Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas
    A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas
    A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas
    Ebook111 pages1 hour

    A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas

    By Charles Dickens

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    MARLEY was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge’s name was good upon ’Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPublisher s11838
    Release dateJan 9, 2015
    ISBN9786050347807
    Author

    Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is the most popular and, many believe, the greatest English author. He wrote many classic novels, including David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol. Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities are available from Brilliance Audio.

    Read more from Charles Dickens

    Related to A Christmas Carol

    Related ebooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Where to Shop & Buy

      Aug 10, 2021

      Pages 13–14: Jan Karon is the #1New York Times best-selling author of twenty-fi ve books. The Mitford Museum in Hudson, North Carolina, pays tribute to the novelist and her beloved Mitford series. To learn more about Jan, visit her website at mitford

      2 min read

    • Article

      ‘Too Much’: Featured Nonfiction from Rachel Vorona Cote

      Feb 25, 2020

      In Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today, Cote examines how the "unspoken rules" that govern the expression of women’s emotional and physical desires date back to the 19th century. The post ‘Too Much’: Featured Nonfiction from Ra

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Poignant Discovery

      Apr 27, 2022

      A Poignant Discovery
      4 min read

    • Article

      Merry Christmas: A Reading Of Holiday Classics By Monitor Staff (audio)

      Dec 17, 2019

      A dive into venerable old writings can add to the warmth of the holiday hearth. Even more so when they’re read aloud.

      12 min read

    • Article

      Yuletide Reading

      Sep 24, 2020

      Many classic novels and short stories contains Christmas scenes-merry or otherwise. Can you indentify the works from which these holiday passages are excerpted? 1 “Merry Christmas, little daughters! I’m glad you began at once, and hope you will keep

      3 min read

    • Article

      Notes From The Isles

      Dec 15, 2023

      Notes From The Isles
      4 min read

    • Article

      Not Quite The LAST STRAW

      Dec 6, 2023

      Not Quite The LAST STRAW
      6 min read

    • Article

      Cowboy Carols

      Nov 1, 2023

      Cowboy Carols
      5 min read

    • Article

      Yule be SO BUSY

      Dec 9, 2020

      “The scene I am about to describe is one of such domestic bliss that we could have been advertising Oxo cubes, or one of those useful gadgets that beats as it sweeps as it cleans (or possibly kills 99% of household germs, I forget which). Picture m

      3 min read

    • Article

      All I Want For Christmas

      Dec 16, 2020

      IT was more than an icicle. More like an icy boulder, oversized and murkily white, faceted like a cartoon jewel and, shortly, dripping. It had lurked beneath a low stone bridge at the bottom of the wood, where sycamore thickets bald for winter gave w

      18 min read

    • Article

      ‘Til Death Do Us Part

      Oct 26, 2023

      ‘Til Death Do Us Part
      5 min read

    • Article

      Dawn Neesom Mind Of My Own

      Nov 28, 2023

      We should all take a moment to remember good – and bad – times Marley was dead: to begin with.’ Possibly one of the most famous opening lines from one of the most famous Christmas stories ever- Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It doesn’t matter

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Beautiful Salmon

      Mar 19, 2024

      I’ve always loved salmon. Not to eat, as I don’t eat fish, but I’ve always loved salmon in general because salmon jump and no one knows why. They jump all over the place—out of rivers, up waterfalls. Some say they jump to clean their gills. Others sa

      19 min read

    • Article

      Scrooge for Christmas

      Oct 4, 2022

      Scrooge for Christmas
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Dec 16, 2020

      WE recently bought two young donkeys. They had already experienced much in their short lives: transport from Ireland, several homes and a horse fair. In time, they settled, although the little grey gelding remained silent. We were astonished to disco

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Christmas to REMEMBER

      Oct 27, 2022

      A Christmas to REMEMBER
      4 min read

    • Article

      Notes From The Isles

      Apr 14, 2023

      Yet again nemesis has smothered my hubris. Having boasted of my expertise in getting the car up our steep, icy track, I awoke to find myself snowed in, near the top of a glacier, totally cut off from all traffic. A nephew and his wife, who were comin

      4 min read

    • Article

      It Happened to Me…

      Feb 22, 2024

      It Happened to Me…
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Periodic Stranger: When exile becomes home.

