Имя кровожадного Графа Дракулы известно всему миру. Тайна его замка в Трансильвании пугала и завораживала многих. Герой романа Джонатан отправился к графу и столкнулся с приключениями едва не стоившими ему и его невесте жизни. Книга рекомендована для школьников 8-10 классов и студентов курсов и неязыковых ВУЗов. Intermediate (1500 слов)
Transylvania
Jonathan Harker was staying in a small and rather dirty inn1, in a small and rather dirty town, surrounded by the magnificent peaks of the Carpathian Mountains. There was still snow on the higher ground, but down in the valleys spring had arrived, the river flowed quickly through meadows covered in flowers, and the cows stood lazily in the sunshine. Jonathan had just finished his breakfast when the innkeeper's wife came up to clear the table.
"Will that be all Sir?" She asked, and smiled warmly.
"Yes, thank you, and the bill of course, I will be leaving straight away."
"Where are you off to, if I may ask?"
"Up into the mountains, I am going to stay with Count Dracula on business." A shadow seemed to pass across her face, she was no longer smiling, she looked worried.
"Take this," she said, and took a small wooden crucifix2 from around her neck. "Whatever you do, never take it off, at least while you are in Transylvania," Jonathan would have laughed, but the poor woman looked so serious, he took the crucifix, which felt strangely warm, and put it on.
As Jonathan paid and left he wondered why the woman had been so worried; the local people were certainly very religious, but the innkeeper's wife seemed worried about something specific. However, Jonathan put it to the back of his mind, and set off for the castle.
Chapter 2
The journey into the mountains
The Count had agreed to have Jonathan met at the bottom of the road leading up to the castle. Jonathan asked the way, and by lunchtime he had reached the point where the road split, the smaller branch ran beside a small stream, towards the mountains; he settled down to wait. Jonathan was beginning to feel worried, as no one had come to fetch1 him, when he heard the sound of horses approaching, and a large carriage, pulled by two enormous black horses came hurtling2 round the corner. The carriage stopped, and the driver leaned down and opened the door, he closed it as soon as Jonathan was inside. Soon they were hurtling up the mountain road at great speed, to the right Jonathan could see nothing, as the forest was very thick, but to the left the view was fantastic, right over the valley, with the stream looking like a silver thread far below. The wheels of the carriage seemed to be right on the edge of the road, and Jonathan felt sure that they would crash down into the valley below at any moment.
Determined not to worry, he settled back into the leather seat, and thought about his host; he had certainly sent a very strange driver, wearing a broad hat, and a cloth wrapped up around his head, he had not said a word, and he drove like a madman. Jonathan presumed that they were driving so quickly to avoid the wolves, which he could hear howling in the forest nearby. When Jonathan caught sight of the castle he felt relieved, the journey would soon be over! It was only later, looking back, that he realised how wrong he was to feel relieved, he should have turned and fled3.
The carriage swung4 into the courtyard and came to a stop by the stairs leading up to the great wooden doors of the castle. As soon as Jonathan had got out the driver shouted at the horses, and they drove on through a massive gate to the left of the doorway.
As he walked up the steps Jonathan could not see a bell or a knocker5, so he sat down and waited, after a few minutes he heard the noise of a key being turned, and the great door swung open.
Chapter 3
Supper with the Count
"Welcome, I am Count Dracula, and this is my home, I hope you will be happy here," said a figure in English, with a heavy foreign accent.
"Thank you Count, I am delighted to be here at last, I seem to have been travelling for ages." The Count closed the door, and Jonathan followed him up the stairs, into a large open hall. To one side a fire was burning brightly, in the middle of the room stood a large oak table, with dinner laid for one.
"Let me show you to your room, and then you can eat." Picking up my bags the Count walked slowly up the stairs, along a corridor, and finally into a lovely room, with a fantastic view out over the valley. As he walked Jonathan studied him, the Count appeared to be old, and he wore strange clothes. Jonathan was sure that they had gone out of fashion long ago, they were quite clean and neat, but it was strange to see them being worn. His face was unnaturally pale, and his eyes were very dark, however his lips were red, and they gave the impression of youth, set in an older face.
