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339306650-The-Canterville-Ghost-Book

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Capitulo 1: Canterville Chase
The American ambassador, Hiram Otis, and his family needed to
find a home in England. Mr Otis saw many houses, but he only
liked Canterville Chase, the family estate of Lord Canterville.
The house was grand and elegant, but there was only one problem:
it had a ghost!
The Canterville Ghost was 300 years old. He always appeared
before the death of somebody in the Canterville family. Because
of this, nobody wanted to live in the house.
Lord Canterville was a very honest man, and he told Mr Otis the
truth about the ghost. "My aunt lived in this house, "explained
Lord Canterville.
"One day, something touched her shoulder. She turned and saw two
skeleton hands! It was the ghost! She was terrified. She left
the house immediately and never returned."
Mr. Otis smiled. "I come from a modern country," he said. "We
don't believe in ghosts". "Oh, but this ghost is real," said
Lord Canterville. "It appeared in this house for the first time
in 1584. After that, other members of my family saw the ghost,
too. Now, nobody wants to live in this house."
"Well, we aren't afraid of ghosts," said Mr. Otis, "and we like
your house. I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Americans are very practical," said Lord Canterville. "Well the
house is yours. But remember my words and good luck!
A few weeks later, Mr. Otis and his wife were ready to move to
Canterville Chase. They took the train with their four children,
Washington, Virginia and the twin boys, George and Lincoln. They
were all very happy.
Capitulo 2: The Otis family arrive
A servant met the family at the train station. Washington, the
eldest son, had dark hair and he was good-looking. Virginia, a
beautiful fifteen-year-old girl with big, blue eyes, was quiet
and gentle and everybody liked her. The ten-year-old twins had a
lot of energy and were in trouble a lot. Everybody called them
the "Stars and Stripes" because they were always together.
The family entered a carriage to go to their new home. It was a
lovely July evening and the birds sang happily in the trees. But
the atmosphere was different al Canterville Chase. Suddenly,
dark clouds appeared in the sky. Mrs Umney, the housekeeper,
stood at the door of the house."Welcome to Canterville
Chase," she said. The family followed her into the dark house.
It was cold and a little frightening. They
entered the library and saw a big window at the end of the room.
Virginia noticed some strange writing on the coloured glass: A
young girl will come to this place. Then tears will fall on her
face. She will pray and the house will be still. Peace will come
to Canterville."What does this mean?" she thought.
Suddenly, Mrs Otis saw a red stain on the floor, next to the
fireplace. She turned to Mrs Umney. "What´s this?" she asked.
It`s blood, Madam!
“It´s the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville," Mrs Umney
explained."Her husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, killed her in
this room in 1575.
Capitulo 3: Mrs Umney´s Explanation
"Sir
Simon
killed
his
wife!
That´s
terrible!"Mrs
Otis
exclaimed."Did he go to prison?" "No, he didappeared," said Mrs
Umney, mysteriously. "But his ghost lives in this house. And we
can´t forget his story, because of this bloodstain. It´s
impossible to remove it." "That´s ridiculous!" exclaimed
Washington. "Pinkerton´s Champion Stain Remover will clean
anything."
Washington brought a bottle of the stain remover and started to
clean bloodstain. In a few moments, the floor was clean. I told
you! Pinkerton´s Champion can remove anything!
Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning, and the sound of metal
chains filled the room. Mrs Umney’s face because white and she
fell to the floor.
She opened her eyes a few minutes later. She was very nervous.
"The ghost is here," she said. "I heard his chains. Something
bad is going to happen in this house. Some nights, I can´t sleep
because of this horrible ghost. He frightens the bravest
people." Mrs Otis smiled at the old lady. "Well, he won´t
frighten us," he said. "Nothing is going to happen."
"I´ll pray for everybody in the house. Goodnight," said Mrs
Umney, and she went to her room.
Capitulo 4: The Bloodstain Reappears
That night, there was a storm, but the Otis family didn´t hear
it. They were all very tired.
In the morning, the bloodstain was on the library floor again.
“That´s strange!” said Washington. “Pinkerton´s Champion takes
away all stains. Is the ghost responsible for this?” Washington
removed the stain, but the next morning it reappeared. He
removed it for the third time. This time, Mr Otis locked the
library door.
But the next morning, the stain was there again. This strange
happening didn´t frighten the Otis family. It fascinated them!
That day, it was warm and sunny. The family went out and
returned home at nine o ´clock, in the evening to have dinner.
At eleven o´clock, the Otis family went to their bedrooms. Soon,
the house was dark and everybody was asleep. Later that night, a
strange noise woke Mr Otis. It came from the corridor outside
his room.
