Traduceti: ''A Ghostly Welcome" (Lightning flashed across the sky,followed by the crash of thunder. George Philips was driving carefully along the narrow country lane. It was late at night and he was looking forward to reaching his hotel. Suddenly his car engine died. He tried to start the car again but nothing happened. "Blast!" he said angrily. Up ahead in the distance he could see a light coming from a castle. He got out of the car and ran quickly through the pouring rain towards the huge building.
George reached the castle's big wooden door and rang the bell. The heavy door slowly creaked open. In front of him stood a young woman. As she looked up at George her face lit up. "Oh,please come in out of the rain," she said. George thanked her and entered a big hall,then introduced himself and explained what had happened. She told him that he was welcome to spend the night in the castle and led him into the library.
A big crackling fire was burning in the fireplace. George went to warm himself in front of it. The young woman offered to make some tea and left the room.
George had been standing there for a few minutes when he heard a voice behing him. "Good evening. I'm Mrs McDougall. My daughter told me we had a guest. Please have a seat."
Soon afterwards the daughter came in. She was carrying a silver tray with a large teapot and three china cups. After they had finished their tea,Mrs McDougall offered to show him to his room. George was following her up the huge staircase when he heard her weeping.
"Is something wrong?" he asked her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as tears ran down her wrinkled cheeks. "It's just that you remind me so much of my husband. I haven't seen him for ten years." The wind was howling outside and George felt a chill run down his spine.
When George woke up the next morning,the sun was shining and the birds were singing. He had slept very well the night before and felt refreshed. He put on his clothes,and went downstairs to thank the two women. He had been looking for them for some time before he realised that he was alone in the castle. He wrote a note thanking them for their kindness and returned to his car. To his relief,when he turned the key,the car started with a roar.
Ten minutes later George stopped at a cafe to have breakfast. As the waitress was filling his coffee cup she said, "That was a terrible storm we had last night,wasn't it?" George nodded and took a sip of hot coffee. He told her that,as his car had broken down,the McDougalls had put him up for the night in their castle. The waitress looked at him in amazement. "But that's impossible!" she exclaimed. "Nobody has lived in that castle since Mrs McDougalls and her daughter died in a car accident ten years ago!" George stared at her in disbelief and trembling with shock,dropped his coffee cup onto the floor.)