CHAPTER 1

Mr.   Hiram B. Otis was the new American ambassador in England. He needed a house for himself and his family. When he saw Canterville Chase, he liked it and wanted to buy it. Everybody thought that this was very foolish, because everybody. Believed that Canterville Chase was haunted. Lord Canterville, the owner of the house, told Mr. Otis about the Canterville Ghost. "My family and I have not lived there since the ghost terrified my aunt, the Duchess of Bolton;" said Lord Canterville. (¡One night, she was dressing for dinner when she felt two skeleton hands on her shoulders. She had a tit and has never completely recovered. After· the Duchess's terrible experience, none of our younger servants wanted to stay in the house. I must tell you that other people in the family have also seen or heard the ghost. My wife and I could not sleep because of the strange noises that came from the corridor and the library." "Well," said Mr. Otis, "I will take the house, the furniture and the ghost. I come from a modern country, where we have everything that money can buy. I think that if there was a ghost anywhere in Europe, one of our bright young men would find it, take it to America and put it in a museum." When Lord Canterville heard this, he smiled and said, "I can assure you that the ghost exists. Perhaps he is a little cleverer than the bright young men from America. He has been in the house since 1584. He usually appears before the death of a member of the family." Mr. Otis laughed and replied, "So does the family doctor, Lord Canterville. I do not believe in ghosts, and you can't convince me that they exist." "All right," said Lord Canterville. "If you don't mind having a ghost for company, I will sell you the house with pleasure." So Mr. Otis bought the house. A few weeks later, the Otis family were ready to move into their new home. The family consisted of Mr. Otis, his wife, their three sons and their daughter. Mrs. Lucretia Otis was a good-Looking Middle-aged woman. The oldest son was a handsome fair-haired young man. His name was Washington, and he was very sensible. The daughter, Virginia, was a beautiful girl of fifteen. She loved horses and rode them very well. Virginia met the young Duke of Cheshire at a race. He fell in love with her immediately and asked her to marry him. Of course, this could not happen, because they were both too young to married. The two younger boys were twins and loved playing on people.

CHAPTER 2

Canterville Chase was seven miles from Ascot, where the nearest railway station was. Mr. Otis and his family took the train to Ascot and hired a carriage to take them from the station to the house. They had a very pleasant journey. It was a lovely July evening. The air was fresh and smelt of the pinewoods. As they were driving, they could hear the sweet song of wood pigeons. They also saw squirrels and rabbits running among the trees and a couple of pheasants behind the bushes. As they approached Canterville Chase, however, the sky suddenly became cloudy. A flock of large black birds flew silently over their heads. When they arrived at the front door, some large drops of rain started falling. An old woman was waiting on the steps outside the front door. She was Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper. She was dressed in a black silk dress and wore a white cap and apron. She was standing there to welcome the family to their new home. As they got out of the carriage, she bowed and said, "Welcome to Canterville Chase". They followed her into the house. They went through a great hall into the library. This was a long room with a large stained-glass window. The

Otises took off their coats, sat down and began looking around, while Mrs. Umney served them some tea. Suddenly, Mrs. Otis noticed a large red stain on the floor beside the fireplace. She pointed at it and said to Mrs. Umney, "I think something has been spilt there." "Yes madam," replied the housekeeper in a low voice, "blood has been spilt there." "How terrible!" said Mrs. Otis. "A blood stain on the library floor! It must be removed at once." The old woman smiled mysteriously and said in the same low voice, "It is the blood of Lady Eleanor de Canterville. She was murdered on that spot by her husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, in 1575. He mysteriously disappeared nine years later. His body has never been found, but his guilty spirit still haunts the Chase. The blood stain cannot be removed." "That is all nonsense," said Washington Otis. "Pinkerton's Stain Remover will remove that stain." He knelt on the floor and started rubbing the stain with something that looked like a lipstick. In about a minute, the stain had disappeared. "I knew it. Pinkerton's always works," he said looking at his family. Just then, there was a flash of lightning and a loud peal of thunder made them all jump. Mrs. Umney screamed with terror and fainted. "What awful weather this country has," said Mr. Otis calmly. "My dear Hiram," cried Mrs. Otis, "what can we do with a woman who faints?" "We won't pay her for the time that she is unconscious," replied her husband. Mrs. Umney opened her eyes. She was very upset. She said to Mr. Otis, "Be careful. Some trouble is coming to the house. I have seen some terrible things, sir. Things that would terrify anybody. Things that have kept me awake at night." Mr. and Mrs. Otis told the old housekeeper that they were not afraid of ghosts. Then they talked to her about her salary and decided to give her a rise. Mrs. Umney thanked them and went to her room.

