Dutch · English · C1–C2
Advanced Dutch stories, with the English alongside (C1–C2)
Poe, Bierce, Hawthorne, Melville and Twain in Dutch: dense, stylish prose, with the English original there for the sentences worth a second look.
11 free advanced stories in Dutch
Each one opens in your browser with no account, the Dutch and the English side by side, paragraph by paragraph, shortest first. Every story is also a free Dutch–English ebook for Kindle, Kobo or any e-reader: downloading needs a free account, no payment (which file to pick).
Open the advanced Dutch–English stories in the library, where you can search them and switch to another level or pair.
- C1
Het ovale portret
The Oval Portrait
Edgar Allan Poe · Dutch · 5 min
- C1
Het verraderlijke hart
The Tell-Tale Heart
Edgar Allan Poe · Dutch · 15 min
- C1
Het vat Amontillado
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe · Dutch · 15 min
- C1
Het masker van de Rode Dood
The Masque of the Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe · Dutch · 15 min
- C1
Tobermory
Saki · Dutch · 15 min
- C1
De schone slaapster in het bos
The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood
Charles Perrault · Dutch · 20 min
- C1
Het experiment van Dr. Heidegger
Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment
Nathaniel Hawthorne · Dutch · 20 min
- C1
Een voorval bij de Owl Creek-brug
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Ambrose Bierce · Dutch · 20 min
- C1
De zwarte kat
The Black Cat
Edgar Allan Poe · Dutch · 25 min
- C1
Het gele behang
The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman · Dutch · 35 min
- C2
Bartleby de kantoorklerk
Bartleby the Scrivener
Herman Melville · Dutch · 1 h 30 min
What advanced Dutch stories are like
Advanced stories are dense on purpose: Poe’s narrators circle their own guilt, Bierce bends time, Melville’s Bartleby prefers not to. The Dutch carries that style with long sentences, rare words and a literary register.
At this level you rarely need the English for the plot. It is there for the phrases that are hard to pin down, and for comparing how the same effect is achieved in two languages.
How to read Dutch at C1–C2
Read the Dutch as literature
Read at your normal pace and let unfamiliar words go when the meaning is clear. Stop only where the style or a turn of phrase interests you.
Use the English for nuance
When a word could mean two things, the English shows which one the story needs. That is where advanced readers still learn the most.
Read aloud
Literary Dutch has rhythm. Reading a paragraph aloud, then checking its English, trains your ear as well as your eye.
More on the method in how to read a parallel text.