CHAPTER 1
The story starts when Mr Otis, a very rich man from an American family, bought a house in England, even though the owner of
the house, Lord Canterville, recommended him not to buy it, because he said that there was a ghost and his whole family saw it.
Mr Otis didn’t listen to him, and he still bought the house.
A few weeks later the family arrived at the house, and suddenly the weather changed, and the sky went dark. The
housekeeper, Mrs Umney, welcomed them into the house and as soon as they entered it, they saw a blood stain on the floor,
and Mrs Umney said that it was the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville. The family didn’t believe her and wiped off the stain,
but then a thunder crashed and they all jumped to their feet, whilst the housekeeper fainted.
CHAPTER 2
A storm started that lasted all night. The next morning, when the family went downstairs, the stain was there again, and
Washington wiped it off again. But the following mornings it was there again, and Mr Otis started to believe that the ghost
was real. That night, when they all went to bed, a strange noise in the corridor was heard by Mr Otis, who got up to check
what it was, but when he opened the bedroom door, the ghost was in front of him staring at him. Mr Otis remained calm and
the ghost ran down the corridor, waking everybody up. The twins threw pillows at him and the ghost went back to his secret
room. He was very upset because he couldn’t scare the family and they made fun of him. For the rest of the week, the blood
stain kept reappearing, but other than that nothing unusual happened.
On Sunday night, the family heard a crash in the hall and they saw an old suit of armor on the floor and the ghost in a chair
in pain, because he had tried to get in to scare the family. The twins started shooting at him with peashooters, and the
ghost turned into a mist and ran through them. He tried to spook them with his ghostly laughter, but Mrs Otis offered him
medicine to cure his voice. He disappeared and went back to his secret room, furious. For some days he was very ill, but
when he recovered he was ready for his revenge.
CHAPTER 3
The ghost made his plans, and on friday he was ready. He had a sheet and an old knife, all set to kill Washington during his
sleep. The next thing he planned was to go to his parents’ room and whisper the secret of death in their eras, and head to the
twins’ and transform into a skeleton. Everything was ready that night, but when he got in the corridor he saw a horrible ghost,
but then he thought that they could help each other by killing the family. When he got closer to it, he realized that the ghost
wasn’t real, and it was a joke made by the twins. He came back to his room, infuriated, and the next day he felt weak and
tired. He kept trying to scare the family, but they continued to make fun of him.
CHAPTER 4
The ghost stayed in his room, feeling ill and not trying to scare the family anymore. The family also forgot about him and
began to live a normal life, throwing parties and writing about the disappearance of the ghost. Cecil, the young Duke of
Cheshire, came to stay at Canterville Chase with the family. When the ghost heard that he was in the house started to think of
how to scare the Duke, because he had frightened his grandfather a hundred years before, but then he remembered the
twins and decided to stay in his room forever.
Meanwhile, Virginia had gone riding with Cecil, but she broke her jacket and got back in the house to search for a servant who
could mend it. She found an open door and decided to go inside, and surprisingly she saw the ghost sitting by the window.
She got closer to him and tried to comfort him, because he seemed very sad. They started talking and the ghost told her his
story, while Virginia offered him some food and advised him to take a nap.
CHAPTER 5
The ghost told Virginia about a prophecy that talked about a girl who would have helped a bad man to pray, and peace would
have come to Canterville. The ghost explained to her that to help him be free and go in the Garden of Death, she needed
to cry for him. The girl accepted, and went with him through the dark room. There were voices that told her to go back, but
she was a very brave girl and didn’t listen to the voices. The wall closed behind them, and they disappeared. Nobody could
find Virginia, and the family was very terrorized.
CHAPTER 6
The family continued to search for Virginia, but they couldn't find her anywhere. Late that night, everyone was going sadly to
bed, and when the clock struck midnight a thunder crashed and Virginia came down the stairs, with a white face and
carrying a small box.
The family was very happy to see her again, and she told them that she had been with the ghost. She took them through the
opening in the wall and down a corridor, up to a small room that looked like a prison cell. In a corner there was a
skeleton chained to the wall, and Virginia knelt down next to it and began to pray. The skeleton was Sir Simon de Canterville.
