November 9, 2023 • 44 mins
"A Christmas Carol" is a classic novella by Charles Dickens that tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man who undergoes a transformation on Christmas Eve. Visited by three spirits, he learns the true meaning of Christmas and becomes a generous and compassionate person, embracing the holiday spirit. The story highlights themes of redemption, kindness, and the power of love, making it a beloved and enduring Christmas tale.
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
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This is a LibriVox recording. AllLibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer,please visit LibriVox dot org. Today's reading
by Kara Shallenberg www dot kay dotorg. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens,
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Stave two, the first of thethree spirits. When Scrooge awoke,
it was so dark that, lookingout of bed, he could scarcely distinguish
the transparent window from the opaque wallsof his chamber. He was endeavoring to
pierce the darkness with his ferret eyeswhen the chimes of a neighboring church struck
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the four quarters, so he listenedfor the hour. To his great astonishment,
the heavy bell went on from sixto seven, and from seven to
eight, and regularly up to twelve, then stopped twelve. It was past
two when he went to bed.The clock was wrong. An icicle must
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have got into the works twelve.He touched the spring of his repeater to
correct this most preposterous clock. Itsrapid little pulse beat twelve and stopped.
Why it isn't possible, said Scrooge, that I can have slept through a
whole day and far into another night. It isn't possible that anything has happened
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to the sun, and this istwelve at noon, the idea being an
alarming one, he scrambled out ofbed and groped his way to the window.
He was obliged to rub the frostoff with the sleeve of his dressing
gown before he could see anything,and could see very little then. All
he could make out was that itwas still very foggy and extremely cold,
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and that there was no noise ofpeople running to and fro and making a
great stir, as there unquestionably wouldhave been if night had beaten off bright
day and taken possession of the world. This was a great relief, because
three days after sight of this firstof exchange, pay to mister ebenez Or
Scrooge or his order and so forthwould have become a mere United States security
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if there were no days to countby. Scrooge went to bed again and
thought and thought and thought it overand over and over, and could make
nothing of it. The more hethought, the more perplexed he was,
and the more he endeavored not tothink. The more he thought. Marley's
ghost bothered him exceedingly. Every timehe resolved within himself, after mature inquiry
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that it was all a dream.His mind flew back again, like a
strong spring released to its first position, and presented the same problem to be
worked all through. Was it adream or not? Scrooge lay in this
state until the chime had gone threequarters more, when he remembered, on
a sudden that the ghost had warnedhim of a visitation. When the bell
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told one, he resolved to lieawake until the hour was past, and,
considering that he could no more goto sleep than go to heaven,
this was perhaps the wisest resolution inhis power. The quarter was so long
that he was more than once convincedhe must have sunk into a doze unconsciously,
and missed the clock. At length. It broke upon his listening ear
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ding dong. A quarter past,said Scrooge, counting ding dong. Half
past, said Scrooge, ding Dong. A quarter to it, said Scrooge,
ding Dong. The hour itself,said Scrooge triumphantly, And nothing else
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he spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep,
dull, hollow melancholy. One lightflashed up into the room upon the
instant and the curtains of his bedwere drawn. The curtains of his bed
were drawn aside. I tell youby a hand, not the curtains at
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his feet, nor the curtains athis back, but those to which his
face was addressed. The curtains ofhis bed were drawn aside, and Scrooge,
starting up into a half recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with
the unearthly visitor, who drew themas close to it as I am now
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to you, and I am standingin the spirit at your elbow. It
was a strange figure, like achild, yet not so like a child,
as like an old man viewed throughsome supernatural medium, which gave him
the appearance of having receded from theview and being diminished to a child's proportions.
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Its hair, which hung about itsneck and down its back, was
white, as if with age,and yet the face had not a wrinkle
in it, and the tenderest bloomwas on the skin. The arms were
very long and muscular, the handsthe same as if its hold were of
uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were like those
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upper members bare. It wore atunic of the purest white and round its
waist was bound a lustrous belt,the sheen of which was beautiful. It
held a branch of fresh green hollyin its hand, and, in singular
contradiction with that wintry emblem, hadits dress trimmed with summer flowers. But
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the strangest thing about it was thatfrom the crown of its head there sprung
a bright, clear jet of light, by which all this was visible,
and which which was doubtless the occasionof its using, in its duller moments
a great extinguisher for a cap whichit now held under its arm. Even
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this, though, when Scrooge lookedat it with increasing steadiness, was not
its strangest quality. For as itsbelt sparkled and glittered, now in one
part and now in another, andwhat was light one instant at another time
was dark, so the figure itselffluctuated in its distinctness, being now a
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thing with one arm, now withone leg, now with twenty legs,
now a pair of legs without ahead, now a head without a body,
of which dissolving parts no outline wouldbe visible in the dense gloom,
wherein they melted away. And inthe very wonder of this it would be
itself again, distinct and clear asever. Are you the spirit, sir,
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whose coming was foretold to me?Asked Scrooge? I am. The
voice was soft and gentle, singularlylow, as if, instead of being
so close beside him, it wereat a distance. Who and what are
you, Scrooge demanded, I amthe ghost of Christmas past, long past,
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inquired Scrooge, observant of its dwarfishstature. No, your past.
Perhaps Scrooge could not have told anybodywhy if anybody could have asked him,
But he had a special desire tosee the spirit in his cap, and
begged him to be covered. What, exclaimed the ghost, would you so
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soon put out with worldly hands thelight I give? Is it not enough
that you are the one of thosewhose passions made this cap, and force
me, through whole trains of yearsto wear it low upon my brow?
Scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend, or any knowledge of having wilfully bonneted
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the spirit at any period of hislife. He then made bold to inquire
what business brought him there? Yourwelfare, said the ghost. Scrooge expressed
himself much obliged, but could nothelp thinking that a knight of unbroken rest
would have been more conducive to thatend. The Spirit must have heard him
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thinking, for it said, immediatelyyour reclamation, then take heed. It
put out its strong hand as itspoke, and clasped him gently by the
arm. Rise and walk with me. It would have been in vain for
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Scrooge to plead that the weather andthe hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes,
that bed was warm, and thethermometer a long way below freezing,
that he was clad but lightly inhis slippers, dressing gown and night cap,
and that he had a cold uponhim at that time. The grasp,
though gentle as a woman's hand,was not to be resisted. He
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rose, but, finding that thespirit made towards the window, clasped his
robe in supplication. I am amortal, Scrooge, remonstrated and liable to
fall bear. But a touch ofmy hand, there said the Spirit,
laying it upon his heart, andyou shall be upheld in more than this.
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As the words were spoken, theypassed through the wall and stood upon
an open country road with fields oneither hand. The city had entirely vanished.
Not a vestige of it was tobe seen the darkness, and the
mist had vanished with it, forit was a clear, cold winter day,
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with snow upon the ground. Goodheaven, said Scrooge, clasping his
hands together as he looked about him. I was bred in this place.
I was a boy here. Thespirit gazed upon him mildly. Its gentle
touch, though it had been lightand instantaneous, appeared still present to the
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old man's sense of feeling. Hewas conscious of a thousand odors floating in
the air, each one connected witha thousand thoughts and hopes, and joys
and cares long long forgotten. Yourlip is trembling, said the ghost,
And what is that upon your cheek? Scrooge muttered, with an unusual catching
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in his voice, that it wasa pimple, and begged the ghost to
lead him where he would you recollectthe way, inquired the spirit, Remember
it, cried Scrooge, with fervor. I could walk it blindfold. Strange
to have forgotten it for so manyyears, observed the ghost. Let us
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go on. They walked along theroad, Scrooge recognizing every gate and post
and tree, until a little markettown appeared in the distance, with its
bridge, its church and winding river. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting
towards them, with boys upon theirbacks, who called to other boys in
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country gigs and carts driven by farmers. All these boys were in great spirits
and shouted to each other, untilthe broad fields were so full of merry
music that the crisp air laughed tohear it. These are but shadows of
the things that have been, saidthe ghost. They have no consciousness of
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us. The jocund travelers came on, and as they came, Scrooge knew
and named them every one. Whywas he rejoiced beyond all bounds to see
them? Why did his cold eyeglisten and his heart leap up as they
went past? Why was he filledwith gladness when he heard them give each
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other Merry Christmas? As they partedat cross roads and byways for their several
homes. What was Merry Christmas toScrooge out upon Merry Christmas? What good
had it ever done to him?The school is not quite deserted, said
the ghost, A solitary child neglectedby his friends, is left there still.
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Scrooge said he knew it, andhe sobbed. They left the high
road by a well remembered lane,and soon approached a mansion of dull red
brick, with a little weather cocksurmounted cupola on the roof, and a
bell hanging in it. It wasa large house, but one of broken
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fortunes, for the spacious offices werelittle used. Their walls were damp and
mossy, their windows broken, andtheir gates decayed. Fowls clucked and strutted
in the stables, and the coachhouses and sheds were overrun with grass.
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Nor was it more retentive of itsancient state within. For entering the dreary
hall, and glancing through the opendoors of many rooms, they found them
poorly furnished, cold and vast.There was an earthy savor in the air,
a chilly bareness in the place,which associated itself somehow with too much
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getting up by candle light, andnot too much to eat. They went
the Ghost and Scrooge across the hallto a door at the back of the
house. It opened before them anddisclosed a long, bare, melancholy room,
made barer still by lines of plaindeal forms and desks. At one
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of these, a lonely boy wasreading near a feeble fire and Scrooge sat
down upon a form and wept tosee his poor, forgotten self as he
used to be. Not a latentecho in the house. Not a squeak
and scuffle from the mice behind thepaneling, Not a drip from the half
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thawed water spout in the dull yardbehind. Not a sigh among the leafless
boughs of one despondent poplar. Notthe idle swinging of an empty storehouse door.
No, not a clicking in thefire. But fell upon the heart
of Scrooge with a softening influence,and gave a freer passage to his tears.
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The the spirit touched him on thearm and pointed to his younger self,
intent upon his reading. Suddenly,a man in foreign garments, wonderfully
real and distinct to look at,stood outside the window, with an axe
stuck in his belt and leading bythe bridle an ass laden with wood.
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Why it's Ali Baba, Scrooge exclaimedin ecstasy. It's dear, old,
honest Ali Baba. Yes, yes, I know. One Christmas time,
when yonder solitary child was left hereall alone, did he come for the
first time, just like that poorboy and Valentine said Scrooge, and his
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wild brother orson there they go.And what's his name? Who was put
down in his drawers asleep at thegate of Damascus? Don't you see him?
And the Sultan's groom turned upside downby the genie. There he is
upon his head. Serve him right, I'm glad of it. What business
had he to be married to theprincess? To hear Scrooge expending all the
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earnestness of his nature on such subjectsin a most extraordinary voice, between laughing
and crying, and to see hisheightened and excited face would have been a
surprise to his business friends in thecity. Indeed, there's the parrot,
cried Scrooge, green body and yellowtail, with a thing like lettuce growing
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out of the top of his head. There he is, Poor Robin Crusoe,
he called him when he came homeagain after sailing round the island.
Poor Robin Crusoe, Where have youbeen, Robin Crusoe? The man thought
he was dreaming, but he wasn't. It was the parrot, you know.
There goes Friday, running for hislife to the little creek. Hello,
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hoop halloo. Then with a rapidityof transition very foreign to his usual
character. He said in pity forhis former self, poor boy, and
cried again. I wish, Scroogemuttered, putting his hand in his pocket
and looking about him, after dryinghis eyes with his cuff. But it's
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too late now. What is thematter, asked the spirit. Nothing,
said Scrooge. Nothing. There wasa boy singing a Christmas carol at my
door last night. I should liketo have given him something, that's all.
The ghost smiled thoughtfully and waved itshand, saying, as it did,
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so, let us see another Christmas. Scrooge's former self grew larger at
the words, and the room becamea little darker and more dirty. The
panels shrunk, the windows cracked,fragments of plaster fell out of the ceiling,
and the naked laths were shown instead. But how all this was brought
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about? Scrooge knew no more thanyou do. He only knew that it
was quite correct that everything had happened, so that there he was alone again,
when all the other boys had gonehome for the jolly holidays. He
was not reading now, but walkingup and down despairingly. Scrooge looked at
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the ghost and with a mournful shakingof his head, glanced anxiously towards the
door. It opened, and alittle girl, much younger than the boy
came, darting in and putting herarms about his neck and often kissing him,
addressed him as her dear dear brother. I have come to bring you
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home, dear brother, said thechild, clapping her tiny hands and bending
down to laugh. To bring youhome, Home, Home, home,
little fan, returned the boy.Yes, said the child, brim full
of glee. Home for good andall, home forever and ever. Father
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is so much kinder than he usedto be. That home's like heaven.
He spoke so gently to me onedear night when I was going to bed
that I was not afraid to askhim once more if you might come home.
And he said yes you should,and sent me in a coach to
bring you. And you're to bea man, said the child, opening
her eyes, and are never tocome back here. But first we're to
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be together all the Christmas long andhave the merriest time in all the world.