Chapter 3

The storm continued all night, but nothing strange happened. The next morning, however, when the family carne downstairs, they saw that the stain was back on the library floor. Washington was very surprised. "This is very strange," he said. "Pinkerton's always works." He quickly cleaned the stain, but the following morning it was back again. On the third night, Mr. Otis locked the library door before he went to bed. He took the key upstairs with him, but in the morning the stain was back again. The whole family found this very strange, but they still could not believe that there was a ghost in the house. On the fourth night, however, the family changed their minds completely and started to believe in ghosts. That evening they had gone for a drive and did not return home till nine o'clock. Then, they had a light supper. They did not discuss or even think about ghosts. They talked about popular American actresses and the problem of finding their favorite American foods in England. They did not mention Sir Simon de Canterville at all. At eleven o'clock the family went upstairs to bed. By half past eleven everybody was asleep. Some time later Mr. Otis woke up. He had heard a strange noise in the corridor outside his room. It sounded like metal clanking and it was coming closer. He got up, lit a match and looked at ~time. It was exactly one o'clock He was quite calm. He took a small bottle out of a drawer, put on his slippers and opened the door. Right in front of him stood an old man. He looked terrible. His eyes were red like hot burning coals. He had dirty long grey hair. He was wearing old-fashioned clothes, which were tom and dirty. There were heavy chains around his wrists and ankles. These had woken Mr. Otis up. "My dear sir," said Mr. Otis, "those chains are making an awful noise. I have brought you some oil. Please put it on your chains, otherwise we will not be able to sleep tonight." Mr. Otis put the small bottle on a marble table. Them he went back to his room closed the door and returned to bed. The ghost couldn't believe it! For a moment, he stared at the closed bedroom door. Then, with a howl of anger he smashed the bottle on the floor. He turned and ran down the corridor, groaning and glowing a horrible green colour. Just as he reached the top of the stairs, a door opened. Two small children in night-gowns appeared in the doorway and a pillow flew past his head. The ghost disappeared through a wall and the house became quiet again. The ghost reached his small secret room and began to think about the new situation in the house. In his three hundred years of haunting he had never had an experience like this! He felt very insulted! He thought back over his career. "I once appeared behind the Duchess of Bolton while she was dressing for dinner and touched her with my skeleton hands. She was so frightened that she had a fit. Another time, four housemaids became hysterical when I looked at them through the curtains of their bedroom window. Another night, in the dark library, I made a priest collapse when I-blew out his candle. I also scared Madame de Tremouillac. She woke up one morning and saw my skeleton sitting in an armchair reading her diary. She had to stay in bed for six weeks after that. Another time, I knocked on the kitchen window with my green hand,' and he butler was so terrified that he shot himself." "Yes,'. He thought, "I have had a very long and successful career. And now these dreadful modem Americans offer me oil for my chains and throw pillows at my head. No ghost in history has been treated like this! I will make them regret it!" He pent the rest of the night thinking about how to take revenge.

CHAPTER 4

The next morning the Otis family met at the breakfast table.  They talked about the ghost, of course. Mr. Otis had found the broken oil bottle in the corridor and was not at all pleased. "If the ghost does not use the oil," he said, "we must take his chains away from him. Otherwise, we will not be able to sleep." He then .turned to the twins and said, "However, I think it was rather rude to throw pillows at him. You must remember that he has lived here for much longer than we have." When the twins heard this, they started laughing. For the rest of the week, the house was quiet at night and everyone slept well. But the stain on the library floor reappeared every morning. This was strange, because Mr. Otis locked the library door every night and the windows had bars on them. Another strange thing was that the stain was a different colour every morning. One morning it was dark red, the following it was bright red, and the morning after that it was purple. Once, the blood stain was bright green. The family found these changes quite amusing. Only Virginia did not laugh or say a word. On the morning when me stain was green, she nearly cried but nobody understood why. The ghost appeared again on Sunday nigh. Shortly after the family had gone to bed, they heard the sound of an enormous crash in the hall. Mr. Otis and he children rushed downstairs. They found that a suit of armour ha fallen on me floor. The ghost was standing nearby. He had an expression of terrible pain o and was rubbing his knee immediately shot two balls of paper at him. Mr. Otis, who had brought his gun with him, aimed it at the ghost and said, "Put your hands up!"

