The Thirty-Nine Steps
Library

Series · 1 Season · ~20 min total

The Thirty-Nine Steps

by John Buchan

A framed man on the run with secrets that could start a war.

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Episodes

3 episodes · ~20 min
The Man Who Died
Ep 1

The Man Who Died

Bored with his quiet life in London, Richard Hannay is thrust into a deadly conspiracy when a panicked stranger hides in his flat, warning of a plot to plunge Europe into war.

The Milkman Sets Out
Ep 2

The Milkman Sets Out

Framed for murder and targeted by deadly conspirators, Richard Hannay disguises himself as a milkman to escape London on a northbound express train to the Scottish Highlands.

The Adventure of the Literary Innkeeper
Ep 3

The Adventure of the Literary Innkeeper

Pursued by monoplanes and German assassins across Galloway, Hannay shelters at a remote inn with an aspiring young writer, decodes Scudder's cipher, and steals his pursuers' car.

About this world

The Thirty-Nine Steps in German

Richard Hannay is bored half to death with London until the man across the landing talks his way into his flat, explains a plot against Europe, and turns up three days later with a knife in his chest. Wanted by the police and hunted by the men who did it, Hannay runs for the Scottish moors with a dead man's notebook.

Author
John Buchan
Language
German
Levels
A1 · A2 · B1 · B2 · C1 · C2
Episodes
3 episodes
Words at B2
2,300
Reading time
~16 min

How it reads

The Man Who Died · German
Opening lines
Level
The Thirty-Nine Steps at A1The Thirty-Nine Steps at A2The Thirty-Nine Steps at B1The Thirty-Nine Steps at B2The Thirty-Nine Steps at C1The Thirty-Nine Steps at C2

Ich kehrte an jenem Mai-Nachmittag gegen drei Uhr aus der City zurück, zutiefst angewidert vom Leben.

Ich war drei Monate im Alten Land gewesen und hatte es gründlich satt.

Richard Hannay, Sie sind in den falschen Graben geraten, mein Freund, und Sie sollten besser wieder herausklettern.

Es ließ mich auf die Lippen beißen, wenn ich an die Pläne dachte, die ich in den letzten Jahren in Buluwayo ausgearbeitet hatte.

Da war ich, siebenunddreißig Jahre alt, gesund an Leib und Seele, mit genug Geld, um mich gut zu amüsieren, und gähnte den ganzen Tag wie ein Loch.

B2 edition · 3 episodes · ~2,300 words · ~16 min

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