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Este libro recoge 13 leyendas urbanas típicas del mundo anglosajón pero
muy conocidas y/o adaptadas en otras partes del mundo.
Podrás comprobar que con este libro bilingüe, aprender inglés es fácil,
rápido y divertido. Ideal para principiantes y falsos principiantes (A1-A2),
aprenderás inglés sin darte cuenta a través de sus relatos adaptados y escritos con
frases cortas, gramática simplificada todo lo que ha sido posible y con vocabulario
y situaciones útiles para la vida diaria. Además, encontrarás la traducción en
español de cada historia justo en la siguiente página para que no te quede ninguna
duda y amplíes tu repertorio en inglés.
Let’s read!
¡Vamos a leer!
Ahora tú también puedes aprender inglés con los libros bilingües de Joe.
El Payaso Espeluznante
A mother and a father decide they need a break.
When the babysitter arrives the two children are already fast asleep in bed.
So the babysitter just has to sit around and make sure everything is okay
with the children.
She wants to watch tv but she can’t watch it downstairs because they don’t
have cable downstairs.
The parents don’t want their children watching too much garbage.
Así que la niñera solo tiene que sentarse y asegurarse de que todo esté bien
con los niños.
Ella quiere ver la televisión, pero no puede verla en el piso de abajo porque
no tienen cable en la planta baja.
“Can I cover up the large clown statue in your bedroom with a blanket or
cloth? It makes me nervous.”
“Take the children and get out of the House! We'll call the Police! We don't
have a clown statue!”
It turns out to be that the clown is a killer that has escaped from jail.
Pero la niñera tiene una última petición y pregunta:
After waiting five minutes, the girl gets out of the car to look for her
boyfriend.
This continues a few seconds until the girl decides she has no choice but to
drive off.
She hits the gas as hard as possible but can't go anywhere, because someone
has tied a rope from the bumper of the car to a nearby tree.
Una chica y su novio están enrollándose en el coche.
Después de esperar cinco minutos, la chica sale del coche para buscar a su
novio.
Este continúa unos segundos hasta que la chica decide que no tiene más
remedio que irse.
She gets out of the car and realizes that her boyfriend is hanging from the
tree.
The squeaky noises were his shoes slightly scraping across the top of the car!
La chica vuelve a apretar el acelerador y luego escucha un fuerte grito.
Ella sale del coche y se da cuenta de que su novio está colgando del árbol.
He turns on the radio for mood music, leans over to whisper in the girl's ear,
and begins kissing her.
Minutes later, the mood is broken when the music suddenly stops mid-song.
“A convicted murderer has just escaped from the state insane asylum.
Anyone who notices a man wearing a stainless steel hook in place of his
missing right hand should immediately report his whereabouts to the police.”
Un adolescente lleva a su cita a una calle oscura y desierta de amantes para
pegarse el lote.
The boy, feeling bold, locks all the doors instead and, assuring his date they
will be safe, attempts to kiss her again.
She becomes frantic and pushes him away, insisting that they leave.
Relenting, the boy peevishly jerks the car into gear and spin its wheels as he
pulls out of the parking space.
When they arrive at the girl's house she gets out of the car, and, reaching to
close the door, begins to scream uncontrollably.
The boy runs to her side to see what is wrong and there, dangling from the
door handle, is a bloody hook.
La chica se asusta y pide que la lleve a casa.
El chico corre a su lado para ver qué ocurre y allí, colgando de la maneta de
la puerta, hay un garfio ensangrentado.
Humans Can Lick, Too
One day, the old lady hears on the radio that a crazy murderer has escaped
from jail and that everyone must lock all their doors and windows to keep safe.
So she locks every door and window in the house except one tiny one to let
some air in.
She thinks that a murderer would never be able to get in through that one
small window.
She knows everything is OK because when she puts down her hand, her dog
licks it.
She puts her hand down and the dog licks it.
Esta historia es sobre una agradable anciana que tiene un perrito encantador.
Así que cierra todas las puertas y ventanas de la casa, excepto una pequeña
para dejar entrar el aire.