Mr Otis got up, lit a candle and looked at the time. It was
exactly one o´clock. He heard the strange noise again and the
sound of footsteps. “It´s the ghost and his metal chains,”
thought Mr Otis. He took a small bottle from his bedroom
cupboard and opened the door. There, in the corridor, was an old
man. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked wild. Was
this the Canterville Ghost?
Capitulo 5: The Canterville Ghost Is Furious
The old man had long grey hair. His clothes were from another
century and they were old and dirty. They were heavy chains on
his arms and legs.
"My dear sir," said Mr Otis."Are you the Canterville Ghost?
Please oil your chains. Then, they won´t make so much noise, and
you won´t make everybody in the house."
Mr Otis showed him the bottle in his hand. Here´s a bottle of
Tammany´s rising Un Lubricator to oil your chains.
"It´s an excellent product. I´ll leave it here for you, next to
my door," said Mr Otis. He put the bottle on a table in the
corridor. Then he returned to his bedroom and closed the door.
The Canterville Ghost stood outside the door for a moment. He
took the bottle and threw it on the floor. Then he ran down the
stairs. Suddenly, a door opened at the top of the stairs and the
twins appeared. They were angry because of the noise. They threw
a big pillow at then ghost. The pillow hit the ghost on the
head. "Ow! That hurt!" cried the ghost, horrified. "These people
are abominable and insulting," he thought. "Why aren´t they
afraid of me?" He disappeared suddenly, and the house because
silent again.
At breakfast the next morning, the Otis family talked about the
ghost. Mr Otis was angry because the ghost didn´t take his
bottle of lubricator."The next time the ghost wakes me, I´m
going to take his chains from him,"he said. "It´s impossible to
sleep with that noise."
Virginia turned to the twins. "You know, this is the ghost´s
house, too," she said. "It´s not nice to throw pillows at him."
The house was quiet the rest of the week. But the bloodstain
appeared and reappeared on the library floor. It started to
change colour. Some days, it was red. One day, it was bright
green this was very funny.
The Canterville Ghost didn´t think it was funny at all. In a
secret room at the black of the house, the ghost remembered his
brilliant 300-year career. He thought about some of his victims.
Once, he frightened three hysterical servants in the kitchen and
they never recovered from the shock. And there was also old
Madame de Troumillac. She woke early one morning and saw a
skeleton in her room. She was terrified and spent the next six
weeks ill in bed! There were hundreds of examples like that. And
now, some moderm Americans gave him Rising Sun Lubricator for
his chains and threw pillows at his head! It was humiliating!
The Canterville Ghost stayed in his room and planned his
revenge.
Capitulo 6: The Ghost´s Revenge
On Sunday night, the family went you bed, but a terrible noise
woke them. Washington ran down the stairs. George and Lincoln
followed – each one had a peashooter.
The Canterville Ghost was on the floor. He was in a suit of
armour. The twins shot peas at him.
The ghost jumped up with a shout, ran up the stairs and passed
through the twins.
Then, a cold wind extinguished Washington´s candle, and the boys
stood in the dark. At the top of the stairs, the ghost decided
to try his demonic laugh. “This laugh always has excellent
results,” he thought.
“Three of Lady Eleanore de Canterville’s servants heard it and
left the house immediately. They never returned again.” The
Canterville Ghost laughed, “Ha, ha, ha, ha!”
Then, he stopped. A bedroom door opened and Mrs Otis appeared.
You sound ill. Here´s a bottle of Dr Dobell `s Universal
Medicine. It will help you.
The ghost was surprised. He wanted to transform into a big,
black dog to frighten Mrs Otis, but she returned to her bedroom
immediately. The Canterville Ghost jumped up and down in
frustration, and then he disappeared.
Capitulo 7: Ghostly Plans
The Canterville Ghost sat in his room. “That abominable Otis
family,” he thought.”They ´re rude and arrogant. And I also hate
their strange American products.”
The ghost felt very weak for the next few days. He stayed in his
room and only left to paint the bloodstain on the library floor.
At the end of the week, he decided to try to frighten the family
again. It was Friday, 17th August. That day, the ghost selected
his clothes carefully. He chose a big hat, a long cape and an
old dagger. He looked very elegant.
A storm started early in the evening. There was a strong wind.
“Good!” he thought. “This is perfect weather for my plan.” “I´ll
start with Washington,” he thought.The ghost hated Washington
because he removed the stain every morning with Pinkerton´s
Champion Stain Remover.”I´ll go to his room. I´ll shout next to
his bed and I´ll stab my boby three times with the dagger.
Washington will cry in terror.”
“Next, I´ll go to the parents´ room,” the ghost thought. “I´ll
put a cold hand on Mr Otis’ face and I´ll tell Mr Otis terrible
secrets about the house.” “But what can I do about Virginia?”
thought the ghost. “She´s a kind, pretty girl. I won´t frighten
her very much. I´ll just stand inside her cupboard and I´ll
knock on the door.”
