I have a short story for you today. A story by the American writer O. Henry.
He was born in 1862 and died in New York in 1910.
He is best known for his short stories. The one I'm going to read to you today, I have completely rewritten. for B2 level English students.
Well, there are few words in there from higher levels, but I'm sure If you have B2English, you'll be able to understand everything quite easily.
If you want to check on the more complicated words, please come over to practicingenglish.com At podcast 132.
And the name of the story is The Green Door.
Here we go. Hello and welcome to Practicing English.
My name is Mike Bilbre and these are podcasts for students of English at B1 or B2 levels?
For transcripts, please go to practicingenglish.com The Green Door, based on a short story by O. Henry.
Rewritten for B2 level students by M.A. Bilber There are people who are naturally adventurous and romantic.
There are others who are not willing to take risks or try out exciting things and look at life in a much more practical way.
Rudolf belonged to the first category. I suppose you could say he was a dreamer.
He believed something better was just around the corner.
He was also convinced that the grass was always greener on the other side of the fence.
And if he knew how to cross over that fence?
He would do, without hesitation, wouldn't he?
The problem was, Rudolph did not know where that fence was.
He saw New York City as a very impersonal place, cold and uncaring.
Despite all the people walking through the city streets to work every day, Rudolf felt a strong sensation of loneliness as he joined them. to where he worked as a bank clerk.
His profession as clerk had nothing about it you could describe as adventurous or romantic. dull and repetitive tasks every day leading to no bright future instead just more of the same.
Of course, a steady job gave Rudolf a steady salary, and so he was able to pay the rent on a small apartment that looked over the city.
He could even see Central Park in the distance. seated at a window, in that same apartment, was where Rudolf, very alone, spent most of the weekend he would hum to himself the ballads he heard in the music halls where he occasionally went when he had a little extra money to spend.
He would look out at the vibrant and bustling city below and wonder if perhaps... there was somebody there for him, somebody who shared his spirit of adventure and romance.
However, as time went on in his life His optimism became less, and his sadness grew greater.
He was on his way home from work one Friday afternoon and thinking about what he would do that weekend when he noticed somebody handing out small cards to people passing by in the street.
The man stood outside a dentist's surgery. and next to him on a tall table was an enormous pair of teeth. probably made of cardboard or wood, and painted in pink for the gums, and a bright white for the teeth.
As Rudolf approached, he saw the man smiling and heard the man's voice thanking people for taking the card he held out to them.
He spoke in a strange accent that Rudolf did not recognize but thought familiar. might be from somewhere in central or northern Europe.
His face, too, looked foreign. He had high cheek-bones. a slightly dark complexion and bright blue eyes.
As Rudolf walked past, the man's expression changed.
He looked at Rudolph directly in the eye. his face became serious, and he held out a card.
Rudolf took it and looked away from the man's gaze.
He walked on for a few more yards and then looked at the card.
It was a simple white card with three words written on it.
The Green Door. What did it mean? There were people in front of Rudolph, who had also received cards, and one by one they threw them down onto the pavement.
However, these cards were different. Rudolf picked one up.
They were exactly what you would expect to see if you were given a card outside a dentist's surgery.
Dental work half price, whiter and healthier teeth.
Special offer this week only. Rudolf stopped walking.
He saw more cards being thrown down, each card with the same promise of healthier teeth.
Rudolph turned around and walked back to where the strange-looking man was still handing out cards.
Rudolf stopped in front of the man and showed his card to him with the three words on it.
The man said nothing but gave Rudolf another card. another card with the same words on it, The Green Door.
Then, with a peculiar look in his bright blue eyes, the man gestured with his head. to a place the other side of the road.
Rudolf turned his head to look. There across the road was an ugly block of flats.
The main doors were open. Rudolph looked back at the man, who nodded. and then smiled, as though he knew something, something secret.
Something intimate about Rudolf. A moment later, he was busy again, handing out cards with the dentist's surgery advertising. to the passers-by.
Rudolf crossed the road, avoiding the traffic of horses and carriages.
He reached the open doors of the block of flats and looked at the building. a place for poor people, obviously, much poorer than himself.
The paint was coming off the walls and some windows in the downstairs part were broken.
Rudolf looked at his cards once more. What did they mean?
That strange man with the bright blue eyes must come from some distant land.'
A long way from New York, obviously. There was something mystic about all of this, thought Rudolf.
He had received two cards with a message intended for him alone.
The green door. Rudolf walked up the few broken steps to the main doors and went inside the building.
On the ground floor, there were doors with signs outside each of them. different types of businesses.
A hat maker's, a dressmaker, a doctor and a professional pianist.
None of the doors were green, however. Rudolf climbed the stairs to the first floor.
The only light on this floor was from a window. that looked out onto the street a dirty torn curtain covered most of this window so that it was difficult to see very much on that floor.
The gas lamp was switched off too. Rudolf could clearly see the door closest to the window, however.
And he saw that it was painted green. It looked like the front door of a private flat.
There was even a mat outside the door with the word WELCOME.
Somebody lived here. What was there the other side of this green door that the man outside the dentist's had wanted him to see?
Was it a trap? Would he be robbed as he went in?
Murdered? Was he a fool to knock on that door?
Rudolf knew he could not just walk away.