You are quite a woman, littlefan, exclaimed the boy. She
clapped her hands and laughed and triedto touch his head, but being too
little, laughed again, and stoodon tiptoe to embrace him. Then she
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began to drag him in her childishlias eagerness towards the door, and he,
nothing loath to go, accompanied her. A terrible voice in the hall
cried, bring down Master Scrooge's boxthere, and in the hall appeared the
schoolmaster himself, who glared on MasterScrooge with a ferocious condescension and threw him
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into a dreadful state of mind byshaking hands with him. He then conveyed
him and his sister into the veriestold well of a shivering best parlor that
ever was seen, where the mapsupon the wall and the celestial and terrestrial
globes in the windows were waxy withcold. Here he produced a decanter of
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curiously light wine and a block ofcuriously heavy cake, and administered installments of
those dainties to the young people,at the same time sending out a meager
servant to offer a glass of somethingto the postboy, who answered that he
thanked the gentleman, but if itwas the same tap as he had tasted
before, he had rather not.Master Scrooge's trunk, being by this time
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tied on to the top of thechaise. The children bade the schoolmaster good
bye, right willingly, and gettinginto it, drove gaily down the garden,
sweep the quick wheels, dashing thehoar frost and snow from off the
dark leaves of the evergreens like spray. Always a delicate creature whom a breath
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might have withered, said the ghost. But she had a large heart,
so she had, cried Scrooge,You're right, I will not gainsay it
spirit, God forbid. She dieda woman, said the ghost, and
had, as I think children,one child. Scrooge returned, true,
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said the ghost, your nephew.Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind, and
answered briefly, yes, though theyhad. But that moment left the school
behind them. They were now inthe busy thoroughfares of a city, where
shadowy passengers passed and re passed,where shadowy carts and coaches battled for the
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way, and all the strife andtumult of a real city were. It
was made plain enough by the dressingof the shops that here too, it
was Christmas time again. But itwas evening, and the streets were lighted
up. The ghost stopped at acertain warehouse door and asked Scrooge if he
knew it, know it, saidScrooge, was I a prenticed here They
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went in at sight of an oldgentleman in a Welsh wig, sitting behind
such a high desk that if hehad been two inches taller, he must
have knocked his head against the ceiling. Scrooge cried in great excitement. Why
it's old Fezziwig. Bless his heart, it's Fezziwig alive again. Old Fezzywig
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laid down his pen and looked upat the clock, which pointed to the
hour of seven. He rubbed hishands, adjusted his capacious wiscoat, laughed
all over himself from his shoes tohis organ of benevolence, and called out,
in a comfortable, oily, rich, fat, jovial voice, yohoe,
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there Ebenezer Dick, Scrooge's former self, now grown a young man,
came briskly in, accompanied by hisfellow prentice, Dick Wilkins. To be
sure, said Scrooge to the ghost, bless me, yes, there he
is. He was very much attachedto me, was Dick, Poor Dick,
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dear dear Yo Ho, my boys, said Fezywig, no more were
tonight Christmas Eve, Dick, Christmas, Ebenezer. Let's have the shutters up,
cried Old Fezziwig, with a sharpclap of his hands. Before a
man can say, Jack Robinson,you wouldn't believe how those two fellows went
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at it. They charged into thestreet with the shutters one, two,
three, had em up in theirplaces, four, five, six,
bardament pinedum seven eight nine, andcame back before you could have got to
twelve, panting like race horses.Highly ho, cried Old Fezziwig, skipping
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down from the high desk with wonderfulagility. Clear away, my lads,
and let's have lots of room here, highly ho, Dick, cheer up,
Ebenezer, clear away. There wasnothing they wouldn't have cleared away,
or couldn't have cleared away with OldFezziwig looking on. It was done in
a minute. Every movable was asif it were dismissed from public life forevermore.
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The floor was swept and watered,the lamps were trimmed, fuel was
heaped upon the fire, and thewarehouse was as snug and warm and dry
and bright a ballroom as you woulddesire to see upon a winter's night.
In came a fiddler with a musicbook, and went up to the lofty
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desk, and made an orchestra ofit, and turned like fifty stomach aches.
In came missus Fezziwig, one vastsubstantial smile. In came the three
miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable.In came the six young followers, whose
hearts they broke. In came allthe young men and women employed in the
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business. In came the housemaid withher cousin, the baker. In came
the cook with her brother's particular friend, the milkman. In came the boy
from over the way, who wassuspected of not having bored enough from his
master, trying to hide himself behindthe girl from next door, but one
who was proved to have had herears pulled by her mistress. In they
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all came, one after another,some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully,
some awkwardly, some pushing, somepulling. In they all came,
anyhow, and everyhow away they allwent twenty couple at once, hands half
round and back again the other way, down the middle, and up again,
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round and round, in various stagesof affectionate grouping. Old top couple,
always turning up in the wrong place, new top couple starting off again
as soon as they got there,All top couples at last, and not
a bottom one to help them.When this result was brought about, old
fezzywig, clapping his hands to stopthe dance, cried out well done,
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and the fiddler plunged his hot faceinto a pot of porter especially provided for
that purpose, but scorning rest.Upon his reappearance, he instantly began again,
though there were no dancers yet,as if the other fiddler had been
carried home exhausted on a shutter,and he were a brand new man,
resolved to beat him out of sightor perish. There were more dances,
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and there were forfeits and more dances, And there was cake, and there
was negus, and there was agreat piece of cold roast, and there
was a great piece of cold boiled, and there were mince pies and plenty
of beer. But the great effectof the evening came after the roast and
boiled, when the fiddler, anartful dog mind, the sort of man
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who knew his business better than youor I could have told it him,
struck up Sir Roger de Coverley.Then Old fezzy Wigs stood out to dance
with Missus Fezziwigs top couple two witha good stiff piece of work cut out
for them, three or four andtwenty pair of partners, people who were
not to be trifled with, peoplewho would dance and had no notion of
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walking. But if they had beentwice as many, ah four times,
Old Fezziwig would have been a matchfor them, and so would Missus Fezziwig.
As to her, she was worthyto be his partner in every sense
of the term. If that's nothigh praise, tell me higher and I'll
use it. A positive light appearedto issue from Fezziwig's calves. They shone
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in every part of the dance likemoons. You couldn't have predicted at any
given time what would have become ofthem next. And when Old Fezziwig and
Missus Fezziwig had gone all through thedance, advance and retire both hands to
your partner, bow and Curtsey corkscrew, thread the needle and back again to
your place. Fezziwig cut cut sodeftly that he appeared to wink with his
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legs, and came upon his feetagain without a stagger. When the clock
struck eleven, this domestic ball brokeup. Mister and Missus Fezziwig took their
stations, one on either side ofthe door, and, shaking hands with
every person individually as he or shewent out, wished him or her a
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merry Christmas. When everybody had retired, but the two prentices, they did
the same to them, And thusthe cheerful voices died away, and the
lads were left to their beds,which were under a counter in the back
shop. During the whole of thistime, Scrooge had acted like a man
out of his wits. His heartand soul were in the scene, and
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with his former self he corroborated everything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and
underwent the strangest agitation. It wasnot until now, when the bright faces
of his former self and Dick wereturned from them, that he remembered the
ghost and became conscious that it waslooking full upon him, while the light
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upon its head burnt very clear.A small matter, said the ghost,
To make these silly folks so fullof gratitude, small echoed Scrooge. The
spirit signed to him to listen tothe two apprentices who were pouring out their
hearts in praise of Fezziwig, Andwhen he had done so, said,
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why is it not he has spentbut a few pounds of your mortal money
three or four? Perhaps is thatso much that he deserves this praise?
It isn't that, said Scrooge,heated by the remark, and speaking unconsciously
like his former not his latterself.It isn't that spirit. He has the
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power to render us happy or unhappy, to make our service light or burdensome,
a pleasure or a toil. Saythat his power lies in words and
looks in things so slight and insignificantthat it is impossible to add and count
him up. What then, thehappiness he gives is quite as great as
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if it cost a fortune. Hefelt the spirit's glance and stopped. What
is the matter, asked the ghost, Nothing particular, said Scrooge, something,
I think, the ghost insisted.No, said Scrooge, No,
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I should like to be able tosay a word or two to my clerk,
just now. That's all. Hisformer self turned down the lamps,
He gave utterance to the wish andScrooge and the ghost again stood side by
side in the open air. Mytime grows short, observed the spirit quick.
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This was not addressed to Scrooge orto any one whom he could see,
but it produced an immediate effect.For again Scrooge saw himself. He
was older, now, a manin the prime of life. His face
had not the harsh and rigid linesof later years, but it had begun
to wear the signs of care andavarice. There was an eager, greedy,
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restless motion in the eye, whichshowed the passion that had taken root,
and where the shadow of the growingtree would fall. He was not
alone, but sat by the sideof a fair young girl in a morning
dress, in whose eyes there weretears which sparkled in the light that shone
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out of the ghost of Christmas past. It matters little, she said softly
to you, very little. Anotheridol has displaced me, and if it
can cheer and comfort you in timeto come, as I would have tried
to do, I have no justcause to grieve what idol has displaced you.
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He rejoined a golden one. Thisis the even handed dealing of the
world, he said. There isnothing on which it is so hard as
poverty, And there is nothing itprofesses to condemn with such severity as the
pursuit of wealth. You fear theworld too much, she answered gently.
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All your other hopes have merged intothe hope of being beyond the chance of
its sordid reproach. I have seenyour nobler aspirations fall off, one by
one until the master passion gain engrossesyou. Have I not what, then,
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he retorted, Even if I havegrown so much wiser, what then
I am not changed towards you?She shook her head. Am I Our
contract is an old one. Itwas made when we were both poor and
content to be so, until ingood season we could improve our worldly fortune
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by our patient industry. You arechanged. When it was made. You
were another man. I was aboy, he said impatiently. Your own
feeling tells you that you were notwhat you are. She returned. I
am that which promised happiness when wewere one in heart is fraught with misery
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now that we are too. Howoften and how keenly I have thought of
this, I will not say itis enough that I have thought of it
and can release you. Have Iever sought release? In words, no,
never, in what then, ina changed nature, in an altered
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spirit, in another atmosphere of life, another hope as its great end,
in everything that made my love ofany worth or value in your sight?
If this had never been between us, said the girl, looking mildly but
with steadiness upon him, Tell me, would you seek me out and try
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to win me? Now? Ah? No, He seemed to yield to
the justice of this supposition in spiteof himself, But he said, with
a struggle, you think not.I would gladly think otherwise if I could.
She answered, Heaven knows when Ihave learned a truth like this,
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I know how strong and irresistible itmust be. But if you were free
to day, tomorrow, yesterday,can even I believe that you would choose
a dowerless girl, you who,in your very confidence with her, weigh
everything by gain or choosing her,if for a moment you were false enough
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to your one guiding principle to doso. Do I not know that your
repentance and regret would surely follow?I do, and I release you with
a full heart for the love ofhim you once were. He was about
to speak, but with her headturned from him, she resumed, you
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may the memory of what has passedhalf makes me hope you will have pain
in this a very, very brieftime, and you will dismiss the recollection
of it gladly as an unprofitable dreamfrom which it happened. Dwell that you
awoke, May you be happy inthe life you have chosen. She left
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him, and they parted. Spiritsaid Scrooge, Show me no more,
conduct me home. Why do youdelight to torture me? One shadow more?
Exclaimed the ghost. No more,cried Scrooge, No more, I
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don't wish to see it. Showme no more. But the relentless ghost
pinioned him in both his arms andforced him to observe what happened. Next,
they were in another scene and place, a room not very large or
handsome, but full of comfort.Near to the winter fire, sat a
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beautiful young girl, so like thatlast that Scrooge believed it was the same
until he saw her, now acomely matron, sitting opposite her daughter.
The noise in this room was perfectlytumultuous, for there were more children there
than Scrooge, in his agitated stateof mind, could count, and unlike
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the celebrated herd. In the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves
like one, but every child wasconducting itself like forty. The consequences were
uproarious beyond belief, but no oneseemed to care. On the contrary,
the mother and daughter laughed heartily andenjoyed it very much, and the latter,
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soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands
most ruthlessly. What would I nothave given to be one of them?
Though I never could have been sorude? No, no, I wouldn't,
for the wealth of all the world, have crushed that braided hair and
torn it down, And for theprecious little shoe, I wouldn't have plucked
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it off. God bless my soulto save my life. As to measuring
her waist in sport, as theydid, bold young brood, I couldn't
have done it. I should haveexpected my arm to have grown round it
for a punishment and never come straightagain. And yet I should have dearly
liked I own to have touched herlips, to have questioned her that she
(39:21):
might have opened them, to havelooked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes,
and never raised a blush, tohave let loose waves of hair,
an inch of which would be akeepsake beyond price. In short, I
should have liked. I do confessto have had the lightest license of a
child, and yet to have beenman enough to know its value. But
(39:45):
now a knocking at the door washeard, and such a rush immediately ensued
that she, with laughing face andplundered dress, was borne towards it in
the center of a flushed and boisterousgroup, just in time to greet the
father who came home attended by aman laden with Christmas toys and presents.
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Then the shouting and the struggling,and the onslaught that was made on the
defenseless porter, the scaling him withchairs for ladders, to dive into his
pockets, despoil him of brown paperparcels, hold on tight by his cravat,
hug him round his neck, pummelhis back, and kick his legs
in irrepressible affection. The shouts ofwonder and delight with which the development of
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every package was received, the terribleannouncement that the baby had been taken in
the act of putting a doll's fryingpan into his mouth, and was more
than suspected of having swallowed a fictitiousturkey glued on a wooden platter. The
immense relief of finding this a falsealarm, the joy, and gratitude and
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ecstasy, they are all indescribable.Alike. It is enough that by degrees
the children and their emotions got outof the parlor, and by one stare
at a time up to the topof the house where they went to bed,
and so subsided. And now Scroogelooked on more attentively than ever,
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when the master of the house,having his daughter leaning fondly on him,
sat down with her and her motherat his own fireside, And when he
thought that such another creature, quiteas graceful and as full of promise,
might have called him father, andbeen a spring time in the haggard winter
of his life, his sight grewvery dim. Indeed, Bell said the
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husband, turning to his wife witha smile, I saw an old friend
of yours this afternoon. Who wasit? Guess? How can I tut?
Don't I know? She added inthe same breath, laughing as he
laughed, mister Scrooge, mister Scrooge, it was I passed his office window,
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and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside,
I could scarcely help seeing him.His partner lies upon the point of
death, I hear, and therehe sat alone, quite alone in the
world. I do believe, spirit, said Scrooge in a broken voice.
(42:29):
Remove me from this place. Itold you these were the shadows of the
things that have been said the ghostthat they are what they are. Do
not blame me, remove me,Scrooge exclaimed, I cannot bear it.
He turned upon the ghost, and, seeing that it looked upon him with
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a face in which some strange waythere were fragments of all the faces it
had shown him, wrestled with it. Leave me, take me back,
haunt me no longer. In thestruggle, if that can be called a
struggle, in which the ghost,with no visible resistance on its own part,
was undisturbed by any effort of itsadversary, Scrooge observed that its light
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was burning high and bright and dimly. Connecting that with its influence over him,
he seized the extinguisher cap and bya sudden action, pressed it down
upon its head. The spirit droppedbeneath it, so that the extinguisher covered
its whole form. But though Scroogepressed it down with all his force,
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he could not hide the light whichstreamed from under it in an unbroken flood
upon the ground. He was consciousof being exhausted and overcome by an irresistible
drowsiness, and further of being inhis own bedroom. He gave the cap
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a parting squeeze in which his handrelaxed, and had barely time to reel
to bed before he sank into aheavy sleep. End of Stave two,
recorded on October thirty first, twothousand five, in Oceanside, California,
This is a LibriVox recording. AllLibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer,please visit LibriVox dot org. Today's reading
by Kara Shallenberg www dot kay dotorg. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens,
(00:25):
Stave two, the first of thethree spirits. When Scrooge awoke,
it was so dark that, lookingout of bed, he could scarcely distinguish
the transparent window from the opaque wallsof his chamber. He was endeavoring to
pierce the darkness with his ferret eyeswhen the chimes of a neighboring church struck
(00:48):
the four quarters, so he listenedfor the hour. To his great astonishment,
the heavy bell went on from sixto seven, and from seven to
eight, and regularly up to twelve, then stopped twelve. It was past
two when he went to bed.The clock was wrong. An icicle must
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have got into the works twelve.He touched the spring of his repeater to
correct this most preposterous clock. Itsrapid little pulse beat twelve and stopped.
