Name:Erika Ghemiz W. Sunaz 9SOC2 Activity 3.

11

The Hounds of Zaroff

-Richard Connell

Whitney, a traveler on a yacht headed for Rio de Janeiro, shows out Ship-Trap Island, a location that
sailors fear and steer clear of. He is traveling with his friend Rainsford, a large game hunter, to the
Amazon River region for their hunting excursion. The two men debate if their victim genuinely
experiences terror as the yacht sips through the night. Whitney is less certain than Rainsford that there
are just predators and prey in the world. Whitney wants to pass the mysterious island as soon as
possible after noticing the crew's unease. He postulates that sailors are capable of detecting danger and
that, like light and sound, evil travels in waves.

Whitney then makes the decision to retire for the evening, but Rainsford chooses to spend some time
puffing on his cigarette on the afterdeck. He moves near the deck's railing to look when he hears three
gunshots in the distance. Rainsford hoists himself onto the rail in an effort to get a better view, drops his
pipe, wobbles while attempting to retrieve it, and falls into the river unintentionally. His calls for
assistance are unanswered, and the yacht vanishes into the night in a flash.

Rainsford chooses to go in the direction of the gunshots. He immediately moves toward the animal after
hearing its agonizing screams, which are quickly silenced by a gunshot. Rainsford arrives at the rocky
shore exhausted and promptly passes out. The following afternoon, he awakens and leaves in search of
food. He is compelled to avoid the dense jungle growth and travel along the shore. He soon encounters
a massive animal's bloodied, torn-up remains in an area of bushes. Nearby, he discovers an empty rifle
cartridge.

He traces the hunter's footprints in the increasing darkness till he finds a grand château perched
precariously on a cliff overlooking the rough ocean below. Until Rainsford opens the iron gate and
knocks on the door, he initially assumes the chateau to be a mirage. Ivan, a huge man with a rifle,
answers and declines to assist Rainsford until General Zaroff, another man, arrives from the chateau and
offers an invitation to Rainsford inside.

Warmly welcoming Rainsford, Zaroff tells Ivan to take him to a room where he may get ready for dinner.
The huge, luxurious dining room is decorated with a range of stuffed and mounted heads that Zaroff
brought back from his various hunting trips around the world. While enjoying borscht, a red Russian
soup made of beets, Rainsford compliments his host's specimens and mentions how dangerous Cape
buffalo hunting can be. Zaroff claims that the game he hunts on his island now is far more dangerous. He
recalls earlier hunts, including those from his childhood in the Crimea and large game hunting
elsewhere, but he also talks about how the sport eventually became too simple.

Zaroff clues, in any case, that he has found a modern kind of creature to chase, one with strength, tricky,
and reason.He doesn't get it Rainsford's resentment but guarantees that his shock will die down once
he's started the chase.Rainsford decays Zaroff's welcome to connect within the chase that night and
goes to bed.

At lunchtime, General Zaroff returns to the chateau, sad because the hunt of human prey no longer
satisfies him. He complains about the fact that the sailors he attracts to the island become lesser and
less challenging. The general ignores Rainsford's request to leave the island right away and makes him
his new target for the upcoming hunt in the hopes that the renowned big-game hunter will provide the
challenge he needs. If Rainsford survives the next three days, Zaroff will release him. After collecting
supplies from Ivan, including food, clothing, and a knife, Rainsford departs for the bush. To mislead
Zaroff, he carves a convoluted, winding path through the brush, and as dusk falls, he climbs a tree to
wait.

Rainsford is quickly found by Zaroff, who decides to let him run away to prolong the thrill of the hunt.
Uneasy that Zaroff found him so quickly, Rainsford goes to another part of the bush and creates a
Malayan mancatcher booby trap to kill Zaroff. Zaroff only gets minor wounds in the trap, and when he
comes back to the chateau the next night, he swears to murder Rainsford.

Rainsford runs for hours before accidentally stepping into a quicksand bed. He is able to free himself,
and he moves a few feet in front of the quicksand and digs a pit in the soft mud. Then, he hides in the
nearby brush after lining the bottom of the pit with pointed wooden stakes, covering it with vegetation.
Zaroff is forced to go back to the chateau after one of his hunting hounds triggers the trap and falls to
his death. At first light, Rainsford hears the howling of the hounds and sees Zaroff and Ivan in the
distance leading a small pack of hunting dogs. Another trap is created by Rainsford by tying his knife to a
sapling.

Ivan is killed by the trap, but the hounds go on and find Rainsford sitting on a cliff's edge. Rainsford dives
into the rough sea below instead of facing the hounds. Zaroff goes back to his château after being
stunned and disappointed. He is shocked to discover Rainsford hidden in the bed's curtains as he turns
on the light in his bedroom. Zaroff tells them earlier that the hounds will eat one of them that night
while the other sleeps in the comfortable bed. Rainsford claims that he has never slept in a bed that is
more comfortable.