Indistinct crowd chati'er
church bell tolls
Is he the bad one?
Very bad.
And are there ghosts?
Girl 1: What are the people
in the picture?
Girl 2: They're in prison.
Girl 1: They look sad.
Say we're nearly ready.
Indistinct children's voices
Man: Ghosts, you say?
Are you quite certain
you won't be too...
Frightened!
No, father.
Don't be silly.
It's a nice story.
It's only Marley
who's slightly unpleasant...
And he's soon gone.
Oh, Marley was dead
to begin with.
There is no doubt
whatever about that.
Old Marley was dead
as a doornail.
Did scrooge know Marley
was dead?
Of course he did!
Scrooge and Marley had been
partners for...
I don't know how long.
He was his sole executor,
his sole mourner.
And even scrooge was not so
desperately cut up
about the sad event.
There is no doubt about that.
This must be clearly understood
or nothing good
can come of this story
that I am about to relate.
Lights clunk
Narrator: Oh, but scrooge
was a tightfisted hand
at the grindstone.
Scrooge!
A squeezing, wrenching, grasping
scraping, clutching,
co vetous old sinner!
Hard and sharp as flint
from which no steel had ever
struck out generous fire.
Secret, and selfcontained
and so/ita/y as an oyster.
Once upon a time
of all the good days
in the year, on Christmas Eve
old scrooge sat busy
in his counting house.
Door slams
church bell chimes
indistinct chati'er
It was cold, bleak,
biting weather.
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
was copying letters.
Scrooge had a very small fire.
The clerk tried to warm himself
at the candle
in which effort, not being a man
of strong imagination
he failed.
Fred: A merry Christmas, uncle!
Narrator:
Cried a cheen'u/ voice.
God save you!
Narrator: It was the voice
of his nephew, Fred
who came upon him so quickly
that this was the first
intimation he had
of his approach.
Scrooge: Bah, humbug!
Fred: Christmas a humbug, uncle?
You don't mean that, I'm sure.
Scrooge: I do.
What right have you to be merry?
You're poor enough.
Fred: Come then, what right
have you to be dismal?
What reason have you
to be morose?
You're rich enough.
Scrooge: Bah, humbug!
Fred: Don't be cross, uncle!
Scrooge:
What else can I be when I live
in such a world of fools
as this?
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.
If I could work my will
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.
Fred: Uncle!
I have always thought of
Christmas time as a good time.
A kind, forgiving,
charitable, pleasant time.
The only time I know of
in the long calendar of the year
when men and women
seem by one consent
to open their shutup
hearts freely
and to think of people
below them
as if they really were
fellow passengers to the grave
and not another race
of creatures
bound on other journeys.
And therefore, uncle
though it has never put a scrap
of gold or silver in my pocket
I believe that it has
done me good
and will do me good
and I say, god bless it!
Narrator: The clerk
in voluntarily applauded
becoming immedia te/y
sensible of the impropriety.
Scrooge: Let me hear
another sound from you
and you'll keep your Christmas
by losing your situation.
Fred: Don't be angry, uncle.
Come! Dine with us tomorrow.
Scrooge: Thank you, but no.
Fred: But why? Why?
Scrooge:
Why did you get married?
Fred: Because I fell in love.
Scrooge:
Because you fell in love!
Good afternoon.
Fred: I want nothing from you,
I ask nothing of you.
Why cannot we be friends?
Scrooge: Good afternoon.
Fred:
I am sorry, with all my heart
to find you so resolute.
We have never had any quarrel
to which I have been a party.
But I have made the trial
in homage to Christmas
and I'll keep my Christmas
honour to the last.
So a merry Christmas, uncle!
Happy new year!
good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Narrator: His nephew left
without an ang/y word,
notwithstanding.
He stopped at the outer door
to bestow the greetings
of the season on the clerk,
who, cold as he was
was warmer than scrooge
for he returned them cordially.
Scrooge:
There's another fellow, my clerk
with 15 shillings a week,
and a wife and family
talking about a merry Christmas.
I'll retire to a madhouse.
He'll want all day tomorrow,
isuppose.
Cratchit:
If quite convenient, sir.
Scrooge: It's not convenient,
and it's not fair.
If I was to
stop halfacrown for it
you'd think yourself illused,
I'll be bound?
You don't think me illused,
when I pay a day's wages
for no work.
Cratchit:
It is only once a year, sir.
Scrooge: A poor excuse
for picking a man's pocket
every 25th of December!
Butlsuppose
you must have the whole day.
Be here all the earlier
next morning.
Narrator:
The clerk promised that he would
and scrooge walked out
with a growl.
The office was closed
in a twinkling
and the clerk ran home
to Camden town
as hard as he could pelt,
to play at blind man 'sbuff
children giggle
As scrooge left
his counting house
he was approached
by two gentlemen
who had been on their way
to visit him.
Man 1:
Scrooge and Marley's, I believe.
Have I the pleasure of
addressing mr scrooge
or mr Marley?
mr Marley has been dead
these seven years.
He died seven years ago,
this very night.
Man 1: We have no doubt his
liberality is well represented
by his surviving partner.
Scrooge: Good afternoon.
Man 2: At this festive season
of the year
it is more than usually
desirable that we should
make some slight provision
for the poor and destitute
who suffer greatly
at the present time.
Boy: Take pity on us, sir.
We've got no lodgings.
Man 2: Many thousands are
in want of common necessaries
hundreds of thousands are in
want of common comforts, sir.
Scrooge: Are there no prisons?
Man 1: Plenty of prisons.
Scrooge:
And the union workhouses?
Are they still in operation?
Man 1: They are. I wish
I could say they were not.
Scrooge:
The treadmill and the poor law
are in full vigour then?
Man 2: Both very busy, sir.
Scrooge: Oh. I was afraid,
from what you said at first
that something had occurred
to stop them
in their useful course.
I'm very glad to hear it.
Man 1: Under the impression
that they scarcely furnish
Christian cheer of mind or body
to the multitude
a few of us are endeavouring
to raise a fund
to buy the poor some meat
and drink and means of warmth.
We choose this time,
because it is a time
of all others,
when want is keenly felt
and abundance rejoices.
What shall I put you down for?
Scrooge: Nothing!
Man 2: You wish to be anonymous?
Scrooge: I wish to be left alone
since you ask me what I wish,
gentlemen, that is my answer.
I don't make merry myself
at Christmas
and I can't afford
to make idle people merry.
I help to support the
establishments I have mentioned
they cost enough, and those
who are badly off must go there.
Man 2: Many can't go there
and many would rather die.
Manager: The missus goes
that way, you that way.
No argument, mind.
Scrooge:
If they would rather die
they had better do it
and decrease
the surplus population.
Besides, it's not my business.
It's enough for a man
to understand his own business
and not to interfere
with other people's.
Mine occupies me constantly.
Good afternoon, gentlemen.
