Saki's story of a nervous visitor, a quiet house, and a girl who tells a very good lie.
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Ten words open the story. Do the four short activities. Say your answer out loud first, then click Reveal.
Three words: lie · visitor · ghost. Say the right word, then reveal.
Read each part. Then answer the questions from memory, and talk about one question.
Mr Nuttel was not well. He was very nervous, and his doctor told him to go to the countryside, rest, and stay calm. His sister said, "You will sit alone in that house and speak to nobody! Take these letters and visit my old friends."
So Mr Nuttel visited four families. At the fourth house, a girl of fifteen came into the room. "My aunt will come down in a few minutes," she said. "You must talk to me first."
The girl asked him two questions. "Do you know many people here?" "No," said Mr Nuttel. "Almost nobody. My sister was here four years ago." "So you don't know anything about my aunt?" "Only her name," he said. The girl looked at him for a moment. Then she said, "My aunt had a terrible tragedy. It happened three years ago." She looked at the big window. It was open, and it was October. "Do you know why we always leave that window open?" she asked.
1. Why is Mr Nuttel in the countryside?
2. What two questions does the girl ask him — and what does she learn?
1. He is nervous and ill, and his doctor told him to rest in a quiet place. His sister gave him letters so he would visit people.
2. She asks if he knows people in the area and if he knows her aunt. She learns that he knows nobody — so nobody can tell him the truth.
"Three years ago today," the girl said quietly, "my aunt's husband and her two young brothers went out through that window. They went to shoot birds. The ground near the water was very dangerous. They never came home."
"That is why the window is open every evening," she said. "My poor aunt still thinks they will come back. She waits for them. Her youngest brother always sang a silly song, and sometimes she says she can hear it." The girl stopped talking. Her voice was strange and sad.
Then the aunt came into the room. She was happy and friendly. "I'm so sorry! Do you like the open window?" she said. "My husband and my brothers are coming home from shooting soon. They always walk across the lawn and put mud on my carpets!" Mr Nuttel felt cold. This poor woman, he thought — she is ill. She does not understand that they are dead. He tried to talk about his own health. The aunt looked bored, and looked again and again at the window.
1. What does the girl say happened three years ago?
2. What does the aunt say about the window — and what does Mr Nuttel think?
1. Three men — her aunt's husband and two brothers — went out through the window to shoot, walked on dangerous ground, and never came back.
2. The aunt says they will come home soon. Mr Nuttel thinks she is ill and does not accept that they are dead.
"Here they are!" said the aunt suddenly. "Just in time for tea!" Mr Nuttel turned to the girl. Her face was white and full of horror. She was looking out of the window. Mr Nuttel turned round quickly and looked too.
Outside, in the grey evening light, three men were walking across the lawn towards the house. They carried guns. A small brown dog walked behind them. And then a young voice began to sing a silly song.
Mr Nuttel did not wait. He took his hat and his stick and ran out of the house. He ran down the road so fast that a man on a bicycle fell into the trees. "Here we are," said the aunt's husband at the window. "Who was that man? He ran away when we arrived." "A very strange man," said the aunt. "He talked only about his illness. He left without saying goodbye — like a man who has seen a ghost!" "Oh, it was the dog, I think," said the girl calmly. "He told me he is terrified of dogs. In India, wild dogs followed him into a cemetery, and he spent a whole night there. Any person would be afraid after that." It was not true. The girl invented stories very, very quickly. That was what she did best.
1. What does Mr Nuttel see, and what does he do?
2. What does the girl say about the dog — and is it true?
1. He sees three men walking across the lawn with guns and a dog, and one of them sings the song. He thinks they are ghosts, so he runs away without saying goodbye.
2. She says he is terrified of dogs because of an experience in India. It is not true — she invents it immediately, like the first story.
Every story in English needs this tense. The girl in the story uses it perfectly, and that is one reason people believe her.
Write the past simple of the verb in brackets.
1. The girl (tell) Mr Nuttel a terrible story.
2. Three men (walk) across the lawn in the evening.
3. Mr Nuttel (run) out of the house without his coat.
1. told 2. walked 3. ran
Write two or three words in each gap.
1. The three men were not ghosts. They (not / die) in the marsh.
2. (the aunt / know) that her niece was lying?
3. Why (Mr Nuttel / leave) so quickly?
1. didn't die 2. Did the aunt know 3. did Mr Nuttel leave
After did / didn't, always use the simple verb: die, know, leave.
Write the past simple in each gap. Then read the whole paragraph aloud.
Mr Nuttel (arrive) at the house in the afternoon. A girl (come) into the room and (ask) him two questions. Then she (tell) him about the open window. Mr Nuttel (believe) every word. When he (see) the three men on the lawn, he (take) his hat and (run) away. The girl (not / stop) — she immediately (invent) a second story.
arrived · came · asked · told · believed · saw · took · ran · didn't stop · invented
Five regular verbs, four irregular, one negative with didn't. Read it again and listen to the rhythm of the -ed endings.
Keep this tense ready — in the Speak tab you will tell the whole story yourself.
Saki wrote this story in 1914. He wrote many short, funny stories, and they are almost always the same shape: a serious adult, a clever young person, and a surprise in the last line.
This is the most important part of the lesson. Do everything out loud. Use the timer and try to speak for the whole time.
Tell The Open Window in your own words. Follow the steps: the nervous visitor → the girl and her two questions → the story of the open window → the aunt arrives → three men on the lawn → he runs away → the girl's second story.
Use at least eight past simple verbs and at least five key words (nervous, lawn, disappear, visitor, ghost, lie, terrified, invent, run away, afraid of).
Say what you think and give three reasons. Was the girl's joke funny, or was it wrong? He was a sick man. She was bored. What should happen now — should someone tell him the truth?
Then change sides! Speak for one minute for the other opinion.
Talk about believing things.
No idea? Choose one of these: