlopers and the merciless natural order that mocks human plans.
Recurring motifs
The Storm. Recurring wind and weather signal nature’s restless power and steadily build the sense of menace.
Watching and Waiting. Both men repeatedly strain to see who approaches, a motif that pays off cruelly in the final reveal.
Boundaries and Trespass. Ideas of borders, ownership, and who counts as an interloper recur and are inverted by the ending.
Conflicts
Man versus man
The inherited rivalry between Ulrich and Georg drives the opening, each ready to kill the other.
Man versus nature
The storm, the tree, and finally the wolves prove a far greater force than the men’s quarrel.
Man versus fate
The characters’ change of heart collides with an indifferent fate that refuses them a second chance.
Literary devices
- Situational irony
- The men make peace just as the wolves arrive, so reconciliation is rewarded with destruction.
- Twist ending
- The approaching figures, expected to be rescuers, are revealed in the last word to be wolves.
- Foreshadowing
- Mentions of the wild storm and roaming animals quietly prepare the reader for the predatory finale.
- Symbolism
- The fallen beech and the worthless forest carry the story’s meaning about pride, fate, and futility.
- Dramatic irony
- The reader senses the doom gathering even as the men celebrate their fragile new friendship.
Important quotes
“The two enemies stood glaring at one another for a long silent moment.”
“Neither of us has any right to be here, except as interlopers.”
“We have quarrelled like devils all these years over this stupid strip of forest.”
“Wolves.”
The twist comes in the story’s last word. Having reconciled and resolved to end the feud, Ulrich and Georg shout together for rescue and watch dark figures hurrying toward them through the trees. Ulrich, who can see better, laughs that help is coming, then counts the shapes and falls silent. Georg asks whether they are his men or Georg’s; Ulrich answers, simply, that they are wolves. Saki withholds the rescue both men and readers expect and replaces it with predators, ensuring that the enemies’ newfound friendship will end in their deaths. The irony is brutal and complete: the men overcome their human hatred at the precise moment that nature, the true interloper, decides their fate. The abrupt one-word ending leaves the outcome unstated but unmistakable.
Common misreadings
MythThe men are rescued by their followers in the end.
ActuallyThe approaching figures are wolves, not rescuers, so no rescue arrives.
MythThe feud is over something valuable.
ActuallyThey have quarreled for generations over a narrow, worthless strip of forest.
MythThe story shows that reconciliation always saves people.
ActuallyThe men reconcile sincerely yet are still doomed, underscoring fate’s indifference.
Test yourself
1. What pins Ulrich and Georg to the ground?
A storm-loosened beech tree crashes down and traps both men beneath its branches.
2. What had the two men feuded over for generations?
Their inherited quarrel concerns a narrow, barren strip of disputed woodland.
3. Who are the figures approaching at the end?
Ulrich realizes the running shapes are wolves, delivering the story’s final twist.
Two men have hated each other for their whole lives over a useless patch of forest, and one stormy night they finally meet, both ready to kill. Before they can fight, a huge tree falls and traps them both, and lying there helpless they decide to stop fighting and become friends. They yell for help and see figures running toward them, but at the last second one man realizes those figures are not rescuers, they are wolves.
Ask the story
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Compare & connect the story universe
The Open Window
Saki’s other famous tale built on a sudden, perfectly timed twist that overturns expectations.
The Necklace
Both end with an abrupt ironic reversal that exposes the futility of the characters’ struggles.
The Ransom of Red Chief
Companion batch story whose plot also inverts at the climax against the characters’ plans.
The Story of an Hour
Shares a compact structure and a final ironic stroke of fate that undoes a moment of hope.
Key questions students ask
- What is the twist ending of The Interlopers?
- What does the title The Interlopers mean?
- What are the wolves a symbol of in The Interlopers?
- Why were Ulrich and Georg enemies?
- What is the central theme of The Interlopers?
- How does Saki use irony in The Interlopers?
Analysis is original StoryBites commentary. Quotations are from Saki’s The Interlopers (1919), which is in the public domain.