The Canterville Ghost Oscar Wilde

The Canterville Ghost

Oscar Wilde

CEF: A1

Mr Hiram B. Otis is a rich American from New York. He is in England to make business, but he does not want to live in London. He does not want to live in the city. He wants to live in the countryside outside London.

Canterville Chase is a large and very old house near London. Lord Canterville, the owner, wants to sell it. So Mr Otis visits Lord Canterville.

“I do not live in Canterville Chase,” Lord Canterville says to Mr Otis. “I do not want to live there. The house has a ghost - The Canterville Ghost.”

“I come from America,” says Mr Otis. “America is a modern country. I don’t believe in ghosts. Do you always see this Canterville Ghost?”

“No,” says Lord Canterville, “but I usually hear it at night.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts,” Mr Otis says again. “There isn’t any ghost in a museum!”

“But my family believes it,” says Lord Canterville. “No one in my family stays in the house. Also, the servants believe it and they don’t stay in the house at night. Only the housekeeper, Mrs Umney, lives in Canterville Chase. Mrs Umney lives there alone.”

“I want to buy the house,” says Mr Otis. “I want to buy the ghost as well. Do you sell Canterville Chase...and the ghost?”

Otto-Classics Graded Readers Series are outstanding classics written by famous writers. The language and vocabulary in the books are controlled and simplified by specialist ELT authors and compilers according to Common European Framework so that they can be easily understood by new learners of English.

Depending on the eight levels from A1 to B2+, the longer stories are divided into a number of chapters and every chapter has its own activities. Some of the activities in the books are meant to be done in pairs. You may work with a partner to solve problems and design projects that reflect not only your own thinking but also new ideas you and your mates will discover by working in groups.