Within the ivied walls of Blandings Castle there are snakes in the rolling parkland ready to nip Clarence, the absent-minded Ninth Earl of Emsworth, when he least expects it. Empress of Blandings, in the running for her first prize in the Fat Pigs Class, is off her food - and can only be coaxed back...

Within the ivied walls of Blandings Castle there are snakes in the rolling parkland ready to nip Clarence, the absent-minded Ninth Earl of Emsworth, when he least expects it. Empress of Blandings, in the running for her first prize in the Fat Pigs Class, is off her food - and can only be coaxed back to the trough by a call in her own language.