Best-Seller by O. Henry is a funny story about John Pescud, a man who travels by train for his work. He does not like romantic books because he thinks their stories are not real. But John’s own life soon becomes like one of these stories. He sees a young woman on a train and follows her to Virginia. There, he meets her family and discovers that real life can be full of surprises.
This easy english stories version is rewritten for Level 1 learners who are learning English, especially the Present Simple tense. It uses simple words, clear sentences, useful vocabulary, and Present Simple practice to help beginners read and learn English.
This story was rewritten by newseasyenglish.com for English learners. The story is in the public domain, so it is free from copyright. Enjoy reading and improve your English skills!
Chapter One
John on the Train
John A. Pescud travels by train. He works for a plate-glass company. He sells glass to people and businesses. He lives in Pittsburgh.
One summer day, John travels to Pittsburgh for work. He sits in a train car with many other people.
A man sits near him. The man knows John.
“John Pescud?”
“Yes, that is me,” John says.
They shake hands.
“Where are you going?”
“I am going to Coketown,” John says.
“Do you still work for the glass company?”
“Yes, I do. I like my job.”
John is a small man with a big smile. He is serious about his work. He believes people should be good and honest in their home town.
John also has strong ideas about books.
A book lies near his chair. It is a best-selling romance novel.
John does not like the book.
“Do you read these books?” he asks.
“Sometimes,” the other man says.
“I don’t like them,” John says. “They are not real.”
“What is wrong with them?”
John picks up the book.
“The American hero meets a beautiful princess,” he says. “Then he follows her to a foreign country.”
“Does that really happen?”
“No, it doesn’t,” John says. “A normal American man does not fight kings and princes.”
John laughs.
“In these books, the hero fights many men. He uses a sword. He saves a princess. Then they fall in love.”
“That sounds exciting,” the man says.
“It sounds silly,” John answers.
John believes people usually marry people like themselves.
“A businessman meets a normal girl,” he says. “They live normal lives. That is real life.”
He does not know that his own life is very different.
Chapter 1 – Vocabulary
1. Travel /ˈtrævəl/ — to go from one place to another
Example: John travels by train.
2. Work /wɜːrk/ — to do a job
Example: He works for a plate-glass company.
3. Sell /sel/ — to give something to someone for money
Example: He sells glass to people and businesses.
4. Train /treɪn/ — a vehicle that travels on railway tracks
Example: John travels by train.
5. Book /bʊk/ — something that you read
Example: A book lies near his chair.
6. Hero /ˈhɪərəʊ/ — the main person in a story
Example: The American hero meets a beautiful princess.
7. Princess /ˈprɪnses/ — the daughter of a king or queen
Example: The hero meets a beautiful princess.
8. Real /rɪəl/ — true or not imaginary
Example: They are not real.
Chapter 1 – Comprehension Questions
1. Where does John live?
2. What does John sell?
3. How does John travel?
4. Where is John going?
5. Does John like romantic books?
6. What does the hero meet in the books?
7. Does John think the stories are real?
8. What does John think about these books?
Chapter 1 – Grammar Exercises
1. John ___ for a plate-glass company.
A) work
B) works
C) working
2. John ___ by train.
A) travel
B) travels
C) traveling
3. John ___ like these books.
A) don’t
B) doesn’t
C) isn’t
4. ___ John sell glass?
A) Do
B) Does
C) Is
5. The hero ___ a princess.
A) meet
B) meets
C) meeting
6. John ___ a small man.
A) am
B) are
C) is
7. ___ John and his friend on a train?
A) Is
B) Are
C) Does
8. John ___ strong ideas about books.
A) have
B) has
C) having
Answers
1-B, 2-B, 3-B, 4-B, 5-B, 6-C, 7-B, 8-B.
Chapter Two
The Girl on the Train
John continues talking about romance novels. Then the other man asks him a question.
“John, do you have a romance story?”
John smiles.
“No, no. I don’t have a romance story.”
But John does have a story.
About eighteen months earlier, John travels south by train. He sees a young woman across the train.
She is very beautiful. John looks at her, but he does not speak to her.
“She reads a book,” John says. “She is quiet. She does not look at me.”
John likes her immediately.
The young woman changes trains in Cincinnati. Then she travels toward Louisville.
John follows her. He does not want her to see him.
“Why does John follow her?” the man asks.
“Because I want to know her,” John says.
The girl travels through several towns. John follows her from train to train. Finally, she gets off the train in Virginia.
John follows her to a small village.
He sees an old man waiting for her. The old man takes her bag. John follows them from a distance.
They walk up a hill. At the top of the hill, John sees a huge white house. John is surprised.
“That house is enormous,” he says.
He thinks the girl must be very rich.
John goes to a small hotel in the village. He talks to the hotel owner.
