The Most Dangerous Game

by Richard Connell

Sometimes I think evil is a tangible thing--with wave lengths, just as sound and light have.

"He is a Cossack," said the general, and his smile showed red lips and pointed teeth. "So am I."

Whenever he looked up from his plate he found the general studying him, appraising him narrowly.

"God makes some men poets. Some He makes kings, some beggars. Me He made a hunter.

There is no greater bore than perfection."

The animal had nothing but his legs and his instinct. Instinct is no match for reason.

"I wanted the ideal animal to hunt," explained the general. "So I said, `What are the attributes of an ideal quarry?' And the answer was, of course, `It must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason."' "But no animal can reason," objected Rainsford. "My dear fellow," said the general, "there is one that can."