The ghost screamed angrily and ran through them like a mist. When he reached the top of the stairs, he decided to give his famous scream of evil laughter. That scream had turned a servant's hair grey overnight. He opened his mouth and the sound of his most horrible laughter carne out. Before he had finished, a door opened and Mrs. Otis appeared in a blue dressing gown. "You poor man," she said. "You are not well at all. I have brought you some excellent medicine. I am sure it will do you good." The ghost couldn't believe his ears! He wanted to turn himself into a large black. Dog, but he heard the twins coming, so he disappeared with a loud groan. When he reached his secret room, he was very upset. "Those twins and Mrs. Otis are really awful," he thought. He was also very upset because he had not been able to wear the suit of armour. This had been his own suit and he used to wear it in battles when he was alive. But now he couldn't even put it on! It was so heavy that he had fallen over and hurt himself.

CHAPTER 5

For some days after this, .the ghost was very ill .He only left his room when he wanted to replace the blood stain on the library floor. When he began to feel better, he decided to try once more to frighten the Otis fam.ily. The ghost chose Friday the I7th of August for his appearance. He spent most of the day deciding what to wear. In the end, he decided to wear a long white sheet and a large hat with a red feather on it. He also took a rusty old knife with him. As night fell, a violent storm started. The wind was very strong and made all the windows shake. The ghost was happy. This was his favourite kind of weather. He was planning to scare the whole fam.ily. He thought, "I will go to Washington's room first. He started it all when he cleaned up the blood stain. Then, I will terrify Mr. and Mrs. Otis; they Will.  Never be able to give me oil or medicine again! I am not sure about Virginia, though. She has never insulted me. A groan may be enough. But I will teach those terrible twins a lesson they will never forget. I will become a living nightmare for them." At half past ten he heard the family going to bed. For some time after that, he could hear the twins laughing, but by a quarter past eleven all was quiet Just before midnight, the ghost left his room and started walking towards Washington's room. As he passed a window, the moon disappeared behind a cloud, as if it was biding from him. When the ghost reached the corridor which led to Washington's room, he stopped for a moment and thought to himself, "It is time." But when he turned the comer, he saw something that made him scream out in terror. A terrible figure was standing in front of him. It had a shiny bald head and a fat round face; out of its eyes came rays of red light and its mouth looked as if it was on fire. Its clothes were similar to the Canterville Ghost's clothes. It was holding a large sword above its head and round its neck hung a sign with strange letters on it. The Canterville Ghost realised that it was a ghost too, but as he had never seen a ghost before, he was terrified. He turned around and ran back to his room as fast as he could. He got into his room, lay on a small bed and hid his face under the covers. As the night went on, however, his courage returned and just before dawn he decided to try and make friends with this other ghost. "Two ghosts are better than one," he thought. "With its help it will be easier to frighten this terrible family. He got up and returned to the corridor where he had seen the other ghost. When he arrived there, he got another shock. Something terrible had happened to the other ghost! The light had disappeared from its eyes and mouth and the sword had fallen to the ground. He got closer and took the figure in his arms. But just then the head slipped off and rolled on the floor. It was only a hollow turnip and the body was just a broom and a white bed sheet! Then the Canterville Ghost saw the sign that had been around the figure's neck. It read:

The ghost then understood everything. He had been tricked! He was very angry. He raised his hands high and said, “I swear that when the cock crows twice, I will have my revenge!” Just as he said this, a cock crowed in a distant farmhouse. He waited and waited for the second cock crow, but he heard nothing. By half past seven, when the people in the house started to wake up, he had to return to his secret room. He could not understand why the cock had crowed only once. He tried to find the answer in his books of magic. "That is strange," he thought. "All the books say that when this curse is used, the cock always crows twice. Maybe my magic is not working so well because I am very nervous and tired." He then went to rest in a comfortable coffin and stayed there till the evening.

