The Most Dangerous Game
ANNOUNCER
2ND ANNOUNCER
RAINSFORD
WHITNEY
ZAROFF
ANNOUNCER: Worried about the price of butter and eggs? Fed up with the housing shortage? Want to get away from it all?
2ND ANNOUNCER: CBS offers you -- Escape!
MUSIC: Night on Bald Mountain
ANNOUNCER: You are alone and unarmed in the green hell of a Caribbean jungle. You're being trailed by a pack of fiercely hungry dogs -- and a mad hunter armed for the kill. A mad hunter who believes that you, a human being, are the most dangerous game.
2ND ANNOUNCER: The Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations present Escape -- produced by William N. Robson and directed tonight by Richard Sandville. Escape -- carefully planned to free you from the four walls of today, free you for a half hour of high adventure.
THUNDER
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, we escape to an island in the Caribbean and the weird sportsmanship of a madman, as Richard Connell tells it in his unforgettable story "The Most Dangerous Game."
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): My name is Rainsford. You may have heard of me. I make my living hunting big game for many of the major museums of the world. Guiding parties of sportsmen on safari in Africa, Tibet, and South America. Perhaps you've had occasion to run across some of my books. But even if you have, there's one incident you won't find described in them. The full story of my most terrible hunt. ... It all began on board a private yacht en route to Rio. Whitney, my host, and I were smoking our pipes on deck ...
THE NIGHT WIND
RAINSFORD (narrates): ... lounging back in steamer chairs, enjoying the sensuous drowsiness of the warm night.
WHITNEY: Ah, good dinner, eh?
RAINSFORD: Excellent. (lets out his breath) Afraid I ate too much, though.
WHITNEY: Care for some, uh, gin-rummy?
RAINSFORD: Oh, no, I don't care to move.
WHITNEY: All right. Er... there's a rather large island off there to the right somewhere. It's, uh, something of a mystery.
RAINSFORD: Really? Oh, I didn't know. What island is it?
WHITNEY: The old charts call it Ship Trap Island. Suggestive name, isn't it? Sailors have a curious dread of the place. Some superstition ...
RAINSFORD: Hmm, I - I can't see it.
WHITNEY: Well, you have good eyes, but even you can't see four miles or so through a moonless Caribbean night.
RAINSFORD: No, not even four yards. It is dark, isn't it?
WHITNEY: It'll be light enough in Rio. Oh, by the way. Hope the guns come from Purdey's. We should have some good jaguar hunting up the Amazon. Great sport hunting.
RAINSFORD: Best in the world.
WHITNEY: Yes, for the hunter, not for the jaguar.
RAINSFORD: Oh, why not? They've no understanding.
WHITNEY: Ah, even so. I rather think they understand one thing. Fear. The fear of pain, the fear of death.
RAINSFORD: Huh? Oh, rot, Whitney. Who cares how the jaguar feels?
WHITNEY: Perhaps the jaguar does.
RAINSFORD (chuckles): Oh, you're a big game hunter, not a philosopher. Look, the world is made up of two classes: the hunter, the hunted. We're lucky enough to be the hunters. You think we passed that island yet?
WHITNEY: Can't tell in the dark. I hope so.
RAINSFORD: Why?
WHITNEY: Oh, the place has a reputation -- a bad one.
RAINSFORD: Cannibals?
WHITNEY: Ah, hardly. Even cannibals wouldn't live in such an isolated spot. But it's gotten into sailors' legend somehow. Did you notice? The crew seemed jumpy today.
RAINSFORD: Yeh, they were a bit strange now that you mention it.
WHITNEY: Yes, it's a sort of dread, a kind of mental chill. I'll be hanged if I haven't felt it myself.
RAINSFORD (scoffs): Oh, pure imagination. Why, one superstitious sailor can infect a whole ship's company with his fear.
WHITNEY: Mmm, maybe. Though sometimes sailors have an extra sense which tells them when they're in danger. Well... (laughs) Enough of that. I - I think I'll turn in.
RAINSFORD: I'm not sleepy. I'll just have another pipe.
WHITNEY (fading): Good night, then. See you in the morning.
RAINSFORD: Yes, good night, Whitney.
RAINSFORD (narrates): It was very dark, so dark I could have slept without closing my eyes. The night would have been my eyelids. I puffed at my pipe, got drowsy.