The ghost had special plans for the terrible twins. He wanted to
teach them a lesson. “First, I´ll sit on them,” he thought.
“Then, I´ll appear between their beds as a cold, green, dead man
with one eye. For the grand finale, I´ll transform into a
skeleton and fly around the room. They´ll be terrified.”
At half past ten, the ghost heard the family on the stairs. They
went to their rooms and by quarter past eleven, the house was,
silent. At midnight, the ghost left his room. He appeared in the
corridor and started to walk in the direction of the bedrooms.
At the end of the corridor, he stopped for a moment. He had
sinister smile on his face.
Capitulo 8: The worst humiliation
The ghost turned the corner and stopped smiling. In front of him
was another ghost with red eyes and fire in his mouth! He was
really scary!
The Canterville Ghost shouted in terror and ran to his room. He
was frightened and angry. “This is my house. Who is that ghost?
Why is he here?”
A few hours later, he decided to return to the corridor and
speak to the other ghost. But he only saw a sheet on the floor
in the corridor; the other ghost wasn´t there. “It was a trick!”
thought the ghost. “Those terrible twins did it to insult me.”
He was furious and he stayed in his room the entire day.
For the next few weeks, the ghost walked around the house
quietly. He was very tired. He used Tammany’s Rising Sun
Lubricator on his chains, because he didn´t want to wake the
family.
But the twins didn´t leave him in peace. They put cords across
the corridor and he fell over them all the time. One night, he
fell down the stairs!
Finally, he tried to frighten the twins again. One night, before
he left his room, he removed his head.”A ghost without a head
will definitely frighten them,” he thought. It was quarter past
one in the morning, and the ghost appeared on the stairs with
his head under his arm.
The door of the twins´ room was open a little. The ghost opened
it quickly and a heavy bucket of water fell on him. The ghost´s
head fell to the floor. George and Lincoln jumped from their
beds. They laughed loudly. This was the worst humiliations of
the ghost´s career!
He ran to his room and got into bed. The next day, he stayed in
bed with a temperature. After that, nobody saw the ghost, and
the bloodstain didn´t appear again. Washington looked for the
stain every morning, but the floor was clean. Soon, the Otis
family forgot about the ghost. Mr Otis made many important
speeches.
Mrs Otis organized wonderful dinner parties, and the boys played
lacrosse in the garden. Virginia spent a lot of time on her
horse, exploring the area around Canterville Chase.
Capitulo 9: Virginia Meets the Ghost
One day, Virginia rode horse in the meadow. On the way home, she
tore here on a bush.
Oh dear! Mother will be very angry with me. “I´ll enter house
through the back door,” thought Virginia. “Mother mustn´t see my
skirt.” Virginia passed a room at the back of the house. The
door was open and somebody was inside.”Is it Mrs Umney?” she
thought. “Maybe she can repair the hole in my skirt.” Virginia
entered the room. To her, surprise, she saw the Canterville
Ghost. He looked very sad. At first, Virginia wanted to escape.
But then she felt sorry for the ghost, and she decided to talk
to him.” Why are you sad?” she asked him.
“I´m very lonely,” said the ghost. “I hate my life.” “But you
did something very cruel,” said Virginia. “You killed your wife!
Why?” It´s wrong to kill somebody.
“My wife didn´t love me and she didn´t take care of me,” said
the ghost. “She was a terrified cook! But I´m sorry I killed
her. Later, her brother locked me in a room without food or
water.
I suffered a lot. Now, I try to frighten everybody and nobody is
afraid. Your brothers torture me with their tricks.”
“I feel very sorry for you,” said Virginia. “But my brothers
will go to school tomorrow and then nobody will disturb you. You
will have peace.”
“Peace?” said the ghost. “I never hate any peace. I don´t sleep
and I don´t eat.”
“Oh, Mr Ghost… I mean, Sir Simon,” said Virginia. ”Are you
hungry? Can I bring you a sandwich?”
“No, thank you,” answered the ghost. “I don´t eat anything now.
But you´re very kind.
You´re much nicer than the rest of your horrible, rude family.”
Virginia was angry now.
Don´t say that! You´re horrible and rude. “You stole my paints
that bloodstain,” said Virginia. “I was very angry with you but
I never revealed your secret. “Well, I had no choice. It´s very
difficult to get real blood these days.” “I don´t want to talk
to you,” said Virginia. “You mustn´t insult my family. I´m going
to my room now.” The ghost looked at Virginia with sad eyes.
”Please don´t go,” he said.