Ella piensa que un asesino nunca podría entrar por esa pequeña ventana.
Ella sabe que todo está bien porque cuando baja la mano, su perro la lame.
She wakes up again later in the night, though, so she thinks the dripping
sound must be coming from the shower.
She goes into the bathroom, and there is her dog, dead, hanging in the
shower, dripping with blood and all its intestines hanging out.
Sin embargo, se despierta más tarde en la noche, por lo que cree que el goteo
debe provenir de la ducha.
El asesino en la Ventana
A girl is home all alone watching TV on a cold winter night.
The television is right beside a sliding glass door, and the blinds are open.
Suddenly she sees a wrinkled old man staring at her through the glass!
She screams, then grabs the phone next to the couch and pulls a blanket over
her head so the guy can't see her while she calls the police.
She is so terrified that she remains under the blanket until the police get
there.
It has snowed a lot during the day, so the police naturally decide to look for
footprints.
But there are no footprints at all on the snowy ground outside the sliding
door.
Ella grita, luego agarra el teléfono que hay al lado del sofá y se cubre con
una manta para que el tipo no pueda verla mientras llama a la policía.
Está tan aterrorizada que permanece debajo de la manta hasta que llega la
policía.
“Because,” he says, “the man wasn't outside at all. He was in here, standing
right behind the couch! What you saw in the window was his reflection.”
Ahí es cuando ven las huellas húmedas en el suelo que conducen al sofá
donde la chica todavía está sentada.
“Porque”, dice, “el hombre no estaba afuera en absoluto. ¡Estaba aquí, de pie
justo detrás del sofá! Lo que vio en la ventana era su reflejo”.
The Missing Bride
La novia desaparecida
A young woman is about to get married.
She decides she wants to hold the wedding in the backyard of the large
farmhouse where she grew up.
Afterward, the guests play some casual party games, and someone suggests
hide-and-seek so they can get the children to play too.
The groom is “it,” and the bride wants to make sure that she wins the game.
Ella decide que quiere celebrar la boda en el patio trasero de la gran granja
donde creció.
Her new husband isn’t worried, though, he figures she must have just gotten
tired and has gone inside to rest.
The groom looks around the house, but he can’t find her anywhere.
He and her parents file a missing person case, but she is never found.
A few years later when her mother dies, the woman's father goes to the attic
to go through his late wife's things that are collecting dust.
Sin embargo, su nuevo esposo no está preocupado, cree que ella debe
haberse cansado y ha entrado a descansar.
El novio mira por toda la casa, pero no la puede encontrar en ningún lado.
He opens the lid and is terrified to see his daughter's decaying body in the
chest.
When she hid there, the lid had closed, and the rusty parts of the lock had
latched together, trapping her there.
La tapa está cerrada, y la vieja cerradura está oxidada y manteniéndola
cerrada.
El cuchillo en el maletín
One summer day in Southampton, New York, a woman pulls into a gas
station
As the attendant pumps gas, the woman tells him she is in a hurry to pick
up her daughter, who has just finished an art class in East Hampton.
A very well-dressed man walks over to her car and starts talking to her.
He explains that his rental car has died, and he needs a ride to East
Hampton for an appointment.
He puts his briefcase in the backseat and says he is going to the men's room
quickly.
Mientras el gasolinero le pone gasolina, la mujer le dice que tiene prisa por
recoger a su hija, que acaba de terminar una clase de arte en East Hampton.
Un hombre muy bien vestido camina hacia su coche y comienza a hablar con
ella.
She thinks nothing of him again until she and her daughter get home.
She sees his briefcase and realizes she has forgotten him!
She opens it looking for some form of identification so she can contact him.
Inside she finds nothing but a knife and a roll of duct tape!
Ella se marcha rápidamente, olvidando que el hombre volverá al coche para
que lo lleve.
Ella no piensa en él otra vez hasta que ella y su hija llegan a casa.
By the time they get home it is late and George is more than a little drunk.
