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《老鬼當家》於1891年出版，收錄在《亞瑟．沙維爵士的罪行》（Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories）的成人故事集裡，內容有六篇新寫的故事，另外還有兩篇作者最受歡迎的兒童故事〈快樂王子〉（The Happy Prince）和〈忠實的朋友〉（The Devoted Friend）。
本書故事描繪一個美國家庭（歐提斯家），向一位英國貴族（康德維爵士）買下一棟房子後所發生的故事。這棟房子鬧鬼，賽門．康德維爵士的鬼魂在這裡已經有三百年了。這個美國家庭起先不相信有鬼，後來鬼出現之後，他們就捉弄鬼，並沒有被嚇到。這讓鬼魂很受挫，覺得自己很沒有用。最後多虧這個美國家庭的小女兒，在她好心的幫助之下，鬼魂終於得以入土為安。
鬼故事在英國的維多利亞時代很受歡迎，有很多大作家都寫了鬼故事，像是狄更斯（Charles Dickens）、特洛普（Anthony Trollope）和科林斯（William Wilkie Collins），不過王爾德寫的鬼故事是比較創新的，故事中的鬼並不令人害怕，反而比較教人同情。王爾德也在行文中調侃了英國的貴族與傳統，還有美國人的簡單直接，以及膚淺的世界觀和對英國的優越感。這在故事中有諸多趣味的著墨。
這個故事還闡述了王爾德的美學觀。故事中富於視覺印象上的描寫，有許多引人入勝的細節描繪，像是美麗的維琪妮雅感化了鬼魂，就反映了王爾德對美的信仰，認為美可以改善事物。維琪妮雅和柴郡公爵的愛情故事，是維多利亞時代典型的浪漫故事，劇情通俗。然而這個幽默有趣的鬼故事，透過王爾德特有的諷刺筆觸，顯得更令人玩味。
The Canterville Ghost appeared in book form in 1891, in a collection of stories for adults called Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories. It contained six new stories, plus two of his most popular children’s stories (‘The Happy Prince’, and ‘The Devoted Friend’).
The story is about the Otises – an American family who buy an old house from Lord Canterville, an English aristocrat. The house has been haunted by the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville for 300 years. The Americans do not believe in the ghost at first, and when he appears they take an amused and pragmatic view of him, refusing to be scared. This depresses the ghost, who is frustrated at not being able to do his work properly. Eventually, the ghost is allowed to ‘die’ thanks to the kindness of Virginia Otis, the daughter of the family.
Ghost stories were very popular in Victorian England, with many major writers producing them, including Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and William Collins. Wilde, however, uses the ghost-story format in an unconventional way. We feel sorry for the ghost instead of being afraid of him. Wilde also uses the story to make fun of both the British aristocracy and their traditions and conventions, and the Americans with their straightforward, no-nonsense view of the world, and their sense of superiority to the British. There are many amusing comments made on this topic.
The story also illustrates Wilde’s ideas on beauty. The story is very sensuous, and includes some lovely detailed descriptions, and it also reflects his belief that the power of beauty can make things better, with the beautiful Virginia triumphing over the evil of the ghost.
The love story between Virginia and Duke of Cheshire is a typical piece of Victorian sentimental writing, and the plot could be described as being melodramatic; however the charm and humor of the central ghost-story theme, combined with Wilde’s characteristic satire, transform this short story into a powerful and evocative tale.
Helbling文學讀本（Helbling Readers）簡介
共出版十餘本，分兩大套：
● Helbling Classics（經典英文文學改寫）
● Helbling Fiction（當代原創英文小說）
《Helbling文學讀本》為一套最優質的英文分級閱讀讀本，英語難易度由初級銜接到中級。
全系列皆隨書附贈全文朗讀MP3。
內文編排精美，採用彩色印刷，全文穿插精美插圖，單元設計豐富。
除了精彩的小說之外，另編寫有：
1.About the Author（作者簡介）：介紹作者，幫助認識創作背景。
2.About the Book（本書簡介）：介紹故事內容概要，幫助了解故事的背景與旨意。
3.Before Reading（閱前活動）：設計各種問題和活動，幫助暖身，啟發各種探討與學習。
4.After Reading（閱後練習）：設計各種深入的問題和題目練習，幫助復習內容，加深英語的學習印象。
5.Test（測驗）：有些讀本在閱畢之後，設計有各種測驗題目，包括文意測驗和英語練習等。
6.隨文討論：在故事行文中，另設計有針對內文情節的問題探討，幫助做啟發性的思考。
作者簡介
奧斯卡．王爾德
1854年生於都柏林，父親是一位出色的外科醫師，母親是一位詩人和作家。他在都柏林攻讀古典文學之後，轉往就讀於牛津大學的莫德林學院，期間曾獲得一個詩的獎項，開始擁有許多的詩迷。1881年，他出版了第一本著作《詩集》（Poems）。1884年，他和康絲坦絲．勞德結婚。他為兒子們寫了出色的童話故事，後來出版為《快樂王子》（The Happy Prince and Other Tales），大受歡迎。
王德爾在當了兩年的報社編輯之後，重返文壇，才華也更受肯定了。1890年，他出版了小說《道林．格雷的畫像》（The Picture of Dorian Gray），因為故事主人翁有失道德倫理，所以在維多利亞的社會裡掀起波瀾。
一年之後，他又出版了《亞瑟．沙維爵士的罪行》（Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories），這本書的故事《老鬼當家》即收錄其中。隨後的劇本《溫夫人的扇子》（Lady Windermere’s Fan，1892年）、《無足輕重的女人》（A Woman of No Importance，1893年）、《理想的丈夫》（An Ideal Husband，1895年）和《不可兒戲》（The Importance of Being Earnest，1895年），讓他獲得名氣。劇中諷刺了維多利亞時代的道德和社會禁忌，揭露虛偽的一面，展露了幽默機智的筆鋒。
然而在1895年，王爾德密友──阿弗烈德．道格拉斯──他的父親昆斯貝理侯爵，公開控告王爾德誘拐他的兒子，王爾德反告他毀謗，但侯爵最後勝訴，王爾德因而鎯鐺入獄兩年。在服刑期間，王爾德寫了《深淵書簡》（De Profundis），這本書在他去世之後才出版，另外寫了一本《瑞丁監獄之歌》（The Ballad of Reading Gaol，1898年），描繪不堪的牢獄生活。他出獄之後破產，身心俱病，之後旅居國外。1900年，卒於巴黎。
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854, the son of an eminent surgeon and a poet-cum-literary hostess. After reading classics at Dublin, Wilde went to Magdelen College, Oxford, where he won a poetry prize and gathered a wide circle of admirers.
His first book, Poems, was published in 1881. In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd and he wrote the charming fairy tales that became the highly successful The Happy Prince and Other Tales for their sons. Then, after two years of working as a journal editor, Wilde returned to the literary circles in which his sparkling wit was better appreciated. His novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was published in 1890 but the low morals of its protagonist shocked the Victorian public.
A year later, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories was published; it contained ‘The Canterville Ghost’. Wilde became famous with his plays Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). They lampooned the morals and taboos of Victorian society, and exposed its hypocrisies, with a highly successful blend of humor and sharp wit.
However, in 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry, father of Wilde’s close friend, Lord Alfred Douglas, publicly accused Wilde of seducing his son. Wilde sued Queensberry for libel, but Queensberry won and Wilde was sentenced to two years in prison. Whilst in prison, he wrote De Profundis, published posthumously, and The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898) portraying the horrors of prison. After his release, he became bankrupt and he fell ill, both physically and mentally. He moved abroad and died in Paris in 1900.