Why it isn't possible, said Scrooge, that I can have slept through a
whole day and far into another night. It isn't possible that anything has happened
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to the sun, and this istwelve at noon, the idea being an
alarming one, he scrambled out ofbed and groped his way to the window.
He was obliged to rub the frostoff with the sleeve of his dressing
gown before he could see anything,and could see very little then. All
he could make out was that itwas still very foggy and extremely cold,
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and that there was no noise ofpeople running to and fro and making a
great stir, as there unquestionably wouldhave been if night had beaten off bright
day and taken possession of the world. This was a great relief, because
three days after sight of this firstof exchange, pay to mister ebenez Or
Scrooge or his order and so forthwould have become a mere United States security
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if there were no days to countby. Scrooge went to bed again and
thought and thought and thought it overand over and over, and could make
nothing of it. The more hethought, the more perplexed he was,
and the more he endeavored not tothink. The more he thought. Marley's
ghost bothered him exceedingly. Every timehe resolved within himself, after mature inquiry
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that it was all a dream.His mind flew back again, like a
strong spring released to its first position, and presented the same problem to be
worked all through. Was it adream or not? Scrooge lay in this
state until the chime had gone threequarters more, when he remembered, on
a sudden that the ghost had warnedhim of a visitation. When the bell
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told one, he resolved to lieawake until the hour was past, and,
considering that he could no more goto sleep than go to heaven,
this was perhaps the wisest resolution inhis power. The quarter was so long
that he was more than once convincedhe must have sunk into a doze unconsciously,
and missed the clock. At length. It broke upon his listening ear
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ding dong. A quarter past,said Scrooge, counting ding dong. Half
past, said Scrooge, ding Dong. A quarter to it, said Scrooge,
ding Dong. The hour itself,said Scrooge triumphantly, And nothing else
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he spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep,
dull, hollow melancholy. One lightflashed up into the room upon the
instant and the curtains of his bedwere drawn. The curtains of his bed
were drawn aside. I tell youby a hand, not the curtains at
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his feet, nor the curtains athis back, but those to which his
face was addressed. The curtains ofhis bed were drawn aside, and Scrooge,
starting up into a half recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with
the unearthly visitor, who drew themas close to it as I am now
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to you, and I am standingin the spirit at your elbow. It
was a strange figure, like achild, yet not so like a child,
as like an old man viewed throughsome supernatural medium, which gave him
the appearance of having receded from theview and being diminished to a child's proportions.
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Its hair, which hung about itsneck and down its back, was
white, as if with age,and yet the face had not a wrinkle
in it, and the tenderest bloomwas on the skin. The arms were
very long and muscular, the handsthe same as if its hold were of
uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were like those
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upper members bare. It wore atunic of the purest white and round its
waist was bound a lustrous belt,the sheen of which was beautiful. It
held a branch of fresh green hollyin its hand, and, in singular
contradiction with that wintry emblem, hadits dress trimmed with summer flowers. But
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the strangest thing about it was thatfrom the crown of its head there sprung
a bright, clear jet of light, by which all this was visible,
and which which was doubtless the occasionof its using, in its duller moments
a great extinguisher for a cap whichit now held under its arm. Even
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this, though, when Scrooge lookedat it with increasing steadiness, was not
its strangest quality. For as itsbelt sparkled and glittered, now in one
part and now in another, andwhat was light one instant at another time
was dark, so the figure itselffluctuated in its distinctness, being now a
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thing with one arm, now withone leg, now with twenty legs,
now a pair of legs without ahead, now a head without a body,
of which dissolving parts no outline wouldbe visible in the dense gloom,
wherein they melted away. And inthe very wonder of this it would be
itself again, distinct and clear asever. Are you the spirit, sir,
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whose coming was foretold to me?Asked Scrooge? I am. The
voice was soft and gentle, singularlylow, as if, instead of being
so close beside him, it wereat a distance. Who and what are
you, Scrooge demanded, I amthe ghost of Christmas past, long past,
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inquired Scrooge, observant of its dwarfishstature. No, your past.
Perhaps Scrooge could not have told anybodywhy if anybody could have asked him,
But he had a special desire tosee the spirit in his cap, and
begged him to be covered. What, exclaimed the ghost, would you so
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soon put out with worldly hands thelight I give? Is it not enough
that you are the one of thosewhose passions made this cap, and force
me, through whole trains of yearsto wear it low upon my brow?
Scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend, or any knowledge of having wilfully bonneted
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the spirit at any period of hislife. He then made bold to inquire
what business brought him there? Yourwelfare, said the ghost. Scrooge expressed
himself much obliged, but could nothelp thinking that a knight of unbroken rest
would have been more conducive to thatend. The Spirit must have heard him
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thinking, for it said, immediatelyyour reclamation, then take heed. It
put out its strong hand as itspoke, and clasped him gently by the
arm. Rise and walk with me. It would have been in vain for
(08:52):
Scrooge to plead that the weather andthe hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes,
that bed was warm, and thethermometer a long way below freezing,
that he was clad but lightly inhis slippers, dressing gown and night cap,
and that he had a cold uponhim at that time. The grasp,
though gentle as a woman's hand,was not to be resisted. He
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rose, but, finding that thespirit made towards the window, clasped his
robe in supplication. I am amortal, Scrooge, remonstrated and liable to
fall bear. But a touch ofmy hand, there said the Spirit,
laying it upon his heart, andyou shall be upheld in more than this.
(09:41):
As the words were spoken, theypassed through the wall and stood upon
an open country road with fields oneither hand. The city had entirely vanished.
Not a vestige of it was tobe seen the darkness, and the
mist had vanished with it, forit was a clear, cold winter day,
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with snow upon the ground. Goodheaven, said Scrooge, clasping his
hands together as he looked about him. I was bred in this place.
I was a boy here. Thespirit gazed upon him mildly. Its gentle
touch, though it had been lightand instantaneous, appeared still present to the
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old man's sense of feeling. Hewas conscious of a thousand odors floating in
the air, each one connected witha thousand thoughts and hopes, and joys
and cares long long forgotten. Yourlip is trembling, said the ghost,
And what is that upon your cheek? Scrooge muttered, with an unusual catching
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in his voice, that it wasa pimple, and begged the ghost to
lead him where he would you recollectthe way, inquired the spirit, Remember
it, cried Scrooge, with fervor. I could walk it blindfold. Strange
to have forgotten it for so manyyears, observed the ghost. Let us
(11:13):
go on. They walked along theroad, Scrooge recognizing every gate and post
and tree, until a little markettown appeared in the distance, with its
bridge, its church and winding river. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting
towards them, with boys upon theirbacks, who called to other boys in
(11:37):
country gigs and carts driven by farmers. All these boys were in great spirits
and shouted to each other, untilthe broad fields were so full of merry
music that the crisp air laughed tohear it. These are but shadows of
the things that have been, saidthe ghost. They have no consciousness of
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us. The jocund travelers came on, and as they came, Scrooge knew
and named them every one. Whywas he rejoiced beyond all bounds to see
them? Why did his cold eyeglisten and his heart leap up as they
went past? Why was he filledwith gladness when he heard them give each
(12:20):
other Merry Christmas? As they partedat cross roads and byways for their several
homes. What was Merry Christmas toScrooge out upon Merry Christmas? What good
had it ever done to him?The school is not quite deserted, said
the ghost, A solitary child neglectedby his friends, is left there still.
