The Monkey's Paw (W. W. Jacobs) — graded reader B1–B2

The Monkey's Paw

A graded reader · W. W. Jacobs · B1–B2

Warm-up

• Do you like scary stories? What's the scariest story or film you can remember?

• Are you superstitious? Do you have a lucky number or a lucky object?

• Where do you like to be on a cold, stormy night?

• Do you know any old folk tales about magic or wishes?

The author and the book

W. W. Jacobs (1863–1943)

William Wymark Jacobs was born in 1863 in the East End of London. His father managed a wharf on the River Thames, and the boy spent much of his childhood by the river and the docks.

In 1879, as a teenager, he became a clerk at the Post Office Savings Bank, and he stayed there for twenty years. He started publishing short stories while he was still working at the bank. By 1899, he was earning enough to leave.

Here is the surprise: most of Jacobs's stories are funny. Readers loved his comic tales about sailors on land, who usually lose all their money to clever Londoners.

But today he is remembered for one dark story. "The Monkey's Paw" first appeared in Harper's Monthly magazine in September 1902, and later that year in his book The Lady of the Barge. It has been turned into plays, films and radio dramas ever since.

Key words

paw

spell

fate

the foot of an animal, like a cat, dog or monkey

words with magic power that make something happen

a power that some people believe decides what will happen in our lives

coincidence

compensation

when two things happen at the same time by chance, and seem connected

money paid to someone because they have been hurt or have lost something

Let's talk

• Jacobs mostly wrote funny stories. Why might a comic writer be good at writing horror?

• If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?

• People say, "Be careful what you wish for." What do you think it means?

• The story is called "The Monkey's Paw". What could a monkey's paw have to do with wishes?

PART 1 OF 4

A visitor from India

PART 1 · A VISITOR FROM INDIA

Outside, the night was cold and wet. But in the small living room of Laburnam Villa, the blinds were down and the fire was burning brightly. Mr White and his son, Herbert, were playing chess. Mrs White, a white-haired old lady, sat knitting quietly by the fire.

"Listen to the wind," said Mr White. He had just made a terrible mistake, and he hoped his son wouldn't see it.

"I'm listening," said Herbert, and moved a piece. "Check."

"I don't think he'll come tonight," said his father.

"Checkmate," said Herbert.

Mr White suddenly lost his temper. "That's the worst thing about living so far out! The path is a swamp, and the road is a river.

Only two houses on this road have people in them, so nobody cares!"

"Never mind, dear," said his wife gently. "Perhaps you'll win the next one."

Then the gate banged, and heavy footsteps came towards the door.

"There he is," said Herbert.

The visitor was a tall, strong man with small, bright eyes and a red face. "Sergeant-Major Morris," said Mr White.

The soldier sat down by the fire, and Mr White poured him a whisky. By the third glass, the visitor's eyes were shining. He talked of wild places, of wars and strange peoples, and the family listened, fascinated.

"Twenty-one years in India," said Mr White. "When he left, he was just a boy. Now look at him.

PART 1 · A VISITOR FROM INDIA

Morris, what was that thing you started telling me about the other day? A monkey's paw?"

"Nothing," said the soldier quickly. "Nothing worth hearing."

But the family leaned forward, and slowly he took something from his pocket. It was a small, dry, shrivelled paw. Mrs White pulled back in disgust.

"An old holy man put a spell on it," said Morris. "He wanted to show that fate rules people's lives, and that those who interfere with it are sorry. He made it so that three different men could each have three wishes."

Nobody laughed now.

"Well, why don't you have three, sir?" asked Herbert.

The soldier looked at him. "I have," he said quietly, and his face went white.

"And has anybody else wished?" asked Mrs White.

"The first man had his three wishes. I don't know what the first two were. But the third was for death. That's how I got the paw."

Suddenly he threw the paw onto the fire. With a cry, Mr White bent down and pulled it out.

"Better let it burn," said the soldier.

"If you don't want it, Morris, give it to me."

"I won't. I threw it on the fire. If you keep it, don't blame me for what happens."

But Mr White was already studying it closely. "How do you do it?"

"Hold it up in your right hand and wish out loud," said Morris. "But I warn you of the consequences."

Book club

PART 1 · A VISITOR FROM INDIA

1. Why was Mr White angry about where the family lived?

2. What did the old holy man want to show with the paw?

3. What did Morris do with the paw, and how did Mr White react?

4. Morris says fate rules our lives. Do you agree? Why or why not?

5. Would you have kept the paw, or let it burn?

6. What do you think Mr White will wish for? What could go wrong?

PART 2 OF 4

Two hundred pounds

PART 2 · TWO HUNDRED POUNDS

Later that evening, Morris left to catch the last train, and Herbert laughed.

"If his story about the paw is as true as his other stories, we won't get much out of it."

