The Witches door Roald Dahl

Story:

This is a story about witches. A real witch looks and lives very ordinary. That's why they are so hard to catch!! A real witch hates children. Children smell like stinky dog-droppings. This is a story about a boy of 8 years old called Luke and his grandmother of 80 years old. Luke lives by his grandmother because when he and his father and mother were on their way to Oslo to his grandmother it was an icy weather and that's why the car skidded of the road into a ravine. His parents were killed. His grandmother always told him stories about witches. Like how they made children disappear or changed them in stone or a dolphin or something like that. Another story she told him was "how to recognize a witch". ,, A real witch, she told him, is always certain to be wearing gloves, because they don't have finger nails. A real witch is always bald, but you can't see it, because she always wears a first-class wig. And you have to look for the nose-holes. They are very large. Grandmother also told that a witch can actually smells out a child who's standing on the other side of the street and their eyes are purple! But there are still a few more things by which you can recognize a witch. Witches have no toes, their feet have square ends. ,,There are still some other things", she said. ,,Their spit is blue, blue as a bilberry". Luke asked his grandmother if it was like ink, it was exactly. She said that you probably see a slight bluish thing on their teeth, but it doesn't show much. And so you can recognize a witch. The day after she told this, a man arrived at the house and held a long conversation with Luke's grandmother. It was about his father's will. His father asked his grandmother to take his boy to England. Luke and his grandmother didn't want to go back to England, but they had! Luke's grandmother told stories about English witches and that there was in every country a secret society of witches. They meet each other every year. They all get together in one place to receive a lecture from the Grand High Witch of all the world. She's the ruler of them all. She makes her own money to pay the witches. Luke and his grandmother went back to England and a few weeks later it was normal again. One day after school Luke was making a tree-house. Then he saw a lady who was asking him if he wanted some sweets. Then he saw that the” lovely" lady was wearing gloves and it was summer!?! He shouted to his grandmother. That was the first meeting with a witch... When school was finished Luke and his grandmother were planning to go to Norway that summer. But grandmother was getting ill and had to stay in bed. They couldn't go to Norway, but when grandmother got better, they went for a luxury hotel on the outcast of England. Before they went Luke got a present from his grandmother it were two little white mice!! When they were in the hotel, Luke was looking for an empty place for training his mice. One room the ball-room was empty. There was a board and it says "The royal society for the prevention of cruelty to children". He peeped in and a few minutes later he saw a lot of women entering, who all were wearing gloves and a hat. He knew immediately it were witches and it were... Of course Luke was very scared, but he was behind the screen so nobody could see him. On a platform there was woman. It had to be the Grand High Witch. She said:,, You can put out your shoes, your gloves and your wigs"! It was an unnatural and a frightful face. The Grand High Witch began to speak. She was very angry, because the witches killed too less children. ,,But all the children must die", she said. The Grand High Witch had a new formula to kill children. The witches had to buy sweet-shops and do a droplet of the formula into the sweets and chocks. When the children will eat those sweets they will change into mice! The boy was still there and got a terrible fright. Then the Grand High Witch told the other witches the recipe. It was very difficult to make, because you need a boiled telescope and fried mouse-tails and other creepy things. The Grand High Witch warned the witches:,, Never put more than one droplet into each sweet or chocolate"! She also said that she should test one little kid called Bruno Jenkins. Bruno was coming. The witches were putting their wigs, their shoes and their gloves on. And their was Bruno, he was coming to get 6 bars of chocolate. But yesterday he got from the Grand High Witch (dressed like a ordinary lady) a big bar with of chocolate with the formula in it. The formula was going to work at 3'o clock today... And it was almost 3 'o clock... And than the formula started to work... Al the witches were happy, because the formula was working (ha ha ha !!!) One bottle was enough to transform 500 children into mice. After this the Grand High Witch said that the meeting was over, but there was a witch who smelled dog droppings and she said:,, I smell dog droppings". Later on all the witches smelled dog droppings... and they were looking for a stinky kid!! That was Luke! His hair was standing up. He was very scared. Then he saw a witch and the witch saw him. Luke ran away but another witch caught him and brought him to the High Grand Witch. She put the formula into his mouth and twenty seconds later he was a mouse and ran away (again). When the witches were gone, Luke (mouse) called Bruno the mouse. His voice was normal. After a couple of minutes he saw Bruno. They ran out of the ballroom to the boy's grandmother, hoping nobody would see them. Later they peeped in the grandmother's room. She recognized them very soon (because they had their own voices). The boys told her the whole story about the witches and the mouse-maker formula. After the "story" the grandmother went to Bruno’s parents, but they didn't want to believe it. Then she went back to the boys, because she had an idea that she told to her grandson. At first her grandson had to steal a bottle of the formula and he succeeded to do this, then grandmother took her grandson to the kitchen. That wasn't easily because either, because the cook saw him and cut a little peace of his mouse-tail., but he fetched it. He put the formula into the soup of the witches. After this the witches changed into mice. Bruno's parents wanted to believe the grandmother and took Bruno back. Luke (mouse) and his grandmother went back to their own house and they lived happily after all...

5 citaten:

citaat 1: My summery says: A real witch, she told him, is always certain to be wearing gloves, because they don't have finger nails.

The book says: “A real witch is certain always to be wearing gloves when you meet her.” “surely not always” I said. “What about in the summer when it’s hot?” “Even in the summer,” my grandmother said. “She has to. Do you know why?” “Why?” I said.
“Because she doesn’t have fingernails. Instead of fingernails, she has thin curvy claws, like a cat, and she wears gloves to hide them. (page 24)
Citaat 2 :My summery says: Then he saw that the” lovely" lady was wearing gloves and it was summer!?! He shouted to his grandmother. That was the first meeting with a witch...
The book says: Then suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a woman standing immediately below me. She was looking up at me and smiling in the most particular way. …………..
I noticed that she was wearing a small black hat and she had black gloves on her hands nearly up to her elbows. Gloves ! She was wearing gloves! I froze all over……..Then I panicked…….
“Grandmamma” I shouted again. “ Has she gone ?” (page 43, 44 en 45)
Citaat 3 :My summery says: And their was Bruno, he was coming to get 6 bars of chocolate.
The book says: One of the witches leapt to her feet and unfastened the chains. She opened the two huge doors. Then I heard her saying, ”Why hello, little man. How lovely to see you. You have come for your chocolate bars, have you not? They are all ready for you. Do come in.” A small boy wearing a white tee-shirt and gray shorts and gym shoes entered the room. I recognized him at once. He was called Bruno Jenkins………….(page 99, 100, 101)
Citaat 4 :My summery says: His voice was normal.

The book says: “Bruno!” I called out. It wasn’t seriously expecting that I would be able to speak at all now that I had become a mouse., so I got the shock of my life when I heard my own voice, my own perfectly normal voice, coming out of my tiny mouth.(118)
Citaat 5 :My summery says: Later they peeped in the grandmother's room.
The book says: The maid let out a scream that must have been heard by ships far out in the English Channel, and she dropped the shoes and ran like the wind down the corridor. My grandmother’s door opened. “What on earth is going on out here?”
She said. I darted between her legs into her room and Bruno followed me.(page 125)

Persoonlijk eindoordeel: Het boek was erg mooi. Ik heb hem vroeger ook in het nederlands gelezen en ik heb de film gezien. De film loopt anders af dan het boek, maar ze zijn beide even mooi.