CHAPTER 6

The next day the ghost felt very weak and tired. The excitement of the last four weeks had upset him very much. He was very nervous and the slightest noise made him jump. For five days he just stayed in his room. He even stopped replacing the blood stain on the library floor. "If the Otis family do not want it there, they do not deserve it," he thought. But he could not stop haunting. It was his duty to walk along the corridor once a week. He also had to appear at the large round window on the first and third Wednesdays of every month. He had been an evil man when he was alive, but he took his responsibilities as a ghost very seriously. For the next three Saturdays he walked along the corridor as usual, between midnight and three o'clock. However, he was very careful, so that nobody would see or hear him. He walked as quietly as he could. He wore a large black cloak and never had his boots on. He had even stolen some of Mr. Otis's oil and he put it on is chains to stop them making any noise. Even though he took all these precautions, he still had some trouble. The twins continued playing tricks on him. They stretched pieces of string across the corridor and the ghost often tripped and fell over. One night they put some butter near the top of the staircase. The ghost stepped on it, slipped and fell down the stairs. This made him so angry that he decided to try - for one last time - to terrify those terrible twins. He decided to visit them as the Headless Earl. This was his most successful disguise. In fact, the last time he had used it, two people had died as a result.

 The ghost didn't appear as the Headless Earl very often, because it was a very difficult disguise to prepare. This time it took him three hours to get ready. When he was ready, he left his secret room through the wall and made his way to the twins' room. When he arrived outside their room, he stopped for a moment. The door was slight open. He wanted to make a dramatic entrance, so he pushed the door wide open. Just then, a heavy jug of water fell down right on top of him. He was soaked to the skin. At the same moment he heard laughter from the direction of the twins' beds. The ghost ran back to his room as fast as he could. He spent the next day in bed with a very bad cold. The only thing that made him feel better was the fact that he hadn't taken his head with him when the disaster happened.

Chapter 7

The ghost had lost all hope. He was never going to frighten this rude American family. He walked around the corridors in a pair of slippers. He wore a heavy red scarf around his neck to protect himself from draughts. He also carried an old gun because he was so afraid of the twins. However, on the night of the I9th of September, he received the final blow. He had gone downstairs to the great entrance hall. He believed that there, at least, he would be safe. He was making fun of the portraits of the Ambassador and his family. These were new and had replaced the Canter Ville family portraits. It was about a quarter past two in the morning and - as far as he knew – everybody was asleep. So, he thought it was safe enough to walk around the house. Suddenly, two figures jumped out from a dark comer and screamed "BOO" in his ear. The ghost was terrified and rushed towards the stairs as fast as he could. But there, he found Washington Otis, who was holding a gun. The poor ghost was surrounded by his enemies. The only way to escape was through the fireplace, which fortunately was not lit. So, he quickly disappeared into the fireplace and made his way to his room through the chimneys. When he arrived back at his room, he was covered in dirt and feeling desperate. After this, the poor old ghost was not seen again in the corridors for a long time. The twins waited for him a few times and left nutshells on the floors of the corridors. This annoyed their parents and the servants a lot. But the ghost didn't appear. Obviously, his feelings had been hurt.

Without the ghost, the family's life at Canterville Chase was quite different. Mr. Otis started writing a history book, Mrs. Otis organised a wonderful party, the boys started playing traditional American games and Virginia rode in the country on her pony, together with the young Duke of Cheshire. The young Duke had come to spend the last week of his school holidays at Canterville Chase. Everybody thought that the ghost had gone away. Mr.. Otis wrote a letter to Lord Canterville, saying that the ghost had disappeared. Lord Canterville was very pleased when he received this wonderful news. Of course, they were all wrong. The ghost was still in the house, but he was very ill. However, he recovered a little when he heard that the young Duke of Cheshire was in the house. The Duke's grandfather, Lord Stilton, had once bet a lot of money that he would play dice with the Canterville Ghost. The next morning, the old Lord was found on the floor of the games room paralysed with fear. He lived till he was very old, but for the rest of his life he was not able to say anything except "Double sixes." The ghost felt that it would be nice to frighten another member of that family and decided to appear to the young Duke in the disguise of the Vampire Monk. He got ready, but at the last moment he decided not to leave his room because he was afraid of the twins. So, the young Duke slept safely in his bed and dreamt of Virginia.

