“Number 13” is a ghost story by M. R. James. It was first published in 1904 as part of the anthology Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.
#1 Adapted audio with subtitles for elementary – intermediate learners
Mr. Anderson was writing a book on the history of Denmark. He went to Viborg and wanted to study the history of the town. He stayed in an old building – The Golden Lion Inn…
#2 Original version for advanced learners
Among the towns of Jutland, Viborg justly holds a high place. It is the seat of a bishopric; it has a handsome but almost entirely new cathedral, a charming garden, a lake of great beauty, and many storks. Near it is Hald, accounted one of the prettiest things in Denmark; and hard by is Finderup, where Marsk Stig murdered King Erik Clipping on St. Cecilia’s Day, in the year 1286. Fifty-six blows of square-headed iron maces were traced on Erik’s skull when his tomb was opened in the seventeenth century. But I am not writing a guide-book…
#3 The story was adapted into a forty-minute film and first screened in December 2006 on BBC Four.