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Scrooge said he knew it, andhe sobbed. They left the high
road by a well remembered lane,and soon approached a mansion of dull red
brick, with a little weather cocksurmounted cupola on the roof, and a
bell hanging in it. It wasa large house, but one of broken
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fortunes, for the spacious offices werelittle used. Their walls were damp and
mossy, their windows broken, andtheir gates decayed. Fowls clucked and strutted
in the stables, and the coachhouses and sheds were overrun with grass.
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Nor was it more retentive of itsancient state within. For entering the dreary
hall, and glancing through the opendoors of many rooms, they found them
poorly furnished, cold and vast.There was an earthy savor in the air,
a chilly bareness in the place,which associated itself somehow with too much
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getting up by candle light, andnot too much to eat. They went
the Ghost and Scrooge across the hallto a door at the back of the
house. It opened before them anddisclosed a long, bare, melancholy room,
made barer still by lines of plaindeal forms and desks. At one
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of these, a lonely boy wasreading near a feeble fire and Scrooge sat
down upon a form and wept tosee his poor, forgotten self as he
used to be. Not a latentecho in the house. Not a squeak
and scuffle from the mice behind thepaneling, Not a drip from the half
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thawed water spout in the dull yardbehind. Not a sigh among the leafless
boughs of one despondent poplar. Notthe idle swinging of an empty storehouse door.
No, not a clicking in thefire. But fell upon the heart
of Scrooge with a softening influence,and gave a freer passage to his tears.
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The the spirit touched him on thearm and pointed to his younger self,
intent upon his reading. Suddenly,a man in foreign garments, wonderfully
real and distinct to look at,stood outside the window, with an axe
stuck in his belt and leading bythe bridle an ass laden with wood.
(15:20):
Why it's Ali Baba, Scrooge exclaimedin ecstasy. It's dear, old,
honest Ali Baba. Yes, yes, I know. One Christmas time,
when yonder solitary child was left hereall alone, did he come for the
first time, just like that poorboy and Valentine said Scrooge, and his
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wild brother orson there they go.And what's his name? Who was put
down in his drawers asleep at thegate of Damascus? Don't you see him?
And the Sultan's groom turned upside downby the genie. There he is
upon his head. Serve him right, I'm glad of it. What business
had he to be married to theprincess? To hear Scrooge expending all the
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earnestness of his nature on such subjectsin a most extraordinary voice, between laughing
and crying, and to see hisheightened and excited face would have been a
surprise to his business friends in thecity. Indeed, there's the parrot,
cried Scrooge, green body and yellowtail, with a thing like lettuce growing
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out of the top of his head. There he is, Poor Robin Crusoe,
he called him when he came homeagain after sailing round the island.
Poor Robin Crusoe, Where have youbeen, Robin Crusoe? The man thought
he was dreaming, but he wasn't. It was the parrot, you know.
There goes Friday, running for hislife to the little creek. Hello,
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hoop halloo. Then with a rapidityof transition very foreign to his usual
character. He said in pity forhis former self, poor boy, and
cried again. I wish, Scroogemuttered, putting his hand in his pocket
and looking about him, after dryinghis eyes with his cuff. But it's
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too late now. What is thematter, asked the spirit. Nothing,
said Scrooge. Nothing. There wasa boy singing a Christmas carol at my
door last night. I should liketo have given him something, that's all.
The ghost smiled thoughtfully and waved itshand, saying, as it did,
(17:40):
so, let us see another Christmas. Scrooge's former self grew larger at
the words, and the room becamea little darker and more dirty. The
panels shrunk, the windows cracked,fragments of plaster fell out of the ceiling,
and the naked laths were shown instead. But how all this was brought
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about? Scrooge knew no more thanyou do. He only knew that it
was quite correct that everything had happened, so that there he was alone again,
when all the other boys had gonehome for the jolly holidays. He
was not reading now, but walkingup and down despairingly. Scrooge looked at
(18:23):
the ghost and with a mournful shakingof his head, glanced anxiously towards the
door. It opened, and alittle girl, much younger than the boy
came, darting in and putting herarms about his neck and often kissing him,
addressed him as her dear dear brother. I have come to bring you
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home, dear brother, said thechild, clapping her tiny hands and bending
down to laugh. To bring youhome, Home, Home, home,
little fan, returned the boy.Yes, said the child, brim full
of glee. Home for good andall, home forever and ever. Father
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is so much kinder than he usedto be. That home's like heaven.
He spoke so gently to me onedear night when I was going to bed
that I was not afraid to askhim once more if you might come home.
And he said yes you should,and sent me in a coach to
bring you. And you're to bea man, said the child, opening
her eyes, and are never tocome back here. But first we're to
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be together all the Christmas long andhave the merriest time in all the world.
You are quite a woman, littlefan, exclaimed the boy. She
clapped her hands and laughed and triedto touch his head, but being too
little, laughed again, and stoodon tiptoe to embrace him. Then she
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began to drag him in her childishlias eagerness towards the door, and he,
nothing loath to go, accompanied her. A terrible voice in the hall
cried, bring down Master Scrooge's boxthere, and in the hall appeared the
schoolmaster himself, who glared on MasterScrooge with a ferocious condescension and threw him
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into a dreadful state of mind byshaking hands with him. He then conveyed
him and his sister into the veriestold well of a shivering best parlor that
ever was seen, where the mapsupon the wall and the celestial and terrestrial
globes in the windows were waxy withcold. Here he produced a decanter of
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curiously light wine and a block ofcuriously heavy cake, and administered installments of
those dainties to the young people,at the same time sending out a meager
servant to offer a glass of somethingto the postboy, who answered that he
thanked the gentleman, but if itwas the same tap as he had tasted
before, he had rather not.Master Scrooge's trunk, being by this time
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tied on to the top of thechaise. The children bade the schoolmaster good
bye, right willingly, and gettinginto it, drove gaily down the garden,
sweep the quick wheels, dashing thehoar frost and snow from off the
dark leaves of the evergreens like spray. Always a delicate creature whom a breath
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might have withered, said the ghost. But she had a large heart,
so she had, cried Scrooge,You're right, I will not gainsay it
spirit, God forbid. She dieda woman, said the ghost, and
had, as I think children,one child. Scrooge returned, true,
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said the ghost, your nephew.Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind, and
answered briefly, yes, though theyhad. But that moment left the school
behind them. They were now inthe busy thoroughfares of a city, where
shadowy passengers passed and re passed,where shadowy carts and coaches battled for the
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way, and all the strife andtumult of a real city were. It
was made plain enough by the dressingof the shops that here too, it
was Christmas time again. But itwas evening, and the streets were lighted
up. The ghost stopped at acertain warehouse door and asked Scrooge if he
knew it, know it, saidScrooge, was I a prenticed here They
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went in at sight of an oldgentleman in a Welsh wig, sitting behind
such a high desk that if hehad been two inches taller, he must
have knocked his head against the ceiling. Scrooge cried in great excitement. Why
it's old Fezziwig. Bless his heart, it's Fezziwig alive again. Old Fezzywig
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laid down his pen and looked upat the clock, which pointed to the
hour of seven. He rubbed hishands, adjusted his capacious wiscoat, laughed
all over himself from his shoes tohis organ of benevolence, and called out,
in a comfortable, oily, rich, fat, jovial voice, yohoe,
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there Ebenezer Dick, Scrooge's former self, now grown a young man,
came briskly in, accompanied by hisfellow prentice, Dick Wilkins. To be
sure, said Scrooge to the ghost, bless me, yes, there he
is. He was very much attachedto me, was Dick, Poor Dick,
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dear dear Yo Ho, my boys, said Fezywig, no more were
tonight Christmas Eve, Dick, Christmas, Ebenezer. Let's have the shutters up,
cried Old Fezziwig, with a sharpclap of his hands. Before a
man can say, Jack Robinson,you wouldn't believe how those two fellows went
(24:15):
at it. They charged into thestreet with the shutters one, two,
three, had em up in theirplaces, four, five, six,
bardament pinedum seven eight nine, andcame back before you could have got to
twelve, panting like race horses.Highly ho, cried Old Fezziwig, skipping
(24:37):
down from the high desk with wonderfulagility. Clear away, my lads,
and let's have lots of room here, highly ho, Dick, cheer up,
Ebenezer, clear away. There wasnothing they wouldn't have cleared away,
or couldn't have cleared away with OldFezziwig looking on. It was done in
a minute. Every movable was asif it were dismissed from public life forevermore.
