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Why DS Publishing Simplified Readers Level A1

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

Chapter 1 Mr. Harambe Otis is an American businessman.

He starts a business in London and moves there with his family.

Mr. Otis and his wife do not like city life.

So, Mr. Otis looks for a house in the countryside near London and he finds

Canterville Chase.

This is a very big old house in the country.

The owner of the house, Lord Canterville, is a very honest man.

He warns Mr. Otis about the ghost in Canterville Chase.

He says, I am selling Canterville Chase because there is a ghost in it.

We hear mysterious noises at night.

The noises come from the corridor upstairs and from the library.

I am from America, says Mr. Otis.

It is a very modern country.

We don't believe in ghosts there.

There are no ghosts in real life.

But here in this country we believe in ghosts, says Lord Canterville,

and Canterville Chase has a ghost for 300 years.

No one in our family wants to live in it.

The servants are afraid too.

They don't stay there in the evenings.

Only the housekeeper stays in Canterville Chase all the time.

Now she lives there alone.

My Lord, don't worry.

I am buying Canterville Chase with all its furniture and its ghost, Mr. Otis says.

Fine.

I am happy that you are buying Canterville Chase, but I am just warning you about the ghost.

Says the Lord and adds, I hope the ghost does not visit you.

A few weeks later, on a July evening, Mr. Otis, his wife Lucretia, and their children,

Washington, Virginia, and the twins go to their new house, Canterville Chase.

Washington Otis is the oldest child of the family.

He is 20 years old.

He is a handsome young man with fair hair.

The twin boys are 12 years old.

The daughter of Virginia is 15 years old.

She is a lovely girl with beautiful blue eyes.

The Otis family gets off the train from London at Ascot Railway Station.

There, they take a horse car to Canterville Chase.

It is a beautiful evening.

The air is filled with the scent of pine trees.

They see rabbits and squirrels on the way.

After a 50 minute ride, they arrive at their new home.

Suddenly, dark clouds appear in the sky, and black crows fly over their heads.

Then it begins to rain.

An old woman in a black dress and with a white apron and a white cap greets them.

This is Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper.

She leads the Otis's through a big hall into the library.

At the end of this long, narrow room, there is a big window.

They sit at the long table in the middle of the room.

Mrs. Umney serves them tea.

Mrs. Otis looks around the room carefully.

The bookshelves on the walls are full of books.

There are big paintings on the walls.

Just then, she notices a red stain on the floor.

There is a red stain on the floor.

What is it?

She asks Mrs. Umney.

It is a blood stain, madam.

Answers the housekeeper in a low voice.

I don't want any stains on the floors.

You must remove it immediately, Mrs. Umney.

I'm afraid I can't, says the housekeeper in a low voice again.

It is the blood of Lady Eleanor de Canterville.

No one can remove her blood stain.

Lady Eleanor is dead.

Her husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, is her killer.

And the spirit of this dead man is haunting Canterville Chase for 300 years.

It is his punishment for being a killer.

Nonsense, says Washington Otis.

I have some stain remover with me.

It can remove all kinds of stains.

Then he takes out the stain remover from his bag.

It is a small black stick.

He kneels down and rubs the stain on the floor with it.

In a few seconds, the stain is not there.

Just at that moment, a terrible streak of lightning lights up the gloomy room.

And then, there is a very loud thunder.

And Mrs. Umney faints.

Her eyes are closed, and her face is pale.

Mrs. Otis and Washington help her.

Then she feels better and says, you will have some trouble in this house.

You must be careful.

The ghost is angry, and it is coming.

We are not afraid of ghosts.

Do not worry, says Mrs. Otis to the housekeeper.

You must not remove the blood stain.

It makes the ghost angry, says Mrs. Umney.

She sounds scared and worried.

Oh, we don't believe in ghosts.

There are no ghosts.

Washington Otis tells the old woman.

Then Mrs. Umney wishes a good night to her new master and mistress.

She slowly goes to her own room.

The storm continues all night long, with lightning, thunder, and heavy rain.

But everyone sleeps quite well.

In the morning, they all come downstairs to the library for breakfast.

They see the blood stain on the floor again.

I don't believe this.

Is there really a ghost in this house, says Washington?

Then he removes the stain once again.

But the stain appears the next morning, too.

And Washington cleans it a third time.

That night, Mr. Otis locks the library door and takes the key with him to the bedroom.

In the morning, the stain is still there.

That afternoon, they all go out for a drive in the country.

They come back at about nine o 'clock.

They have a light dinner.

No one talks about the stain on the library floor.

They talk about different things, like actors, actresses, and about the different kinds of food in America.

Then they all go to their bedrooms at eleven o 'clock.

By half past eleven, everyone is asleep and the house is dark.

Suddenly, Mr. Otis wakes up with a strange noise in the corridor outside his bedroom.

It is like the sound of metal chains.

He gets up and lights a candle.

He hears footsteps, too, but he doesn't get scared.

He calmly takes a small bottle from his bedside table.

He opens the door and looks into the corridor.

An old man with long gray hair is standing right in front of him.

His eyes are red.

He is wearing old, dirty clothes.

There are chains around his wrists and ankles.

He is the Kenterville Ghost.

Sir, you must oil your chains.

They make a lot of noise.

Mr. Otis says to the ghost and shows him the small bottle.

Here is a bottle of lubricator.

Please use it.

He puts the bottle down on the floor and goes back into his bedroom.

The Kenterville Ghost is shocked.

Just at that moment, the twins come out of their bedroom at the end of the long corridor.

They have two big pillows in their hands.

They throw them at the ghost and laugh.

The Kenterville Ghost makes an angry sound and disappears through the wall.

The boys go back to bed.

The house becomes quiet again.

The ghost angrily goes into his secret room in the house.

He is very upset.

He begins to think.

Normally, people are always afraid of me, but these people are strange.

They are not scared at all.

I am a scary ghost, but I can't frighten them.

That's really strange.

Then he thinks about the twins.

How can those small boys throw pillows and laugh at me?

I will teach them a lesson.

I must make a good plan to frighten this family.

The next morning, at breakfast, the Otis' talk about the ghost and the stain.

Mr. Otis is a little angry with the twins.

The ghost is part of our household.

It is not polite to throw pillows at him.

He says to the boys.

And the boys laugh out loud.

Then Mr. Otis turns to his wife and says,

I hope he uses the oil.

I don't want to hear the sound of his chains every night.

I cannot sleep.

The Kenterville Ghost does not appear for a week,

but the stain is on the library floor every morning.

Washington removes it every day and it appears again the next morning.

But the stain is not red anymore.

It changes color every day.

One day it is brown and another day it is purple.

And finally, it is bright green.

Everyone in the family thinks it is very funny.

They all laugh.

Only Virginia doesn't laugh.

The blood stain makes her very sad.

She looks at it every morning with tears in her eyes.

She feels sorry for the Kenterville Ghost.