Which excerpt is an example of situational irony in Saki’s "The Storyteller”?

“Most of the aunt’s remarks seemed to begin with ‘Don’t,’ and nearly all of the children’s remarks began with ‘Why?’ The bachelor said nothing out loud. ‘Don’t, Cyril, don’t,’ exclaimed the aunt, as the small boy began smacking the cushions of the seat, producing a cloud of dust at each blow.”

“The frown on the bachelor’s face was deepening to a scowl. He was a hard, unsympathetic man, the aunt decided in her mind.”

“She repeated the line over and over again in a dreamy but resolute and very audible voice; it seemed to the bachelor as though some one had had a bet with her that she could not repeat the line aloud two thousand times without stopping.”

“‘It’s the stupidest story I’ve ever heard,’ said the bigger of the small girls, with immense conviction. “‘I didn’t listen after the first bit, it was so stupid,’ said Cyril.”

Situational irony is when the expected action or response does not happen in reality. But, the opposite happens. In the passage: “Most of the aunt’s remarks seemed to begin with ‘Don’t,’ and nearly all of the children’s remarks began with ‘Why?’” is the situational irony.

The points that state the situational irony are:

The dialogues of the aunt and the children are given significance among the other characters.
All the other lines focus on the reaction of the characters after the story is narrated.
There is a sense of opposition between the aunt and the children.

Thus, the uncompromising attitude is conveyed through the word, ‘Why?’. The expectations that the aunt had on the children does not work out.

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