The Secret Garden
Mary Lennox lived in India with her busy parents. When her parents died from
cholera, she went to live with her Uncle, Mr. Craven in England. Mrs. Craven
died when she fell from a tree in the garden. The garden was closed after the
accident and the key buried in the ground. Martha was a very friendly maid, she
told Mary about the secret garden. She talked to Ben, the gardener. A little
robin showed her the place where the key was buried and the entrance of the
garden. Mary entered, it was untidy. Dickon (Martha’s brother) and Mary
worked together in the garden.
At night, Mary heard somebody crying and one day she opened a door and saw
Collin Craven, her cousin who was very ill and couldn’t walk. She invited him to
visit the garden. He could walk and got stronger until he could run and work in
the garden too. Dickon’s mother (Mrs. Sowerby) wrote to Mr. Craven to come
back home. When he arrived, Colin surprised him, opened the door and ran out
to him. The kids showed him the garden and Mr. Craven said it was not a secret
garden anymore, but a place for Collin, his cousin Mary and their friend Dickon.
The Canterville Ghost
The American minister Hiram B. Otis, bought an old large house called
Canterville chase. Lord Canterville warned him that there was a ghost and
strange noises in the house. He decided to take the house because he didn’t
believe in ghosts.
He moved there with his family, his wife Lucretia and their children Washington,
Virginia and the twins, who liked to play tricks on people. Mrs. Umney was the
house keeper and welcomed them with tea at the library. They saw blood of
Eleanore de Canterville, her husband Simon murdered her there in 1575. Simon
disappeared 9 years later, but his ghost haunted the house and nobody could
clean the blood. There was a thunder and Mrs. Umney fainted. Every time they
cleaned the red stains they appeared again the following morning. One night, at
1 am, they all went to bed when suddenly they heard a noise and footsteps. Mr.
Otis opened his bedroom door and saw an old man with red eyes and long grey
hair, on dirty old clothes and chains around his wrists and ankles. He gave the
man a bottle with oil to stop the noise and went back to sleep. He threw the
bottle upset and the twins opened their door and laughed and threw a pillow at
him. He felt insulted. He remembered all the people who saw him and were
frightened. He was a famous ghost and he wanted to teach the foolish
Americans a lesson. He planned his revenge. The stains changed colors. The
ghost appeared on Sunday night. He tried to put on an armour but it was heavy
and fell to the floor. The twins shot pellets at him. He was angry. Mrs. Otis said
he sounded ill and gave him some medicine.
On a stormy night, he scared them, but there was another ghost in the hall.
Bald, fat white face, horrible smile, red eyes and a sign on its chest. He ran
away. Then he decided to talk to the other ghost. It wasn’t a ghost, it was a
kitchen brush, a sheet and a turnip with a candle. The sign said: The Otis ghost,
the only true ghost.
Sir Simon’s ghost took off his shoes and oiled his chains so the Otis family didn’t
see or hear him. The twins continued with his tricks: they tied a string on the
hall and the ghost fell over, also when they put butter at the top of the stairs.
They wet him with a bucket of water. He got a cold. He was afraid of the twins
and became ill.
The young Duke of Cheshire went to stay with the family. He was in love with
Virginia and he wanted to marry her. Virginia felt sorry for the ghost. He said he
couldn’t be good. He admitted that he killed his wife and that her brothers
starved him to death. He said he wanted to sleep but he couldn’t and she
offered her help. She had to ask the angel of death to let the ghost sleep
forever. They disappeared in a big black hole. Her family was worried. At twelve
o’clock there was a thunder and she appeared, with a box with jewels in her
hands. She took the family to a small secret room. There was a skeleton tied to
the wall and a plate and jug far from him. They knew the ghost’s secret. He
could sleep. They had a funeral for the ghost with carriages and buried him in
the churchyard. All of them were there and lord Canterville too. They tried to
give him the jewels but lord Canterville said that the ghost wanted her to have
the jewels. She married the duke of Cheshire a few years later. They visited her
parents’ house and she visited Sir Simon’s grave. She couldn’t tell her husband
the ghost’s story.