They get in the door and are greeted by the dog choking to death in the
loungeroom.
She is an old family friend of hers and get her to agree to meet her at the
surgery.
Melinda drives over and drops off the dog, but decides that she'd better go
home and get her husband into bed.
She gets home and finally slaps George into consciousness, but he's still
drunk.
George y su esposa, Melinda, viven en Texas con un gran Doberman en un
pequeño piso.
Para cuando llegan a casa ya es tarde y George está más que un poco
borracho.
Entran por la puerta y son recibidos por el perro que se está ahogando en el
salón.
Ella es una vieja amiga suya y consigue que acepte reunirse con ella en la
clínica.
Melinda conduce hasta allí y deja al perro, pero decide que será mejor que se
vaya a casa y acueste a su marido.
She's tempted to just leave it, but she decides that it must be important or
they wouldn't be ringing that late at night.
As soon as she picks up the phone, she hears the vet's voice screaming out:
“Thank God I got you in time! Leave the house! Now! No time to explain!”
So she starts getting George down the stairs and out of the house.
By the time they've made it all the way out, the police are outside.
Le lleva casi media hora subirlo por las escaleras, y luego suena el teléfono.
Está tentada a dejarlo, pero decide que debe ser importante o no estarían
llamando tan tarde por la noche.
“¡Gracias a Dios que te pillo a tiempo! ¡Sal de casa! ¡Ahora! ¡No hay tiempo
para explicaciones!” Entonces la veterinaria cuelga.
The vet shows up and says, “Have they got him? Have they got him?”
“Have they got who?” says Melinda, starting to get really pissed off.
“Well, I found out what the dog was choking on – it was a human finger.”
Just then the police drags out a man who is bleeding profusely from one
hand. “Hey Sergeant,” one of them yells. “We found him in the bedroom.”
Suben corriendo las escaleras delante de la pareja y entran en la casa.
Hormigas en el cerebro
A boy has fallen asleep with some sweets in his mouth.
Ants soon get to him and some of them in fact crawl into his ear and
somehow manage to go to his brain.
When he wakes up, he does not realize that ants have gone to his head.
But the doctor cannot figure out what is wrong with him.
Since the ants are still alive, the doctor cannot operate on him because they
are constantly moving about.
Un niño se ha quedado dormido con algunos dulces en la boca.
Como las hormigas todavía están vivas, el médico no puede operarlo porque
se mueven constantemente.
The boy at last dies.
So please be careful when leaving food stuff beside your bed or when eating
in bed.
You might fall asleep and suffer same fate as the little boy.
El niño finalmente muere.
Así pues, tened cuidado cuando dejéis alimentos junto a vuestra cama o
cuando comáis en la cama.
La Autoestopista Fantasma
A newlywed couple, Tom and Susan, are driving up the northern California
coast to spend their dream honeymoon.
They want to arrive before dark, but a heavy fog has descended and their
progress is slow.
It is just as they are rounding one of those curves that they pass a solitary
hitchhiker.
“Good luck getting a ride on a night like this,” mutters Tom under his
breath.
“Stop the car and turn around,” says Susan. “Please, she's all alone. We have
to give her a ride.”
Una pareja de recién casados, Tom y Susan, conducen por la costa norte de
California para pasar la luna de miel de sus sueños.
Quieren llegar antes del anochecer, pero ha descendido una fuerte neblina y
su progreso es lento.
Es justo cuando están redondeando una de esas curvas que pasan una
autoestopista solitaria.
“Buena suerte en conseguir que alguien te lleve en una noche como esta”,
murmura Tom en voz baja.
“Para el coche y da la vuelta”, dice Susan. “Por favor, ella está sola. Tenemos
que llevarla.”
“We're two hours late,” says Tom.
As they approach the girl from the opposite direction they can see her dress
is in tatters.
“Can we give you a ride?” Susan asks as they pull up beside her.
“Oh, thank you,” says the young woman, who appears to be in her late teens
or early twenties.
“Just down the road, about 10 miles,” she says, climbing into the back seat.
