Dracula's

Contents
Introductory Notes 4
1 The Road to Castle Dracula 6
2 A Prisoner in the Castle 11
3 The Vampires 15
4 A Visit to Hythe 20
5 How Lucy Died 26
6 The Beautiful Lady of Hythe 30
7 The House of the Vampire 36
8 The Flight of the Vampire 43
9 The Return to Castle Dracula 46
Points for Understanding 53

Glossary 59
List of titles at Intermediate Level 63
1
The Road to Castle Dracula
M y name is Jonathan Harker. I am a lawyer and I live in

London. About seven years ago, some strange and terrible
things happened to me. Many of my dear friends were in danger
too. At last we have decided to tell the story of that terrible time.
Part of my work is to find houses in England for rich people
who live in foreign countries. At the beginning of 1875, I received
a letter from Transylvania, a country in Eastern Europe. The
letter was from a rich man called Count Dracula. He wanted to
buy a house near London.
The Count asked me to find him an old house with a large
garden. The price of the house was not important. I found him
a large, old house to the east of London. I wrote to the Count
and he agreed to buy it. There were many papers which he had
to signl. To my surprise, Count Dracula invited me to visit him in
his castle in Transylvania. ‘Bring the papers with you,’ he wrote in
his letter. ‘I can sign them here.’
I was very busy and did not want to go. Transylvania was far
away and few English people had been there. There was another
reason too. I was going to get married in the autumn to my darling
Mina. I did not want to leave England until we were married.
But Mina said that I should go.
‘The Count is a rich man,’ she said. ‘You may be able to do
more business with him. You can travel most of the way by train.
In two weeks, you will be home again.’
So I accepted Count Dracula’s invitation. I left England at the
end of April. Mina gave me a book about Transylvania to read on
the train.
On the morning of 4th May, I reached Bistritz, a small town
in Transylvania. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining on
6
the great Carpathian Mountains. Somewhere, high up in those
mountains, was Castle Dracula where the Count lived. The
coach2 from Bistritz would take me to the Borgo Pass. There,
the Count’s carriage would meet me. The coach left from the inn3
in Bistritz at three o’clock.
I had six hours to wait. I decided to have a meal. Nobody

in the inn spoke English, but the innkeeper spoke some
German. He welcomed me and I was soon eating a good
meal.
The inn was very crowded. I watched all the people in their
brightly-coloured clothes. They were speaking in languages I
could not understand. I drank some more wine and called to the
innkeeper.
‘What can you tell me about Count Dracula?’ I asked him.
‘Have you ever seen his castle?’
The innkeeper walked away without answering my questions.
All the people in the inn stopped talking. They looked at me
in fear and surprise. Then they all began to talk at the same
time. I heard the name ‘Dracula’ and another word, repeated
several times.
7
I looked at my dictionary. They were saying the word ‘vam-
pire’4. Where had I read the word before? I opened the book that
Mina had given me.
There are many old stories about the vampires of
Transylvania, I read. Vampires are men and women who
never die. Vampires have long, sharp teeth. They bite the
throats of living people. Then they drink their blood. Everyone
in Transylvania fears vampires. People often wear a cross5 to keep
themselves safe . . .
I shut the book quickly. Did people believe these stories?
It was time for me to leave. I paid for my meal. Then I walked
outside and got into the coach. There was a crowd of people
outside the inn. Suddenly the innkeeper ran forward and spoke
to me through the coach window.
‘Must you go to Castle Dracula?’ he said. ‘Do not go to that
terrible place!’
‘I have important business with the Count,’ I answered.
8
‘Then take this,’ the innkeeper said, ‘and may God help you!’
And he put a gold cross on a chain into my hand.
As the coach began to move, strange thoughts went through
my mind. Who was this man I was going to meet? Did Count
Dracula have strange powers? I could not believe it.
The coach began to move more quickly. The sun shone on
the trees and the water of little rivers. There was snow on
the tops of the highest mountains. What a beautiful country
Transylvania was!
The mountains were closer to us now, and the road went
higher and higher. Shadows grew longer as the sun began to
go down behind the mountains. Then suddenly, the light had
gone. The mountains and sky were dark. The coach went faster
and faster. I could hear a terrible sound. It was the howling of
wolves6.
The moon was shining now. I could see dark shapes near the
road. The coach went higher and higher. And now I could see
a narrow road to the right. The coach stopped. We were at the
Borgo Pass.
Down the narrow road came a small carriage, pulled
by four black horses. As the carriage stopped, its driver
shouted, ‘I have come from Castle Dracula! Where is the
Englishman?’
‘Here!’ I replied. The driver jumped down from the carriage.
He took my bag and held me by the arm. In a moment, I was
sitting beside him and the black horses were galloping up the
narrow road.
The driver wore a black cloak7 and his hat was pulled down
over his face. The mountains were high black walls on both sides
of us. We were going so fast that I had to hold onto the carriage
with both hands. Black clouds covered the moon. The carriage
had no lights and I could see nothing. Wolves howled all around
us. The driver laughed. As the horses went faster, I closed my eyes
in fear.
9
Down the narrow road came a small carriage, pulled by
four black horses.

Dracula's

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Dracula's

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Dracula's

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Contents

Points for Understanding 53

M y name is Jonathan Harker. I am a lawyer and I live in

I had six hours to wait. I decided to have a meal. Nobody

You might also like