Raucous chati'er
overseer: Hurry along, there!
No talking.
Crowd clamou rs
overseer: Eyes to the front!
Crowd chati'er fades
loud laughter
man: Another gin, waiter!
Cups clink
man 2: Finished with the paper?
Narrator: Scrooge took
his melancholy dinner
in his usual melancholy tavern
and having read
all the newspapers
went home to bed.
Beggar: Charity?
It's Christmas, guv.
Narrator: Let any man
explain to me if he can
how it happened that scrooge
having his key
in the lock of the door
saw in the knocker
Marley's face.
Marley's face...
It had a dismal light about it
like a bad lobster
in a dark cellar.
That, and its livid colour
made it horrible.
As scrooge looked fixedly
at this phenomenon
it was a knocker again.
Ghostly chime
Bells ring
the bells ceased
as they had begun, together.
Distant clank
they were succeeded by
a clanking noise from the attic
as if some person were dragging
a heavy chain over the beams.
Eerie rasp
then he heard the noise
much louder
coming straight to wards
his door.
Eerie rasp
eerie groan
eerie growl
Scrooge:
What do you want with me?
Marley: Much.
In life, I was your partner
Jacob Marley.
You don't believe in me?
Why do you doubt your senses?
Scrooge: Because
a little thing affects them.
A slight disorder of the stomach
makes them cheats.
You might be an undigested bit
of beef, a crumb of cheese
a fragment of underdone potato.
There's more of gravy
than of grave about you.
Marley groans
Marley roars
why do spirits walk the earth?
And why do they come to me?
Marley: It is required...
Marley rasps ...Of every man
that the sprit within him
should walk among his fellow man
and travel far and wide
and if that spirit
goes not forth in life
it is condemned to do so
after death.
Oh, woe is me!
Scrooge: You are fettered.
Marley: I wear the chains
I forged in life.
I made it link by link
and yard by yard.
I girded it on
and of my own free will
I wore it.
Is its pattern strange to you?
Or would you know
the weight and length
of the strong coil
you wear yourself?
It was full as heavy
and as long as this
seven christmases ago...
And you have
laboured on it since.
Scrooge: Jacob, tell me more.
Speak comfort to me!
Marley: I have none to give.
Scrooge: But you were always
a good man of business, Jacob.
Marley: Business!
Mankind was my business.
The common welfare
was my business.
Charity, mercy and benevolence
were all my business.
Marley sighs
Marley groans
Marley roars
at this time of year,
I suffer most.
Man: She's a ripe one.
Ripe for the picking!
Man sniggers
Marley:
Why did I walk through crowds
of fellow beings
with my eyes turned down
and never raise them
to that blessed star
which led the wise men
to a poor abode!
Hear me!
My time is nearly gone.
I am here tonight to warn you
that you have yet a hope
of escaping my fate.
Scrooge: You were always
a good friend to me. Thank ye!
Marley: You will...
Be haunted by three spirits.
Marley rasps
Marley chuckles
expect the first
when the bell tolls midnight.
Look to see me no more
and remember
what has passed between us.
Eerie gust
narrator:
The air was filled with phantoms
wandering hither and thither
in restless haste
and moaning as they went
eve/y one of them wore chains
like Marley's ghost
some few, they might be guilty
governments
were linked together.
None were free.
Many had been personally known
to scrooge in their lives.
He had been quite familiar
with one old ghost
who cried piteously
at being unable to assist
a wretched housekeeper
with an infant whom it saw
below, upon a doorstep.
Whether these creatures
faded into mist
or mist enshrouded them
he could not tell. baby cries
but they and their
spirit voices faded together
and the night
became as it had been.
Hark the herald...
Narrator:
The ghost of Christmas past.
Church bell chimes
When scrooge awoke
the neighbouring church
struck the four quarters
so he listened for the hour.
Church bell chimes
twelve.
Marley's ghost
bothered him exceedingly.
Was it a dream, or not?
Scrooge: Are you the spirit
whose coming was foretold me?
Ghost of xmas past: I am
the ghost of Christmas past.
Your past.
Scrooge:
What business brought you here?
Ghost of xmas past:
Your welfare.
Narrator: Scrooge expressed
himself much obliged
but could not help thinking
that a night of unbroken rest
would have been more conducive
to that end.
The spirit must have
heard him thinking.
Ghost of xmas past:
Your reclamation, then.
Take heed.
Narrator: It put out
its strong hand as it spoke
and clasped him gently
by the arm.
It would have been in vain
for scrooge to plead
that the bed was warm
and the thermometer
a long way below freezing
and that he was clad
but lightly in his slippers
dressing gown and nightcap
and that he had a cold upon him
at that time.
The grasp, though gentle,
was not to be resisted.
He Rose, and somehow knew
that the spirit would take him
into the air.
Scrooge:
I am mortal, and liable to fall.
Ghost of xmas past: Bear but
a touch of my hand there
and you shall be upheld
in more than this.
Narrator:
As the words were spoken
they passed through the wall
and stood upon
an open count/y road
with fields on either hand.
Child laughs
child: Woohoo!
Happy Christmas, will, Charlie!
Scrooge: Good heaven!
I was bred in this place.
I was a boy here.
Narrator: He was conscious
of a thousand odours
floating in the air,
each one connected
with a thousand thoughts,
and hopes, and joys
and cares long, long forgotten.
Ghost of xmas past:
You recollect the way?
Scrooge: Remember it!
I could walk it blindfold.
Ghost of xmas past:
Strange you have forgotten it
for so many years.
Narrator:
They walked along the road
scrooge recognising eve/y gate
and post and tree
until a little market town
appeared in the distance.
Ghost of xmas past:
These are but the shadows
of the things that have been.
Child: See you next year!
Next year...
How funny that sounds!
Ghost of xmas past: The school
is not quite deserted.
A solitary child...
school bell rings
neglected by his friends
is left there still.
Narrator: The spirit
touched him on the arm
and pointed to his young self
a lonely boy
reading by a feeble fire.
Scrooge wept
to see his poor forgotten self
as he used to be.
Scrooge: Why, it's old Tom!
It's dear old, honest Tom.
Yes, yes, I know...
One Christmas time,
when yonder solitary child
was left here all alone
he did come to cheer me.
Poor boy.
Narrator:
Scrooge thought he was dreaming
but he wasn't.
Then,
with a rapidity of transition
very foreign
to his usual character
he said,
in pity for his former self
poor boy!
And cried again.
Scrooge: I wish...
But it's too late now.
Ghost of xmas past:
What is the matter?
Scrooge: Nothing.
There was a boy singing
a Christmas Carol last night.
I should like to have
given him something, that's all.
Ghost of xmas past:
Let us see another Christmas.
Narrator: He was not reading now
but walking up and down
despairingly.
Scrooge looked at the ghost
and with a mournful
shaking of his head
glanced anxiously
to wards the door.
Fan: Oh, dear, dear brother!
