SHORT STORIES, LONG SHADOWS · A2/B1 · 50 min

The Rocking-Horse Winner

D. H. Lawrence's story of a boy, a toy horse, and a house that always wanted more.

Want the fuller version? Read this story at B2/C1 level →

Today: you'll tell the story of a boy who wins money on a toy horse — and you'll practise comparatives: bigger, richer, more dangerous.
Warm up — before we read. Talk about these questions. There are no wrong answers.
Discuss:
  • Do you think some people are born lucky? Do you know a "lucky person"?
  • Can a family have enough money but still feel poor? How?

Now — the words for today's story

Ten words open the story. Do the four short activities. Say your answer out loud before you reveal it.

A · What does the word mean here?

1. The boy sat on his rocking-horse — a toy horse on curved legs that moves forwards and backwards when you ride it.
a rocking-horse — a wooden toy horse for children. You sit on it and it rocks — but it never moves from its place.
2. Nobody said the words out loud. But the children could hear the house whisper: "There must be more money!"
to whisper — to speak very, very quietly.
3. Paul's family looked rich, but they had many bills to pay and not enough money to pay them.
a bill — a paper that says how much money you must pay for something.

B · Which word is it?

Three words: race · bet · winner. Say the right word for each meaning, then reveal.

1. Which word means a competition to see who is fastest?
a race — "The horses ran in the big race."
2. Which word means money you risk on a race — if you guess right, you win more?
a bet — "He put a bet on the grey horse."
3. Which word means the horse (or person) that comes first?
the winner — "Paul always knew the winner." From the verb to win.

C · Choose the meaning — a / b / c

1. "Paul had a secret." A secret is…
  (a) a problem   (b) something you tell nobody   (c) a game
(b) — a secret is something you don't tell other people. Paul's secret: he knew the winners.
2. "His mother was always worried about money." Worried means…
  (a) happy   (b) angry   (c) thinking about problems and feeling afraid
(c) — worried = you think something bad may happen. The whole house was worried about money.

D · Word families

1. You know luck. Make the adjective: "He was a very ___ boy." And the opposite: "His father was ___."
lucky / unlucky. The most important sentence in the story is: "I am lucky!"
2. You know to win. What is the past form? "Yesterday he ___ a lot of money." And the person? "He was the ___."
Past: won ("he won the race"). Person: the winner.

Now use them — out loud

Talk before we read:
  • Use rocking-horse, secret and winner in one sentence: what do you think happens in this story?
  • The house whispers: "There must be more money!" Who do you think hears it?

The story, in three parts

Read each part. Then answer the quick questions from memory, and talk about the discussion question.

Part 1 — The house that whispered

Paul's family lived in a nice house with a garden. From outside, they looked rich. But inside, there was never enough money. The father earned some money, the mother tried to earn some too — but there were always more bills. The mother was beautiful, but her heart was cold. She could not really love anyone, not even her children — and her children knew it.

And the house… whispered. Nobody said the words out loud, but the children heard them everywhere: "There must be more money! There must be more money!" The voices were behind the toys, behind the doors, everywhere. Even the wooden rocking-horse seemed to hear them.

One day Paul asked his mother: "Why don't we have a car, like uncle?" "Because we have no luck," she said. "Luck is what brings you money. It is better to be lucky than rich." Paul looked at her and said: "I am lucky." His mother laughed. She did not believe him. So Paul went to his rocking-horse. He rode it hard, faster and faster — because when he rode long enough, something strange happened: he became sure. Sure of the name of the horse that would win the next real race.

Quick check — answer from memory, then reveal:

1. What is the problem in Paul's family?

2. What does the house whisper?

1. There is never enough money — and the mother's heart is cold; she cannot really love her children.

2. "There must be more money!" Nobody says it out loud, but the children hear it everywhere.

Discuss:
  • The mother says it is better to be lucky than rich. Do you agree?

Part 2 — The secret

Paul had two friends: Bassett, the young gardener, and Uncle Oscar. Bassett loved horse races. He and Paul had a secret: they put bets on the races, and Paul chose the horses. When Paul was "sure", his horse always won. Always.

Uncle Oscar found out about the secret. He didn't believe it — until Paul's horse won a big race, and Paul won ten thousand pounds. Ten thousand pounds — a fortune, and the boy was not yet fourteen! "How do you know the winner?" his uncle asked. "I just know," said Paul. "When I ride my rocking-horse, I get sure."

Paul had a plan. He wanted to give the money to his mother — in secret. Then, he thought, the house would stop whispering. The lawyer told the mother: "You will get one thousand pounds a year, from an unknown person." But the mother went to the lawyer and asked for all five thousand at once. She got it. She bought new furniture, new flowers, a tutor for Paul. And the house? It did not stop. The voices became louder and crazier than before: "There must be more money! More than ever! More than ever!"

Quick check — answer from memory, then reveal:

1. What was Paul's secret with Bassett?

2. Paul gave his mother money. Did the whispering stop?

1. They put bets on horse races, and Paul chose the winners. When Paul was "sure" (after riding his rocking-horse), his horse always won.

2. No. The mother spent all the money quickly, and the voices became louder than ever: "There must be more money! More than ever!"

Discuss:
  • Why did the money make the whispering louder, not quieter? What did this family really need?