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The floor was swept and watered,the lamps were trimmed, fuel was
heaped upon the fire, and thewarehouse was as snug and warm and dry
and bright a ballroom as you woulddesire to see upon a winter's night.
In came a fiddler with a musicbook, and went up to the lofty
(25:25):
desk, and made an orchestra ofit, and turned like fifty stomach aches.
In came missus Fezziwig, one vastsubstantial smile. In came the three
miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable.In came the six young followers, whose
hearts they broke. In came allthe young men and women employed in the
(25:48):
business. In came the housemaid withher cousin, the baker. In came
the cook with her brother's particular friend, the milkman. In came the boy
from over the way, who wassuspected of not having bored enough from his
master, trying to hide himself behindthe girl from next door, but one
who was proved to have had herears pulled by her mistress. In they
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all came, one after another,some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully,
some awkwardly, some pushing, somepulling. In they all came,
anyhow, and everyhow away they allwent twenty couple at once, hands half
round and back again the other way, down the middle, and up again,
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round and round, in various stagesof affectionate grouping. Old top couple,
always turning up in the wrong place, new top couple starting off again
as soon as they got there,All top couples at last, and not
a bottom one to help them.When this result was brought about, old
fezzywig, clapping his hands to stopthe dance, cried out well done,
(27:00):
and the fiddler plunged his hot faceinto a pot of porter especially provided for
that purpose, but scorning rest.Upon his reappearance, he instantly began again,
though there were no dancers yet,as if the other fiddler had been
carried home exhausted on a shutter,and he were a brand new man,
resolved to beat him out of sightor perish. There were more dances,
(27:26):
and there were forfeits and more dances, And there was cake, and there
was negus, and there was agreat piece of cold roast, and there
was a great piece of cold boiled, and there were mince pies and plenty
of beer. But the great effectof the evening came after the roast and
boiled, when the fiddler, anartful dog mind, the sort of man
(27:48):
who knew his business better than youor I could have told it him,
struck up Sir Roger de Coverley.Then Old fezzy Wigs stood out to dance
with Missus Fezziwigs top couple two witha good stiff piece of work cut out
for them, three or four andtwenty pair of partners, people who were
not to be trifled with, peoplewho would dance and had no notion of
(28:14):
walking. But if they had beentwice as many, ah four times,
Old Fezziwig would have been a matchfor them, and so would Missus Fezziwig.
As to her, she was worthyto be his partner in every sense
of the term. If that's nothigh praise, tell me higher and I'll
use it. A positive light appearedto issue from Fezziwig's calves. They shone
(28:40):
in every part of the dance likemoons. You couldn't have predicted at any
given time what would have become ofthem next. And when Old Fezziwig and
Missus Fezziwig had gone all through thedance, advance and retire both hands to
your partner, bow and Curtsey corkscrew, thread the needle and back again to
your place. Fezziwig cut cut sodeftly that he appeared to wink with his
(29:07):
legs, and came upon his feetagain without a stagger. When the clock
struck eleven, this domestic ball brokeup. Mister and Missus Fezziwig took their
stations, one on either side ofthe door, and, shaking hands with
every person individually as he or shewent out, wished him or her a
(29:29):
merry Christmas. When everybody had retired, but the two prentices, they did
the same to them, And thusthe cheerful voices died away, and the
lads were left to their beds,which were under a counter in the back
shop. During the whole of thistime, Scrooge had acted like a man
out of his wits. His heartand soul were in the scene, and
(29:52):
with his former self he corroborated everything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and
underwent the strangest agitation. It wasnot until now, when the bright faces
of his former self and Dick wereturned from them, that he remembered the
ghost and became conscious that it waslooking full upon him, while the light
(30:18):
upon its head burnt very clear.A small matter, said the ghost,
To make these silly folks so fullof gratitude, small echoed Scrooge. The
spirit signed to him to listen tothe two apprentices who were pouring out their
hearts in praise of Fezziwig, Andwhen he had done so, said,
(30:44):
why is it not he has spentbut a few pounds of your mortal money
three or four? Perhaps is thatso much that he deserves this praise?
It isn't that, said Scrooge,heated by the remark, and speaking unconsciously
like his former not his latterself.It isn't that spirit. He has the
(31:07):
power to render us happy or unhappy, to make our service light or burdensome,
a pleasure or a toil. Saythat his power lies in words and
looks in things so slight and insignificantthat it is impossible to add and count
him up. What then, thehappiness he gives is quite as great as
(31:30):
if it cost a fortune. Hefelt the spirit's glance and stopped. What
is the matter, asked the ghost, Nothing particular, said Scrooge, something,
I think, the ghost insisted.No, said Scrooge, No,
(31:51):
I should like to be able tosay a word or two to my clerk,
just now. That's all. Hisformer self turned down the lamps,
He gave utterance to the wish andScrooge and the ghost again stood side by
side in the open air. Mytime grows short, observed the spirit quick.
(32:13):
This was not addressed to Scrooge orto any one whom he could see,
but it produced an immediate effect.For again Scrooge saw himself. He
was older, now, a manin the prime of life. His face
had not the harsh and rigid linesof later years, but it had begun
to wear the signs of care andavarice. There was an eager, greedy,
(32:38):
restless motion in the eye, whichshowed the passion that had taken root,
and where the shadow of the growingtree would fall. He was not
alone, but sat by the sideof a fair young girl in a morning
dress, in whose eyes there weretears which sparkled in the light that shone
(32:58):
out of the ghost of Christmas past. It matters little, she said softly
to you, very little. Anotheridol has displaced me, and if it
can cheer and comfort you in timeto come, as I would have tried
to do, I have no justcause to grieve what idol has displaced you.