Four days later, a funeral started at Canterville Chase. They burned the coffin with the bones of Sir Simon in the old
churchyard (cimitero), and a nightingale (usignolo) began to sing. Some time later, Cecil married Virginia, and at their
wedding Virginia was wearing the Canterville jewels that were contained in the small box that had Virginia when she came
back to her family. After their honeymoon (luna di miele), they went through the woods (boschi) to Sir Simon’s grave
(tomba). Cecil asked her what she saw when she went with him, but she told him that it was a secret.
PERSONAGGI
Sir Simon Duke of Canterville, he is the main character who was a sinful ghost. His appearance was really
terrifying . In fact, he had red eyes, long, dirty, gray hair and he had rusty handcuffs and chains tied to his wrists
and ankles. When he was alive, he killed his wife because she didn’t take care of the housework
Lady Canterville: is the former owner of the castle.
Lord Canterville: husband of Lady Canterville and former owner of the castle.
Hiram Otis: The father of the Otis family. He is a middle-aged American minister; he is determined, inflexible,
rational and courageous, as a result a true American. In fact at the beginning, he believed that ghosts didn’t exist,
then, when he met him, he was indifferent: he had more important things to do, making money, for example.
Lucretia Tappan Otis: Hiram's wife, a beautiful middle-aged woman of the American bourgeoisie, obsessed with
cleanliness.
Washington Otis: the eldest son, a typical young rampant American and full of original ideas, like that of the
super stain remover.
Virginia Otis: the fifteen-year-old second child, with a shy and reserved character but at the same time also
generous and helpful with a strong feeling of freedom; romantic, sensitive and open, she was the only one in the
family who provided help to the ghost but she was afraid of him. She never spoke except to the ghost, at the end
of the story.
The Otis twins: They were the terrible boys, the youngest brothers. Nicknamed Stars and Stripes like the
American flag, they were hyperactive; they played tricks on the ghost.
Mrs. Umney: the housekeeper, born and raised in the shadow of the castle. Told the story of Sir Simon, in fact
she said that the ghost was full of pathos.
Cecil: English boy, in love with and future husband of Virginia.
BELL:campana- APRON: grembiule- fireplace: camino- SHROUD: mantello -BLOOD: Sangue -BONES -> Ossa
-CHAINS -› Catene -COFFIN -› Bara -MOONLIGHT -› Luna -SHROUD -› Ombra -SKELETON -› Scheletro
-VAMPIRE -› Vampiro -GHOST -› Fantasma -WRISTS -> Polsi -ANKLES -> Caviglie- KNEES -> Ginocchia
-ELBOWS -› Gomiti -PILLOWS -› Cuscini -ARMOUR -> Armatura -PEASHOOTER -› Cerbottana -GUN -› Pistola
-FEATHER -› Piuma DAGGER -> Pugnale -CURTAIN -› Tenda -STRINGS -› Stringhe/filo -SWORD -› Spada -JUG
-› Brocca -BUTTER -› Burro -PUMPKIN -› Zucca -GARDEN PUMP -›Pompa da giardino
-WOODS -> Boschi -NIGHTINGALE -» Usignolo -BELL -› Campana -GRASS -› Erba -STARS -» Stelle -EARTH -›
Terra -JEWELS -› Gioielli -DISH -> Piatto -TORCH -* Torcia -NECKLACE -› Collana -RUBY -› Diamante -GRAVE
-› Tomba -BLEW _, Soffio -FROST _ Brina -FROZEN -› Ghiacciato -HEAVILY -› Pesantemente LIGHTNING -*
Fulmine -POURED -› Versato -SHINING -» Splendente -SNOWED -› Nevicare .STORM -› Tempesta -THUNDER
-, Tuono
HIP -> Anca -CHIN -> Mento -WAIST -› Vita -ELBOW -> Gomito -FINGER -› Dito -SOLE -> Pianta del piedeCHEST -› Petto -NOSE -› Naso -EYE -› Occhio -CHEEK -› Guancia -LIP -› Labbro -HEEL -› Tallone -THUMB -›
Pollice -FOREHEAD -> Fronte -ANKLE -› Caviglia -NECK -› Collo -EAR -› Orecchio -EYEBROW -› SopraccigliaTHIGH -› Coscia -MOUTH -› Bocca -HAIR =› Capelli -WRIST › Polso -TOE -, Dito del piede -SHOULDER -›
Spalla -KNEE -› Ginocchio -FOOT -› Piede