# ■ 1 Marley's ghost

It is important to remember that Jacob Marley was dead．Did Scrooge know that？Of course he did．

Scrooge and Marley had been partners in London for many years，and excellent men of business they were，too．When Marley died，Scrooge continued with the business alone．Both names still stood above the office door：Scrooge and Marley．Sometimes people who were new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge，and sometimes Marley，but he answered to both names．He did not care what name they called him．The only thing that mattered to him was the business，and making money．

Oh！He was a hard，clever，mean old man，Scrooge was！ There was nothing warm or open about him．He lived a secretive，lonely life，and took no interest in other people at all．The cold inside him made his eyes red，and his thin lips blue，and his voice high and cross．It put white frost on his old head，his eyebrows and his chin．The frost in his heart made the air around him cold，too．In the hottest days of summer his office was as cold as ice，and it was just as cold in winter．

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say，with a happy smile，‘My dear Scrooge，how are you？When will you come to see me？’No poor man asked him for money，no children asked him the time，no man or woman ever，in all his life， asked him the way．Animals as well as people were afraid of him．Dogs used to hide in doorways when they saw him coming．But what did Scrooge care！It was just what he wanted．He liked being on the edge of people's busy lives，while warning everyone to keep away from him．

One Christmas Eve，old Scrooge was working busily in his office．It was cold，frosty，foggy weather．Outside it was already dark，although it was only three o'clock in the afternoon，and there were candles in all the office windows The fog covered everything，like a thick grey blanket．

Scrooge kept his office door open，in order to check that his clerk，Bob Cratchit，was working．Bob spent his days in a dark little room，a kind of cupboard，next to his employer's office．Scrooge had a very small fire，but Bob's fire was much smaller．It was very cold in the cupboard，and Bob had to wear his long white scarf to try to keep warm．

‘Merry Christmas，uncle！God bless you！’cried a happy voice．Scrooge's nephew had arrived．

‘Bah！’said Scrooge crossly．‘Humbug！’

‘Christmas is humbug！Surely you don't mean that， uncle？’said his nephew．

‘I do，’said scrooge．‘Why do you call it“merry”Christmas？You're too poor to be merry．’

‘Well，’replied the nephew，smiling，‘why are you so cross？You're too rich to be unhappy．’

‘of course I'm cross，’answered the uncle，‘when I live in a world full of stupid people like you！You say“Merry Christmas”！But what is Christmas？Just a time when you spend too much，when you find yourself a year older and not an hour richer，when you have to pay your bills．Everyone who goes around saying“Merry Christmas”should have his tongue cut out．Yes，he should！’

‘Uncle！Please don't say that！’said the nephew．‘I've always thought of Christmas as a time to be helpful and kind to other People．It's the only time of the year when men and women open their hearts freely to each other．And so，uncle， although I've never made any money from it，I think Christmas has been and will be a good time for me！And I say，God bless Christmas！’

Bob，in the cupboard，agreed loudly，without thinking．He immediately realized his mistake，and went quickly back to his work，but Scrooge had heard him．

‘If I hear another sound from you，’said Scrooge，‘you'll lose you job！’

‘Don't be angry with him，uncle，’said the nephew．‘come and have dinner with us tomorrow．’

‘Dinner with you？I'll see you dead first！’

‘But why won't you come？Why？’

‘Because Christmas is humbug！Good afternoon！’

‘I want nothing from you．I ask nothing of you．Why can't we be friends？’

‘Good afternoon！’said Scrooge．

‘I am sorry，with all my heart，to find you like this．I have never wanted to argue with you．But I came to see you and invite you because it's Christmas，and so I'll say，a merry Christmas，uncle！’

‘Good afternoon，’said Scrooge．

‘And a happy new year！’

‘Good afternoon！’said Scrooge．

His nephew left the room，without an angry word，stopping only to wish Bob Cratchit a merry Christmas．

Then two other gentlemen came in．They were large，round，comfortable-looking men，with books and papers in their hands．

‘This is Scrooge and Marley's，I think，’said one of them， looking at the papers that he was carrying．‘Am I speaking to Mr Scrooge or Mr Marley？’

‘Mr Marley is dead，’scrooge replied．‘He died seven years ago today，on Christmas Eve．’

‘I'm sure that you are just as kind to the poor as your partner，’said the gentleman，smiling．

What was true was that Scrooge was just as mean as Marley，and Marley had been just as mean as Scrooge．

‘At this happy time of year，Mr Scrooge，’the gentleman went on，taking up his pen，‘we should help poor people who have no food or clothes or homes．’

‘Are there no prisons？’asked Scrooge coldly．

‘Plenty of prisons，’said the gentleman．

‘And the workhouses，where poor people can live and work？Are they still open？’

‘Yes，they are，I'm sorry to say．’

‘I'm happy to hear It，’said Scrooge．‘I thought，from what you said at first，that perhaps these useful places were closed，for some reason．’

‘But some of us feel，’replied the gentleman，‘that these places don't offer enough to poor people．We're hoping to give some meat and drink，and wood for a fire，to people who need all these things．This is a time when we should all be able to enjoy ourselves．How much will you give，sir？’

‘Nothing！’scrooge replied．‘I don't have a merry Christmas myself，and I won't pay for other people to be merry．We all have to pay for prisons and workhouses—they cost enough．The poor will have to go there．’

‘Many can't go there，and many prefer to die．’

