It was many years ago when Venice was a very rich and important city. In those days lots of Venetian ships
crossed the Mediterranean Sea to North Africa and the East. Venetian captains bought many beautiful things
abroad and they took them back home to sell in Venetian shops.

One of the most important men in Venice at that time was Antonio who was a very rich merchant. Antonio was a well-known man and he had many ships that travelled to other countries. He sold things to people in these other countries and bought things from them. At the time of our story Antonio's ships were all at sea...

Otto-Classics Graded Readers Series are outstanding classics written by famous writers. The language and vocabulary in the books are controlled and simplified by specialist ELT authors and compilers according to Common European Framework so that they can be easily understood by new learners of English. 
Depending on the eight levels from A1 to B2+ the longer stories are divided into a number of chapters and every chapter has its own activities. Some of the activities in the books are meant to be done in pairs. You may work with a partner to solve problems and design projects that reflect not only your own thinking but also new ideas you and your mates will discover by working in groups.