THE LANDLADY

By Roald Dahl

Billy Weaver had travelled down from London on the slow afternoon train, with a change
at Swindon on the way, and by the time he got to Bath it was about nine o'clock in the
evening and the moon was coming up out of a clear starry sky over the houses opposite the
station entrance.

But the air was deadly cold and the wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks.

"Excuse me," he said, "but is there a fairly cheap hotel not too far away from here?"

"Try The Bell and Dragon," the porter answered, pointing down the road. "They might take
you in. It’s about a quarter of a mile along on the other side."

Billy thanked him and picked up his suitcase and set out to walk the quarter-mile to The Bell
and Dragon. He had never been to Bath before. He didn’t know anyone who lived there. But
Mr Greenslade at the Head Office in London had told him it was a splendid city. "Find your
own lodgings," he had said, "and then go along and report to the Branch Manager as soon
as you’ve got yourself settled."

Billy was seventeen years old. He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown
trilby hat, and a new brown suit, and he was feeling fine. He walked briskly down the street.
He was trying to do everything briskly these days. Briskness, he had decided, was the one
common characteristic of all successful businessmen. The big shots up at Head Office were
absolutely fantastically brisk all the time. They were amazing.

There were no shops on this wide street that he was walking along, only a line of tall houses
on each side, all of them identical. They had porches and pillars and four or five steps going
up to their front doors, and it was obvious that once upon a time they had been very swanky
residences. But now, even in the darkness, he could see that the paint was peeling from the
woodwork on their doors and windows, and that the handsome white facades were cracked
and blotchy from neglect.

Suddenly, in a downstairs window that was brilliantly illuminated by a street lamp not six
yards away, Billy caught sight of a printed notice propped up against the glass in one of the
upper panes. It said BED AND BREAKFAST.

He stopped walking. He moved a bit closer. Green curtains (some sort of velvety material)
were hanging down on either side of the window. The notice was in large black letters, and it
looked as though it had been there a long time.

He was in fact still staring at the notice in the window when all at once the most peculiar
feeling came over him. It was as though a giant hand was forcing him irresistibly to turn
around and walk toward the house. He was trying to hold himself back, but the compulsion
was too strong. The next thing he knew, he was actually moving across from the window to
the front door of the house, climbing the steps that led up to it, and reaching for the bell.
He pressed the bell. Far away in a back room he heard it ringing, and then at once (it must
have been at once because he hadn’t even had time to take his finger from the bell-button)
the door swung open and a woman was standing there.

She was about forty-five or fifty years old, and the moment she saw him, she gave him a
warm welcoming smile.

"Please come in," she said pleasantly. She stepped aside, holding the door wide open, and
Billy found himself automatically starting forward into the house. The compulsion or, more
accurately, the desire to follow her into the house was extraordinarily strong.

"I saw the notice in the window," he said, holding himself back.

"Yes, I know."

"I was wondering about a room."

"It’s all ready for you, my dear," she said. She had a round pink face and very gentle blue
eyes.

"I was on my way to The Bell and Dragon," Billy told her. "But the notice in your window just
happened to catch my eye."

"My dear boy," she said, "why don’t you come in out of the cold?"

"How much do you charge?"

"Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast."

It was fantastically cheap. It was less than half of what he had been willing to pay.

"If that’s too much," she added, "then perhaps I can reduce it just a tiny bit."

"Do you have a room with a bath?"

"Dear boy," she said, "why don't you come in out of the cold?"

They were in the hallway now, and she was leading him up a flight of stairs. "This floor is
mine," she said, "and the two rooms on the first floor are all yours. I’ll show you your room
right now."

She took him to a small, but charming room. It was wonderfully warm and cozy. A big bed
with clean white sheets, a small armchair, and a desk in the corner completed the setup.
Billy felt quite pleased. He noticed there were no other hats or coats in the hallway
downstairs, suggesting no one else was staying there.
As Billy unpacked, the landlady offered him tea, or a glass of warm milk, which he chose.
Her kindness was remarkable, yet something about her struck Billy as slightly odd, though
he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

The landlady soon began talking about two previous guests, Mr. Temple and Mr. Mulholland.
The names seemed strangely familiar to Billy, and he asked the landlady if she remembered
when they had stayed.

"They’re still here," she said, beaming, and added, "I stuff all my little pets when they pass
away."

A shiver ran down Billy's spine as he realized that the two previous guests might not have
left at all. The tea he was drinking had a faint, strange taste, like bitter almonds. But before
he could react, the landlady continued to smile sweetly at him.

---

The End.

---

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

1. "The wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks."

Jenis: Simile.

Penjelasan: Angin dingin dibandingkan dengan bilah es, menunjukkan betapa tajam dan
dinginnya udara yang dirasakan Billy.

2. "It was fantastically cheap."

Jenis: Hyperbole.

Penjelasan: Ini adalah bentuk melebih-lebihkan harga murah kamar yang mengejutkan Billy.

3. "The air was deadly cold."

Jenis: Metaphor.
Penjelasan: Udara digambarkan sebagai "mematikan" meskipun secara harfiah tidak
mematikan, menunjukkan betapa ekstremnya rasa dingin yang dirasakan.

4. "A dachshund was curled up asleep like a baby."

Jenis: Simile.

Penjelasan: Anjing dachshund yang tidur dibandingkan dengan bayi, menunjukkan

5. "Billy felt a cold shiver run down his spine."

Jenis: Metaphor.

Penjelasan: Ini menggambarkan perasaan takut yang dirasakan Billy, seolah-olah rasa
dingin merayap di punggungnya, meskipun tidak benar-benar terjadi.

QUESTION AND ASNWER

1. Who offered Billy a place to stay?

The landlady offered Billy a place to stay.

2. What did the landlady charge for a night, including breakfast?

She charged five and sixpence a night, including breakfast.

3. Where did Billy feel like he had been before?

Billy felt like he had been in the hallway of the house before.

4. When did Billy start to feel that something was wrong?

Billy started to feel something was wrong when he sipped the tea and it tasted strange.
5. How did the landlady treat her guests after they died?

The landlady stuffed her guests after they died, just like she did with her pets.