Was this not what he had always wanted? Adventure?
The unknown? He knocked three times, his heart beating hard in his chest.
There was a noise inside of steps walking slowly towards the door.
Then the door opened. A girl's face peered out through the gap between the door and the wall.
The girl must have been about nineteen or twenty.
She turned up a gas lamp that was by the door.
Rudolf felt shocked at how white her face was. and when he looked into her eyes, he could see she was ill.
The girl's eyes closed and she began to collapse to the floor.
Rudolf caught her and pushed the door open.
He quickly looked around the room. The apartment was neat and tidy, but the few pieces of furniture there were cheap and poor quality.
He picked up the girl and laid her on a sofa next to the wall.
She lay still. Rudolph noticed how hot it was, and he took off his hat and fanned her face.
This attempt at bringing her round worked immediately as he accidentally hit her nose with his hat.
The girl's eyes opened, and she stared at him, examining him carefully.
Calm, not at all frightened that a complete stranger had entered her home.
Rudolf noticed how very beautiful she was. but she was also very thin and looked weak and unwell.
You're not well, are you? said Rudolph softly.
I'm hungry, she answered weakly. I haven't eaten for three days.
Then I'll look for some food for you immediately, said Rudolph with determination.
He got up. "'I'll be straight back. Wait here.'
He left the apartment, closing the door after him.
He rushed downstairs and out of the door into the street. he found a grocery store not far away and bought a large selection of food bread and butter cold meats cakes pies a roast chicken a bottle of milk and another bottle of hot tea. he hurried back to the apartment and knocked another time on the green door.
But this time, with his foot as both arms were full of paper bags holding food.
The door opened and Rudolf went straight in.
"'Supper is ready!' he laughed. He helped her to a chair at the table and asked, Is there a cup for the tea?
On the shelf, by the window, she answered.
Rudolf took the cup and filled it with milk.
Drink that first, he said smiling, and then you can have some tea and then a chicken wing.
Little by little. That way you'll feel better very soon.
I promise. Thank you so much, sir, said the girl.
Will you sit and have supper with me? Rudolf pulled up another chair.
She had now drunk all the milk and was enjoying the hot tea.
As she drank, her eyes became brighter and some color came to her cheeks.
At first, the unusual situation of a complete stranger sitting in her living room seemed acceptable.
Her condition had been critical, and she had needed rescuing.
However, as things slowly returned to normal, as her condition improved, she became more timid and knew she should offer an explanation.
She told Rudolf of how she had worked as a shop girl. but she had earned wages that were so low that she had hardly made enough money to pay for her accommodation and pay for enough food to live on.
She became ill and missed days off work.
Her illness meant her employer reduced her wages, and she began to lose hope. of survival.
It was something terrible, said the girl sadly.
And you have no relatives or friends in the city?
None whatsoever. I'm all alone in the world, too, said Rudolph after a pause.
I am glad of that, said the girl, and somehow it pleased the young man to hear that she approved of his lowly condition.
I'm awfully sleepy, she said, and I feel so good.
Then Rudolph stood up and took his hat. "'I'll say good night.
A long night's sleep will do you good.' He held out his hand and she took it and said good night. but her eyes asked a question so clearly and so truthfully that he answered it with words.
Oh, I'm coming back tomorrow to see how you're getting on.
You can't get rid of me so easily. Then at the door she asked, "'Why did you knock at my door?'
Rudolf looked at her for a moment, remembering the cards.
He decided that she must never know the truth.
"'I was looking for somebody to make me a new hat,' he said.
"'At the Hatmaker's.' I knocked at your door by mistake.
The last thing he saw in the room before the green door closed was her smile.
Rudolf's eyes were now more used to the little light on the first floor of the building. and he could now clearly see the other doors.
Three more of them. They were all green.
Feeling confused, Rudolf ran up the stairs to the next floor.
Four more green doors. What did it mean?
He ran down all the stairs and back out into the street again and looked across the road.
The man giving out the cards in front of the dentist's surgery was still there.
Rudolf crossed over and approached him again. tell me tell me why did you give me these cards with these words on them the green door Who are you?
What do you know about me? The man spoke in a poor English with a strong European accent.
I don't know nothing about who you is, sir.
I work for dentist, but a man came and he say, hey you.
Here's two dollars. Give some of my cards, too, so people, they come to my new restaurant.
I give them one free drink. So I give you one card.
Then you come back. I think you want another card.
A free drink for your wife, perhaps. So I give you another card.
What's the problem? Rudolf was shocked. What?
Which restaurant? The man pointed back across the road.
That one, there, next to that old building.
Rudolf looked. Next to the block of flats, he could now see what he had not noticed before— the name written in black on a large green board.
The Green Door Good food and liquor. On the way home that evening, Rudolph stopped off at a bar.
He bought himself a beer and a cigar. He walked to the open door of the bar and looked out.
Then he pushed back his hat, raised his head and spoke to the lamppost in front of him. you can say what you like.
But as far as I'm concerned, that was the hand of fate that helped me to find her.
He nodded and raised his beer glass to the lamppost. the reader may conclude whatever he or she likes.
However, it must be said that Rudolf certainly belonged that rare category of the adventurous and the romantic.
Until next time.