GUN SHOT
RAINSFORD (narrates): Then I was wide awake ...
GUN SHOT
RAINSFORD (narrates): A gun ... out there in the water ... a gun.
GUN SHOT
RAINSFORD (narrates): I sprang to the rail, strained my eyes in the direction of those shots, but I couldn't see a thing. I leaped up on the rail to get better elevation and my pipe, striking the rope, was knocked out of my mouth. I lunged for it and tight fingers closed around my heart as I realized I'd reached too far and lost my balance. (screams)
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): The blood-warm waters of the Caribbean closed over my head.
SLOSHING WATER
RAINSFORD (narrates): When I came to the surface, the wash from the speeding yacht slapped salt water into my mouth, making me gag and strangling me. I coughed and spat it out and found my voice.
RAINSFORD (shouts): Help! Help! Help!
RAINSFORD (narrates): The lights from the boat moved steadily away. They quickly became faint fireflies. And then ... they were blotted out by the night.
SEA WAVES
RAINSFORD (narrates): I struggled out of my clothes and turned to the direction from which I'd heard those shots. I began swimming -- slowly, conserving my strength.
MUSIC OUT
RAINSFORD (narrates): For an endless time I fought the sea. Then I began to count my strokes, thought I could possibly do another hundred before--
HOWLING
GUN SHOT
RAINSFORD (narrates): Someone was shooting game! Almost at my very elbow it seemed. Gaining fresh vitality, I swam toward the sound. Then I was in the breakers. In another moment I was dragging myself from the swirling waters, pulling myself hand over hand onto the narrow beach. Gasping, panting for breath, I saw that the dense jungle came down from the edge of the cliff and I was on land, on blessed land. Safe on the soft warm sand.
BEACH
RAINSFORD (narrates): I awoke late in the afternoon, a sharp hunger picking at me. As I slowly came to my feet, I saw, not far from where I'd been lying, signs of a terrible struggle in the underbrush that sloped so sharply to the beach. Some wounded thing, evidently a large animal, had thrashed about there in its death fright. Almost at my feet was a small glittering object, an empty cartridge, from a .22. That was odd. The hunter had had his nerve to tackle a large brute with so small a gun. I examined the ground closely and found what I'd hoped for -- the print of hunting boots. They pointed up toward a recess in the cliff. And I hurried quickly after them for night was beginning to settle on the island.
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): It was already dark when I came upon it. First, I thought it was a village -- there were so many lights. But as I came closer, I saw that all the lights were in one building, a chateau on a high bluff. In a few moments my bare feet were padding up stone steps. And I stood in front of the massive oaken door.
KNOCKING AT DOOR
CREAKING DOOR
RAINSFORD: Good evening. Please, don't be alarmed. There's no need for that gun. I'm no robber. I-i-it sounds silly but... I fell off a yacht. My name is Sanger Rainsford of New York City.
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): He was certainly not alarmed by me, this giant who stood facing me. The revolver in his hand continued to point steadily at my chest. And the man behind it was solidly built and black-bearded to the waist. And silent. He waved me in with the gun and closed the door behind me.
DOOR CLOSING
RAINSFORD (narrates): I was in a huge hall but there was no time to look around. Another man was coming down the broad marble stairs. An erect slender man in evening clothes. I stepped toward him.
RAINSFORD: I've, uh, just been explaining to this chap that I've had an accident. My name is Sanger Rainsford.
ZAROFF: It's a great pleasure and honor to welcome Mr. Rainsford, the celebrated hunter, to my home.
RAINSFORD (surprised to be recognized): Well! Thank you.
ZAROFF: I've read your book on hunting snow leopards in Tibet. I'm General Zaroff.
RAINSFORD: Believe me, General, I'm very happy to see you.
ZAROFF: All right, Ivan, you can put down that gun. This gentleman is a guest. (to Rainsford) Ivan is an incredibly strong fellow but he has the misfortune to be a mute. A simple thing but a bit of a savage.
RAINSFORD: I'm even happy to see him.
ZAROFF: Come, we should not be chatting here. You want clothes, food, rest. You shall have them. This is a most restful spot.
RAINSFORD: I - I can't tell you how grateful I am.