      Dec 12, 2013

      My roots are in a hilltop village west of Matera, where rabbit and boar run riot in the fields. Figs, apricots, and pears hang in heavy clusters, at eye-level and within easy reach. There, the local girls are famous for their calves, made firm and st

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Periodic Stranger

      Mar 2, 2017

      My roots are in a hilltop village west of Matera, where rabbit and boar run riot in the fields. Figs, apricots, and pears hang in heavy clusters, at eye-level and within easy reach. There, the local girls are famous for their calves, made firm and st

      21 min read

    • Article

      THE GREATEST outdoors

      Aug 20, 2019

      THE GREATEST outdoors
      10 min read

    • Article

      Saving Freyfaxi

      Feb 1, 2024

      Saving Freyfaxi
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Christmas Carol

    4.5/5

    223 ratings203 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears.
      It is hardly a surprise that the holiday arrived this year without my falling into the mood. Overwork and unseasonable weather has left me jarred -- quite removed from the trappings of the spirit. My wonderful wife bought me one of them there smartphones -- so I could join the century. I was simply pleased to be with her on a rainy morning with the thought of the trip to my family weighing rather ominously. I survived it all and actually enjoyed myself. I did not read Mr. Dickens there.

      We came home and enjoyed Chinese take-away and it was then that I turned again to the Christian charm of social justice by means of poltergeists: spectral redemption. There are sound reasons why this tale has proliferated since its inception.
    • 5/5
      This is the way to enjoy this story – having Tim Curry read it to you. He does an absolutely fabulous job and it was just a total delight.

      For the story – I love how creepy yet still uplifting the author was able to keep the story. He has really had you feeling for past Ebenezer. I would have liked more about Bob Cratchit because he always seems so much more developed as a character in the cinematic versions of the story. I kind of missed that.

      Tim Curry gives this story a fabulous feel and it keeps you listening to very end. He gives each character a distinct voice and really does the creepy justice. Great way to enjoy a classic.
    • 5/5
      Such a pleasure to read these lovely words! You may know the story, but until you read Charles Dickens’ own words you haven’t truly experienced the magic.
    • 5/5
      This was brilliant, Patrick Stewart does an excellent job portraying the different characters.
    • 5/5
      This is a great performance of a wonderful classic.

      I think there are few people who don't know the story: Ebenezer Scrooge, tight-fisted businessman who calls Christmas a humbug and has no use for charity or kindness, goes home on Christmas Eve, and is visited by the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. Marley warns him of the fate he has been forging for himself by caring only for business and not for other people, but promises him he has one last chance at salvation.

      He will be visited by three spirits: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Be. Scrooge is not delighted at this news, but it's not a choice for him. The spirits are coming.

      Tim Curry animates the characters with power, flexibility, and control. We feel the chill of Scrooge's office, and rooms, and heart, and correspondingly the warmth of his nephew's home and heart, as well as Bob Cratchit's home, heart, and family. We hear, and thereby see and feel, the hardships of Victorian London, as well as its life and color.

      This is a great way to enjoy this wonderful classic of the Christmas season.

      Recommended.

      I received this book free as a member of the Ford Audiobook Club.
    • 5/5
      I recently received a new version of a great classic, A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens. This particular version is illustrated by Francine Haskins with an afterword by Kyra E. Hick. This version has wonderful illustrations that belong in everyone's collection. Thank you to Kyra E. Hick for bringing this to my attention so that I may share it. Francine Haskins brings to live a Christmas Carol for ALL to enjoy regardless of where we live.
    • 5/5
      No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty.
      This was surprisingly quite funny! The narration was done in that particular style that seems to have been largely abandoned by modern authors: third-person told from a first-person non-character narrator. I love this style! Many of my favorite classics (Peter Pan, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc) are told in this style, and it always lends itself a storybook quality that is sorely lacking in today's literature.

      The story itself was something I am at this point extremely familiar with, as it has permeated all corners of Western civilization at this point, but still, there were some things that are often excluded in most adaptations, such as the children of mankind: "They are Man's," said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware of them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased." (Except for that one with Jim Carrey, but it added that weird chase scene.) Those parts not oft-explored were really interesting and added a great deal of meaning to the story.

      I am quite glad I read this. This was my first Dickens experience and it has fully convinced me that I really need to read more classics! Time to read them instead of watching their BBC Masterpiece Classics adaptations!