“Llegamos dos horas tarde”, dice Tom.
“Tengo que llegar a casa. Mis padres estarán muy preocupados “, dice ella.
As they make their way north again Susan attempts to make conversation,
but the girl falls silent and slumped in the back seat, apparently asleep.
“What do you mean, 'she's gone'?” Tom says, pulling into the driveway of
the white house.
“¡Tom, se ha ido!”
“¿Qué quieres decir con 'se ha ido'?”, dice Tom, entrando en el camino de
entrada de la casa blanca.
A light comes on and two people, an elderly couple, step out onto the porch.
“And she gave you this address,” says the man, “and asked you to bring her
home.”
Susan nods.
Se enciende una luz y dos personas, una pareja de ancianos, salen al porche.
Susan asiente.
“Won't you come inside for coffee or tea?” says the woman. “You've had a
shock. Come in and sit down.”
“No. Thank you, but no. We're late,” says Susan. “We have to get going.”
“¿Queréis entrar a tomar café o té?”, dice la mujer. “Habéis tenido un shock.
Entrad y sentaos.”
“No. Gracias, pero no. Vamos tarde “, dice Susan. “Tenemos que ponernos
en marcha”.
María Sangrienta
Elisabeth is about nine years old.
Some of them have never heard of this, so one of the girls tells the story:
One day she had a terrible accident that left her face very disfigured.
She had not been allowed to see her own reflection after this accident for
fear that she would lose her mind.
Elisabeth tiene unos nueve años.
Algunas de ellas nunca han oído hablar de esto, por lo que una de las chicas
cuenta la historia: “Mary Worth vivió hace mucho tiempo.
One night, after everyone had gone to bed, unable to fight the curiosity any
longer, she crept into a room that had a mirror.
As soon as she saw her face, she broke down into terrible screams and
sobs.She was very heartbroken and wanted her old reflection back.
So she walked into the mirror to find it, vowing to disfigure anybody that
came looking for her in the mirror.”
After hearing this story, they decide to turn out all of the lights and try it.
They all huddle around the mirror and start repeating 'Mary Worth, Mary
Worth, I believe in Mary Worth.'
Antes de esto, había pasado largas horas admirando su belleza en el espejo
de su habitación.
Después de escuchar esta historia, deciden apagar todas las luces y probarlo.
She screams so loud that Jennifer's mom comes running into the room.
She quickly turns on the lights and finds this girl huddled in the corner
screaming.
She turns her around to see what the problem is and sees long fingernail
scratches running down her right cheek.
None of the girls will never forget her face as long as they live!
Alrededor de la séptima vez que lo dicen, una de las chicas que está frente al
espejo comienza a gritar y trata de alejarse de él.
Ella grita tan fuerte que la madre de Jennifer entra corriendo a la habitación.
When she arrives they tell her they probably won’t be back until late, and
that the kids are already asleep so she doesn’t need disturb them.
The babysitter starts doing her homework while awaiting a call from her
boyfriend.
She answers it, but hears no one on the other end — just silence.
She answers, and this time there's a man on the line who says, in a chilling
voice:
Un matrimonio va a salir por la noche y llaman a una niñera adolescente
para que cuide de sus tres hijos.
Cuando llega, le dicen que probablemente no volverán hasta tarde, y que los
niños ya están dormidos, así que no necesita molestarlos.
Ella responde, y esta vez hay un hombre en la línea que dice, con una voz
escalofriante:
“Have you checked the children?”
Click.
At first, she thinks it might have been the father calling to check up and he
got interrupted, so she decides to ignore it.
She goes back to her homework, then the phone rings again.
“Have you checked the children?” says the creepy voice on the other end.
She decides to phone the restaurant where the parents said they'd be dining.
When she asks for Mr. Jones she is told that he and his wife have left the
restaurant forty-five minutes ago.
“¿Has echado un vistazo a los niños?”
Clic.
Al principio, ella piensa que podría haber sido el padre llamando para
comprobar que todo está bien y que se ha cortado la llamada, por lo que decide
ignorarlo.
