A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Part 4
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DAY 4 | CHAPTER THREE
The First Spirit
When Scrooge woke up, it was very dark. The church clock struck twelve.
‘Twelve!’ said Scrooge, surprised. ‘But it was after two o’clock when I went to bed. It’s impossible! That clock is wrong.’
He got out of bed and went to the window, but he couldn’t see much. It was dark, foggy and very cold. He went back to bed and began to think.
‘Was it all a dream? Was Marley’s Ghost really here?’ he said to himself.
Suddenly he remembered the Ghost’s words: ‘The first Spirit will come at one o’clock tomorrow morning.’ So he decided to wait and see. After a long time he heard the church clock.
‘It’s one o’clock!’ said Scrooge. ‘And there’s nobody here!’
At that moment there was a great light in the room and the curtains of his bod opened. Yes, a hand opened the curtain in front of his face! He sat up and saw a strange person. It was small, like a child, but it was also like an old man. Its long hair was white but its face looked young. It was wearing white clothes with summer flowers on them. There was a piece of green holly in its hand.
‘Are you the first Spirit?’ asked Scrooge.
‘Yes, I am,’ the visitor replied in a quiet voice.
‘Who and what are you?’
I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.’
‘Whose past?’
‘Your past.’
‘Why are you here?’
‘To help you.’
‘I thank you,’ Scrooge said. ‘If you want to help me, let me sleep.’
‘Get up and walk with me,’ said the Spirit, and it took his arm.
Scrooge wanted to say that it was late, the weather was very cold, and his bed was warm. But the Spirit took him to the window.
‘No, I’ll fall!’ Scrooge said.
The Spirit put its hand on his heart. ‘If I touch you here, you won’t fall,’ it said.
Then they went through the wall, and suddenly they were standing on a road in the country. There was snow in the fields.
‘Good Heavens!’ Scrooge cried. This is where I was born! I was a boy here!’ And he remembered all his old feelings about the place.
‘Your lips is trembling,’ said the Ghost. Are you crying?’
‘No… no…’ answered Scrooge. But a tear fell from his eye.
They walked along the road towards a little town with a bridge, a church and a river. Some boys came out of a school. They were laughing and singing because it was a holiday. They shouted ‘Merry Christmas!’ to each other.
‘They are all in the past,’ the Ghost said. ‘They are only shadows.’
Scrooge knew all of them and he felt suddenly happy. Why did his cold eyes and heart become warm with joy? What did merry Christmas mean to him? He didn’t like Christmas!
The school is not empty.’ said the Spirit. ‘One child is still there. He hasn’t got any friends.’
‘I know, I know,’ Scrooge said. And there were big tears in his eyes.
They went into the school, a big, old, dark place. Inside there was a long classroom. It looked sad and empty, with only a few desks and chairs in it. A little boy was sitting at one of the desks. He was reading a book by a small fire. Scrooge sat down on a chair and cried because he knew that the little boy was himself many years ago.
That’s me,’ he said. ‘I was left here one Christmas. Poor boy! Oh, I would like to… but it’s too late now!’
‘What is it?’ asked the Spirit.
‘Nothing. You see, there was a poor boy outside my office last night. He was singing a Christmas carol. But I didn’t give him anything and I told him to go away.’
The Spirit smiled. ‘Let’s see another Christmas!’
Then everything changed. The boy was bigger, and the room looked older and darker. Scrooge saw himself again. He was walking sadly up and down. Then the door opened and a little girl ran in. She was younger than the boy.
‘Dear, dear brother!’ she said happily. And she put her arms round his neck and kissed him. ‘I’ve come to bring you home – home, home!’
‘Home, Fanny?’ the boy asked.
‘Yes! Home for ever and ever!” the girl laughed. ‘Father is kinder now and he wants you to come home. He sent me in a coach to fetch you. Oh, you’ll never come back to this horrible school! And we’ll be together for Christmas! I’m so happy!’
She began to pull him towards the door.
‘Bring Master Scrooge’s luggage to the coach!’ somebody shouted in a terrible voice.
It was the teacher, and when he came in, the boy was very frightened.
‘Goodbye, Master Scrooge!’ said the teacher in his terrible voice.
‘Goodbye, sir,’ the boy answered, trembling.
But when he got into the coach with his sister, he felt happy.
‘Your sister had a very good heart,’ said the Ghost. ‘When she died, she left one child – your nephew.’
‘Yes.’ Scrooge remembered the conversation with his nephew in his office the afternoon before, and he felt bad about it.