Capitulo 10: The Prophecy
“It´s nice talk to another person,” said the ghost in a quiet
voice. “What can I do? I want to sleep, but I can`t, and I´m
very, very tired. Virginia sat next to the ghost and looked into
his old face. “Poor ghost!” she said.” Can´t you find a place to
sleep?” “There is place,” he answered in a quiet voice. “There´s
a small garden far from here. The grass is long and there´s a
silver light from the moon. A bird sings all night in the
trees.” “You´re talking about the Garden of Death,” Virginia
said. “Yes, Death,” the ghost said.
Virginia covered her face with her hands. “Death is probably
beautiful,” said the ghost. “There´s no yesterday or tomorrow. I
want to find peace.”
The ghost looked into Virginia’s eyes.” Please help me. You open
the gates of death for me”.
Virginia felt very cold. “How can I do that?” she asked.
“Do you remember the writing on the library window’” asked the
ghost.
“Yes”, answered Virginia, and she recited the four lines.
The ghost closed his eyes and listened to the words. Then, he
smiled at Virginia.
“You remember the words perfectly”, he said, impresed.
“Yes. But I don’t understand their meaning”, said Virginia.
“ It’s a prophecy”, said the ghost. “ It’s about you”. Yo must
cry for my sins.You must meet the Angel of Death and pray for
me. Then he will forgive me and take me with him to a better
place”.
“How can I
frightened.
meet
the
Angel
of
Death?
Asked
Virginia,
very
“You must come with me to hell”, answered the ghost. “ You will
see horrible figures in the dark, and they will talk to you. But
they won’t hurt you, because you’re a good, kind girl”.
Capitulo 11: The journey to hell
The ghost looked at Virginia with hope in his eyes, but she
didn´t say a word. "Of course you don´t want to do this
frightening thing," he said. Virginia´s face was white and she
had a strange look in her eyes. "I´ll speak to the Angel of
Death and he´ll forgive you."
The ghost was very happy. He took Virginia´s hand and kissed it.
His fingers were cold, like ice, and his lips were hot, like
fire. The ghost took Virginia to the opposite side of the room.
They passed an old tapestry on the wall. Suddenly, the men in
the tapestry came to life and moved their arms. Go back,
Virginia. Go back!
The ghost continued with Virginia at his side. At the end of the
room, Virginia saw the wall disappear. At big, black cave
appeared in front of her. She felt a cold wind and something
pulled her skirt.
"Quick!" cried the ghost. "We haven´t got a lot of time!"
A moment later, the ghost´s room was empty. Ten minutes later,
the bell rang for afternoon tea. Virginia didn´t appear in the
dining room. At first, Mrs Otis wasn´t worried, because Virginia
often went to the meadow on her horse. But at six o´clock, she
became very worried. She sent the twins to find Virginia, but
they had no luck. Washington went on his horse to look in the
meadow, and Mr Otis rode to the train station. He also went to
the police station. But nobody found Virginia. That night, the
Otis family stayed in the library an didn´t go to sleep. They
were all very worried and nobody spoke. At midnight, they heard
a loud noise and strange music.
Suddenly, a panel on the wall opened and Virginia appeared. Her
face was white.
Capitulo 12: The Skeleton
Virginia’s mother ran and put her arms around her and the twins
danced happily around them.
“Where were you?” asked Mr Otis in an angry voice. “We were very
worried about you.
“I was with the ghost”, said Virginia in a quiet voice. “ I
wanted to help him. Sir Simon was a bad person in the past. He
did some terrible things, but now he is sorry about everything.
“Tell us the entire story”, said Mrs Otis. “Where did the ghost
take you?
“Please don’t ask me”, said Virginia sadly. “I can’t tell you”.
Virginia looked at everybody. “ Sir Simon
is dead now”, she
said. “ There is no Canterville Ghost now. Come with me and say
goodbye to him”.
Everybody was silent. Virginia speak her familia family through
the open panel into a secret corridor. Finally, they came in a
big door.She opened the door and they enterend a room with a
very small window. There was a skeleton on the floor, with an
old jug and bowl in front of its arms. But the skeleton’s arms
didn’t reach them.
“Is this Sir Simon’s skeleton?” asked Washington. “ Poor man”.
He died in this small room without food or water.
Virginia sato n the floor, next to the skeleton,and a beautiful
light shone on her face.
“The Angel of Death forgave him”, said Virginia. “ Now, Sir
Simon can rest in peace”.
Two days later, a funeral procession left Canterville Chase at
eleven o’clock at night. Lord Canterville and his family were
there. They carried torches in front of Sir Simon’s coffin.
Suddenly, the moon appeared from behind a cloud and covered the
cementery with its light.
They putt he coffin in the ground. Then, Virginia put some red
and White flowers on top of it.
A bird sand in the tres. It was beautiful. This was the ghost’s
description of the Garden of Death! Virgina began to cry.
Finally, Sir Simon was at peace.
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