I have come to bring you home,
dear brother!
To bring you home, home, home!
Young scrooge: Home, little fan?
Fan:
Yes! Home, for good and all.
Home, for ever and ever.
Father is so much kinder
than he used to be.
He spoke so gently to me
one night
when I was going to bed
that I was not afraid to ask him
once more if you might come home
and he said, "yes, you should!"
And sent me in a coach
to bring you.
And you are never
to come back here.
But first...
We're to be together
all Christmas long
and have the merriest time
in all the world!
Young scrooge: You are quite
a housekeeper, little fan.
She giggles
ghost of xmas past:
You must come with me now.
Faint chati'er
do you know this place?
Scrooge:
Know it! Of course I know it.
Was I not apprenticed here?
Narrator: Scrooge's former
self, now grown a young man
came briskly in, accompanied
by his fellow prentice.
Scrooge:
d*ck Wilkins, to be sure!
Bless me, yes, there he is!
He was very much attached to me,
was d*ck.
Poor d*ck.
Why, it's old fezziwig!
Bless his heart, it's fezziwig,
alive again!
Narrator:
Old fezziwig laid down his pen
and looked at his watch.
He rubbed his hands,
adjusted his capacious waistcoat
and called out
in a comfortable, oily
rich, fat, jovial voice...
Fezziwig:
Yoho, there, ebenezer!
Yoho, my boys!
No more work tonight!
Christmas, ebenezer.
Hillyho!
Clear away, my lads
and let's have
lots of room here.
Clear away!
Narrator:
It was done in a minute.
The floor was swept and watered,
and the lamps were trimmed
and the warehouse
was as snug and warm
and diy and bright a ballroom
as you would desire to see
upon a winter's night.
In came a Fiddler
with a music book
and went up to the lofty desk,
and made an orchestra of it
and tuned like 50 stomach aches.
In came mrs fezziwig,
one vast substantial smile.
In came the three miss fezziwigs
beaming and lovable.
In came the six young followers
whose hearts they broke.
In came all the young men and
women employed in the business.
In came the housemaid,
with her cousin, the baker.
In came the cook, with her
brother's particular friend
the milkman.
In came the boy
from over the way
who was suspected of not
having board enough
from his master.
In they all came,
anyhow and eveiyho w.
There were dances
and more dances
and there were fon'eits,
and more dances
and there was cake,
and there was negus
and there was a great piece
of cold roast
and there was a great piece
of cold boiled
and there were mince pies,
and plenty of beer.
During the whole of this time
scrooge had acted like
a man out of his wits.
His heart and soul
were in the scene
and with his former self
it was not until now
when the bright face
of his former self
was turned from them
that he remembered the ghost
and became conscious that
it was looking full upon him.
Ghost of xmas past:
A small matter
to make these silly folk
so full of gratitude.
Scrooge: Small!
Ghost of xmas past:
Why? Is it not small?
He has spent but a few pounds.
Is that so much
that he deserves this praise?
Narrator:
Scrooge, heated by the remark
and speaking unconsciously
like his former
not his latter self, said...
Scrooge: It isn't that, spirit!
He has the power to render us
happy or unhappy.
To make our service
light or burdensome
a pleasure or a toil.
The happiness he gives
is quite as great
as if it cost a fortune.
Narrator: He felt the
spirit's glance, and stopped
ghost of xmas past:
What is the matter?
Scrooge: Nothing in particular.
Ghost of xmas past:
Something, I think?
Scrooge: I should like to be
able to say a word or two
to my clerkjust now. That's all.
Crowd cheers
Ghost of xmas past:
We must away, to your sister.
Always a delicate creature
whom a breath
might have withered
but she had a large heart.
Scrooge:
So she had. You're right.
I'll not deny it for a second.
God forbid.
Ghost of xmas past:
She died a woman
and had, I think, children.
Scrooge: One child.
Ghost of xmas past:
True, your nephew.
My time grows short. Quick.
Baby cries
Narrator: He was older now.
His face had begun
to wear the signs
of care and avarice.
There was an eager, greedy,
restless motion in the eye
which showed the passion
that had taken root
and where the shadow
of the growing tree would fall.
He was sat by the side
of a fair young girl
in whose eyes there were tears.
Belle: It matters little.
To you, very little.
Another idol has displaced me
and if it can cheer and
comfort you in time to come
as I would have tried to do
I have no just cause to grieve.
What idol has displaced you?
Belle: A golden one.
Scrooge scoffs
this is the evenhanded
dealing of the world.
There is nothing on which
it is so hard as poverty
and there is nothing
it professes to condemn
with such severity
as the pursuit of wealth!
Belle:
You fear the world too much.
All your other hopes have merged
into the hope of wealth.
I have seen your nobler
aspirations fall off one by one
until the master passion, gain,
engrosses you. Have I not?
Scrooge: What then?
Even if I have grown
so much wiser, what then?
I am not changed towards you.
Belle: Am I?
Our contract is an old one.
It was made when we were both
poor and content to be so
until, in good season,
we could improve
our worldly fortune
by our patient industry.
You are changed.
When it was made,
you were another man.
Scrooge: I was a boy.
Your own feeling tells you
that you were not then
what you are now.
That which promised happiness
when we were one in heart
is fraught with misery
now that we are two.
It is enough
that I have thought of it
and can release you.
have I ever sought release?
Scrooge: In words?
No. Never. in what, then?
Belle: In everything that made
my love of any worth
or value in your sight.
If this had never been
between us, tell me
would you seek me out
and try to win me now?
Narrator: He seemed to yield
to the justice
of this supposition,
in spite of himself
but he said, with a struggle...
Scrooge: You think not?
Belle: I would gladly
think otherwise, if I could.
But if you were free today,
tomorrow, yesterday
can I believe that you would
choose a poor girl?
You, who now
weigh everything by gain.
If, for a moment,
you were false enough
to your one guiding principle
I know that your repentance
and regret would surely follow.
Narrator: He was about to speak
but with her head
turned from him
she walked away.
He did not fol/o w.
Scrooge:
Spirit! Show me no more!
Conduct me home. Why do you
delight to t*rture me?
Ghost of xmas past:
One shadow more.
Scrooge:
No more, I don't wish to see it!
Show me no more!
Narrator: But the relentless
ghost pinioned him
in both his arms
and forced him to obsen/e
what happened next.
They were now years hence.
A room,
not very large or handsome
but full of comfort
near to the fire
sat a beautiful young girl
so like that last
that scrooge believed
it was the same
until he saw her
now a comely matron,
sitting opposite her daughter.
And now scrooge looked on
more attentively than ever
when the master of the house
having his eldest daughter
leaning fondly on him
sat down with her and her mother
at his own fireside.
And when he thought
that such another creature
quite as graceful
and as full of promise
might have called him father
and been a springtime in
the haggard winter of his life
his sight grew very dim indeed.
Scrooge: Spirit!