ZAROFF: It is my pleasure. Follow Ivan if you please, Mr. Rainsford. I was about to have my dinner but it can wait. I think my clothes will fit you.
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): I followed the man into a huge beam-ceilinged bedroom with a canopy bed large enough for six men. Ivan silently laid out an evening suit. As I put it on, I noticed it came from a London tailor. Hm. And Whitney'd called this place too isolated, even for cannibals. I went downstairs and sat down opposite Zaroff in a dining room that suggested a baronial hall of feudal times. The food was excellent.
DINNER NOISES
ZAROFF: Perhaps you were surprised that I recognized your name. But I read all books on hunting published in English, French and Russian. I have but one passion in life and that is the hunt.
RAINSFORD: Why, I noticed you have some wonderful heads here. That Cape Buffalo over there is the largest I've ever seen.
ZAROFF: Oh, that fellow, yes. He charged me, threw me against a tree, fractured my skull. But I got the brute.
RAINSFORD: Hm. I've always thought the Cape Buffalo the most dangerous of all big game.
ZAROFF: No. The Cape Buffalo is not the most dangerous.
RAINSFORD: No?
ZAROFF: Here in my preserve on this island, I hunt more dangerous game.
RAINSFORD: Why, is there big game on this island?
ZAROFF: The biggest.
RAINSFORD: Really?
ZAROFF: Oh, it is not here naturally. I had to stock the island.
RAINSFORD: Oh, what have you imported, General? Tigers?
ZAROFF: No. Hunting tigers ceased to interest me when I exhausted their possibilities. There is no thrill left in tigers, no real danger. I live for danger. Cigarette, Mr. Rainsford?
RAINSFORD: Please.
ZAROFF: We will have some capital hunting you and I.
RAINSFORD: But what game?
ZAROFF: I'll tell you. You will be amused, I know. I think I may say in all modesty that I have done a rare thing. I have invented a new sensation. May I pour you another glass of port, sir?
RAINSFORD: Thank you.
POURING
ZAROFF: I have been a hunter all my life but, after many years of enjoyment, I found that the hunt no longer fascinated me. It had ceased to be what you call a sporting proposition. I always got my quarry. Always. And there is no greater bore than perfection.
RAINSFORD: Then you were a very good hunter, General.
ZAROFF: No, no. I had merely discovered that the animal has nothing but his legs and his instincts. Instinct is no match for reason. When I realized this, it was a tragic moment for me. As I told you, I love to hunt. And then it came to me as an inspiration what I must do.
RAINSFORD: And that was?
ZAROFF: I had to invent a new animal to hunt.
RAINSFORD: A new animal? Why, you're joking.
ZAROFF: I assure you I am not, sir. A new animal -- and so I found one. I bought this island, built this house, and here I do my hunting. The island is perfect for my purpose. There are jungles with a maze of trails in them, hills, swamps--
RAINSFORD: And the animal, General Zaroff?
ZAROFF: It supplies me with the most intense excitement of all. I never grow bored now for I have a quarry with which I can match my wits. An ideal quarry with courage, cunning and, above all, reason.
RAINSFORD: But ... no animal can reason.
ZAROFF: My dear fellow, there is one that can.
RAINSFORD: I can't believe you're serious. Why, this is some grisly joke.
ZAROFF: Of course I'm serious. I'm speaking of hunting.
RAINSFORD: You're speaking of murder!
ZAROFF: Surely your experiences in the war--
RAINSFORD: Did not make me condone cold-blooded murder.
ZAROFF: I'll wager you forget your notions when you go hunting with me. Why, you've a genuine new thrill in store for you, Mr. Rainsford.
RAINSFORD: Thank you. I'm a hunter, not a murderer.
ZAROFF: Oh, dear me, that unfortunate word again. But I-I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships, lascars, mongrels ...
RAINSFORD: Where do you get them?
ZAROFF: This island is called Ship Trap. There is a row of lights out there on the reef which indicate a channel where there is none, only rocks. I control the lights from my tower.
RAINSFORD: You wreck their ships and then you shoot down the men.
ZAROFF: But I treat my visitors with every consideration. They get plenty of good food and exercise. They get into splendid physical condition. You shall see for yourself tomorrow. Would you like some more port, please?
RAINSFORD: What shall I see tomorrow?
