During the war narrator is approached by a beggar who tries to get money by telling an entertaining story to back up his plea: he says he used to make a good living from the hens he had specially bred to lay square eggs, and having handed his business over to an aunt during the war, he now needs funds to sue her and get it back. (The narrator does not believe him and the reader is given no reason to.)
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 |
|
The Square Egg and Other Sketches, with Three Plays and Illustrations | John Lane, The Bodley Head | Collection | 121 |
| 1976 |
|
The Complete Works of Saki | Doubleday | Omnibus | 539 |
| 1982 | The Complete Saki | Penguin Books | Omnibus | 539 | |
| 1993 |
|
The Complete Stories of Saki | Wordsworth Editions | Omnibus | 383 |
| May 1998 |
|
The Complete Saki | Penguin Books | Omnibus | 539 |
| October 2000 |
|
Saki: The Complete Short Stories | Penguin Books | Collection | 539 |