A Christmas Carol

by

Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)
 A Christmas Carol
(short version)
Ebenezer Scrooge was a money lender and he was a tight-fisted old miser. At
Christmas time, when men came to ask for some money for the poor, he did not give
them any.
When his nephew visited him to wish “A Merry Christmas” he only answered angrily,
“Bah, humbug. Who entitles you to be merry, you’re poor enough.” But he did not
know that he was not happy either, although he had more than enough.
On Christmas Eve, Scrooge was sitting at home alone in his cold room. He didn’t even
make a fire, because coal and wood cost money.
Suddenly, it was almost dark in the room. There was a dull sound from his cellar and
up the stairs came the wandering ghost of his dead partner, Marley. He stopped in
front of the miser.
He told Scrooge to become a better man, to be kind to people, to pity them and to laugh
with them. Soon it would be too late; just as it had been too late for him, Marley.
During that night while Scrooge was asleep in his bed, the Ghost of Christmas
Past took the miser back to happier days in his early life. Scrooge saw himself
as a young man having fun with friendly people. What a kind man Mr
Feeziwig, his master, and his wife had been. Their three lovely daughters had
celebrated Christmas with him and the other apprentices! There had been a
fiddler and they had danced, dined and played games all night.
Next the Ghost took him to a girl’s home who he hadn’t married. He had left
her because he preferred gold to a lovely wife. Scrooge learned his first
lesson. “Perhaps”, he thought, “I have been too selfish?”
But Scrooge had no time to think about the past, because there sat the Ghost
of Christmas Present. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, the room was
hung with holly, ivy and mistletoe, and the Ghost was sitting on a kind of
throne made up of turkeys, geese, little pigs, sausages, Christmas puddings,
apples and pears, oranges and cakes.
He told Scrooge to touch his hand – and he was no longer in his own room. It
was the home of his clerk, Bob Cratchit.
Martha, Bob’s daughter, had just come home. She even had to work on
Christmas Day. There was a goose for dinner, a very small goose for such a
large family, but they all said it was the most wonderful goose ever cooked.
Although they were poor, there was warmth and love which made them
happy. But – there was also Tiny Tim. Bob’s little boy was an invalid and the
family was too poor for doctors or hospital care. “If things don’t become
better for Cratchit,” the Ghost told Scrooge, “the boy will die.”
Someone had died. That was quite clear. The Ghost of Christmas Future
showed Scrooge people who were glad that he, the tight-fisted master who
had never been good to anyone, was dead at last. Scrooge had never shown
any feeling of love and friendship. And all people were glad that he was dead.
“Hear me, oh Ghost,” Scrooge shouted, “I am not the man I was. And if I can
turn into what you have shown me, I will.”
The Ghost disappeared. Scrooge looked around. He was back in his own bed
in his room. Best of all, the time ahead of him was his own future. He wanted
to become a better man!
He jumped out of bed in his nightshirt and nightcap. Then he ran to the
window thanking old Jacob Marley many times.
“Hallo, everybody,” he shouted out of the window. “A Merry Christmas to
everybody! A Happy New Year to the whole world.” “What’s today?” cried
Scrooge, addressing a boy in Sunday clothes. “Today?” replied the boy.
“Christmas Day!” It was marvellous. The Ghost had changed all in only one
night. Scrooge had not missed Christmas Day.
Then he told the boy to go and buy the big prize turkey from the shop window
at the corner. Scrooge gave the boy half a crown for it. “I’ll send it to Bob
Cratchit,” Scrooge said to himself. “It’s twice the size of Tiny Tim.”
Scrooge went to church and walked about the streets greeting people,
watching them, speaking to children and beggars. He finally noticed that he
enjoyed it. Loved it very much. He had never been happier in his life.
Ebenezer Scrooge had learned the lesson for the rest of his life.
True or false? TF
Ebenezer Scrooge was rich. 
He wanted to give money to the poor. 
In Scrooge‘s room a fire was burning in the fireplace. 
The name of his dead partner was Jacob Marley. 
The Ghost of Christmas Past took Scrooge to the future. 
The Ghost of Christmas Present took him to the past. 
The name of Scrooge‘s master was Mr Feeziwig. 
A fiddler is a man who blows the horn. 
Bob Cratchit was Scrooge‘s clerk. 
Cratchit had three children. 
The boy‘s name was Tiny Tim. 
The Cratchit family sat around the table to have Christmas dinner. 
Scrooge slept in pink pyjamas. 
Scrooge bought a big turkey. 
At the end Scrooge went to his favourite pub. 
A Christmas Carol was written by Geoffrey Dickens. 
He lived in the eleventh century. 