"Did you give him anything for it, father?" asked Mrs White.

"A little," said Mr White, going slightly red. "He didn't want it, but I made him take it. And he told me again to throw it away."

"Of course he did," said Herbert. "We're going to be rich, and famous, and happy!"

Mr White took the paw from his pocket. "I don't know what to wish for," he said slowly. "It seems to me I've got everything I want."

"If you finished paying for the house, you'd be happy, wouldn't you?" said Herbert. "Wish for two hundred pounds, then. That'll just do it."

His father, smiling at his own foolishness, held up the paw. Herbert sat down at the piano with a serious face, winked at his mother, and played a few dramatic notes.

"I wish for two hundred pounds," said the old man clearly.

Then he gave a terrible cry, and his wife and son ran to him.

"It moved," he said, staring at the paw on the floor. "As I wished, it twisted in my hand like a snake."

"Well, I don't see the money," said Herbert, picking it up, "and I bet I never will."

That night the wind was louder than ever, and when a door banged upstairs, Mr White jumped. After his parents went to bed, Herbert sat alone by the dying fire. He saw faces in the coals.

PART 2 · TWO HUNDRED POUNDS

The last face was so horrible, so like a monkey, that he stared at it in shock. With an uneasy laugh, he reached for a glass of water to throw on it. But his hand touched the monkey's paw. He shivered, wiped his hand on his coat, and went up to bed.

The next morning, the winter sun was shining on the breakfast table, and they all laughed at their fears.

"Old soldiers are all the same," said Mrs White. "How could wishes come true these days? And how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?"

"It might fall on his head from the sky," said Herbert.

"Morris said things happen so naturally," said his father, "that you might think it was just a coincidence."

"Well, don't spend the money before I come back," said Herbert, and he left for work.

Later that day, Mrs White saw a man outside the gate. He was well dressed, with a shiny new silk hat. Three times he stopped at the gate, then walked on. The fourth time, he opened it and came up the path.

She brought him in. He seemed nervous, and at first he said nothing at all.

"I was asked to call," he said at last. "I come from Maw and Meggins."

Mrs White jumped. "Is something wrong? Has something happened to Herbert? What is it? What is it?"

Book club

PART 2 · TWO HUNDRED POUNDS

1. Whose idea was the wish for two hundred pounds, and why that amount?

2. What happened at the moment Mr White made his wish?

3. What did Herbert see in the fire that night?

4. In the morning sun, they laughed at their fears. Why do things feel scarier at night?

5. What's the strangest coincidence that has ever happened to you?

6. Why do you think the man from Maw and Meggins has come?

PART 3 OF 4

The second wish

PART 3 · THE SECOND WISH

"There, there, mother," said Mr White. "Sit down. Don't think the worst. I'm sure you haven't brought bad news, sir."

"I'm sorry—" began the visitor.

"Is he hurt?" cried the mother.

"Badly hurt," said the visitor quietly. "But he is not in any pain."

"Oh, thank God!" said the old woman. "Thank God for that! Thank—"

She stopped. Suddenly she understood what his words really meant, and she saw the answer in his face. She took her husband's hand. There was a long silence.

"He was caught in the machinery," said the visitor at last.

"Caught in the machinery," repeated Mr White. "Yes." He stared out of the window. "He was the only one we had left. It is hard."

The visitor coughed. "The company is very sorry for your loss. They accept no responsibility. But because of your son's work, they wish to give you some money as compensation."

Mr White stood up, staring at him in horror. His dry lips made the words: "How much?"

"Two hundred pounds."

The old man did not hear his wife scream. He smiled weakly, put out his hands like a blind man, and fell to the floor.

They buried their son in the big new cemetery, two miles away, and came home to a dark, silent house. The days were long. Sometimes they hardly spoke, because now there was nothing to talk about.

PART 3 · THE SECOND WISH

About a week later, the old man woke in the night and found himself alone. His wife was crying by the window.

"Come back to bed," he said gently. "You'll be cold."

"It is colder for my son," she said.

He fell asleep again, until a wild cry woke him.

"The paw!" she cried. "The monkey's paw! We've only had one wish. Go down and get it, and wish our boy alive again."

"You're mad!" he said, horrified.

"The first wish came true. Why not the second?"

"It was a coincidence."

"Go and get it and wish!"

His voice shook. "He has been dead for ten days.

And — I didn't want to tell you — I only knew him by his clothes. If he was too terrible for you to see then, what about now?"

"Bring him back," she cried, pulling him to the door. "Do you think I'm afraid of my own child?"

He went down in the dark and found the paw above the fireplace. Then a terrible fear took hold of him: that the wish might bring his broken son to him before he could escape the room. When he came back upstairs, even his wife's face looked strange. He was afraid of her.

"Wish!" she cried.

"It is foolish and wicked," he said.

"Wish!"