      "There are some upon this earth of yours," returned the Spirit, "who claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us, and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived."
    • 5/5
      Every year at Christmas the kids and I reread A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens but this year I won a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Illustated by Francine Haskins and  Afterword by Kyra E. Hicks on Library Thing. This popular classic was not changed it was wonderfully illustrated with contemporary line drawings as it brings all of the characters to life as Black Victorians. The Afterword highlights over 100 African Americans, Black British and Canadian actors that have performed A Christmas Carol over the last century demonstrating this story belongs to everyone. Review also posted on Instagram @borenbooks, Library Thing, Go Read, Goodreads/StacieBoren, Amazon, and my blog at readsbystacie.com
    • 5/5
      A book that stands the test of time and I read this with the approach of Christmas! A very enjoyable book even if you know exactly what is going to happen, worth worth it and it is quite a small book.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful illustrations by PJ Lynch sets this edition above the others. The full page illustrations throughout the book helps bring the story alive with the scenes of Victorian England.
    • 4/5
      The 8th of Dickens' 24 major works, and the 1st of his 5 "Christmas novellas".... well, this is just wonderful, isn't it? Next to the characters of Oliver Twist, Scrooge and his ghosts - not to mention that little brat Tim - must be the most well-known Dickensians of our cultural consciousness. This is just first-class stuff, showcasing Dickens' skill for shorter fiction. Scrooge is perhaps Dickens' first real character. No, he's no Emma Bovary, I'll admit. But the short bursts we get of his life, combined with the ultimate causes of his change, give more insight than we saw in Oliver, Nicholas, Nell, and Barnaby. I think every person in the Western world has read this novella but, if you haven't, what are you waiting for? (The other four Christmas novellas... yeah, not so much.)
    • 5/5
      This is the edition of "A Christmas Carol" that I've owned since I was 5 or 6 years old, but the information via Amazon is incorrect. Author: Rh Value Publishing? Published: 1984? I believe this edition was published in 1978 or so, and the author is, of course, Charles Dickens. I got my copy in 1979, when I was six, and I've read it almost every single Christmas Eve since then. The illustrations -- black and white, as well as color plates -- by Arthur Rackham are lovely. And the story is nearly perfect. Every year, I get something new out of the book, discovering a new detail or realizing a new nuance of meaning. This book doesn't so much persuade or remind the reader to be a good person -- chances are, if you're reading it, you've already got no little good in you. Rather, it gives one hope against hope that the assholes and evildoers in the world might act a little less like assholes and evildoers in the next year. Just maybe. We need all the hope we can get these days.
    • 3/5
      This was a short easy book to read, or in my case listen (narrated by Jim Dale). I've known of the story for years and years and have seen many renditions of it in film but had never actually read the book. Having known the story beforehand there was nothing here that was new or exciting but it is nice to have got through it. And it's such a classic, that if you haven't read it, I highly suggest getting a copy while the season is right.
    • 5/5
      I've seen multiple television and film adaptations of A Christmas Carol, but I don't think I had read the original story/novella before now. While this was my first experience with the book, it won't be my last. Dickens' tale is full of nuances that are missing from the adaptations I've seen. The humorous parts were funnier and the melancholy parts were more heart-wrenching than the movies. I wish I could have experienced the book just once without images from the films crowding my mind. I'd like to form my own image of Dickens' descriptions of Scrooge, his office, his home, Marley's ghost, and the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.
    • 5/5
      I have seen the movies lots of times, but reading the book for the first time was awesome. The way the old english is written gives it a special flavor. The story of a miser that hates Christmas and cares for nothing but money and how three ghosts help him change his ways, before is too late. A very good story and a great reading.
    • 2/5
      A mean'ol man named Scrooge disdains Christmas and Christmas spirit. During Scrooge's sleep three ghosts visit him. The first ghost is of Christmas past who brings Scrooge to his previous Christmases. The next ghost is of Christmas present. The final ghost is of Christmas future. In the future peolpe are rejoicing over the death of the greedy man. When Scrooge wakes up on the Christmas morning he realizes his ways and gives out money and visits his nephew for dinner. I found this book a quick read. I would not recommend this book because the story is just the same as anyone knew it. Besides that, it was a great movie. But, this book also was death defyingly boring. It is a good classic if you are into those types of books. This book was not thrilling, it is not like it was glued to your fingers either. I will not read this book to my children.
    • 1/5
      Great story to read around Christmas (of course). Exciting adventures take place ALOT in this book.
    • 4/5
      A classic tale of human values and morality, set in the midst of everyone's favorite holiday season. Dickens manages to weave a tale that speaks to those of every generation and location. It's a quick read, but don't be fooled, it's jam-packed with heartfelt emotion and wonderful language.
    • 5/5
      A Christmas Carol is Decembers book club choice so ive left it to read over the Christmas period. However also over Christmas on the tv there has been several versions of the classic, from Alistar Simm to The Muppets. My husband I think has watched every one.So sitting down to read the book I felt I had already read it. I have read Charles Dickens twice before and both times have enjoyed but found hard going. This book I found easier. The story is timeless and is the Christmas story that everyone knows.The book is sure to bring out the Christmas spirit when read. I give the story five stars quite easily, I just wished I could have read it before the many versions on tv appeared.
    • 4/5
      I liked it. I like the language. It made me slow down and appreciate it. I knew the story, but I was surprised at how much I didn’t know (mostly little things). It was what I would class as a comfort read. I don’t think I would read it every year (but I don’t tend to read books twice) but I will definitely be reading more Dickens.
    • 5/5
      Wonderfully and vividly written. Read by Jim Dale!