CHAPTER 8

A few days later Virginia and the young Duke went for a ride in ;the woods. As they were riding through the trees, Virginia' s dress was tom, so she had to go back to the house. As she was running the Tapestry Room, she noticed that somebody was inside.

"Maybe it's one of the maids," she thought. ''!'U ask her to mend my dress." So she went in, but to her great surprise, she saw the Canterville Ghost! He was sitting by the window, looking at the trees in the garden. He was so sad that he didn't notice Virginia entering the room. At first, Virginia wanted to run away. But when she saw how ill and depressed the ghost looked, she decided to speak to him. She looked at him and said, "I am so sorry for you, but don't worry. My brothers are going back to school tomorrow. From now on no one will annoy you - if you behave yourself." The ghost was very surprised when the young girl spoke to him. He tuned around to look at her and said, "That's silly! I can’t have myself. I am a ghost! I must rattle my chains, groan through keyholes and walk about at night." "You must not do such things," replied Virginia. "You have been very bad person Mrs. Umney told us that you killed your wife." "I did, but that was a family matter," said the ghost. "It was else's business." ; It is very wrong to kill," replied Virginia . “You have been  a very  bad person. Mrs. Umney told us that you killed your wife." “I did, but that was a family matter,” said the ghost. "She was ugly, untidy and a terrible I had to get rid of her. However, I think it was very unfair of to starve me to death." Virginia looked at him in horror and said, "Starve you to death? Oh, Mr. Ghost, I'm so sorry! Are you hungry? I have a sandwich in my bag. Would you like it?" "No, thank you," replied the ghost, "I never eat anything anymore, but it is very kind of you. I must say that you are much nicer than your horrible, rude, dishonest family.” "Stop," cried Virginia. "You are rude, horrible and dishonest. I know that you stole my paints to replace the blood stain on the library floor. First you took all the reds, then the greens and the yellows. I never said a word to anyone, even though I was very annoyed, but it was ridiculous; I mean, whoever has heard of bright green blood?” "Well," said the ghost, ''what else could I do? It is difficult to get real blood these days. Anyway, green blood is not so strange. Remember, we Centerville’s have got blue blood. I know, of course, that you Americans do not understand such things." "You know nothing about America," answered Virginia. "Perhaps you should go there. I am sure my father could arrange it.

You would be a great success in New York. I know many people who would pay a lot of money to have a family ghost." The ghost looked at Virginia and said, "I don't think I would like America. The people there seem to have such bad manners." Virginia felt insulted and turned to go. "Please don't go, Miss Virginia," cried the ghost. "I am so lonely and unhappy. I want to go to sleep but I can't." "That's silly," said Virginia, "You just go to bed and blow out the candle. It is sometimes difficult to stay awake, especially at church, but sleeping is easy. Even babies can do it and they are not very clever." The ghost said sadly, "I have not slept for three hundred years. I am so tired." Virginia's beautiful blue eyes opened wide in amazement. She became very serious. She knelt down beside the ghost, looked up into his face and said, "Poor, poor ghost, haven't you got a place where you can sleep?"

"There is a place beyond the woods," he replied. "It is a beautiful garden where the nightingale sings all night long and the trees shade the resting places of the people who sleep there." Virginia' s eyes filled with tears as she listened to him. "You mean the cemetery?" she asked. "Yes," answered the ghost, "The cemetery. Death must be so beautiful! I want to die and you can help me. You can open the doors of Death for me. You see, Lave is always with you and Lave is stronger than Death." Virginia felt as if she were in the middle of a nightmare. "Have you ever read the old prophecy on the library window?" the ghost asked.

"Oh, yes," answered Virginia. "I know it by heart. There are only four lines.

When golden girl prays and tries

When the dead  almond tree becomes alive

Then the  house will all be still

And peace will come to Centerville.