"Come, you must be hungry," and the Count led Jonathan back to the hall, and the table laid for supper.
"Won't you be joining me for supper, Count?"
"Thank you, 1 have already eaten, but please go ahead, let me pour you some wine." The Count poured Jonathan a glass from a golden jug, everything on the table was made of gold or silver, except for the plates, which were very fine porcelain1, and painted with a coat of arms2.
"Is that your coat of arms?"
"Yes, my family has always lived here, we used to rule this part of the world, we have fought many battles, but now I am all that is left." The Count went on to tell Jonathan about his family; during the middle ages3 they must have been very important in the history of Transylvania. After supper the Count led Jonathan back to his room.
"Many rooms in the castle are locked, please understand that the castle is old, and this is necessary, you are welcome to go anywhere else; you must try to feel at home." A fire was burning in
Jonathan's room, it was cosy, and thebed was soft and warm, he soon fell asleep.
Chapter 4
A guest or a prisoner?
The following day Jonathan did not wake up until lunchtime, he had been very tired, and the rest had done him good. He found lunch ready for him on the table, but no sign of his host. He sat down and had a good meal, afterwards he set off to look for the Count, but was unsuccessful in his search, although he did find his way around the castle. There was one strange thing that did concern him, he could not find a way out of the castle, the door through which he had first come in was kept locked, and all of the other N doors led into rooms, but none of them led outside. Most of the rooms were well furnished, but could not have been used in a long time, as everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Jonathan began to think that he was alone with the Count in the castle. He found it hard to understand; the castle was full of valuable paintings and furniture, many things were made of gold and silver, and yet the Count lived without servants, although he was obviously able to afford1 to pay for them.
The library seemed remarkably well supplied with English books and newspapers, and Jonathan spent the afternoon there reading, shortly after the sun had set the Count came in.
"Ah, I'm glad you found the library, I try to keep up with2 the world, so I have the latest books and newspapers sent, although they do take a while to get here."
"1 can see. I have had a very interesting afternoon. Perhaps I can interest you by showing you a picture of the house we have bought for you just outside London. I have all the papers here in my briefcase."
"Thank you, that would be fascinating." The Count fetched a candlestick, and brought it over to a table by the window, where Jonathan stretched out his papers.
"We had quite a difficult time finding a house that fitted the requirements that you sent us, but I am sure that we have the ideal thing for you. The house is called Carfax, it has a large garden, and a lot of land around it. There is only one neighbour, and that is the hospital run by Dr Seward, but even they are a fair distance away."
The Count and Jonathan spoke long into the night, and finally parted just before dawn. Although this routine was unusual for the Englishman he soon adapted; every night they talked, usually about England, or the history of Transylvania, and the Dracula family.
Chapter 5
The empty mirror
One evening Jonathan was shaving in his room before going down to dinner; the sun had gone down behind the mountains, and there were still a few rays of sunlight shining through valleys in the distance, it was very beautiful. Jonathan held the mirror that Mina, his fiancee, had given him a few weeks before he left England. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looking round he saw the Count.
"Ouch, you gave me a shock, Count, I didn't hear you come in. 1 think I have cut myself." Jonathan held up the mirror, he could see a trickle1 of blood running down his left cheek, but he could not see the Count, although he was standing directly behind him. It was impossible not to see Dracula in the mirror, what did it mean? He was about to comment, when the Count snatched2 the mirror out of his hand, and walking quickly over to the window threw it out. It was only several seconds later that Jonathan heard it breaking on the rocks below.
"You must not use a mirror here in Transylvania, it is bad luck."
Jonathan was about to reply when he saw the look on the Count's face, he was like a hungry animal, watching the blood from the cut on Jonathan's cheek. A feeling of terror look hold of
Jonathan, he thought that the Count would attack him at any moment. Instead the Count just smiled and said, "You must be careful not to cut yourself again, it can be very dangerous. 1 hope you will be down for supper in a little while."
When the Count had left, Jonathan walked over to the window and looked out, he could not see his mirror, it was so far below. As he leaned back from the window his cross caught on a nail, and before Jonathan could catch it, it had fallen after the mirror, onto the rocks, far below the castle.
