CHAPTER 1: A STRANGE MEETING

John Taylor is walking home from his office as usual. It is a cold dark and snowy evening and
there are not many people walking on the narrow streets in the Thirteenth District of Budapest at
that moment. Suddenly, in a very dark part of one street, John hears the loud sound of a door
shutting from inside a building and a person running. The street door opens abruptly and a man
runs into him. John falls down and shouts at the man. The man apologises in Hungarian and
then quickly walks away. John finds it strange as the man looks exactly like him.
CHAPTER 2: GETTING TO KNOW ME
John Taylor is a 34-year-old Englishman who is presently working in Budapest as a computer
programmer. He learns to speak Hungarian from a pretty teacher named Andrea whom he falls
in love with and later marries. They live in the Thirteenth District on the Pest side of Budapest.
Andrea teaches Hungarian to foreigners in a number of schools and companies as well as to
some students at home.
CHAPTER 3: A SEARCH
John Taylor wonders where the man who looks like him has gone. He notices just in time as the
man turns right at the next corner. John runs after him and sees him entering the doorway of a
wine cellar under a block of flats. Upon reaching the door, John is confused when he does not
see any of the mans footprints in the snow. He decides to go into the wine cellar to look for the
man. John asks the barman whether he has seen anyone entering the cellar but there is no
such a person. John then checks the toilet but to no avail. When he gets home, he lies to
Andrea about what he has been doing and does not tell her about his strange encounter.
CHAPTER 4: 7 FELKA UTCA
The next day after work, John goes back to the same place where the strange encounter
occurred. The door is number 7 Felka utca. The street is flanked with blocks of flats that had
been built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. They still display gunshot holes that
were made during the fights in either World War II or the 1956 revolution. However, John waits
in vain and is unable to gather any enlightening information. John then walks along Felka utca
and goes into the bar of the previous night in Gergely utca. The barman says that he does not
see anyone who looks like John. That night, John has a strange dream about the man and that
frightens him.
CHAPTER 5: I TELL ANDREA
John lingers outside number 7 Felka utca and hangs out in the bar everyday for a week without
explaining things to Andrea. He is even afraid to go to sleep because of the recurring dreams of
his strange encounter. That Friday, when John gets home, he finds Andrea in tears because she
cannot understand what is happening, so he finally tells her everything. Andrea proves to be a
very understanding wife and she promises to go with John to help him investigate the
mysterious man the next day.

CHAPTER 6: TALKING TO THE HOUSEKEEPERS

John has a good night sleep after telling Andrea about the man. The next day, they go to
number 7 Felka utca. They question two housekeepers regarding the man. But the
housekeepers claim that they have never seen such a person. Then, the couple goes for a drink
in the bar at Gergely utca. John believes the man whom he has seen is actually himself; he
wonders whether that man is someone who is still alive or dead.
CHAPTER 7: DOPPELGNGER
Johns recurring dreams seem to have stopped and he does not go to the bar as often. Soon,
John and Andrea receive good news that Andrea is pregnant. The next day however, Andrea
loses her biggest teaching job with an international bank. Zsolt, the owner of the wine cellar bar
offers her a job to give the place a womans touch. Andreas ideas to give the place a different
look helps bring in more customers and women start going to the bar as well. Despite the
changes in their lives, John still has not forgotten his encounter and he also finds out that his
double is called a doppelgnger.
CHAPTER 8: A HOLIDAY
In August, Andrea stops working for Zsolt to prepare for her delivery. On 16 September, a baby
girl named Kati is born. John is so busy that he forgets about the incident at Felka utca. Then,
John and his family travel to England to celebrate Christmas. At the village pub, John meets up
with his old friend Paul Harris, a journalist. He believes in Johns story about the doppelgnger
but warns him to be careful. At the end of December, John and his family fly back to Hungary to
celebrate their New Year holidays there. John starts thinking about his doppelgnger again and
Andrea gets angry when John is distracted and starts to neglect his family.
CHAPTER 9: THE DATE GETS CLOSER AGAIN
On 11 January, John wakes up in the morning feeling afraid. He has had the dream again. He
checks his diary and realises that the strange meeting had happened on 18 January the year
before. He decides to go to Felka utca on that same date. Andrea is very upset that John is still
obsessed with the doppelgnger but when John persuades her to accompany him to witness
any incident that might occur, she obliges him. Petra, Andreas old friend agrees to babysit Kati.
That night, John has the same dream again and again.
CHAPTER 10: 18 JANUARY
On Sunday, 18 January, John and Andrea stand opposite number 7 Felka utca at half past six.
The street is dark as usual. He decides to stand outside the door while she stands on the other
side of the street. At ten to seven, John suddenly hears a noise and the sound of someone
running. The door opens and a man runs into John and knocks him down. John is stunned
because the man looks exactly like him. John gives a shout. The man apologises in Hungarian
and dashes off. John shouts for Andrea to follow the man whom he sees running up to the end
of the street and entering the bar. Pulling Andreas hand, John rushes to the bar only to find the