But I don't know what that means." "It means, "He said sadly, "that you must cry with me for my sins, because I have no tears. You must also pray for me, because I have no faith. The Angel of Death will listen to you and have mercy on me. You will see frightening things, and evil voices will whisper in your ear; but they cannot hurt you, because your innocence will protect you." At first Virginia didn't speak. Suddenly, she stood up, looked at the ghost and said, "I am not afraid. I will ask the Angel of Death to have mercy on you." The ghost gate a cry of joy. He took Virginia’s hand and kissed it. His fingers were as cold as ice, but his lips burned like fire. He then led her across the Tapestry Room. As they walked, little monsters appeared in front of her and said, "Go back! Go back, little. Virginia!"  But the ghost held her hand tightly and she shut her eyes. When they reached the end of the room, they stopped. The ghost said some strange words and Virginia opened her eyes. The wall in front of them opened and a cold wind started blowing around them. "Quick, quick," cried the ghost, "or it will be too late." A moment later the wall closed behind them and the Tapestry Room was empty.

Chapter 9

About ten minutes later the bell rang for tea. When virginia did not appear, mr otis thought that she was probably picking flowers in the garden and hadnt Heard the bell. But when the clock struck six and virginia still hadnt appeared, mrs otis got really worried. She sent the twins to look for her in the garden. Mr otis and herself then searched every room in the house. At half past six the boys returned and said that they couldn”t find theur sister anywhere. They were all very upset

The Angel of Death will listen to you and have mercy on me. You will see frightening things, and evil voices will whisper in your ear; but they cannot hurt you, because your innocence will protect you." At first Virginia didn't speak. Suddenly, she stood up, looked at the ghost and said, "I am not afraid. I will ask the Angel of Death to have mercy on you." The ghost gate a cry of joy. He took Virginia’s hand and kissed it. His fingers were as cold as ice, but his lips burned like fire. He then led her across the Tapestry Room. As they walked, little monsters appeared in front of her and said, "Go back! Go back, little. Virginia!"  But the ghost held her hand tightly and she shut her eyes. When they reached the end of the room, they stopped.

CHAPTER 10

Four days after these strange events, a funeral procession left Canterville Chase. It was eleven o'clock at night. The hearse was drawn by eight black horses. The coffin was covered by a large purple cloth with the Canterville coat of arms embroidered on it in gold. Three carriages followed the hearse. Lord Canterville and Virginia rode in the first of them. In the second carriage were Mr.

Otis and the rest of the family. The third carriage carried Mrs. Umney, the old housekeeper.

A deep grave had been dug in a comer of the churchyard, just under an old yew tree. As the coffin was being lowered into the grave, Virginia placed a large cross made of pink and white flowers from the almond tree on it. At that moment, the moon carne out from behind a cloud and lit up the churchyard with a silver light, and a nightingale started singing. Virginia remembered the ghost's description of the cemetery and tears carne to her eyes. She was much moved and hardly spoke as they drove back to the house. The next morning, Mr. Otis spoke to Lord Canterville about the box of jewels that the ghost had given to Virginia. "I believe that these jewels belong to your family," he said. "You must take them. Virginia is too young to be interested in jewels. However, she would be happy to keep the box as a souvenir of the ghost." Lord Canterville smiled at him and said, "I want your daughter to keep the jewels. Thanks to her, Sir Simon found peace at last. If I took them from her, the wicked old man would probably rise out of his grave again and start terrifying me. Anyway, when you bought the house, you bought everything, including the ghost and his property." So, Virginia kept the jewels. , Some years later, Virginia married the young Duke and became the Duchess of Cheshire. At the wedding she wore some of the jewels the ghost had given her. Everybody said that they were the most wonderful jewels they had ever seen. After their honeymoon, the Duke and Duchess went to Canterville Chase. One afternoon they went for a walk to the churchyard. They stood by Sir Simon's grave and read the inscription on it. It was the old prophecy from the library window. Virginia had brought some lovely roses, and she put them on the grave. Then they walked for a while and Virginia sat down on a rock. The Duke sat down next to her and smoked a cigarette. Suddenly, he took Virginia's hand, looked into her eyes and said,