At dinner that evening they discussed the Count's journey to England.
"I'm afraid that I am not quite ready to travel, I still have some preparations to make. You will have to stay with me for another month, and then everything will be ready."
"I had promised Mina that I would not be away for long, I should go back to her."
"It is only a few weeks more, you must stay, I insist1. Please write and tell Mina you will stay." Jonathan felt he could not refuse, after all, he was being paid to look after the Count's business. Eventually he agreed, and that evening they sat for a long time, discussing Mina and her friends. When Jonathan showed him a picture of her, together with her friend Lucy, the Count seemed very interested.
Chapter б
Three women
Several days later, during the middle of the afternoon, Jonathan was bored, and decided to see if he could find a way out of the castle. He had already tried all of the doors, but he went round again, and this time he found that one of the doors was not locked, just very hard to open. After pushing hard he was able to open it just enough to get through. It opened into a long and very dusty passage, at the bottom of the passage Jonathan found a small room, with a large wooden box in it. He sat down on the box, and fell strangely sleepy. He did not know if he was dreaming or not when he heard the distant sound of women laughing. The noise seemed
to get closer and closer.
Three of the most beautiful women he had ever seen came into the room, their feet did not seem to touch the ground, and their eyes had a strange glow. They danced around him, laughing and singing, but he could not understand what they were saying. They came closer, and then suddenly moved away. Then one of them, the tallest, came over to where he lay, and stroking his hair she laid her head on his chest. Her eyes were black, and seemed to be incredibly deep, slowly she moved her face up towards Jonathan's neck.
"How dare you! Get out, all of you. You know that you can't have him until 1 no longer need him." The Count stood by the door, Jonathan was definitely not dreaming now.
"But we are hungry, you don't know what it is like for us."
"Here, take this." The Count threw a bag on the floor, which moved, as if something were trying to get out. Jonathan could hear a baby's cry coming from the bag; he did not wait to see what happened next, but jumped up and ran out of the room.
Having run back to his room Jonathan sat in a chair with his head in his hands, he thought he was going mad, he had to escape from the castle, but how? The following day Jonathan was in his room, looking out of the window, trying to find a way out of the castle, when he saw a group of local gypsies loading great wooden boxes onto a cart1, and he understood that the Count was preparing to leave. All day the gypsies worked, he counted fifty boxes leaving through the castle gates. That evening the Count did not appear, and Jonathan understood that he had left for England in one of the boxes. Late that night Jonathan again heard the sound of women laughing and singing, slowly the sound got closer and closer...
Chapter 7
Whitby
Whitby is a small port on the east coast of England, Mina and her friend Lucy had been enjoying a holiday there together, when something rather strange happened. One evening a ship sailed
into the port, there was no one on board1, the whole ship seemed completely deserted2. As soon as the ship hit the side of the quay3 a large black dog jumped off the boat, and ran away before anyone could do anything about it. Although Mina and Lucy read about it in the local paper they did not really pay it any attention, they were so happy on holiday. The only thing that really worried them was the fact that Jonathan had been away so long. Lucy understood how Mina felt, as she was also engaged to be married, to a young man called Arthur Holmewood.
It was a few days later that Lucy started to feel unwell, she seemed pale, and very tired. Mina decided to call their friend Dr Seward, in the hope that he would be able to find out what was wrong with her. He came and examined her, and found that she had two bite marks4 on her neck. At first he thought they must be insect bites, but they did not seem to get any better, and Lucy became gradually weaker. Dr Seward was very worried by her condition, he had never seen anything like it. He decided to write to his old teacher, Professor Van Helsing, who was usually able to give good advice with difficult cases. The professor wrote back, saying that Lucy's case was very worrying, and he would leave for England immediately.
It was, however, not long before Mina had something else to worry about. She received a letter from a convent5 in Transylvania, Jonathan was very ill. The sisters were looking after him, but he had obviously been through a terrible experience. He was as yet not well enough to travel, although he was very keen to return to England at the first available opportunity. The girls decided that they would break off' their holiday, and return home; Lucy to recover with her parents, and Mina wanted to set off for Budapest, to find Jonathan.