Canterville Chase is a very old house in England. It is a very special house because it is haunted by a ghost that makes strange noises at night.
An American family, Mr and Mrs Otis and their children Washington, Virginia and the twins, want to live in England. They decide to buy the house.
At Canterville Chase they meet Mrs Umney, the housekeeper. Mrs Umney takes them to the library. Mrs Otis sees a red stain on the floor. “What’s that?” she asks.
“It is blood. Sir Simon the ghost left it there many years ago and it is impossible to remove.” says Mrs Umney.
Sir Simon, the ghost, is watching! He thinks the family will be frightened and leave the house.
“No problem! This American detergent will clean the floor!” says Washington.
“Oh bother! I must frighten them in another way!” thinks the ghost.
So one night Sir Simon puts on a wig and some chains. He waits until one o’clock. Then he walks up and down the corridor. The chains make a terrible clanking noise.
CLANK CLANK CLANK
Mr and Mrs Otis wake up.
“What
a noise!” says Mr Otis. “Clanking chains... they need my special lubricating fluid.” He takes a bottle from his suitcase and opens the door.
There is the ghost with chains on his hands and feet.
“Whoooh!” shouts the ghost.
“Please Sir, take this lubricating fluid and oil your chains. Goodnight!” He closes the door and goes back to bed.
The ghost is depressed.
“Nobody is afraid of me.” he says. Then he has an idea…
WHOOOH WHOOOH
COUGH COUGH
The next night he starts walking and shouting up and down the corridor... but something goes wrong.
“Oh NO! Not again!” says Mr Otis. “Oh, poor ghost! He’s got a cold.” says Mrs Otis. She takes a bottle of syrup from her suitcase and opens the door.
“Dear ghost, you don’t feel well, do you? Take this special syrup.”
“Oh! I don’t believe it.” says the ghost.
“Yes, it really is miraculous!” replies Mrs Otis.
“Please, drink it. You’ll feel better immediately. Good night.”
The next evening he thinks, “I’m going to frighten the twins!” He puts on an old skeleton costume and goes to their bedroom.
But he doesn’t find the twins, just a spooky white ghost with a scary face.
“Oh!” says Sir Simon, “Who are you? Do you live here too?”
Suddenly the twins appear from behind the white sheet. They are playing a trick on Sir Simon. “Ha ha ha!” they laugh and point at the scary face.
“It’s a Halloween pumpkin! Silly Simon!”
Sir Simon is angry and he goes away!
“I’m fed up with these Americans and their inventions!”
Then in his bedroom he feels very sad, because he can’t scare anybody. Virginia hears him crying. She goes to the tower. “What’s the matter?” she asks.
Sir Simon tells her about his past.
“I did a terrible thing many years ago. As punishment, there is a curse on me; I must haunt this castle and never find peace until a golden girl helps me regain my soul.”
Virginia feels sorry for him. She says, “I have golden hair. You are sorry for your crime. I will help you.”
They go through a wall into the garden. In the garden there is a beautiful almond tree.
The next day the Otis Family can’t find Virginia.
“Virginia! Where are you?” they call.
They look everywhere; under the beds... behind the curtains... in the tower... but they can’t find her.
At last they see her by the almond tree. She’s sleeping and the almond tree is full of flowers.
“How strange” says Mr Otis “Almond trees never blossom in October.”
Thanks to Virginia, the curse is over. Now Sir Simon can finally rest. And the Otis Family can live in peace at Canterville Chase.
ACTIVITIES
1 Read and write yes or no.
1. Lord Canterville is a ghost. ..........
2. Sir Simon wants to scare the Otis family. ..........
3. The Otis family are scared of ghosts. ..........
4. Mrs Otis gives the ghost medicine because she thinks he is ill. ..........
5. The twins play ‘Trick or Treat’ on Sir Simon. ..........
6. Virginia is unkind to Sir Simon. ..........
7. Sir Simon must haunt the house because there is a curse on him. ..........
8. In the end he finds peace. ..........
2 Change one letter in each step and turn the bat into a dog!
A T
an animal that catches mice
a means of transport
similar to low cloud
3 D o the crossword.
ACROSS
4. T he spirit of a dead person
6. T he Otis family’s nationality
7. A l iquid medicine for a cough or a cold
8. The red stain on the floor is…
DOWN
1. Mr and Mrs Otis’ daughter
2. A p erson who looks after a house
3. False hair
5. Two people born at the same time from the same mother
9 . T he tree in the story 1
The ghostroyal of
Brrr this is so frightening, isn't it?
anne’s
G LOSSARY
afraid impaurito anybody nessuno
at last alla fine (to) buy acquistare chains catene
clanking rumore noise metallico close vicino cold raffreddore cough tosse curse maledizione
housekeeper governante (to) laugh ridere (to) leave andarsene left lasciò
(to) look prendersi cura after
lubricating fluido fluid lubrificante
most often il più delle volte pumpkin zucca punishment punizione really davvero (to) remove rimuovere royal reale / di re, regina scary spaventoso (to) sell vendere skeleton scheletro (to) sleep dormire spooky spaventoso stain macchia
(to) stand by ess ere accanto strange strano suddenly improvvisamente suitcase valigia through attraverso tower torre trick scherzo
twins gemelli (to) wake up svegliarsi (to) walk camminare (to) wander vagare wife moglie wig parrucca