“Who lives in that big house?” John asks.
“Colonel Allyn lives there,” the man says. “He comes from an old Virginia family.”
“And the young woman?”
“She is his daughter.”
John now knows her family is important. He still wants to meet her.
Chapter 2 – Vocabulary
1. Beautiful /ˈbjuːtɪfəl/ — very nice to look at
Example: She was the finest-looking girl I’d ever laid eyes on.
2. Girl /ɡɜːrl/ — a young female person
Example: I saw, across the aisle, the finest-looking girl I’d ever laid eyes on.
3. Read /riːd/ — to look at words and understand them
Example: She read a book and minded her business.
4. Change /tʃeɪndʒ/ — to move from one train, bus, or place to another
Example: She changed cars at Cincinnati.
5. Ticket /ˈtɪkɪt/ — a small paper or card that lets you travel
Example: There she bought another ticket.
6. Station /ˈsteɪʃən/ — a place where trains stop
Example: The last station she got off at was away down in Virginia.
7. Village /ˈvɪlɪdʒ/ — a small place where people live
Example: I went back to the village.
8. House /haʊs/ — a building where people live
Example: Up there in the biggest grove I ever saw was a tremendous house.
Chapter 2 – Comprehension Questions
1. Where does John see the young woman?
2. Does John speak to her on the train?
3. Why does John follow the young woman?
4. Where does she change trains?
5. Where does the young woman finally get off?
6. Who waits for her at the station?
7. What does John see on the hill?
8. Who lives in the big white house?
Chapter 2 – Grammar Exercises
Chapter Three
Jessie and Colonel Allyn
John stays in the village. On the third day, he sees the young woman in the garden.
He wants to speak to her. He takes off his hat.
“Excuse me,” he says. “Can you tell me where Mr. Hinkle lives?”
She looks at him.
“No one by that name lives here,” she says.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am.”
John smiles.
“I am not looking for Mr. Hinkle,” he says. “I want to talk to you.”
The girl smiles too.
John tells her why he follows her.
“I see you on the train,” he says. “I like you. I want to know you.”
She blushes.
“I don’t know what to say,” she says.
“What is your name?” John asks.
“My name is Jessie.”
“Jessie Allyn?”
“Yes.”
Jessie tells John about her family.
“My family is very old,” she says. “My father is a proud man. We live in this house for many years.”
John looks at the big house.
“Does your father like businessmen?” he asks.
“He does not like strangers,” Jessie says.
“Does he like men from Pittsburgh?”
“I don’t know,” she says.
John laughs.
“I want to meet him.”
The next morning, John goes to the house.
He meets Colonel Allyn.
At first, John feels nervous.
The house looks old and grand, but there is not much furniture inside.
Colonel Allyn looks like an important man.
John tells him everything.
He tells him about his work. He tells him about his money and his plans. He tells him that he wants to marry Jessie.
Colonel Allyn listens.
Then John tells him a funny story.
The colonel laughs.
They talk for a long time.
Soon, Colonel Allyn likes John.
He even tells John a funny hunting story.
John stays at the house.
Later, John talks to Jessie on the porch.
“Are you happy here?” Jessie asks.
“Yes,” John says.
“I am happy too,” Jessie says.
She smiles and goes into the house.
John knows he is in love.
Chapter Four
The Best-Seller Comes True
John finishes his story on the train. The porter announces Coketown.
“Coketown!”
John gets ready to leave the train. The other man looks at him.
“Wait. What happens to Jessie?”
John smiles.
“I marry her a year ago.”
John says that he builds a house in the East End.
Jessie lives there with him. But there is another surprise.
Colonel Allyn lives with them too.
The proud old colonel waits at the gate when John comes home from work. He wants to hear John’s new stories.
John now has a family.
He also has a very different life from the one he describes in the best-selling novels.
The train stops at Coketown. The town looks dark and poor.
John gets off the train.
“Why do you stop here?” the man asks.
John explains.
He takes Jessie to Philadelphia. On the way home, Jessie sees some flowers in a window.
The flowers remind her of the flowers at her old home in Virginia.
“She likes those flowers,” John says.
“So I stop here,” he explains. “I want to find some flowers for her.”
John takes his bag.
“Good-bye, old friend.”
The train moves away. The man looks down.
The best-selling novel lies on the floor.
He picks it up.
Then he thinks about John. John says romantic stories are not real.
He says people do not cross social lines and fall in love. But John’s own life is exactly like a romance story.
A businessman from Pittsburgh follows a beautiful girl.
The girl comes from an old Virginia family. He meets her father. He marries her. And the proud old father lives with them.
The man smiles. John does not believe in best-seller stories. But his own life becomes one.
The train moves into the rainy night. The man smiles again.
“Good luck, Trevelyan,” he says.
“And good luck getting the flowers for your princess!”