“¿Sr. Jones?” pregunta ella, pero la persona que llama cuelga de nuevo.
Ella decide llamar por teléfono al restaurante donde los padres dijeron que
estarían cenando.
Cuando pregunta por el Sr. Jones, le dicen que él y su esposa han salido del
restaurante hace cuarenta y cinco minutos.
So she calls the police and reports that a stranger has been calling her and
hanging up.
“Well, there's nothing we can really do about it. You could try reporting the
prank caller to the phone company.”
“¿Por qué no has ido a ver cómo están los niños?”, dice la voz.
The babysitter goes into panic mode and pleads with him to help her.
“Give me your number and street address, and if you can keep this guy on
the phone for at least a minute we'll try to trace the call. What was your name
again?”
“Emma.”
“Okay, Emma, if he calls back we'll do our best to trace the call, but just keep
calm. Can you do that for me?”
She decides to turn the lights down so she can see if anyone's outside, and
that's when she gets another call.
Bueno, no hay mucho que podamos hacer al respecto”, dice el operador.
“Emma”.
Decide apagar las luces para poder ver si hay alguien afuera, y ahí es cuando
recibe otra llamada.
“It's me,”the familiar voice says. “Why did you turn the lights down?”
“Look, you've scared me,” she says. “I'm shaking. Are you happy? Is that
what you wanted?”
“No.”
“Leave me alone!” she screams, but it's the dispatcher calling back.
“Emma, we've traced that call. It's coming from another room inside the
house. Get out of there! Now!”
“Soy yo”, dice la voz familiar. “¿Por qué apagaste las luces?”
“Mira, me has asustado”, dice ella. “Estoy temblando. ¿Estás feliz? ¿Es eso lo
que querías?”
“No.”
Su voz es urgente.
In the time it takes her to unhook it she sees a door open at the top of the
stairs.
Light streams from the children's bedroom, revealing the profile of a man
standing just inside.
She finds a cop standing on the doorstep with his gun drawn.
At this point, she's safe, of course, but when they capture the intruder and
drag him downstairs in handcuffs, she sees he is covered in blood.
En este punto, ella está a salvo, por supuesto, pero cuando capturan al
intruso y lo arrastran hacia abajo esposado, ella ve que está cubierto de sangre.
When they get to their room they both detect a bad odor.
The husband calls down to the front desk and asks to speak to the manager.
He explains that the room smells very bad and they would like another
suite.
The manager apologizes and tells the man that they are all booked because
of a convention.
He also says he is going to send a maid up to their room to clean and to try
and get rid of the odor.
Explica que la habitación huele muy mal y que les gustaría otra suite.
También dice que enviará a una camarera a su habitación para que la limpie
e intente deshacerse del olor.
Again the husband calls the front desk and tells the manager that the room
still smells really bad.
The manager tells the man that they will try and find a suite at another hotel.
He calls every hotel on the strip, but every hotel is sold out because of the
convention.
The manager tells the couple that they can’t find them a room anywhere, but
they will try and clean the room again.
The couple want to see the sights and do a little gambling anyway.
So they say they will give them two hours to clean and then they will be
back.
Cuando entran, ambos pueden oler el mismo olor.
El gerente le dice al hombre que intentarán encontrar una suite en otro hotel.
Llama a todos los hoteles la zona, pero todos los hoteles están agotados
debido a la convención.
Así que dicen que les darán dos horas para limpiar y luego regresarán.
When the couple have left, the manager and all of housekeeping go to the
room to try and find what is making the room smell so bad.
So the maids change the sheets, change the towels, take down the curtains
and put new ones up, clean the carpet and clean the suite again using the strongest
cleaning products they have.
The couple come back two hours later to find the room still has a bad odor.
The husband is so angry at this point, he decides to find whatever this smell
is himself.
As he pulls the top mattress off the box spring he finds a dead body of a
woman.
Cuando la pareja se ha marchado, el gerente y todo el personal de limpieza
van a la habitación para tratar de encontrar qué hace que la habitación huela tan
mal.