door locked. Andrea says she did not see anyone or hear anything. From that night onwards,
Johns dreams recur but the noise gets louder with each dream and he wakes up in fear.
CHAPTER 11: A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
Johns boss allows him to go off in the afternoons, and he spends his time at the Budapest City
Library. He searches for information on everything that happened in Budapests Thirteenth
District on every 18 January of the past years. However, he does not find any information about
Felka utca. On Saturday, he tells Andrea that he needs to go for a meeting at work but he goes
to the library instead. Just before closing time, he comes across a newspaper clipping in
Hungarian with the heading: Young Mother and Child Killed as Fighting Ends in Pest. A
Russian bomb that hit a Gergely utca building; it did not explode but it destroyed the cellar,
killing Mrs. Szab and her daughter on 18 January 1945. The cellar is presently Zsolts bar.
When John reaches home, Andrea scolds him for lying to her about his whereabouts and is
even more furious when he shows her a copy of the newspaper clipping. She refuses to help
him in any further investigations on the Szab family.
CHAPTER 12: LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH
At number 7 Felka utca, John finds out that the Szab family living on the third floor is not the
Szab he is looking for. However, a Mrs. Fischer on the fourth floor tells John about Jnos
Szab, who lived there during World War II. Jnos Szab had not been healthy so he did not
fight in the war. In 1943, Jnoss wife delivered a baby girl. Sadly, on the last day of the war in
January 1945, Jnos received news that his wife and baby girl were killed when a Russian
bomb destroyed the cellar where his wife worked. Jnos was distraught and lost all hope. He
finally died fighting in the streets in the 1956 Revolution.
CHAPTER 13: PROBLEMS AT HOME
When Andrea gets home that night, John tells her about Jnos Szab but she is too upset to
listen and is not convinced. Meanwhile, John believes that 18 January 1945 is a significant date
and that the doppelgnger is trying to tell him something.
CHAPTER 14: ANOTHER YEAR GOES BY
The year passes quickly. The strained relationship takes a turn for the better in August when
they take Kati for a second visit to England. Johns focus on important work at the office makes
him forget about the doppelgnger. Andrea also starts working again while Kati goes to a very
nice school for small children. The family spends Christmas at home and later, with Andreas
family for the New Year. John goes back to work on 6 January and then he suddenly realises
that 18 January is around the corner. John desperately wants to talk to Andrea about the date
but he does not want to ruin the happiness that they have now. That night, he has the
doppelgnger dream again. In the dream, he follows the doppelgnger and watches him looking
for something in the destroyed cellar in Gergely utca. John wakes up with a horrible feeling that
the dream is a premonition about Andrea.

