The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories by Oscar Wild_Level 4 + AUDIO Penguin Readers.pdf

The Canterville Ghost

and Other Stories

OSCAR WILDE

Level 4

Retold by John Davage

Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

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Pearson Education Limited

Edinburgh Gate, Harlow,

Essex CM20 2JE, England

and Associated Companies throughout the world.

ISBN 0 582 42691 X

This edition first published 2000 Third impression 2003

Illustrations by Robert Geary

Cover design by Bender Richardson White

Typeset by Pantek Arts Ltd, Maidstone, Kent

Sets in 11/14pt Bembo

Printed in China

SWTC/03

in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the

prior written permission of the Publishers.

Published by Pearson Education Limited in association with

Penguin Books Ltd, both companies being subsidiaries of Pearson Pic

For a complete list of the titles available In the Penguin Readers series, please write to your local

Pearson Education office or to: Penguin Readers Marketing Department,

Pearson Education, Edinburgh Gate. Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE.

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CONTENTS

Page

Introduction .......................................................................................................................5

The Canterville Ghost.......................................................................................................7

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime..............................................................................................25

The Sphinx Without a Secret ..........................................................................................43

ACTIVITIES............................................................................................................................................................... 49

Writing ....................................................................................................................................................................... 51

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Introduction

‘Well if you’re happy to share your house with a ghost, that’s all right,’ said Lord

Canterville. ‘But please remember that I warned you.’

When the American Ambassador, Hiram B. Otis, buys Canterville Chase from Lord

Canterville, people try to warn him that he is doing a dangerous thing. Everyone knows

that the large old house is haunted by the famous Canterville Ghost — the ghost of Sir

Simon de Canterville, who murdered his wife.

But Mr Otis and his family are not worried about sharing their new home with a ghost.

It is all quite amusing — even when they clean the mysterious bloodstain from the library

floor every day and it appears again the next morning!

The ghost becomes more and more unhappy. It is his duty to haunt the house, but

the young Otis boys play terrible tricks on him. What can he do? How can he frighten

these awful Americans?

The Canterville Ghost is one of three stories in this book. In the second story. Lord

Arthur Savile’s Crime , Lord Arthur meets the rather unpleasant Mr Podgers at one of Lady

Windermere’s parties, and his whole life changes. He was going to marry Sybil Merton,

one of the most beautiful girls in London. But now, before he can marry the lovely Sybil, he

has to murder someone!

The third story, The Sphinx Without a Secret , is about the secret life of beautiful,

mysterious Lady Alroy. She lives in a house in the most expensive part of London, so why

does she rent a room in a house in one of the poorer streets? What does she do there?

Who does she meet?

The writer of these stories, Oscar Wilde, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1854. His father

was a well-known doctor, and his mother wrote poems.

Wilde went to Trinity College, Dublin, and later studied Latin and Greek at Oxford

University. He was a very clever student, but he was also known for his lifestyle. He loved

beautiful things, and he filled his rooms with them. He wore unusual clothes and amused

people with his clever conversation.

In 1878 he won the Newdigate Prize for his poem, Ravenna . He married a rich Irish

woman, Constance Lloyd, in 1884, and they had two sons. Wilde wrote The Happy Prince

and Other Tales (1888) for them.

Wilde’s first book of poems came out in 1881. He wrote many short stories, but also

the famous full-length book The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), which was later made into

a film. This is the strange and clever story of a man who does not show his age. He stays

young and handsome for many years. At the same time, a picture of the man grows old

and ugly. Strange things happen when someone loves beauty and the pleasant things in

life too much

By 1895, Wilde was a very successful writer. Crowds of people went to the theatre to

see his plays. These included Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance

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