He raised his hand. "I wish my son alive again."

Book club

PART 3 · THE SECOND WISH

1. How did the family get their two hundred pounds?

2. Why did Mrs White suddenly want the paw again?

3. Why was Mr White afraid to make the second wish?

4. Did the paw kill Herbert, or was it just a terrible coincidence?

5. Can you understand Mrs White? In her place, would you make the wish?

6. The wish is made. What do you think will happen now?

PART 4 OF 4

Knocking at the door

PART 4 · KNOCKING AT THE DOOR

The paw fell to the floor. The old man looked at it in fear, then sank into a chair, shaking. His wife went to the window, her eyes burning, and pulled up the blind.

He sat until he was cold, watching her stare out into the night. The candle burned lower and lower, throwing moving shadows on the walls. Then, with one last flicker, it went out.

Nothing had happened. With a huge feeling of relief, the old man crept back to bed, and a minute later his wife lay down silently beside him.

Neither of them spoke. They lay listening to the clock. A stair creaked. A mouse ran noisily through the wall. At last, he took the box of matches and went downstairs for a candle.

At the bottom of the stairs, his match went out. He stopped to light another.

And at that moment, there was a knock at the front door, so quiet and careful that he could hardly hear it.

The matches fell from his hand. He stood without moving, without breathing, until the knock came again. Then he ran back to his room and shut the door. A third knock sounded through the house.

"What's that?" cried the old woman, sitting up.

"A rat," said the old man, shaking. "A rat. It ran past me on the stairs."

A loud knock sounded through the house.

"It's Herbert!" she screamed. "It's Herbert!"

She ran to the door, but her husband caught her arm and held her tightly.

"What are you going to do?" he whispered.

PART 4 · KNOCKING AT THE DOOR

"It's my boy! It's Herbert! I forgot it was two miles away. Why are you holding me? Let go. I must open the door."

"For God's sake, don't let it in!" cried the old man.

"You're afraid of your own son," she cried. "Let me go! I'm coming, Herbert! I'm coming!"

There was another knock, and another. She pulled free and ran downstairs. He heard the chain rattle, and the bottom bolt slide slowly back. Then her voice, breathless:

"The bolt! Come down! I can't reach it!"

But her husband was on his hands and knees, feeling wildly across the floor for the paw. If only he could find it before the thing outside got in.

Now the knocks came one after another, filling the house.

He heard his wife push a chair against the door. He heard the bolt begin to move. At that same moment, his fingers found the monkey's paw, and he breathed his third and last wish.

The knocking stopped suddenly. He heard the chair pulled back, and the door opened. A cold wind rushed up the stairs, and his wife gave a long, loud cry of disappointment and misery. He ran down to her, and then out to the gate.

The street lamp, flickering on the other side, shone on a quiet and empty road.

Book club

PART 4 · KNOCKING AT THE DOOR

1. What happened when Mr White first went downstairs for a candle?

2. Why did Mrs White need her husband's help at the door?

3. What did they find when the door opened?

4. What do you think the third wish was? Why doesn't Jacobs tell us?

5. Who was right, the husband or the wife? Would you have opened the door?

Big questions

1

Who is most to blame for what happened: Morris, Mr White, Herbert or Mrs White?

2

Was it fate, or a terrible chain of coincidences? Does the story let us decide?

3

Mr White said he had everything he wanted. So why did he wish at all?

4

Have you ever got something you wanted and then wished you hadn't?

5

We never see what was outside the door. Does that make the story more frightening?

6

If someone offered you the paw today, would you take it? What would you wish for?

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · SKIP OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

Part 1 · 1 The house was far from town, the path was muddy, the road was flooded, and almost nobody else lived there, so nobody cared about the road.

Part 1 · 2 That fate rules people's lives, and that people who interfere with it are sorry.

Part 1 · 3 He threw it on the fire. Mr White cried out and pulled it out, then asked Morris to give it to him.

Part 2 · 1 Herbert's idea. Two hundred pounds was the money they needed to finish paying for the house.

Part 2 · 2 Mr White cried out: he said the paw twisted in his hand like a snake. But no money appeared.

Part 2 · 3 Faces in the coals; the last one was horrible and looked like a monkey.

Part 3 · 1 Herbert was killed in an accident with the machinery at work. His company, Maw and Meggins, paid them two hundred pounds as compensation.

Part 3 · 2 She remembered they still had two wishes, and she wanted to wish Herbert alive again.

Part 3 · 3 Herbert had been dead for ten days, and his body was so badly hurt that Mr White only knew him by his clothes. He was afraid of what might come back.

Part 4 · 1 His match went out, and there was a very quiet knock at the front door.

Part 4 · 2 She opened the chain and the bottom bolt, but she couldn't reach the other bolt.

Part 4 · 3 Nothing. The knocking had stopped, and the street outside was quiet and empty.