Remove me from this place.
Ghost of xmas past:
I told you these were shadows
of the things that have been.
They are what they are.
Do not blame me.
Scrooge:
Remove me! I cannot bear it!
Narrator:
He turned upon the ghost
and seeing that it looked
upon him with a face
in which, in some strange way
there were fragments of
all the faces it had she wn him
wrestled with it.
He was conscious
of being exhausted
and overcome
by an irresistible drowsiness...
And further...
Of being in his own bedroom.
church bell chimes
He snores
narrator:
The ghost of Christmas present
he woke in the middle
of a prodigiously tough snore
and sat up in bed
to get his thoughts together.
Choir sings: go, go tell it
go, go tell it
on the mountain...
Narrator: It was his own room.
There was no doubt about that
but it had undergone
a surprising transformation.
A mighty Blaze went roaring up
the chimney
as that dull petrifaction
of a hearth
had never known
in scrooge's time, or Marley 's
or for many and many
a winter season gone.
A jolly giant, glorious to see
who bore a glowing torch
in shape not unlike
plenty's horn
and held it up, high up,
to shed its light on scrooge
as he came peeping
round the door.
Ghost chuckles
come in! Come in,
and know me better, man!
Na r rato r:
Scrooge entered timidly
and hung his head
before this spirit
he was not the dogged scrooge
he had been
and though the spirit's eyes
were clear and kind
he did not like to meet them.
Ghost of xmas present: I am
the ghost of Christmas present.
Look upon me.
Narrator:
Scrooge re verent/y did so.
It was clothed
in one simple green robe
bordered with white fur.
This garment hung loosely
on the figure.
Its feet obsen/ab/e beneath
the ample folds of the garment
were bare, and on its head
it wore no other covering
than a Holly wreath.
Girded round its middle
was an antique scabbard
but no sword was in it
and the ancient sheath
was eaten up with rust
ghost of xmas present:
You've never seen
the like of me before.
never, sir.
Ghost of xmas present:
Have never walked forth
with the younger members
of my family?
Scrooge: I'm afraid I have not.
Have you had many brothers,
spirit?
Ghost of xmas present:
More than 1,800.
Scrooge: Spirit, conduct me
where you will.
I went forth last night
on compulsion
and I learnt a lesson
which is working now.
Tonight,
if you have aught to teach me
let me profit by it.
Ghost of xmas present:
Touch my robe.
Narrator: Scrooge did as
he was told, and held it fast
Choir sings: on the mountain
go tell it on the mountain
go tell
Woman: Go to sleep,
or he won't come.
Child: Will we leave a carrot?
Woman 2:
Thank you, your majesty.
Woman 3: The size, we'll still
be serving it at easter!
Narrator:
They stood in the city streets
on Christmas morning.
There was nothing very cheen'u/
in the climate or the town
and yet there was an air
of cheen'u/ness abroad
that the clearest summer air
and brightest summer sun
might have endeavoured
to diffuse in vain.
Man:
Fresh oysters! Fresh oysters!
Narrator: The people were,
by this time, pouring forth.
Crowd chati'e rs
man: Buy any milk today?
The grocers, oh, the grocers!
The blended scents
of tea and coffee
were so grateful to the nose.
The sticks of cinnamon
so long and straight
the candied fruits so caked
and spotted with molten sugar.
The customers were all
so hurried and so eager
in the hopeful promise
of the day
that they tumbled up
against each other at the door
clashing their
wicker baskets wildly.
Church bell chimes
but soon, the steeples
called good people all to church
fiocking through the streets
in their best clothes
and with their gayest faces.
And at the same time,
there emerged
from scores of bystreets,
lanes and nameless turnings
innumerable people
canying their dinners
to the bakers ' shops.
The sight of these
poor revellers
appeared to interest
the spirit very much
for he stood with scrooge
beside him in a baker's doorway
and sprinkled incense
on their dinners from his torch.
Woman: Mrs Johnson's got beef?
She must've been
at the old man's wages
before he got to the pub!
She laughs
scrooge: Is there a peculiar
flavour in what you sprinkle
from your torch? there is.
My own.
Scrooge: Would it apply to any
kind of dinner on this day?
Ghost of xmas present:
To any kindly given.
To a poor one most.
Scrooge: Why to a poor one most?
Ghost of xmas present:
Because it needs it most.
Scrooge: Spirit, I wonder you,
of all the beings
in the many worlds about us,
should desire to cramp
these people's opportunities
of innocent enjoyment.
Ghost of xmas present: I?
Scrooge: You would deprive
those that have no hearths
of their own, the means of
cooking every seventh day
often the only day on which
they can be said to dine at all
wouldn't you?
Scrooge: You seek to close
these bakeries on the sabbath.
It comes to the same thing.
I seek...
Scrooge:
Forgive me if I am wrong.
It has been done in your name
or at least
in that of your family.
Ghost scoffs
there are some
upon this earth of yours
who lay 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.
Remember that...
And charge their doings
on themselves...
Not us.
Train rati'les
train whistle blows
Girl 1: I hope Martha
doesn't lose the pennies
she saved for the train!
Girl 2:
She mustn't! I'll miss her.
Girl 3:
Let's wish she's not too tired
from making all those hats.
Man: All aboard!
Narrator:
Bob had but 75 Bob a week
he pocketed on Saturdays
but 75 copies
of his Christian name
and yet the
ghost of Christmas present
blessed his fourroamed house.
Up Rose mrs cratchit
dressed out but poorly
in a twiceturned gown
but brave in ribbons.
Mrs cratchit: What has ever
got your precious father then?
And your brother, tiny Tim?
And Martha weren't as late
last Christmas by half an hour.
Boy: Here's Martha, mother!
Children: Hello, Martha!
hello Martha!
Mrs cratchit: Why!
Bless your heart alive, my dear.
How late you are!
Martha: We'd a deal of work
to finish up last night
and had to clear away
this morning, mother.
Don't wake me in the morning.
I hope to lay Abed tomorrow,
as it is a holiday!
Mrs cratchit: Well, never mind.
Sit ye down before the fire,
lord bless ye.
Boy:
No, no. There's father coming!
Hide, Martha, hide!
Narrator: So Martha hid herself
and in came Bob
his threadbare clothes
darned up and brushed
to look seasonable
and tiny Tim upon his shoulder.
Alas, for tiny Tim,
he bore a little crutch
and had his limbs
supported by an iron frame.
Cratchit:
Why, where's our Martha?
Mrs cratchit: Not coming.
not coming?
Not coming upon Christmas day?
children giggle
narrator: Martha didn't like
to see him disappointed
if it were only in joke,
so she ran into his arms.
Martha: Happy Christmas, father!
Narrator: The two young
cratchits hustled tiny Tim
and bore him off
into the washhouse...
Girl: You come with us, Tim!
That he might hear the
pudding singing in the copper.
Mrs cratchit:
And how did little Tim behave?
