Tale Summary — “The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories”
This tale is the seventh story I have read, titled “The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories.” It consists of three different stories.
The first story begins in England. Mr. Hiham B. Otis, a wealthy American, moves to the English countryside. He meets Lord Canterville, the owner of Canterville Chase, a house he intends to sell due to the presence of a ghost. Despite knowing the ghost story, Otis purchases the house because he doesn’t believe in ghosts. Mr. Hiham has four children: three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Washington, is good-looking with fair hair, and his two brothers are twins. The daughter, Virginia, is fifteen years old with blue eyes and a lovely face. As for the ghost story, all the servants of the house left except for Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper of Canterville Chase. The house itself is a large, old building with a central table and numerous chairs in the library. Bookshelves line the walls, adorned with many books, and paintings hang on the walls.
One day, Mrs. Otis notices a bloodstain on the library floor. She asks the housekeeper to clean it, but Mrs. Umney responds, “It is the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville, who was murdered by her husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, in 1575. The bloodstain has been here for three hundred years; it cannot be removed.”
When Washington tries to remove the stain, Mrs. Umney becomes afraid and warns the Otis family that trouble will come to the house because the ghost will be angry. One night, Mr. Otis hears a strange noise outside his bedroom and investigates. He encounters the Canterville ghost in the corridor, the source of the noise. Mr. Otis surprises the ghost by saying, “My dear, your chains make a terrible noise. You should put some oil on them.” The ghost is astonished because everyone else is terrified of him, but the Otis family doesn’t fear him. The ghost tries hard to frighten them, but they only laugh at him.