Entonces las camareras cambian las sábanas, cambian las toallas, bajan las
cortinas y colocan unas nuevas, limpian la alfombra y limpian la suite nuevamente
usando los productos de limpieza más fuertes que tienen.
La pareja regresa dos horas más tarde para descubrir que la habitación
todavía tiene mal olor.
El esposo está tan enojado en este punto, que decide encontrar él mismo lo
que quiera que sea ese olor.
Cuando saca el colchón superior del somier, encuentra el cuerpo sin vida de
una mujer.
Nightmare
Pesadilla
Marge is having that nightmare again.
Marge is trying to warn them that they must not go over the bridge.
“No! No! The bridge will fall and you will die!” Marge screams.
“Marge, wake up! You were screaming in your sleep again!” says her
husband, Fred.
Marge está teniendo esa pesadilla de nuevo.
No es la primera vez.
Él conduce rápido.
“You can’t joke it away, Fred! It must mean something!” she says.
“There’s no chance for that to happen.” Fred says to comfort his wife.”
“Now forget the nightmare and try to get some sleep, ok?”
In the morning…
“Fred! Estás vivo ... No caíste por el precipicio “, suspira aliviada.
“¡No hagas bromas con eso, Fred! ¡Debe significar algo! “, dice ella.
“No hay posibilidad de que eso suceda”, dice Fred para consolar a su
esposa.
Por la mañana…
Fred alarm’s clock rings and he wakes up.
Se levantan de la cama.
Ellos se visten.
“Our field man out on that Brazil job just came down with malaria!” says his
boss.
“And if we don’t take next plane out, we’ll lose the contract.” he adds.
Su jefe entra.
He goes into the terminal, checks in and goes to the passport control.
The plane lands, and he quickly begins arranging for transportation into the
interior…
Él la llama y le dice ...
“¡Un hombre con cicatrices ... una rubia platino ... y yo al volante de un
coche!”
But the fear inside him won’t let him act any other way.
Fred gets in the car and adjusts his seat and the rearview mirror.
He puts the key into the ignition and starts the car.
It is then that one wheel beats into the road’s soft shoulder.
El joven le da a Fred otro coche, solo para él.
La selva está allí ... torrentes de lluvia tropical están cayendo ...
Now he is unconscious.
He is still to numb to thank his rescuers or even see who they are.
Then Fred sees the scarred man and the blonde woman.
“¡Oh, mierda!”
Suddenly, the woman presses her hand to her side and cries out sharply!
Fred is petrified.
He doesn't’ move.
¡Lanza un grito silencioso!
“Oh, oh ... ¡Tenía miedo de que sucediese esto! ¡Su apéndice está haciendo
de las suyas!”
No se mueve.
He doesn’t answer.
“She’s in pain!”
“What’s wrong now? What’re you stopping for?” asks the scarred man.
“¡Coge el volante!”
“¡Le duele! “
And he adds...
“I’ll tell you what… We’ll leave the car here with my wife inside!
They have just started to walk down the steep slope when…
“Are you ok, darling? Does it hurt?” asks the scarred man, worried.
“¡Chorradas!”, dice el hombre de las cicatrices.
Y agrega...
“Te diré qué vamos a hacer ... ¡Dejaremos el coche aquí con mi esposa
adentro! “
“Look…! The car is heading for the bridge… without us in it!” says Fred.
Then, the bridge falls down as the empty car passes over it.
That they know how narrowly they have escaped the nightmare’s terrible
ending.
“Mirad…! El coche se dirige al puente ... ¡sin nosotros dentro! “dice Fred.
Que saben cómo se han salvado por los pelos del terrible final de la pesadilla
Se quedan quietos.
Están conmocionados.
THE END
No hay pesadilla para ella esta noche.
FIN
Antes de irte…
¡Felicidades por haber llegado hasta aquí!
Espero que te hayan gustado estos relatos. Si es así, te invito a que leas mis
otros títulos, los cuales podrás encontrar aquí.
Joe Arenas