Cratchit: Oh! As good as gold.
As good as gold and better.
Somehow, he gets thoughtful
sitting by himself so much
and thinks the strangest things.
He told me, coming home,
that he hoped the people
saw him in the church,
because he was a cr*pple
and it might be pleasant to them
to remember upon Christmas day
who made lame beggars walk,
and blind men see.
Narrator: Bob's voice was
tremulous when he told them this
and trembled uncertainly
when he said
that tiny Tim was growing
strong and hearty.
His active little crutch
was heard upon the floor
and back came tiny Tim
escorted by his
brother and sister
to his stool before the fire.
Master Peter, and the two
ubiquitous young cratchits
went to fetch the goose
with which they soon returned
in high procession.
Such a bustle ensued
that you might have thought
a goose the rarest of all birds
a feathered phenomenon.
And in truth, it was something
very like it in that house.
Cratchit:
I don't believe there was ever
such a goose cooked, my dear!
Wonderful!
Girl: Scrumdiddlyumptious!
Narrator:
Its tenderness and fia vour
size and cheapness
were the themes
of universal admiration.
Girl: Hope there's gravy!
Eked out by apple sauce
and mashed potatoes
it was a sufficient dinner
for the whole family.
Indeed, as mrs cratchit said
with great delight
sum/eying one small atom
of a bone upon the dish
they hadn't ate it all at last
but now,
the plates being changed
mrs cratchit left the room alone
too hen/ous to bear witnesses
to take the pudding up
and bring it in.
A great deal of steam!
The pudding was out
of the copper.
A smell like a washing day.
That was the cloth.
A smell like an eating house
and a past/y cook's
next door to each other
with a laundiy next door to that
mrs cratchit entered
fiushed but smiling proudly
with the pudding
like a speckled Cannon ball.
E veiybody had something
to say about it
but nobody said or thought
it was a small pudding
for a large family.
Any cratchit would have blushed
to hint at such a thing.
Then all the cratchit family
drew round the hearth.
Cratchit: A merry Christmas
to us all, my dears.
God bless us.
Tiny Tim:
God bless us, every one!
Narrator:
Said tiny Tim, the last of all.
He sat very close
to his father's side
upon his little stool
Bob held his withered
little hand in his
as if he loved the child
and wished to keep him
by his side
and dreaded that he might
be taken from him.
Scrooge: Spirit,
tell me if tiny Tim will live.
Ghost of xmas present:
I see a vacant seat
and a crutch without an owner,
carefully preserved.
If these shadows remain
unaltered by the future
the child will die.
Scrooge: No, no, kind spirit.
Say he will be spared.
If these shadows remain
unaltered by the future,
no other of my race
will find him here.
Well, what then?
If he be like to die,
he had better do it
and decrease
the surplus population.
Narrator: Scrooge hung his head
to hear his own words
quoted by the spirit
ghost of xmas present:
Man, if man you be in heart
not stone,
forbear that wicked cant
until you have discovered
what the surplus is
and where it is.
Will you decide what men shall
live and what men shall die?
It may be,
that in the sight of heaven
you are more worthless
and less fit to live
than millions like this
poor man's child. Oh, god!
To hear the insect on the leaf
pronouncing on the toomuchlife
among his hungry brothers
in the dust!
Narrator: Scrooge bent
before the ghost's rebuke
and trembling, cast his eyes
upon the ground
but he raised them speedily,
on hearing his own name.
Cratchit: To scrooge!
I'll give you mr scrooge,
the founder of the feast!
Mrs cratchit:
The founder of the feast indeed!
I wish I had him here.
I'd give him a piece of my mind
to feast upon
and I hope he'd have
a good appetite for it!
Cratchit: My dear, the children.
Christmas day!
Mrs cratchit: I'll drink
his health for your sake
and the day's, not for his!
Narrator:
Tiny Tim drank it last of all
but he didn't care
two pence for it
scrooge was the ogre
of the family.
They were not a handsome family.
They were not well dressed.
Their shoes were far from
being waterproof
their clothes were scanty
and Bob's might have known,
and very likely did
the inside of a pa wnbroker's.
But they were happy, grateful
pleased with one another
and contented all the time.
Children giggle
scrooge had his eye upon them
and especially on tiny Tim,
until the last
laughter fades
it was a long night
if it were only a night
not to sea? thunder claps
to sea!
To scrooge's horror,
looking back
he saw the last of the land
and his ears were deafened
by the thundering of water
as it rolled and roared.
Man: Mind yourself, Harry!
Don't drop the Turkey!
Narrator: Built upon
a dismal reef of sunken rocks
on which the waters
chafed and dashed
there stood
a solitaiy lighthouse...
Man: There's Christmas for you!
But even here,
eve/y man among them
hummed a Christmas tune!
Again the ghost sped on
above the black
and heaving sea...
Distant voices sing
until a light shone
from the window of a house
and swiftly,
they advanced to wards it
loud laughter
man laughs and sighs
it was a great surprise to
scrooge to hear a hearty laugh.
It was a much greater surprise
to scrooge
to recognise it
as his own nephew's
and to find himself in a bright,
diy, gleaming room.
Woman: Clara, my dear,
what a lovely lunch!
Narrator: ha ha ha!
Laughed Fred ha ha ha h*!
It is a fair, evenhanded
noble adjustment of things
that while there is infection
in disease and sorrow
there is nothing in the world
so irresistibly contagious
as laughter and good humour.
Woman laughs
Fred: He said that Christmas
was a humbug!
And he believed it too.
Clara: More shame for him, Fred.
Fred: He's a comical
old fellow, that's the truth
and not so pleasant
as he might be.
However, his offenses
carry their own punishment
and I have nothing to say
against him.
Clara: I'm sure he is very rich.
At least, you always tell me so.
Fred:
His wealth is of no use to him.
He doesn't make
any good with it.
He doesn't make himself
comfortable with it.
He hasn't the satisfaction
of thinking...
He chuckles ...That he is ever
going to benefit us with it.
Clara: Oh...
I have no Patience with him.
Fred: Oh, I have.
I'm sorry for him!
Couldn't be angry with him
if I tried.
Who suffers by his ill whims?
Himself, always.
Here, he takes it into his head
to dislike us
and he won't come
and dine with us.
What's the consequence?
He doesn't lose
much of a dinner.
Clara scoffs indeed?
I think he loses
a very good dinner.
Fred:
Well, I'm very glad to hear it!
Because I haven't great faith
in these young housekeepers.
What do you say, topper?
Narrator: Topper had clearly
got his eye on
one of the ladies
for he answered that a bachelor
was a wretched outcast
who had no right to express
an opinion on the subject
Fred re veiled in another laugh
and as it was impossible
to keep the infection off..
They laugh
Fred: A merry Christmas and
a happy new year to the old man.
He wouldn't take it from me,
but he may have it.
Let us make a toast
to uncle scrooge!