(33:22):
He rejoined a golden one. Thisis the even handed dealing of the
world, he said. There isnothing on which it is so hard as
poverty, And there is nothing itprofesses to condemn with such severity as the
pursuit of wealth. You fear theworld too much, she answered gently.
(33:45):
All your other hopes have merged intothe hope of being beyond the chance of
its sordid reproach. I have seenyour nobler aspirations fall off, one by
one until the master passion gain engrossesyou. Have I not what, then,
(34:05):
he retorted, Even if I havegrown so much wiser, what then
I am not changed towards you?She shook her head. Am I Our
contract is an old one. Itwas made when we were both poor and
content to be so, until ingood season we could improve our worldly fortune
(34:27):
by our patient industry. You arechanged. When it was made. You
were another man. I was aboy, he said impatiently. Your own
feeling tells you that you were notwhat you are. She returned. I
am that which promised happiness when wewere one in heart is fraught with misery
(34:52):
now that we are too. Howoften and how keenly I have thought of
this, I will not say itis enough that I have thought of it
and can release you. Have Iever sought release? In words, no,
never, in what then, ina changed nature, in an altered
(35:15):
spirit, in another atmosphere of life, another hope as its great end,
in everything that made my love ofany worth or value in your sight?
If this had never been between us, said the girl, looking mildly but
with steadiness upon him, Tell me, would you seek me out and try
(35:37):
to win me? Now? Ah? No, He seemed to yield to
the justice of this supposition in spiteof himself, But he said, with
a struggle, you think not.I would gladly think otherwise if I could.
She answered, Heaven knows when Ihave learned a truth like this,
(35:59):
I know how strong and irresistible itmust be. But if you were free
to day, tomorrow, yesterday,can even I believe that you would choose
a dowerless girl, you who,in your very confidence with her, weigh
everything by gain or choosing her,if for a moment you were false enough
(36:21):
to your one guiding principle to doso. Do I not know that your
repentance and regret would surely follow?I do, and I release you with
a full heart for the love ofhim you once were. He was about
to speak, but with her headturned from him, she resumed, you
(36:45):
may the memory of what has passedhalf makes me hope you will have pain
in this a very, very brieftime, and you will dismiss the recollection
of it gladly as an unprofitable dreamfrom which it happened. Dwell that you
awoke, May you be happy inthe life you have chosen. She left
(37:07):
him, and they parted. Spiritsaid Scrooge, Show me no more,
conduct me home. Why do youdelight to torture me? One shadow more?
Exclaimed the ghost. No more,cried Scrooge, No more, I
(37:27):
don't wish to see it. Showme no more. But the relentless ghost
pinioned him in both his arms andforced him to observe what happened. Next,
they were in another scene and place, a room not very large or
handsome, but full of comfort.Near to the winter fire, sat a
(37:50):
beautiful young girl, so like thatlast that Scrooge believed it was the same
until he saw her, now acomely matron, sitting opposite her daughter.
The noise in this room was perfectlytumultuous, for there were more children there
than Scrooge, in his agitated stateof mind, could count, and unlike
(38:13):
the celebrated herd. In the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves
like one, but every child wasconducting itself like forty. The consequences were
uproarious beyond belief, but no oneseemed to care. On the contrary,
the mother and daughter laughed heartily andenjoyed it very much, and the latter,
(38:37):
soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands
most ruthlessly. What would I nothave given to be one of them?
Though I never could have been sorude? No, no, I wouldn't,
for the wealth of all the world, have crushed that braided hair and
torn it down, And for theprecious little shoe, I wouldn't have plucked
(38:58):
it off. God bless my soulto save my life. As to measuring
her waist in sport, as theydid, bold young brood, I couldn't
have done it. I should haveexpected my arm to have grown round it
for a punishment and never come straightagain. And yet I should have dearly
liked I own to have touched herlips, to have questioned her that she
(39:21):
might have opened them, to havelooked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes,
and never raised a blush, tohave let loose waves of hair,
an inch of which would be akeepsake beyond price. In short, I
should have liked. I do confessto have had the lightest license of a
child, and yet to have beenman enough to know its value. But
(39:45):
now a knocking at the door washeard, and such a rush immediately ensued
that she, with laughing face andplundered dress, was borne towards it in
the center of a flushed and boisterousgroup, just in time to greet the
father who came home attended by aman laden with Christmas toys and presents.
(40:07):
Then the shouting and the struggling,and the onslaught that was made on the
defenseless porter, the scaling him withchairs for ladders, to dive into his
pockets, despoil him of brown paperparcels, hold on tight by his cravat,
hug him round his neck, pummelhis back, and kick his legs
in irrepressible affection. The shouts ofwonder and delight with which the development of
(40:32):
every package was received, the terribleannouncement that the baby had been taken in
the act of putting a doll's fryingpan into his mouth, and was more
than suspected of having swallowed a fictitiousturkey glued on a wooden platter. The
immense relief of finding this a falsealarm, the joy, and gratitude and
(40:53):
ecstasy, they are all indescribable.Alike. It is enough that by degrees
the children and their emotions got outof the parlor, and by one stare
at a time up to the topof the house where they went to bed,
and so subsided. And now Scroogelooked on more attentively than ever,
(41:15):
when the master of the house,having his daughter leaning fondly on him,
sat down with her and her motherat his own fireside, And when he
thought that such another creature, quiteas graceful and as full of promise,
might have called him father, andbeen a spring time in the haggard winter
of his life, his sight grewvery dim. Indeed, Bell said the
(41:42):
husband, turning to his wife witha smile, I saw an old friend
of yours this afternoon. Who wasit? Guess? How can I tut?
Don't I know? She added inthe same breath, laughing as he
laughed, mister Scrooge, mister Scrooge, it was I passed his office window,
(42:07):
and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside,
I could scarcely help seeing him.His partner lies upon the point of
death, I hear, and therehe sat alone, quite alone in the
world. I do believe, spirit, said Scrooge in a broken voice.
(42:29):
Remove me from this place. Itold you these were the shadows of the
things that have been said the ghostthat they are what they are. Do
not blame me, remove me,Scrooge exclaimed, I cannot bear it.
He turned upon the ghost, and, seeing that it looked upon him with
(42:51):
a face in which some strange waythere were fragments of all the faces it
had shown him, wrestled with it. Leave me, take me back,
haunt me no longer. In thestruggle, if that can be called a
struggle, in which the ghost,with no visible resistance on its own part,
was undisturbed by any effort of itsadversary, Scrooge observed that its light
(43:15):
was burning high and bright and dimly. Connecting that with its influence over him,
he seized the extinguisher cap and bya sudden action, pressed it down
upon its head. The spirit droppedbeneath it, so that the extinguisher covered
its whole form. But though Scroogepressed it down with all his force,
(43:37):
he could not hide the light whichstreamed from under it in an unbroken flood
upon the ground. He was consciousof being exhausted and overcome by an irresistible
drowsiness, and further of being inhis own bedroom. He gave the cap
(43:57):
a parting squeeze in which his handrelaxed, and had barely time to reel
to bed before he sank into aheavy sleep. End of Stave two,
recorded on October thirty first, twothousand five, in Oceanside, California,
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