Нужно из взять от суда главную мысль, для краткого пересказа. the story begins when an american, mr. hiram otis, moves with his family to the canterville hunting estate in england. it's a big old house, and everyone says it's haunted. but mr. otis told lord canterville,"there are no ghosts." a few weeks later, he was joined by mrs. otis and their four children: their daughter virginia, the twin boys and their eldest son, washington. at first, none of the members of the otis family believed in ghosts, but soon after they arrived, they begin to understand that the ghost of sir simon exists. the family hears the clang of chains, they see the bloodstain on the floor by the fireplace, which they wipe every time, but it reappears in various shapes and colors. but otis isn't scared. one night, mr. otis hears footsteps. … at eleven o'clock the family went to bed and turned off the light. after a while mr. otis heard a strange noise in the corridor outside his room. it sounded like a clang of metal. he put on his slippers and opened the door. right in front of him, he saw an old man in the moonlight. he looked dreadful. his eyes were red. his hair was long and gray, and fell on his shoulders. his clothes looked very old and dirty. heavy and rusty chains hung from his wrists and ankles on the iron rings. "my dear sir, "said mr. otis," please lubricate your chains. here's a bottle of rising sun lubricator. i must sleep." the canterville ghost threw the bottle. he quickly went up the stairs. at this moment, the door opened and two small figures in white appeared. they were twins -- they threw a big pillow at him. the ghost hastily disappeared through the wall, its color changed to green. he walked up to his secret cell.
главная суть такова. мистер хирам отис не верил в призраков. но как оказалось, призраки существовали. пришли ночью и "попросили" хирама смазать цепи для того, чтобы он мог поспать. конец.