ZAROFF: We'll visit my training school. It's in the cellar. I have about a dozen there now. Sailors, inferior lot, I regret to say, more accustomed to the deck than the jungle. Ivan, we'll have our coffee now. Thick Turkish coffee, Mr. Rainsford, very good.
RAINSFORD: No.
ZAROFF: Is your appetite quite gone?
RAINSFORD: No coffee, thank you.
ZAROFF: Just one, Ivan. (to Rainsford) It's a game, you see. I suggest to one of them that we go hunting. I give him three hours start. I am to follow, armed only with pistol of smallest caliber and range. My quarry eludes me for three whole days, he wins the game. If I find him, he loses.
RAINSFORD: And if he refuses to be hunted?
ZAROFF: Oh, I give him the option. If he won't hunt, I turn him over to Ivan here. Ivan once served as official executioner to the Great White Czar and he has his own ideas of sport. Invariably, they choose the hunt.
RAINSFORD: And if they win?
ZAROFF: To date, I have not lost. I don't wish you to think me a braggart. One almost did win. Eventually, I had to use the dogs.
RAINSFORD: The dogs?
ZAROFF: Yes. Just step over here to the window a moment, huh?
FOOTSTEPS
ZAROFF: I want you to see my courtyard. Go ahead, Mr. Rainsford, open the window, please.
CREAKING WINDOW
DOG GROWLING
ZAROFF: I have a dozen, as you can see.
WINDOW SHUTS
ZAROFF: They are let out at seven every night. If anyone should try to get into my house -- or out of it ... well, it would be regrettable. And now I want to show you my new collection of heads. Will you come with me to the library?
RAINSFORD: I -- I hope you'll excuse me tonight. I'm really not feeling at all well.
ZAROFF: Oh, I am sorry. You need a good restful night's sleep. Tomorrow, you'll feel like a new man and then we'll hunt, eh? I've one rather promising prospect--
RAINSFORD (narrates): But I was already hurrying from the room and up the marble stairway. I heard him calling after me.
ZAROFF: Sorry you can't go with me tonight. I expect rather fair sport -- a big strong native from west coast of Africa. He looks resourceful.
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): The bed was good. I was tired but I didn't sleep. I didn't toss or turn. I didn't move. I just lay rigidly in one spot, my eyes on the ceiling. My arms tight against my sides. My breathing slow and heavy. My mind empty. Waiting, waiting. The inky black was just beginning to dissolve, a thin line of gray was just beginning to seep insidiously into my room...
GUN SHOT
RAINSFORD (narrates): ... when Zaroff found his quarry. Then I suppose I slept. When I awoke, the sun's shadows were already slanting through my room. Must have been well after noon. I came down to find General Zaroff pouring himself a glass of brandy by the sideboard.
ZAROFF: Ah, Mr. Rainsford, feeling better, I trust?
RAINSFORD: Yes.
ZAROFF: I wish I could say the same. No, I'm not well. Hunting was no good last night. He made a straight trail, offered no problems at all.
RAINSFORD: General, I want to leave the island at once.
ZAROFF: Mr. Rainsford ... tonight we will hunt. You and I.
RAINSFORD: No, General. I've told you, I will not hunt.
ZAROFF: I beg you to reconsider. My idea of sport is much more diverting than Ivan.
RAINSFORD: You ... you mean that...?
ZAROFF: Yes ... you and I. It's really an inspiration. A foeman worthy of my steel at last. Oh, you'll find this game worth playing, Rainsford. Your brain against mine. Your woodcraft against mine. Your strength and stamina against mine. Outdoor chess and the stake is not without value, eh?
RAINSFORD: And if I win?
ZAROFF: If I do not find you by midnight of the third day, then I'm defeated. My sloop will place you on the mainland near a town. (beat) Oh, you can trust me. I give you my word as gentleman and as a sportsman. Of course, you in turn must agree to say nothing of your visit here.
RAINSFORD: I'll agree to say nothing of the kind.
ZAROFF: Well, in that case .... Why discuss it now? Three days from now we can chat about it over a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, unless .... And, listen, Rainsford, Ivan will supply you with hunting clothes, food and knife. I suggest you wear moccasins. They leave a poorer trail. I suggest, too, you avoid the big swamp in the southeast corner of the island. There's quicksand there. And now you'll want to start, no doubt. I shall not follow until dusk. Hunting at night is so much more exciting than by day, don't you think, Mr. Rainsford? Good hunting.