Part 3 — The last ride

Then Paul's luck started to fail. He was not "sure" any more, and he lost money. The biggest race of the year — the Derby — was coming. "I must know the winner!" Paul said again and again. He looked ill. His eyes were too bright. His mother began to worry about him — maybe for the first time in her life.

Two nights before the Derby, the mother was at a party. Suddenly she felt afraid for her son. She went home and quietly walked up to his room. Behind the door she heard a strange sound — something moving, fast and heavy. She opened the door and turned on the light. There was Paul, in the dark, riding his rocking-horse like a mad thing. "It's Malabar!" he screamed. "It's Malabar!" Then he fell to the floor. He was very ill.

Malabar ran in the Derby — and won. Paul's bet won him more than eighty thousand pounds. Bassett came to the sick boy's bed and told him: "Malabar came first, Master Paul." Paul opened his eyes. "Mother, did I ever tell you?" he said. "I am lucky!" That night, Paul died. And his uncle said quietly: "Poor boy. He is better gone from a life where he rides a rocking-horse to find a winner."

Quick check — answer from memory, then reveal:

1. What did the mother find when she opened Paul's door?

2. How does the story end?

1. Paul, riding his rocking-horse in the dark like a mad thing. He screamed "It's Malabar!" and fell, very ill.

2. Malabar won the race, and Paul won eighty thousand pounds. But Paul died that night. His last words: "I am lucky!"

Discuss:
  • Paul won all the money — and lost everything. What did he really want from his mother?

Grammar — comparatives

This story is full of comparing: lucky and unlucky, rich and poor, louder and louder. To compare two things, English uses the comparative.

The rules:
• Short words → -er + than: rich → richer than, loud → louder than, fast → faster than.
• Words ending in -y → -ier: lucky → luckier, happy → happier.
• Long words → more + word: more beautiful, more dangerous, more expensive.
• Irregular: good → better, bad → worse.
Everyday examples:
• My new phone is faster than my old one.
• This film is more interesting than the book.
• Her results are better than last year.
A special pattern for things that grow: louder and louder, faster and faster.

1. Compare the story — complete the sentences

Write the comparative of the word in brackets.

1. Uncle Oscar was (rich) than Paul's father.

2. Paul believed he was (lucky) than everyone in the family.

3. Riding the rocking-horse was (dangerous) than it looked.

1. richer   2. luckier (y → ier)   3. more dangerous (long word → more)

2. Good or bad? Irregular comparatives

Write better or worse.

1. The mother said: "It is to be lucky than to be rich." (good)

2. After the mother spent the money, things got — the voices were louder than before. (bad)

3. Paul wanted to be a son — a lucky son. (good)

1. better   2. worse   3. better

3. Growing and growing — complete the paragraph

Use the "___ and ___" pattern with the word in brackets. Then read the paragraph aloud.

Paul rode his horse (fast). The voices in the house grew (loud). Paul's eyes became (bright), and his mother grew (worried — use "more and more").

faster and faster · louder and louder · brighter and brighter · more and more worried

Keep the comparatives ready — you'll compare people and choices in the Speak tab.

Going deeper

D. H. Lawrence wrote this story in 1926 for a book of ghost stories. But there is no ghost in it — only a house full of voices that nobody speaks, and a family where money has taken the place of love.

The heart of it. Paul's mother cannot love him. So Paul tries to win her love with the only thing his house cares about: money. But money can never buy what he really wants — that is why the voices only get louder. At the end, Paul is still asking the same question: "Do you think I'm lucky, mother?" He is really asking: "Do you love me?" The story never tells us her answer.

Talk it through:
  • The rocking-horse moves fast but never goes anywhere. Why is that a perfect picture of this family?
  • Who is most responsible for what happens to Paul — the mother, the uncle, Bassett, or nobody?
  • The story says the family's real problem was not money. What was it?
  • Do families like this still exist today? What do their houses "whisper"?

Speak

This is the heart of the lesson — do all of it out loud. Use the timer, and fill the time with detail.

Useful language: use comparatives — richer than, luckier than, better, worse, louder and louder. For your opinion: "I think…", "For me…", "The saddest part was…", "I was surprised when…".
Time remaining: 3:00
Task A · Tell the story (3 minutes)

Tell the story of The Rocking-Horse Winner in your own words: the whispering house → Paul's question about luck → the secret bets → the money that didn't help → the last ride → Malabar.

Use at least two comparatives (richer than, luckier than, louder and louder) and at least four key words (rocking-horse, whisper, bill, race, bet, winner, secret, worried).

Task B · Your opinion (3 minutes)

Talk about these questions: Was Paul lucky or unlucky? Who in the story do you feel most sorry for? What should the mother have said at the end?

Task C · Compare your world (3 minutes)

The story compares two kinds of riches: money and love. Now you compare things — using comparatives.

Need an idea? Choose one:

  • Life today and life 100 years ago: which is better? Why?
  • Two jobs you know: which is harder, which is more interesting?
  • Being rich and being happy: which is more important? Can you have both?
  • Your life now and your life five years ago: what is better? What is worse?

To finish — the bigger questions

  1. If you could say one sentence to Paul's mother, what would it be?
  2. The story has no ghost — but something haunts the house. What is it?
  3. What one word describes this story best for you? Explain your choice.
  4. Before you go — from memory: make three comparative sentences about the story: one with -er than, one with more … than, one with better or worse.