Герберт Уэллс - Кентервильское привидение. Человек-невидимка / The Canterville Ghost. The Invisible Man

“ Hallo! [122]” suddenly exclaimed one of the twins, who had been looking out of the window to try and discover in what wing of the house the room was situated. “Hallo! the old withered almond-tree has blossomed. I can see the flowers quite plainly in the moonlight.”

“God has forgiven him,” said Virginia, gravely, as she rose to her feet, and a beautiful light seemed to illumine her face.

“What an angel you are!” cried the young Duke, and he put his arm round her neck, and kissed her.

1. Answer the questions:

1. When did the boys come back? What did they say to their mother?

2. Did the little Duke of Cheshire set off for Blackfell Hollow with Mr. Otis?

3. Were there any gypsies at the spot?

4. What did the station-master tell Mr. Otis?

5. Did Mr. Otis get any information about Virginia from the rural policeman?

6. What sound did the family hear at midnight?

7. What did Virginia hold in her hand?

8. What did Virginia tell her family about the Ghost?

9. What did the family find in a little low room, with a vaulted ceiling, and one tiny grated window?

10. What happened to the old withered almond-tree?

2. True or false?

1. Mrs. Otis was not at all alarmed at first, but when six o’clock struck, and Virginia did not appear, she became really agitated.

2. At half-past six the boys came back with Virginia.

3. Mr. Otis set off for Blackfell Hollow accompanied by his eldest son and two of the servants.

4. Arriving at the spot they found out that Virginia had been kidnapped by gypsies.

5. Fortunately the station-master had some good news about Virginia.

6. Mr. Otis woke up the rural policeman, but could get no information from him.

7. Mr. Otis said that he would telegraph in the morning to Scotland Yard for some detectives to be sent down immediately.

8. A panel at the top of the staircase flew back with a loud noise, and out on the landing, stepped the Ghost.

9. The ghost gave Virginia a box full of old coins before he died.

10. A gaunt skeleton was chained to a huge iron ring.

3. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following words and expressions:

отправиться, тщательно обыскать район, не мог сдержать улыбки, шалопай, деревенский, в направлении дома, ни малейшего следа, цыгане, удар (часов), раскат грома, глупая шутка, в изумлении, ржавые гвозди, сводчатый потолок, вне досягаемости, миндальное дерево.

4. Write questions to the following answers.

1. He said that he could not find Miss Virginia anywhere.

2. On arriving at the spot, Mr. Otis found that the gypsies had gone.

3. They reached the Chase about eleven o’clock.

4. In the hall they found a group of frightened servants, and Mrs. Otis, almost out of her mind with terror and anxiety.

5. When the last stroke sounded they heard a crash and a sudden shrill cry.

6. Virginia looked very pale and white.

7. The ghost gave Virginia a box of beautiful jewels.

8. She led them through the opening in the wainscoting down a narrow secret corridor.

9. They saw a gaunt skeleton chained to a huge iron ring.

10. Virginia knelt down beside the skeleton, and began to pray silently.

5. Fill in the gaps with the words from the box.

1. As Virginia was in the ________________ of going out to the garden every evening to get flowers for the dinner-table, Mrs. Otis was not at all alarmed at first.

2. He accordingly at once ________________ for Blackfell Hollow, where he knew they were, accompanied by his eldest son and two of the servants.

3. On arriving at the __________, however, he found that the gypsies had gone.

4. Mr. Otis sent telegrams to all the police inspectors in the county, telling them to look out for a little girl who had been ________________ by tramps or gypsies.

5. The Minister could not help smiling at the handsome young ________________.

6. They found Washington and the twins waiting for them at the ________________ with lanterns, as the avenue was very dark.

7. The gypsies were very ________________ to Mr. Otis for having allowed them to camp in his park.

8. Even the twins were ________________, as they were very fond of their sister.

9. He had been very wicked, but he was really sorry for all that he had done, and he gave me this box of beautiful ________________ before he died.

10. The jug had evidently been once filled with water, as it was covered inside with green ________________.

Four days after these curious incidents, a funeral started from Canterville Chase at about eleven o’clock at night. The hearse was drawn by eight black horses, each of which carried on its head a great tuft of nodding ostrich-plumes, [123]and the leaden coffin was covered by a rich purple pall, on which was embroidered in gold the Canterville coat-of-arms. By the side of the hearse and the coaches walked the servants with lighted torches, and the whole procession was wonderfully impressive. Lord Canterville was the chief mourner, having come up specially from Wales to attend the funeral, and sat in the first carriage along with little Virginia. Then came the United States Minister and his wife, then Washington and the three boys, and in the last carriage was Mrs. Umney. It was generally felt that, as she had been frightened by the ghost for more than fifty years of her life, she had a right to see the last of him. A deep grave had been dug in the corner of the churchyard, just under the old yew-tree, and the service was read in the most impressive manner by the Rev. [124]Augustus Dampier. When the ceremony was over, the servants, according to an old custom observed in the Canterville family, extinguished their torches, and, as the coffin was being lowered into the grave, Virginia stepped forward, and laid on it a large cross made of white and pink almond-blossoms. As she did so, the moon came out from behind a cloud, and flooded with its silent silver the little churchyard, and from a distant copse a nightingale began to sing. She thought of the ghost’s description of the Garden of Death, her eyes became dim with tears, [125]and she hardly spoke a word during the drive home.

The next morning, before Lord Canterville went up to town, Mr. Otis had an interview with him on the subject of the jewels the ghost had given to Virginia. They were perfectly magnificent, especially a certain ruby necklace with old Venetian setting, which was really a superb specimen of sixteenth-century work, and their value was so great that Mr. Otis felt considerable scruples [126]about allowing his daughter to accept them.

“My lord,” he said, “I know that in this country mortmain is held to apply to trinkets as well as to land, and it is quite clear to me that these jewels are, or should be, in your family. I must beg you, accordingly, to take them to London with you, and to regard them simply as a portion of your property which has been restored to you under certain strange conditions. As for my daughter, she is merely a child, and has as yet, I am glad to say, but little interest in such appurtenances of idle luxury. I am also informed by Mrs. Otis, who, I may say, is no mean authority upon Art, [127]– having had the privilege of spending several winters in Boston when she was a girl, – that these gems are of great monetary worth, and if offered for sale would fetch a tall price. Under these circumstances, Lord Canterville, I feel sure that you will recognize how impossible it would be for me to allow them to remain in the possession of any member of my family; and, indeed, all such vain gauds and toys, however suitable or necessary to the dignity of the British aristocracy, would be completely out of place [128]among those who have been brought up on the severe, and I believe immortal, principles of Republican simplicity. Perhaps I should mention that Virginia is very anxious that you should allow her to retain the box, as a memento of your unfortunate but misguided ancestor. As it is extremely old, and consequently a good deal out of repair, you may perhaps think fit to comply with her request. [129]For my own part, I confess I am a good deal surprised to find a child of mine expressing sympathy with mediaevalism, [130]and can only account for it by the fact that Virginia was born in one of your London suburbs shortly after Mrs. Otis had returned from a trip to Athens.”