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): I kept telling myself through tight teeth that I had to keep my head. Keep my head. My first idea had been to put distance between myself and Zaroff so I plunged into the jungle in a blind panic. Before long I shook it off and stopped. Straight flight was futile. It would only bring me out to the sea. Then I hit upon the idea of giving him a trail to follow. I would begin our dangerous game by playing the fox.
JUNGLE
RAINSFORD (narrates): For more than two hours I went through the trackless wilderness, executing a series of intricate loops, doubling again and again on my trail. Night found me leg-weary with hands and face lashed by the branches. I needed rest badly. And having played the fox, I decided now to play the cat. I climbed into the crotch of a huge tree.
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): An apprehensive night crawled slowly by like a wounded snake. Then at dawning a startled bird suddenly screamed ...
BIRD SCREAMS AND FLIES OFF
RAINSFORD (narrates): ... and I flattened against a bough. Through a screen of leaves as thick as tapestry, I saw the General. He came slowly, his eyes fixed on the ground. Almost beneath my tree, he paused and went down on one knee, studying the ground. I would have gone for him, leaping the way a panther does -- except for the small automatic in his right hand. After a seeming endless time, he came back to his feet. His eyes left the ground and traveled inch by inch up the tree. I froze. Every muscle tensed for a spring. And the hunter's eyes stopped just before they reached the limb on which I lay. A slow smile spread over his brown face.
ZAROFF: Oh, Rainsford, where can you have gone? Wherever are you, you clever dog? I think we must go home and lie down a bit to think this over.
RAINSFORD (narrates): The pent-up air burst hotly from my lungs as he turned back and disappeared. So, the General was playing with me. Was saving me for another's day's sport. Zaroff was the cat and I was the mouse. In that moment I knew the real meaning of terror. I slipped from the tree and set off into the woods. I'd only gone a few hundred yards when I found a huge dead tree leaning against a smaller living one. I pulled my knife from its sheath and set to work. When the job was finished, I threw myself down behind a log a hundred feet away. How long I waited, I don't know. It seemed like days. It was probably only a few hours. Then he was coming again with the sureness of a bloodhound. Nothing, nothing escaped those searching black eyes, no crushed blade of grass, no bent twig, no mark however faint in the moss. He was so intent on his stalking, he was upon the thing before saw it, his foot touching the protruding branch that was the trigger.
FALLING TREE
RAINSFORD (narrates): The dead tree delicately adjusted to rest on the cut living one crashed heavily to the earth. And I waited yet another moment, not daring to look up and see if it really had done its work.
ZAROFF (laughing with delight): Rainsford! If you are within the sound of my voice, let me congratulate you! There aren't many men who know how to make a Malay man-catcher! I am a lucky man, Rainsford! My reflexes are still good! Did you see me spring back even while it was falling? Rainsford, can you hear me? You are proving interesting! I'm going back now to have my wound dressed! Don't be alarmed -- it's only a slight one! I shall be back! I shall be back!
RAINSFORD (narrates): It was dark and I'd been going for hours. The vegetation became ranker, insects were biting me savagely, then when mud began sucking viciously at my feet like giant leeches, I knew where I was -- about to enter the dense swamp with its quicksand. However, the softness of the earth gave me an idea. I stepped back about a dozen paces out of the quicksand and began to dig.
DIGGING
RAINSFORD (narrates): When the pit was above my shoulders, I climbed out. And, from some hard saplings, I cut stakes, sharpening them to a fine point. I planted the stakes at the bottom of the pit with their points up. With flying fingers I wove a rough carpet of weeds and branches and, with it, I covered the mouth of the pit. Then, wet with sweat and aching with tiredness, I crouched behind the stump of a lightning-blasted tree. I heard the padding sound of feet on the soft earth. I knew he was coming. The night wind brought me the perfume of the General's black cigarette. Though I could see nothing, it seemed to me that he was coming with unusual swiftness, that he was not feeling his way along foot by foot. In one brief moment, I lived an entire year. Then I heard the sharp crackle of breaking branches, the cover of the pit gave way.
MAN SCREAMING
ZAROFF: Ah, you've done well, Rainsford! Very well! Where did you get the time? Your Burmese tiger pit has claimed one of my best dogs! And so you score again! I must see what you can do now against my whole pack!
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): He went away again. But I just lay there in the swamp that night.
DOGS BARKING
RAINSFORD (narrates): At daybreak, I was awakened by a distant sound -- faint, wavering. The baying of a pack of hounds. I went up into a tree. Down a water course, not a quarter of a mile away, I could see the bush moving. I strained my eyes and saw the lean figure of General Zaroff. Just ahead of him, I made out the gigantic Ivan holding the pack in leash. I prepared for the native trick I'd learned in Uganda. I slipped from the tree, caught hold of a springy young sapling and to it fastened my knife, its blade pointing down the trail. With a bit of wild grape vine, I tied back the sapling and ran for my life. The hounds hit the fresh scent and raised their voices and I knew how an animal at bay must feel. Even as I ran, the clamor of the hounds suddenly ceased.
RAINSFORD (narrates): And, with it, my heart stopped -- for that meant they'd reached the knife. I climbed excitedly up a tree and looked back and hope died in my brain. The General was still on his feet. Ivan, however, was not. The knife driven by the recoil of the springing tree had done its work.
DOGS BARKING
RAINSFORD (narrates): Then the dogs took up the cry again and I was on the ground once more. Nerve! Nerve! I panted the words over and over as I fled headlong. A blue gap showed through the trees dead ahead. I forced myself up on towards the gap and reached the sea. It lay twenty feet below me, rumbling and hissing.
SEA WAVES
RAINSFORD (narrates): I stood a moment, poised over the edge. I heard the hounds. I knew it was the end. Then I leaped far out into the water.
SUSPENSE
ZAROFF: Well, it's been a busy day, Adam. A busy day. Oh, down, Adam, down. What's the matter, my boy? Hungry? All right, catch.
DOG GROWLING
ZAROFF: Eh, quite a day. Not perfect, of course. Two slight annoyances. One is, it will be difficult to replace Ivan. And the other, well, our quarry escaped us, didn't he, Adam? Then, of course, the American didn't really play the game. So we won't count it. We won't count it at all. All right, my boy. That's enough for now.
CREAKING DOOR
DOGS BARKING
ZAROFF: Out you go with the rest. Better luck another time!
DOOR CLOSING
FOOTSTEPS
ZAROFF (gasps): Rainsford!
RAINSFORD: Good evening.
ZAROFF: How did you get here?
RAINSFORD: I swam. I found that quicker than walking through the jungle.
ZAROFF: I congratulate you. You have won the game.
RAINSFORD: No, General.
ZAROFF: Yes, yes, of course you have.
RAINSFORD: I'm still a beast at bay. Get ready, General Zaroff.
ZAROFF: I see. Splendid. One of us is to furnish a meal for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. Good, Rainsford. Good. En garde.
SUSPENSE
RAINSFORD (narrates): The General was right. Never before in my life had I slept in a better bed.
SUSPENSE
ANNOUNCER: Escape is produced by William N. Robson and was directed tonight by Richard Sandville. You have escaped tonight in the Richard Connell story "The Most Dangerous Game." Adapted for radio by Irving Ravitch with Paul Frees as Sanger Rainsford and Hans Conried as General Zaroff. The special musical score was conceived and conducted by Cy Feur.
2ND ANNOUNCER: Next week!
ANNOUNCER: You're sitting at the throttle of a speeding locomotive, screaming around the curves of a mountain gorge. Racing against time with death at your shoulder. Next week, you're the engineer of the Yellow Mail.
MUSIC: Night on Bald Mountain
ANNOUNCER: Next week CBS offers you Escape with Frank H. Spearman's exciting story of railroading, "The Run of the Yellow Mail." Until this same time next week then, good night.
