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

“Well?”

“That’s all. He never said a word, just put his sleeve in his pocket. ‘How,’ said I, ‘can you move an empty sleeve like that?’ ‘You saw it was an empty sleeve?’ He came to me, and stood quite close. Then he pulled his sleeve out of his pocket again, and raised his arm towards me. ‘Well?’ said I; ‘there’s nothing in it.’ I could see right down it. And then something struck my nose.”

Bunting began to laugh.

“There wasn’t anything there!” said Cuss. “I was so surprised, I hit his sleeve, and it felt exactly like hitting an arm. And there wasn’t an arm!”

Mr. Bunting thought it over. He looked suspiciously at Cuss. “It’s a most remarkable story,” he said.

Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones.

1. Mr. Hall wanted to get rid of the stranger, but Mrs. Hall wanted to wait for more guests to stay at their inn.

2. The stranger stayed in his room all the time, he never went out.

3. The villagers thought that the stranger was a terrorist in disguise.

4. Cuss visited the stranger to collect money for the village nurse.

5. Cuss saw that the stranger had no hand.

6. The stranger explained that his hand had been amputated after an accident.

1. Why didn’t Mrs. Hall get rid of her guest?

2. Why didn’t Mrs. Hall think that the stranger worked regularly?

3. What made people in Iping suspicious of the stranger? What did they suspect him of?

4. Why did Mr. Cuss think he was mad?

5. Do you think the vicar believed Cuss’s story?

The facts of the burglary at the Vicarage were told by the vicar and his wife. It occurred at night late in April.

Mrs. Bunting woke up suddenly at night, with a strong impression that the door of their bedroom had opened and closed. She then heard the sound of bare feet walking along the passage. She woke up Mr. Bunting, who did not strike a light, but went out of the bedroom to listen. He heard some noise in his study downstairs, and then a sneeze.

He returned to his bedroom, took a poker, and went downstairs as noiselessly as possible.

Everything was still, except some noise in the study. Then the study was lit by a candle. Mr. Bunting was now in the hall, and through the door he could see the desk, and a candle on it. But he could not see the burglar. He stood there in the hall not knowing what to do, and Mrs. Bunting, her face white, went slowly downstairs after him.

They heard the chink of money, and realised that the burglar had found the gold – two pounds ten. Gripping the poker firmly, Mr. Bunting rushed into the room, followed by Mrs. Bunting. The room was empty.

Yet they were certain they had heard somebody moving in the room. For half a minute they stood still, then Mrs. Bunting went across the room and looked under the desk, behind the curtains, and Mr. Bunting looked up the chimney.

“The candle!” said Mr. Bunting. “Who lit the candle?”

“The money’s gone!” said Mrs. Bunting.

There was a sneeze in the passage. They rushed out, and heard the kitchen door close. “Bring the candle!” said Mr. Bunting. As he opened the kitchen door, he saw the back door just opening, but nobody went out of the door. It opened, stood open for a moment, and then closed. When they entered the kitchen it was empty. They examined all the house. There was nobody there.

That morning Mr. Hall and Mrs. Hall both got up early and went to the cellar. Their business there was of a secret nature, and had something to do with their beer.

When they entered the cellar, Mrs. Hall found she had forgotten to bring down a bottle of sarsaparilla. [154]Hall went upstairs for it.

He was surprised to see that the stranger’s door was ajar. He went to his own room and found the bottle.

But as he came downstairs, he noticed that the front door had been unbolted – that the door was, in fact, simply closed. When he saw this, he stopped, then, knocked on the stranger’s door. There was no answer. He knocked again; then opened the door and entered. The room was empty. And what was still odder, on the chair and the bed were all the clothes and the bandages of their guest. Even his big hat was there on the bed.

Hall turned and hurried down to his wife, down the cellar steps.

“He is not in the room. And the front door’s unbolted.”

Mrs. Hall decided to see the empty room for herself. As they came up the cellar steps, they both heard the front door open and shut. She opened the door and stood looking round the room. She came up to the bed and put her hand on the pillow and then under the clothes.

“Cold,” she said. “He’s been up for an hour or more.”

As she did so a most extraordinary thing happened. The bed-clothes gathered themselves together, and then jumped off the bed. It was as if a hand had taken and thrown them on the floor. Then the stranger’s hat jumped off the bed, and flew straight at Mrs. Hall’s face. Then the chair, laughing in a voice like the stranger’s, turned itself up and flew at Mrs. Hall. She screamed and turned, and then the chair legs pushed her and Hall out of the room. The door shut and was locked.

“These were spirits,” said Mrs. Hall. “I know these were spirits. I’ve read in papers of them. Tables and chairs flying and dancing… Don’t let him come in again. I should have guessed [155]… With his bandaged head, and never going to church on Sunday. And all the bottles – more than anyone needs. He’s put the spirits into the furniture… My good old furniture!”

Suddenly and most wonderfully the door of the guest room opened, and as they looked up in amazement, they saw the muffled figure of the stranger, staring at them. “Go to the devil!” shouted the stranger. Then he entered his room, and slammed the door in their faces.

Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones.

1. When Mr. and Mrs. Bunting heard a burglar in their house, they didn’t call the police.

2. When Mr. and Mrs. Bunting didn’t find anyone in the study, they thought they had made a mistake, and there wasn’t anybody in the study.

3. Mr. and Mrs. Bunting saw the burglar leave the house by the back door.

4. When Mr. Hall saw the front door unbolted, he thought he had forgotten to bolt it at night.

5. Mr. and Mrs. Hall were pushed out of the guest room by spirits.

6. The stranger was angry with Mr. and Mrs. Hall because they had entered his room.

1. What do you think Mr. and Mrs. Bunting wanted to do, when they went downstairs one night?

2. What, to your mind, did Mr. and Mrs. Bunting think of what had happened in their house?

3. What do you think Mr. and Mrs. Hall were going to do that morning in the cellar?

4. Why do you think Mr. Hall was amazed to see the stranger’s clothes and bandages in his room?

5. Why did Mrs. Hall think her guest had put spirits into the furniture?

The stranger remained in his room until noon. All that time he did not get any meals. He rang his bell several times, but no one answered him.

The news of the burglary at the Vicarage arrived, and they put two and two together. [156]

What the stranger did is unknown. Now and then one could hear curses, and a violent smashing of bottles.

The little group of scared but curious people gathered near the inn.

About noon the stranger suddenly opened his door and stood looking at the three or four people in the bar. “Mrs. Hall,” he called. Somebody went and called for Mrs. Hall.