Fred laughs and sighs
woman:
Who's for blind man's buff?
Scrooge: Here's a new game!
One half hour, spirit, only one!
Na r rato r:
Uncle scrooge had imperceptibly
become so g*y and light of heart
that he would have pledged the
unconscious company in return
and thanked them
in an inaudible speech
if the ghost had given him time.
But the whole scene passed off
in the breath of the last word
church bell chimes
ghost of xmas present: Hark.
My life upon this globe
is very brief.
Narrator: The chimes
were ringing the three quarters
past 77 at that moment
dogs bark
distant laughter
Crowd chati'e rs
man 1: Please leave me alone.
Man 2: Give it here.
what are you doing?
Woman: You want a good time?
Man 1: You're hurting me!
Woman laughs
come here, my darling.
Man 3: Go on, hit him!
And again!
Crowd clamou rs
dogs bark
man 4: Pull your razor, Jim.
Man sobs
Scrooge: Forgive me if I am
not justified in what I ask
but I see something strange,
and not belonging to yourself
protruding from your skirts.
Is it a foot or a claw?
It might be a claw
for the flesh there is upon it.
Look here.
Narrator:
From the foldings of its robe
it brought two children.
Wretched abject, frightful
hideous, miserable.
They knelt down at its feet
and clung upon the outside
of its garment
ghost of xmas present:
Oh, man, look here!
Look!
Look, down here!
Narrator:
They were a boy and a girl.
Yellow, meagre, ragged
sco w/ing, wolfish...
But prostrate, too,
in their humility.
Where angels might have
sat enthroned
devils lurked,
and glared out menacing.
No change, no degradation,
no pen/ersion of humanity
has monsters half so horrible
and dread
scrooge started back, appalled
having them sho wn to him
in this way
he tried to say
they were fine children
but the words choked themselves
rather than be parties to a lie
of such enormous magnitude.
Scrooge: Spirit, are they yours?
Ghost of xmas present:
They are man's.
And they cling to me,
appealing from their fathers.
This boy is ignorance.
This girl is want.
Beware them both,
and all of their degree
but most of all,
beware this boy...
Man grunts
for on his brow I see that
written which is doom
unless the writing be erased.
Scrooge:
Have they no refuge or resource?
Ghost of xmas present:
Are there no workhouses?
Are there no prisons?
overseer yells
whip cracks
Narrator: The ghost
of Christmas yet to come.
Eerie moan
scrooge looked about him
for the ghost
and saw it not
as the last stroke
ceased to vibrate
he remembered the prediction
of old Jacob Marley
and lifting up his eyes,
beheld a solemn phantom
draped and hooded
coming like a mist
along the ground to wards him.
The phantom s/o w/y,
gra very, silently approached
when it came,
scrooge bent down upon his knee.
It was shrouded
in a deep black garment
which concealed its head
its face, its form
and left nothing of it visible
save one outstretched hand
scrooge: I am in the presence
of the ghost of Christmas
yet to come?
Narrator:
The spirit answered not
but pointed downward
with its hand
scrooge: You are about
to show me shadows
of the things
that have not happened
but will happen
in the time before us.
Is that so, spirit?
Narrator: Although well used
to ghostly company by this time
scrooge feared the silent shape
so much
that his legs trembled
beneath him
and he found
that he could hardly stand
when he prepared to follow it
scrooge: I fear you...
More than any spectre
I have seen.
But as I know your purpose
is to do me good
and as I hope to live to be
another man from what I was
I am prepared
to bear your company
and do it with a thankful heart.
Lead on.
Lead on.
The night is waning fast...
And it is precious time to me,
I know.
Church bells echo
Narrator: They scarcely seemed
to enter the city
but there they were,
in the heart of it
amongst the merchants,
who hurried up and down
and ch*nk the money
in their pockets
and conversed in groups,
as scrooge had seen them often.
The spirit stopped beside one
little knot of businessmen.
Cbsen/ing that the hand
was pointed to them
scrooge advanced
to listen to their talk.
Man 1: I don't know much
about it, either way.
I only know he's dead!
Man 2: When did he die?
Man 1:
Ooh. Last night, I believe.
Man 3: Why?
What was the matter with him?
I thought he'd never die.
Man 2: God knows!
Man 3:
What has he done with his money?
Man 2: Well, I haven't heard.
Left it to his company, perhaps.
He hasn't left it to me.
That's all I know.
Man 1: Well, it's likely to be
a very cheap funeral
for upon my life, I don't know
of anybody to go to it.
Man 1 guffaws
suppose we make up a party
and volunteer?
I don't mind going
if a lunch is provided
but I must be fed.
Man 2 laughs
narrator: Scrooge was at first
inclined to be surprised
that the spirit should attach
importance to conversations
apparently so trivial
but feeling assured that they
must have some hidden purpose
he set himself to consider
what it was likely to be.
But nothing doubting that
to whomsoe ver they applied
they had some latent moral
for his own improvement
dog barks accordion plays
they left the busy scene
and went into an obscure
part of the town
where scrooge had never
penetrated before.
Man:
You've had the pipe long enough.
Pass it on.
Narrator: The ways were foul...
Man: Cut your liver out!
The shops and houses wretched
the people halfnaked drunken
slipshod ugly.
Alleys and arch ways,
like so many cesspools
disgorged their offenses
of smell and dirt and life
upon the straggling streets.
Woman: We don't talk to you lot.
Narrator: The whole quarter
reeked with crime
with filth, and miseiy.
Far in this den
of infamous resort
there was a lo wbro wed
beetling shop
below a penthouse roof
where iron, old rags, bottles
bones and greasy offal
were bought
sitting in among the wares
he dealt in, by a stove
was a greyhaired rascal
nearly 70 years of age.
door bell jingles
scrooge and the phantom came
into the presence of this man
just as a housekeeper
with a heavy bundle
slunk into the shop.
Maid: Every person has a right
to take care of themselves.
He always did.
Who's the worse for the loss
of a few things like these?
If he wanted to keep 'em
after he was dead
a wicked old screw
why wasn't it natural
in his lifetime?
If it had been,
he's have had somebody
to look after him
when he was struck with death
instead of lying gasping
out his last, alone by himself.
Joe: It's the truest ever word
that was spoke.
It's a judgment on him.
Maid: Open the bundle,
old Joe, and let me know
the value of it.
Joe:
What... what do you call this?
Bedcurtains? bedcurtains.
Joe laughs wheezily
you don't mean to say
you took 'em down
rings and all,
with him lying there?
He cackles yes, I do. Why not?
Joe: You were born
to make your fortune
and you'll certainly do it.
Ooh...
Maid: You may look through
that shirt till your eyes ache
but you won't find a hole in it,
nor a threadbare place.
It's the best he had,
and a fine one too.
They'd have wasted it,
if it hadn't been for me.
Joe: W...
What do you mean, wasting of it?
Maid: Putting it on him
to be buried in, to be sure!
Somebody was fool enough to
do it, but I took it off again.
Oh, this is the end of it,
you see.
He frightened everyone away
from him when he was alive
to profit us when he was dead!
She laughs
scrooge: If there is
any person in the town
who feels emotion
caused by this man's death
show that person to me, spirit,
I beseech you.
Good people, all
this Christmas time
Baby cries
woman: She's worried
to death by it all.
But they had to borrow,
for the kiddies.
Narrator: The phantom
spread its dark robe before him
for a moment like a wing
and withdrawing it,
revealed a room by daylight
where a mother
and her children were.
She was expecting someone,
and with anxious eagerness
for she walked
up and down the room
started at eve/y sound
looked out from the window
glanced at the clock.
At length, the longexpected
knock was heard
she hurried to the door,
and met her husband
a man whose face
was care worn and depressed
though he was young.
There was a remarkable
expression in it no w
a kind of serious delight,
of which he felt ashamed
and which he struggled
to repress.
Woman: Is it good or bad?
Man: Bad.
Woman sighs we are quite ruined.
Man: No.
There is hope yet, Caroline.
Caroline:
If he relents, there is.
Nothing is past hope
if such a miracle has happened.
Man: He is past relenting.
He is dead.
Narrator: She was a mild
and patient creature
if her face spoke truth
but she was thankful in her soul
to hear it
and she said so,
with clasped hands.
She prayed forgiveness
the next moment
and was soriy.
Caroline: To whom shall
our debt be transferred?
Man: I don't know.
But before that time,
we shall be ready with the money
and even though we were not,
it would be bad fortune indeed
to find so merciless a creditor
in his successor.
We shall sleep tonight
with light hearts, Caroline.
Scrooge:
Let me see some tenderness
connected with the death.
Narrator: They entered poor
Bob cratchit's house
and found the mother and the
children seated round the fire.
Quiet very quiet
the noisy little cratchits
were as still as statues
in one corner.
Mrs cratchit sighs
the mother laid her work
upon the table
and put her hand up to her face.
Mrs cratchit:
Colour hurts my eyes.
It makes them weak
by candlelight
and I wouldn't show weak eyes
to your father
when he comes home,
for the world.
It must be near his time.
Martha: Past it, rather.
But I think he's walked
a little slower than he used
these few last evenings, mother.
Mrs cratchit: I have known him
walk with tiny Tim
upon his shoulder,
very fast indeed.
Martha: And so have I. Often.
Mrs cratchit:
His father loved him so
that it was no trouble...
Ah! And there is your father
at the door!
Narrator: Two young cratchits
got upon his knees
and laid each child
a little cheek
against his face.
Girl: Don't mind it, father.
Boy: Don't be grieved.
Narrator:
Bob was very cheen'u/ with them
and spoke pleasantly
to all the family.
He looked at the work
upon the table
the shroud that would
clothe his son
and praised the industiy
and speed
of mrs cratchit and the girls.
They would be done
long before Sunday, he said
mrs cratchit:
You went today then, Robert?
Cratchit: Yes, my dear.
I wish you could have gone.
It would've done you good
to see how green a place it is
where he will lay.
But you'll see it often.
I promised him...
That I would walk there
on a Sunday.
Narrator:
He broke down all at once.
He couldn't help it
He left the room, and went
upstairs to the room above
which was lighted cheen'u/ly,
and hung with Christmas.
There was a chair set close
beside the child
and there were signs of someone
having been there lately.
Poor Bob sat down in it
and when he had thought a little
and composed himself
he kissed the little face.
Cratchit:
My little, little child...
My little child.
Narrator: They drew
about the fire, and talked
the girls and mother
working still.
Bob told them
of the extraordinaiy kindness
of mr Fred whom he had
scarcely seen but once
and who, meeting him
in the street that day
and seeing that he looked
a little subdued
asked after him.
Cratchit:
Just a little down, you know.
On which, for he is the
pleasantestspoken gentleman
you ever heard...
Fred: What has happened
to distress you?
Cratchit: I told him.
"I am heartily sorry for it,
mr cratchit
and heartily sorry
for your good wife.
If I can be of service
to you in any way," he said
giving me his card,
"that's where I live.
Pray, come to me."
Now, it really seemed as if
he had known our tiny Tim
and felt with us.
I shouldn't be at all surprised,
Mark what I say
if he got Peter
a better situation.
Mrs cratchit:
Oh! Only hear that, Peter!
Cratchit:
But however and whenever
we part from one another
I am sure, we shall none of us
forget poor tiny Tim, shall we?
Or this first parting
that there was among us.
All: No, father.
Cratchit: And I know, my dears
that when we recollect how
patient and how mild he was
although he was a little...
Little child...
We shall not quarrel
easily among ourselves
and forget poor tiny Tim
in doing it.
All: No, never, father.
Cratchit: I am very happy.
He sniffs
I am very happy.
Scrooge:
Spectre, something informs me
that our parting moment
is at hand.
I know it, but I know not how.
Tell me what man that was
whom we saw lying dead.
Thunder cracks
Narrator: The spirit
stood among the graves
and pointed down to one.
Scrooge advanced to wards it
trembling.
Scrooge: Before I draw nearer
to that stone
to which you point,
answer me one question.
Are these the shadows
of the things that will be
or are they shadows of things
that may be, only?
Narrator: Still the ghost
pointed downward to the grave
by which it stood
scrooge: Men's courses
will foreshadow certain ends
to which, if persevered in,
they must lead
but if the courses
be departed from
the ends will change.
Say it is thus
with what you show me.
Narrator: The spirit
was immovable as ever.
Scrooge crept to wards it
trembling as he went
scrooge: Am I that man
who lay upon the bed?
Narrator: Fol/o wing the finger
read upon the stone
of the neglected grave
his own name...
Ebenezer scrooge.
Thunder cracks
Joe laughs
I hope he didn't die
of anything catching!
Man: We are quite ruined.
Narrator: The finger pointed
from the grave
to him and back again.
Scrooge: No, spirit! No...
No!
Spirit, hear me.
I am not the man I was.
Why show me this,
if I am past all hope?
Good spirit, assure me that
I yet may change these shadows
that you have shown me,
by an altered life.
I will honour Christmas
in my heart
and try to keep it all year.
I will live in the past,
the present, and the future.
The spirits of all three
shall strive within me.
I will not shut out the lessons
that they teach.
Tell me I may sponge away
the writing on this stone!
Narrator: In his agony,
he clasped the spectral body.
It sought to free itself
but he was strong in
his entreaty, and detained it
the spirit, stronger yet
repulsed him.
Holding up his hands in a last
prayer to have his fate reversed
he saw an alteration
in the phantom's hood
it shrank, and collapsed
down into a bedpost
scrooge sobs
scrooge: Live in the past,
the present, and the future.
The spirits of all three
shall strive within me.
I will not shut out
the lessons that they teach!
Birds sing
oh, Jacob Marley!
Heaven, and the christmastime
be praised for this.
I shall kneel, old Jacob,
on my knees.
Ah!
They are not torn down.
They are not torn down!
Rings and all. They are here...
I am here!
The shadows of the things
that would have been
may be dispelled.
They will be!
I know they will.
I don't know what to do!
I am as... light as a feather!
I am as happy as an angel!
I am as merry as a schoolboy,
I am as giddy as a drunken man!
A merry Christmas to everyone!
A happy new year
to all the world!
Hello there!
Woo!
There's the saucepan
that the gruel was in!
There's the corner the ghost
of Christmas present sat.
There's the window where
I saw the wandering spirits!
It's all right, it's all true.
It all happened!
He laughs
I don't know
what day of the month it is
I don't know how long
I've been among the spirits.
I don't know anything!
I'm... quite a baby.
Never mind. I don't care!
I'd rather be a baby!
Hello, whoop!
Hello there!
Narrator: Running
to the window, he opened it
and put out his head
no fog, no mist
clear, bright sweet fresh air!
Meriy bells. Ch, glorious!
Glorious!
Scrooge:
What's today, my fine fellow?
Boy: Today? Why, Christmas day.
Scrooge: It's Christmas day!
I haven't missed it.
The spirits have done it
all in one night!
They can do anything they like,
of course they can.
Of course they can...
Hello, my fine fellow!
Do you know the poulterer's,
in the next street but one?
Boy: I should hope I did.
Scrooge: An intelligent boy!
A remarkable boy!
Do you know whether
they've sold the prize Turkey
that was hanging up there?
Not the little prize Turkey.
The big one?
Boy: What...
The one as big as me?
what a delightful boy!
It's a pleasure to talk to him.
Yes, my buck!
Boy: It's hanging there now.
Is it?
Go and buy it.
Boy: Walker!
Scrooge:
No, no, I am in earnest.
Go and buy it,
and tell them to bring it here
that I may give them
the direction where to take it.
Come back with the man,
and I'll give you a shilling.
Come back with him
in less than five minutes
and I'll give you half a crown.
I'll send it to Bob cratchit's!
He shan't know who sends it.
It's twice the size of tiny Tim.
Faint street chati'er
Narrator: He dressed himself
all in his best
and at last,
got out into the streets.
He had not gone far,
when coming on to wards him
he beheld the gentlemen
who had accosted him
the day before, and said
scrooge and Marley 's,
I believe.
Scrooge:
Dear sir, how do you do?
I hope you succeeded yesterday?
Man: Mr scrooge?
Scrooge: That is my name
and I fear it may not be
pleasant to you.
Allow me to ask your pardon.
And will you have
the goodness...
Man: Lord bless me!
My dear mr scrooge,
are you serious?
Scrooge: If you please,
not a farthing less.
A great many backpayments are
included in it, I assure you.
Will you do me that favour?
Man: I don't know what to say
to such munificence!
Scrooge: Don't say anything.
Please, come and see me.
Will you come and see me?
Man: We will!
Scrooge: Thank you.
I am much obliged to you.
I thank you 50 times. Bless you!
Narrator: The people were,
by this time, pouring forth
as he had seen them with
the ghost of Christmas present
he walked about the streets
and watched the people
huriying to and fro
and patted children on the head
and questioned beggars
and looked down
into the kitchens of houses
and up to the windows
and found that eve/ything
could yield him pleasure.
He had never dreamed
that any walk
that anything...
Could give him
so much happiness.
He laughs
Narrator: In the afternoon,
he turned his steps
to wards his nephew's house.
He passed the door a dozen times
before he had the courage
to go up and knock.
But he made a dash, and did it
he opened the door gently,
and sidled his face in.
They were looking at the table
which was spread out
in great array
for these young housekeepers are
always hen/ous on such points
and like to see
that eve/ything is right
Fred: Why, bless my soul!
Who's that?
Scrooge: It's I.
Uncle scrooge.
I've come to dinner.
Will you let me in, Fred?
Fred laughs
narrator: Let him in?
It is a mercy
he didn't shake his arm offi
he was at home in five minutes.
Nothing could be heart/er.
Fred's wife
looked just the same.
So did topper when he came.
So did the plump lady when
she came.
So did everyone when they came!
Wonden'u/ party, wonden'u/ games
wonden'u/ unanimity
wonden'u/ happiness!
But he was early at the office
next morning.
Ch, he was early there.
If he could only be there first
and catch Bob cratchit
coming late!
That was the thing
he'd set his heart upon.
And he did it! Yes, he did.
The clock struck nine...
No Bob.
A quarter past..
No Bob.
He was a full 78 minutes
and a half
behind his time.
Scrooge sat with his door
wide open
that he might see him enter.
His hat was off
before he opened the door
his comforter too.
He was on his stool in a jifij/,
driving away with his pen
as if he were tiying
to overtake nine 0 'clock.
Scrooge: Hello.
What do you mean by coming here
at this time of day?
Cratchit: I'm very sorry, sir.
I am behind my time.
Scrooge:
You are. Yes, I think you are.
Step this way, if you please.
Cratchit:
Iit's only once a year, sir.
It shall not be repeated.
I was making rather merry
yesterday, sir.
Scrooge: Now,
I'll tell you what, my friend
I'm not going to stand
this sort of thing any longer
and therefore...
And therefore,
I am about to raise your salary.
Na r rato r: Bob trembled
and got a little nearer
to the poker.
He had a momenta/y idea of
knocking scrooge down with it
holding him, and calling to
the people in the court for help
and a strait waistcoat
scrooge: A merry Christmas, Bob.
A merrier Christmas, Bob,
my good fellow
than I have given you
for many a year.
I'll raise your salary
and endeavour to assist
your struggling family
and we will discuss your affairs
this very afternoon
over a Christmas bowl
of smoking bishop, Bob!
They laugh
make up the fires,
buy another coalscuttle
before you dot another "I"
Bob cratchit!
Scrooge was as good as his word.
He did it all,
and infinitely more.
And to tiny Tim, who did not die
he was a second father.
He became as good a friend
as good a master
and as good a man
as the good old city knew
or any other good old city,
town or borough
in the good old world
some people laughed to see
the transformation in him
but he let them laugh,
and heeded them little
for he was wise enough to know
that nothing ever happened
on the globe, for good
at which some people
had not had their fill
of laughter at the outset
and since he knew
such as these were blind anyway
he thought it just as well that
their eyes should wrinkle up
in laughter, as have the malady
in less attractive forms.
He had no further intercourse
with spirits
but lived life according to
the total abstinence principle
ever after.
And it was said of him
that he knew how to keep
Christmas well
if any man in the world
had such knowledge.
Let that be truly said of us
and all of us.
And, as tiny Tim observed...
"God bless us, every one."
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A Christmas Carol (2020)
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