2ND ANNOUNCER: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
MUSIC OUT
___________________________________
Originally broadcast: 1 October 1947
Questions for Discussion
1. What is Rainsford famous for?
A) hunting
B) writing
C) sailing
D) singing
E) acting
2. In what region of the world is the story set?
A) Mexico
B) Russia
C) Greece
D) Caribbean
E) none of the above
3. What is the name of the island that causes sailors so much dread?
A) Sunk-Sailor Island
B) Sail-Bomb Island
C) Ship-Trap Island
D) Dead-Man’s Island
E) Ghost-Maker Island
4. Why does Rainsford go onto the deck of the ship?
A) to smoke a pipe
B) to speak with the Captain
C) to watch the stars
D) to breathe in fresh air
E) none of the above
5. What startles Rainsford while he is relaxing on the deck?
A) the sound of an animal roaring
B) the engine
C) a scream
D) the sound of gunshots
E) none of the above
6. Where are Rainsford and Whitney at the beginning of the story?
A) in New York City, talking about a planned trip
B) on an island
C) hunting in the forest
D) on a boat near Dead-Man's Island
E) none of the above
7. What kind of gun does Rainsford hear while he is swimming in the water?
A) pistol
B) machine gun
C) rifle
D) a BB gun
E) none of the above
8. Where does Rainsford find himself after swimming ashore?
A) a lagoon
B) a rocky shore just outside of a jungle
C) a bog
D) a pier
E) none of the above
9. Zaroff is
A) a Russian.
B) Cossack.
C) a New Yorker.
D) Yugoslavian.
10. What do General Zaroff and Rainsford have in common?
A) they are both big game hunters
B) they both speak Russian
C) they both own yachts
D) they both enjoy Parisian operas
E) none of the above
11. Rainsford says that the most dangerous of all big game are
A) Cape buffaloes.
B) tigers.
C) lions.
D) jaguars.
12. What initially makes Rainsford uncomfortable about General Zaroff?
A) Zaroff is a fellow hunter and enjoys bragging.
B) Zaroff appears to be evaluating Rainsford.
C) Zaroff has a slight accent and appears to be very wealthy.
D) Zaroff seems to have impeccable taste.
E) Zaroff is a welcoming host.
13. According to Zaroff, the ideal quarry has the following attributes:
A) courage, power, and cunning
B) strength, size, and ferocity
C) ferocity, skill, and power
D) courage, cunning, and the ability to reason
14. What does General Zaroff have planned for Rainsford?
A) The general intends to hunt Ivan with Rainsford.
B) The general intends to hunt jaguars with Rainsford.
C) The general intends to hunt one of his captives with Rainsford.
D) The general intends to allow Rainsford to do whatever he wishes.
E) The general intends to hunt Rainsford.
15. What happens during the first day of the hunt?
A) Ivan punches Rainsford
B) the dogs bite Rainsford
C) Zaroff leaves Rainsford out to prolong the hunt
D) Rainsford escapes
E) none of the above
16. Ivan is killed by
A) committing suicide.
B) a bullet shot to the head.
C) a Ugandan trap.
D) a ferocious lion.
17. To where does Rainsford finally escape?
A) the sea
B) some trees
C) a cave
D) a hill
18. Who dies in the final scene?
A) Zaroff
B) Rainsford
C) both Zaroff and Rainsford
D) no one
19. The most dangerous game is hunting
A) crocodiles.
B) Cape buffaloes.
C) humans.
D) jaguars.
20. The central conflict in this story is external. With whom or what does Rainsford struggle?
A) nature
B) society
C) social norms
D) fate
E) another character
21. Which of the following words best describes the mood, or atmosphere, of this story?
A) tense
B) joyful
C) somber
D) relaxed
E) comical
22. Which literary element is most significant to the development of the plot of the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell?
A) Point of view
B) Irony
C) Setting
D) Tone
23. At the conclusion of “The Most Dangerous Game,” the protagonist Rainsford is characterized as
A) a murderer.
B) a winner.
C) a victim.
D) an explorer.
24. Who is the protagonist of the story?
A) Zaroff
B) Rainsford
C) Whitney
D) Captain Nielsen
E) none of the above
25. Who is the main antagonist of the story?
A) Zaroff
B) Rainsford
C) Ivan
D) Ship-Trap Island
E) none of the above
26. The description "mud began sucking viciously at my feet like giant leeches" is a(an) example of
A) simile.
B) adjective.
C) allegory.
D) metaphor.
E) none of the above
27. The title of the short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," can be read as what?
A) onomatopoeia
B) a pun
C) a simile
D) anthropomorphism
E) hyperbole