Charles Dickens (1866) — a man works alone by a dark tunnel, and he sees something he cannot explain
Original version available: read this lesson at B2/C1 level →
This is a famous ghost story, told here in simple English. Read each part, then stop and talk about the questions. The end is a surprise — read slowly and do not jump ahead.
One evening, a man was walking near a railway. He stood at the top of a deep, dark place in the ground. Down below, he saw a railway worker. The worker had a red flag in his hand.
This worker was a signalman. His job was to keep the trains safe. He worked alone in a deep, dark place next to a big black tunnel. There was a red light near the tunnel. It was a cold, wet, sad place, far from people.
The visitor went down to talk to him. The signalman seemed worried and tired. He looked again and again at the red light by the tunnel, as if something was wrong.
After a while, the signalman told his secret. Sometimes, he said, he saw a strange figure near the red light by the tunnel.
The figure waved its arm. One arm was across its face, and the other arm moved fast in the air. It seemed to say: "Be careful! Move away!"
And every time the signalman saw the figure, something bad happened on the railway a short time later. One time, there was a big accident. Another time, a young woman died on a train.
Now the figure had come again. But this time, the signalman did not understand what it wanted to tell him. He did not know what was wrong, or where, or when. This made him very worried.
The visitor listened. He did not know what to say. He felt sorry for the lonely man. Then he said good night, and he went home.
The next evening, the visitor came back to the railway. He wanted to help the signalman.
But this time he found some people there. They were standing near the tunnel. Something was wrong.
There had been an accident on the line. The signalman was dead. A train had hit him that morning, near the tunnel.
The visitor asked the train driver what happened. The driver was very sad. He said he saw the signalman on the line. He tried to warn him. He waved his arm and called out to him.
"What did you say?" asked the visitor.
The driver put one arm across his eyes, and he waved his other arm. "I called out: 'Be careful! Move away!'"
The visitor went cold. The driver's arm and the driver's words were the same as the strange figure's. The warning had come true.
Ten useful words. Tap each card to see what it means and an example sentence.
1. The signalman worked ______, with no other people. 2. He saw a strange ______ near the red light. 3. There was a bad ______ on the railway.
This story tells us about things that happened in the past. We use the past simple for finished actions. He walked. She saw. The train stopped.
To show the order of events, we use before and after:
before = this thing happens first. The figure came before the accident. (Figure first, then accident.)
after = this thing happens later. The accident came after the figure. (Figure first, then accident.)
1. The man near the railway. (walk)
2. He a worker down below. (see)
3. The signalman his secret. (tell)
4. The figure its arm. (wave)
5. The next evening, the visitor back. (come)
1. walked 2. saw 3. told 4. waved 5. came
Read each sentence. Choose before or after so the order is correct.
1. The signalman saw the figure the accident happened. (figure first)
2. The visitor went home he heard the secret. (secret first)
3. The train hit the signalman the visitor came back. (the train first)
4. the signalman died, the visitor talked to the driver. (the death first)
1. before (the figure came first, then the accident)
2. after (he heard the secret first, then went home)
3. before (the train hit him first, then the visitor came back)
4. After (the signalman died first, then they talked)
A good story is more than just words. The writer makes us feel something. Here are two simple ideas from this story.
For the whole story, we think the figure is a ghost that warns the signalman. We do not know who the warning is for. Then, at the end, we learn the truth: the warning was about the signalman himself. He was the one who would die. The train driver waved his arm and said the same words as the figure. This big surprise at the end is called a twist.
Dickens makes us feel afraid before anything happens. The place is deep, dark, cold and wet, next to a black tunnel. The signalman is alone. We feel that something bad is coming. This scary feeling is called atmosphere. The writer does not show us blood — he makes us feel the fear.
Do all three. Use the timer and try to keep talking. The sentence starters can help you begin.
Now tell the story again in your own words. Use short, simple sentences. Try to use four or five words from the Words tab, and tell the events in order.
These steps will help you: a man meets a lonely railway worker by a tunnel · the worker sees a strange figure before bad things happen · the figure comes again, but he does not understand it · the visitor comes back the next day · the worker has died, and the driver used the same words as the figure.
Talk about a time when someone felt worried that something bad would happen — you, someone you know, or a person from a book or film. Say what happened and how they felt.
The signalman saw a strange figure that warned him. Do you think it was a ghost, or only in his mind? Say what you think.