Mr. Utterson was a lawyer in London who liked to take long walks. One evening, his friend Mr. Enfield told him a strange story. He had seen a man knock down a little girl in the street late at night. The man did not stop to help her and simply walked over her body. Mr. Enfield stopped the man and demanded that he pay for the girl's medical care. The strange man agreed and went into a door in a nearby building. He came back with a check signed by Dr. Henry Jekyll, a respected scientist. The man's name was Mr. Edward Hyde. Mr. Utterson knew Dr. Jekyll well because he was his lawyer. He remembered that Dr. Jekyll's will left everything to Mr. Hyde. This worried him because he had never met this mysterious Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson decided to find Mr. Hyde and see what kind of man he was. He waited near the door where Mr. Hyde had entered before. One night, he finally saw Mr. Hyde approaching. Mr. Hyde was a small, pale man who gave people a feeling of fear. Mr. Utterson could not explain what was so frightening about him. The lawyer asked Mr. Hyde how he knew Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Hyde became angry and refused to answer the question. Then he quickly went through the door and disappeared. Mr. Utterson visited Dr. Jekyll to talk about his will and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll was a tall, handsome man with a kind face. He told Mr. Utterson not to worry about the will. He said that he could get rid of Mr. Hyde whenever he wanted. But Mr. Utterson noticed that Dr. Jekyll looked pale when he said this. A year passed and there was no news about Mr. Hyde. Then one night, something terrible happened. A servant girl saw Mr. Hyde kill Sir Danvers Carew, an old and respected member of parliament. Mr. Hyde beat the old man to death with a walking stick. The police found a broken walking stick at the scene. Mr. Utterson recognized it as a gift he had given to Dr. Jekyll years ago. He took the police to Mr. Hyde's address in Soho. They found clothes and the other half of the broken walking stick. But Mr. Hyde had vanished and no one could find him. Mr. Utterson went to see Dr. Jekyll again. The doctor looked very sick and old. Dr. Jekyll promised that he would never see Mr. Hyde again. He showed Mr. Utterson a letter that seemed to be from Mr. Hyde. The letter said that Mr. Hyde had escaped and would never return. However, Mr. Utterson's clerk later compared the handwriting in the letter with Dr. Jekyll's notes. The handwriting was almost the same, just with a different slant. Time passed and Dr. Jekyll started to see his friends again. He gave dinner parties and seemed healthier and happier than before. But then suddenly, Dr. Jekyll refused to see anyone. He locked himself in his laboratory and would not come out. Dr. Lanyon, another friend, also became very sick after a shock he refused to explain. He died just two weeks later. Before he died, Dr. Lanyon gave Mr. Utterson a letter. The letter was to be opened only after Dr. Jekyll's death or disappearance. Mr. Utterson tried to visit Dr. Jekyll, but his butler Poole always turned him away. The butler said the doctor never left his laboratory anymore. One evening, Poole came to Mr. Utterson's house in great fear. He said he believed something was very wrong with his master. The voice coming from the laboratory did not sound like Dr. Jekyll at all. Mr. Utterson and Poole went to the house and stood outside the laboratory door. They heard someone crying inside, asking for a special medicine. The voice was high and strange, not the deep voice of Dr. Jekyll. Poole said the person inside had sent him to buy chemicals many times. But every time, the chemicals were not pure enough, and there was more crying. They decided to break down the door. Inside they found the body of Mr. Hyde, dead on the floor. He was wearing clothes that were much too big for him. They were the clothes of Dr. Jekyll. There was a small bottle next to his body that smelled of poison. Mr. Hyde had killed himself. But where was Dr. Jekyll? They searched everywhere but could not find him. On the desk, they found a new will that left everything to Mr. Utterson. There was also a letter from Dr. Jekyll asking him to read Dr. Lanyon's letter first. Mr. Utterson went home and opened Dr. Lanyon's letter. The letter explained that Dr. Jekyll had sent Dr. Lanyon a strange message late one night. The message asked him to go to Dr. Jekyll's laboratory and get a drawer full of powders and liquids. Dr. Lanyon did as his friend asked. At midnight, Mr. Hyde came to his house to collect the chemicals. Dr. Lanyon watched as Mr. Hyde mixed the powders with the liquid. The mixture changed colors and began to smoke. Mr. Hyde drank it all in one gulp. He cried out in pain and his body began to change. He grew taller and his face became different. Suddenly, Dr. Jekyll stood where Mr. Hyde had been. The shock of seeing this transformation killed Dr. Lanyon. Mr. Utterson then read Dr. Jekyll's own confession. Dr. Jekyll wrote that he had always felt like he was two different people. One side of him wanted to be good and help others. The other side was dark and wanted to do whatever it pleased. He created a potion that would separate these two sides of himself. When he drank it, he became the small, evil Mr. Hyde. At first, he enjoyed being Mr. Hyde because he felt free. He could do anything he wanted without feeling guilty. But slowly, Mr. Hyde became stronger. Dr. Jekyll began to change into Mr. Hyde without taking the potion. He would wake up in the morning as the evil Mr. Hyde. He needed more and more of the potion to change back into Dr. Jekyll. The original chemicals for the potion ran out. New chemicals did not work because they were not pure in the same way. Dr. Jekyll knew he would soon become Mr. Hyde forever. He was writing his confession when he felt the change begin. His last words were that he did not know if Hyde would be caught and hanged. Or if Hyde would kill himself before that could happen. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were gone, and only questions remained. Mr. Utterson now understood that good and evil can exist in the same person.
English Story (B1)Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
This B1 English story is designed for intermediates learning English. It includes simple vocabulary and short sentences to help you improve your reading and listening skills. Click any word to see translations and hear pronunciation.
About this story
Dr. Jekyll, a respected scientist, creates a potion that transforms him into the evil Mr. Hyde. As Hyde grows stronger and the potion's ingredients run out, Jekyll loses control and faces a tragic end, revealing the duality of human nature.
Translations in English
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Comprehension Questions
4 questions
1
How did Mr. Utterson's clerk discover that the letter from Mr. Hyde was suspicious?
2
What did Mr. Hyde do that made him a wanted criminal?
3
What did Dr. Lanyon witness that shocked him so much he died?
4
Why could Dr. Jekyll no longer change back from being Mr. Hyde at the end?
Vocabulary
40 words from this story
