Short Fiction · Chapter
For the Duration of the War explained
The Rev.
What happens
The Rev. Wilfrid Gaspilton moves from a fashionable London parish to a rural one in Yondershire, where both he and his wife Beryl struggle to adapt. Beryl occupies herself with translating a French novel, while Wilfrid, bored and isolated, fabricates a literary fraud: he publishes Persian verses supposedly by a poet named Ghurab, translated by a nephew serving in Mesopotamia. The verses become a sensation, and Wilfrid uses military secrecy to avoid revealing the truth, temporarily eclipsing his wife's literary efforts.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Resolution.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This excerpt is the story's dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of Egbert…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Hypocrisy and Moral Facade
The Rev. Wilfrid Gaspilton, a clergyman, fabricates a literary fraud and uses the war as a pretext to avoid exposure, highlighting the gap between his public role and private deceit.
- The Futility of Ambition
Beryl's prolonged translation of a forgotten novel and Wilfrid's fraudulent literary success both illustrate the emptiness of their ambitions.
Characters to notice
- Beryl Pevenly
Mrs. Gaspilton, the rector's wife, who occupies herself with translating 'The Forbidden Horsepond' and is gently rude to the doctor's wife.
- Reginald
The Rev. Wilfrid Gaspilton, the rector who perpetrates a literary fraud by publishing fake Persian verses.
Key passages
“Mrs. Gaspilton considered herself as distinctly an interesting personality, and from a limited standpoint she was doubtless right.”
Beryl thought she was fascinating, and within certain narrow boundaries, she was correct.
Introduces Beryl's self-regard and the ironic tone of the narrator.
“Publishers always clamour for the books that no one has ever written, and turn a cold shoulder on them as soon as they're written.”
Publishers eagerly seek unwritten books but ignore them once they exist.
Wilfrid's cynical observation about the publishing world.
“A Mouse that prayed for Allah's aid Blasphemed when no such aid befell: A Cat, who feasted on that mouse, Thought Allah managed vastly well.”
A mouse cursed Allah for not helping, but the cat that ate the mouse thought Allah's plan was excellent.
Example of the fabricated Ghurab verses, illustrating their cynical, satirical tone.