    • 4/5
      While I have seen several TV productions of A Christmas Carol — the George C. Scott version as a child and the Patrick Stewart version more recently — I had never read Dickens’ book. When you hear the phrases “Bah Humbug” and “to be a Scrooge,” most people know the origin and meanings behind the words. They have become part of our lexicon. After the reading Dickens’ prose, I felt more sympathetic to Scrooge and understood how his lonely childhood led to his grouchy demeanor. As the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future show him his life and what could be, you slowly see Scrooge’s crustiness melt away as he becomes a better person. A timeless story of redemption.
    • 3/5
      Uiteraard erg melo en wat belegen, maar toch mooi. Licht dantesk van opbouw
    • 5/5
      The story of A Christmas Carol is one that most of us in the Western world know fairly well... in fact, I would wager that most children over the age of 7 in the US or UK could give a pretty good breakdown of the general plotpoints with ease. But did we actually read the Charles Dickens classic to gain this knowledge? Or is your understanding of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future the result of a film adaptation? I'm not railing against movie adaptations, as I think A Christmas Carol translates brilliantly to film... to the point where we might all know the plot of this particular story as a result of a movie that puts a twist on the original tale. My personal favorite is The Muppet Christmas Carol, though a close second is Scrooged. My only previous read of the actual text of A Christmas Carol occurred back in sixth grade. It's a short little novella and was a good introduction to Dickens, as his other tomes seemed daunting to an eleven-year-old. One can easily breeze through A Christmas Carol in a single evening, curled up by the fire with Christmas lights twinkling and presents under the tree. That said, A Christmas Carol really isn't something I would opt to re-read year after year. Here's where those film adaptations become very, very useful. You watch the Muppets, Bill Murray, Ebbie, or Scrooge and you've had your yearly dose. This year, I noticed an Audible performance of A Christmas Carol done by Tim Curry and it simply had to be purchased and immediately loaded on to my ipod. I listened to it over the course of three days, knitting a Christmas present on my commute to work. I was surprised at how few details slip through the cracks in various performances and I was comforted by how familiar the words were to the point where I could have recited many passages along with Curry. (And some of them were even ones I could do without Gonzo's voice.) The story is timeless and it's hard to imagine the holidays without this particular tale in existence, when in fact it was only published in 1843. This might be a bit blasphemous to say, but it's second only to the actual origin story of Christmas in terms of our association with this time of year. Beyond Christmas, think of the cultural contributions of this novel to our general lexicon. Think of such outstanding quotes as "Mankind was my business," "as solitary as an oyster," "there's more of gravy than of grave about you," and even "'Bah,' said Scrooge. 'Humbug!'" Tim Curry gives a fun reading with voices that are never too ridiculous. I'll admit that I hoped for a little bit more, though I'm not quite sure what. Some flash, a bit more panache, something. I've listened to Curry read the first in the Series of Unfortunate Events and that was pure magic. Here, it was certainly amusing enough but I didn't feel the same delight for which I had hoped. I'm not sure I could reconcile the visual of Tim Curry anywhere in the story but as a voice in your ear, it's a fine way to experience A Christmas Carol for the first time in its original form or as a re-telling that isn't brought out with the rest of the Christmas DVDs and tinsel each year. So on this Christmas Day, I leave you with this, quoted from memory:"And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any many alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, every one!"
    • 5/5
      This wasn't so very far off from the movie editions of this story. Not too many books can claim to be more closely or more accurately followed in the movies than this one has been. Still, I enjoyed the book tremendously and I am very happy to have read it now. Jim Dale gave an amazing performance as he always does. The man is phenomenal. Not enough can be said about him. He's a credit to the written word, plain and simple.
    • 3/5
      I've read this a couple of times. Dickens was paid by the word & writes like it. He spends way too much time digressing into idiotic areas & filling up space. Example: "Marley was dead, dead as a door nail, although why a door nail should be deader than a coffin nail..." or something like that & goes on about it forever. Never does come to a conclusion - the proper one being a door nail is dead because it was hammered through the door & clinched on the opposite side, hence is dead. Coffin nails are hammered straight in, hence can move with the wood. His stories are classics, but I detest his writing style. Probably worth reading once.
    • 5/5
      Excellent morality tale, especially good at Christmas.
    • 4/5
      the only things taht matters to Scrooge is business and making money.and he do not have friends.on Christmas Eve he meet three sprits. and he see his past present and future.I love this story that scrooge`S change.lonly scrooge make a friends at the end .I want chance to very good change like him.
    • 4/5
      We all know the story. Most of us having seen the films several times over the years, but how many have actually read the original book?Dickens provides a unique insight into the life of poverty stricken Victorian England. Some of the phrases used may seem a little dated now, and a number of words no longer used at all but the meaning of the novel still carries as much weight today as when it was written. Dickens creates characters that are easy to empathise with, and draws us into their world as well as any other writer. Published in 1843 it's message of philanthropy and generosity has inspired countless thousands across many generations and remains as relevant as ever.Well worth a read.
    • 3/5
      It's kind of weird to imagine how I can completely have avoided this book and any adaptations thereof, but up to now, I have. It's one of those things I've always meant to get round to, but never have until now -- at least in the book form: I'm not much one for sitting and watching things. Really I only got round to it because I realised I had the free ebook downloaded, and I wanted something quick and easy to read, even though this isn't exactly the appropriate time of year... I wouldn't normally describe Dickens as "quick and easy", but A Christmas Carol really isn't bad. The style isn't too overwrought. There are sections of thick description, but the whole thing has an easy tone, starting right at the beginning:

      Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade.

      Obviously, the story gets more serious, since it's a moral one, about the meaning of Christmas and about the value of Christian charity. It still has an air of the Christmas cheer about it, the whole way through, except maybe for the part with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The story is pretty simple: not many characters, just various lives all followed by each of the ghosts, with Scrooge at the center of the story. I was expecting him to be somewhat more terrible, from the sort of general cultural impression I got -- although of course, he's bad enough as it is, mostly in his ignorance and silly bad temper. Of course, the part where he refuses to give to charity makes him seem pretty awful, too.

      The character development which is the entire point of the story is a little overdone, maybe, but it all adds to the good feeling of "yay, everything is better now", at the end.

      The moralising didn't really bother me. It's a classic story, and the moralising is part and parcel of that. I even liked a lot of the description in this, though in most Dickens novels the level of description used to frustrate me. Mind you, I should try again now I'm older and wiser.

      (Note: The writing isn't on the writing or anything objective, since I don't believe one can be objective about stuff like this. It's purely based on how much I loved the story, whether I would reread it again. As a piece of literature, I'd reflexively rate it higher, but I don't really want to: I "liked" it, but not "really liked".)

    Book preview

    A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

    A Christmas Carol

    In Prose Being a Ghost Story of Christmas

    By

    Charles Dickens

    PREFACE

    I HAVE endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.

    Their faithful Friend and Servant,

    C. D.

    December, 1843.

    STAVE  ONE.

    MARLEY’S GHOST.

    MARLEY was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge’s name was good upon ’Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

    Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

    Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain.

    The mention of Marley’s funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet’s Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot—say Saint Paul’s Churchyard for instance—literally to astonish his son’s weak mind.

    Scrooge never painted out Old Marley’s name. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes Marley, but he answered to both names. It was all the same to him.

    Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas.

    External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often came down handsomely, and Scrooge never did.

    Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me? No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!

    But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call nuts to Scrooge.

    Once upon a time—of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve—old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already—it had not been light all day—and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale.

    The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.

    A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you! cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.

    Bah! said Scrooge, Humbug!

    He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.

    Christmas a humbug, uncle! said Scrooge’s nephew. You don’t mean that, I am sure?

    I do, said Scrooge. Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.

    Come, then, returned the nephew gaily. What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.

    Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, Bah! again; and followed it up with Humbug.

    Don’t be cross, uncle! said the nephew.

    What else can I be, returned the uncle, when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in ’em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will, said Scrooge indignantly, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!

    Uncle! pleaded the nephew.

    Nephew! returned the uncle sternly, keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.

    Keep it! repeated Scrooge’s nephew. But you don’t keep it.

    Let me leave it alone, then, said Scrooge. Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!

    There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say, returned the nephew.

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1