CHAPTER 15: I DISCOVER SOME MORE FACTS

The next day, on the way home from work, John sees a new sign with the word Szab on it. He
realizes that Szab means tailor in English. It is then that he connects Jnos Szab means
John the tailor in English. John Taylor! Immediately, he realizes that is his doppelgnger and he
shares the same name. He goes to see Mrs Fischer again and she tells John that he looks like
Jnos. Further questioning reveals to John that Jnoss wife and daughter were also named
Andrea and Kati respectively. The following week, John discovers from the Public Records
Office that Jnos Szab also shared his birth date which is 23 October. John believes that the
similarities between him and Jnos are not coincidental. He has a strong feeling that the
doppelgnger is trying to convey an important message to him. He also knows it is impossible to
tell Andrea about this just yet.
CHAPTER 16: IT ALL HAPPENS AGAIN
Frightening dreams have been tormenting John. Although he does not tell Andrea anything yet,
he knows that she is aware and worried about him. On Saturday 18 January, he has to go to
work at the office. When he reaches home at half past six, he finds Andreas note on the table,
informing him that she is replacing Zsolt at the bar. She is taking Kati along as Petra is not
available. John panics and runs to the bar. On reaching number 7 Felka utca, he hears a very
loud explosion in Gergely utca. Frantic, John runs straight into someone and knocks him down.
He looks down and sees himself lying on the ground. John apologises in Hungarian and
continues running to Gergely utca.
CHAPTER 17: WE MUST GET THEM OUT!
When John arrives at Gergely utca, he stops running, as the smoke and stench from the gas
are overpowering. He suspects that the explosion could have started from a broken gas pipe.
He needs to get to Zsolts bar as he knows that Andrea and Kati are trapped there. He quickly
assembles a line of bystanders to help clear the doorway of the bar but he is stopped by a
fireman from entering the cellar. John collapses and is given first aid treatment. He keeps
insisting that his wife and daughter are inside the bar and need to be rescued. Later, a
policeman notes down facts and dates about John and his family before advising him to wait at
home for further development. When he gets down from the police van, he realizes that no one
could have survived the explosion and blames himself for not telling Andrea about what he had
seen in his dreams and discovered through Mrs. Fischer. John feels that he has destroyed his
family and his life.
CHAPTER 18: UNEXPECTED HELP
As John walks slowly along Gergely utca, he suddenly bumps into a man who looks like him. It
is his doppelgnger again. The man points to a woman and child at the end of the street. John
is suprised to see that they are Andrea and Kati. Andrea explains that after Zsolt left, she saw
John standing and blocking her way into the bar. At first she did not understand what was
happening, but when Kati insisted that the man was not her Daddy, she realised that he must be
the doppelgnger. Andrea relates her experience to John and together, they go home.

HOW I MET MYSELF

CHAPTER SUMMARY

HOW I MET MYSELF

CHAPTER ONE A STRANGE MEETING

1. There are 8 events that occur in chapter 1. Arrange the sequence of events
correctly.
He saw a man who looked exactly like him
He heard someone running.
He heard a door shutting loudly inside a building.
A man ran straight into him.
Thought about the argument with one of the Hungarians at work.
He was walking home from his office.
Started to snow heavily.
He hoped that Andrea would prepare her one of her nice hot soups.

2. From the eight events that occur, which one do you think is the most important?
Give a reason for your answer.
EVENT
REASON

FILL IN JOHNS PROFILE WITH PROPER INFORMATION.

STEPS

1. ASK STUDENTS TO DESCRIBE THE MAIN

CHARACTER BY FILLING IN THE PROFILE IN
WORKSHEET 4A. 2. ASK THE STUDENTS TO DRAW A
PICTURE OF JOHN.
MATERIALS

1. WORKSHEET 4A

2.

TEXT (CHAPTER 2)

GETTING TO KNOW ME
DRAW JOHNS PICTURE HERE
NAME:
AGE:
HEIGHT:
32
HOW I MET MYSELF
CHAPTER 3 WHILE ACTIVITY 5

TIME : 40 MINUTES

A SEARCH

AIMS

1. TO TRACE THE MOVEMENT OF A CHARACTER. 2.

TO RECOGNIZE THE SETTING.
.
NATIONALITY: POST:
NAME OF SPOUSE: LANGUAGES SPOKEN:
1.

2.

2. ADDRESS: OFFICE LOCATION: