A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Part 7.
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Suddenly he heard his name.
‘Mr Scrooge! Let’s drink to Mr Scrooge!’ It was Bob Cratchit and he was holding up his glass.
‘Drink to Mr Scrooge!’ said Mrs Cratchit angrily. ‘Drink to that hard old miser! What are you saying, Robert Cratchit?’
‘My dear – the children. It’s Christmas Day.’
‘I know that, but I would like to tell Mr Scrooge what I think of him! You know how bad he is.’
‘My dear, it’s Christmas Day.’
‘Well, I’ll drink to him because it’s Christmas. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Mr Scrooge! – But you won’t be merry or happy, I know.’
The children drank to Scrooge too, but his name was like a dark shadow in the room and for a few minutes they were silent. Then they told stories and sang songs, and they felt better. The Cratchits were poor and they looked poor. Their clothes were old; there were big holes in their shoes. Bob Cratchit’s salary I was very small. He never had enough money and there was never much food in the house. But the family was contented now because it was Christmas. Scrooge watched them carefully. He listened to them well. And he looked at Tiny Tim very often before the family scene vanished.
It was dark now, and snow was falling. Scrooge and the Ghost walked along the streets and saw great fires in the houses, where families and friends were enjoying Christmas together. The Ghost was happy to see the celebrations. It laughed, and where it passed, people laughed too. And then Scrooge heard a loud, happy laugh. It was his nephew’s. He saw him in a bright, warm room. When his nephew laughed, the other people in the room laughed with him.
‘He said that Christmas was a humbug!’ the nephew laughed. ‘And he believed it too!’
‘He’s stupid and bad, Fred,’ said his wife.
‘Well, he’s a strange man, and he isn’t very happy.’
‘But he’s very rich, Fred.’
‘Yes, my dear, but he doesn’t do anything with his money. He doesn’t help others, and he lives like a poor man.’
‘Nobody likes him. I don’t like him. He makes me angry.’
‘I’m not angry with him. I feel sorry for him because he doesn’t enjoy his life. He never laughs. He didn’t want to eat with us today, but I’m going to ask him every year. I’ll say, “How are you, Uncle Scrooge? Come and eat with us.'”
Then they played some music and sang. After that, there were games. When they played twenty questions, Scrooge forgot that they couldn’t hear him and he shouted his answers. Then his nephew thought of something and everybody asked him questions.
‘Is it an animal?’
‘Yes.’
‘Does it live in the city?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is it a horse?’
‘No.’
It wasn’t a dog, a cat or a pigeon. It made horrible noises, sometimes it talked, and nobody liked it.
‘I know what it is!’ shouted Fred’s wife. ‘It’s your Uncle Scro-o-o-o-oge!’
She was right.
‘A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man!’ said Fred.
Scrooge wanted to say this to Fred, but the scene vanished and he and the Ghost travelled again. Scrooge noticed that the Spirit looked older. Its hair was grey now.
‘Is your life so short?’ he asked.
‘Very short. It ends tonight at midnight. It’s eleven forty-five. I haven’t got much time. Look – look down here!’
The Spirit opened its coat and Scrooge saw two children on the ground, a boy and a girl. They were very thin. Their clothes were old and poor, and they were trembling with cold. They looked very hungry. Their eyes were sad. They looked older than children and they were ugly, like monsters. Scrooge was shocked.
‘Are they yours?’ he asked.
‘No. They are Man’s. They belong to humanity.’
‘Haven’t they got a house or a family?’
‘Aren’t there a lot of prisons?’ the Spirit replied. ‘And aren’t there any workhouses?’
‘Oh, no – no! Those are my words!’ Scrooge cried.
The church clock struck twelve. He looked around for the Ghost but it wasn’t there. Then he remembered old Jacob Marley’s words:
‘The third Spirit will come at twelve midnight.’