‘If they prefer to die，why don't they die，then？There are too many people in the world，so it's a good thing if some of them die．All this is none of my business！It's enough for a man to understand his own business，and not to think about other people's．I'm a very busy man．Good afternoon，gentlemen！’

The gentlemen shook their heads a little sadly，and left the office．Scrooge went back to his work，feeling pleased with himself．

Now the fog was at its thickest outside，and the cold was biting．Lights shone brightly from the shop windows．People were hurrying here and there—rich and poor alike－to buy what they needed for tomorrow's Christmas dinner．

At last it was time to close the office．Scrooge got up slowly from his desk．Bob was waiting for this moment，and he immediately put on his hat．

‘You'll want a holiday all day tomorrow，I suppose？’said Scrooge．

‘If you don't mind，sir．’

‘I do mind．It's not fair．I have to pay you for a day's work when you don't do any work．’

‘It's only once a year，sir，’said Bob politely．

‘That's no reason for robbing me every twenty-fifth of December！’said Scrooge，putting on his coat．‘But I suppose you must have it．Be here early next morning．’

‘Yes，sir，I will，I promise，’Bob said happily．Scrooge walked out，without another word．When bob had closed the office，he ran home to his family in Camden Town as quickly as possible．

Scrooge always used to eat his dinner alone，in the same miserable little eating-house．Tonight was no different from other nights．He read the newspapers，looked at his bank books， and went home to bed．He lived in rooms which had once belonged to his dead partner．They were in an old，dark building in a lonely side street，where no one except Scrooge lived．

In the blackness of the night，through the fog and the frost， Scrooge had to feel his way along the street with his hands．He finally reached his front door and put the key in the lock．Suddenly，to his great surprise，he saw that the knocker was not a knocker any more，but had become the face of Jacob Marley！

He had not thought of his partner for seven years，until that afternoon，when he spoke Marley's name to his visitors．But there in front of him was Marley's face，white and ghostly， with terrible staring eyes．

As Scrooge looked，it became a knocker again．He was afraid，but he did not show his fear．He turned the key， opened the door and walked in．He did look around before he shut the door，and he did look behind the door，to see if anyone was hiding there．But there was nothing there．He shut the door with a bang，to show that he was not afraid．

With his one candle he went slowly up the stairs．It was impossible to see into all the dark corners．Darkness was cheap， and Scrooge liked it．But he remembered the face，so he walked through all his rooms，checking that everything was all right．Nobody under the table or the bed，nobody behind the door！On the small fire in the bedroom there was a pot of soup，and Scrooge's bowl was ready on the table．Nobody in any of the rooms！Sure that he was safe now，Scrooge shut and locked his bedroom door behind him．He sat down by the fire to eat his soup．

The fireplace was an old one，with hundreds of pictures on the tiles around the fire．But Scrooge could only see Marley's face on every tile．

‘Humbug！’said Scrooge to the tiles，and walked across the room．When he sat down again，he noticed a bell on the other side of the room．As he looked，he saw，with great surprise and fear，that the bell was slowly beginning to move from side to side．Soon it was ringing loudly，and so was every bell in the house．

Suddenly they all stopped ringing at the same moment，and then came a strange noise from down below．It sounded like someone pulling heavy chains across the floor．Scrooge remembered hearing that ghosts in old houses sometimes pulled chains behind them．Then a door below opened with a crash，and the noise started coming up the stairs．It was coming towards his door．

‘It's humbug still！’cried Scrooge．But the colour left his face when，without stopping，it came straight through the heavy，locked door，and appeared in front of him．It was Marley's ghost！

Scrooge could see right through its body．Around its middle was a long chain，which had money-boxes，keys，bank books， and heavy purses on it．The ghost's death-cold eyes stared fixedly at Scrooge．

‘Well！’said Scrooge，trying to pretend that nothing strange was happening．‘What do you want？And who are you？’

‘In life I was your partner，Jacob Marley．’

‘It's humbug，I tell you！’said Scrooge．‘There are no ghosts！’But when he said this，the ghost gave a terrible cry， and shook its chain in a very frightening way．At once Scrooge fell on the ground in great fear，crying，‘Yes！Yes！You are real！I see that now！Why have you come？Why do ghosts come back from the dead？Tell me，Jacob！’

‘The spirit of every man who does not help other people in life has to travel endlessly through the world after his death．We have to carry the chains that we made for ourselves in our lifetime．Do you，Ebenezer Scrooge，recognize my chain？It is very like the one that you wear！’

Scrooge looked around him，but could see no chain．‘Jacob，’he said，‘please tell me more！’

‘I cannot help you much，Ebenezer！I cannot rest，I cannot stay anywhere for long．I have been dead for seven years and all that time I have been travelling on the wings of the wind！ No peace，no rest for me in death，because I was never good or kind in life！’

‘But you were always a good man of business，Jacob，’said Scrooge，who was now beginning to worry about his own life．

‘Business！’cried the ghost miserably．‘Why didn't I think of people as my business？I thought only about making money，not about being kind and helpful to other people．Listen to me，Ebenezer！I am here tonight to warn you．You still have a chance to save yourself from what has happened to me．Three spirtis will come to visit you：the first tomorrow at one o'clock，the second at the same time the next night，and the third at midnight the following night．You will not see me any more，and for your own peace after death，remember what I have told you！’

The spirit walked slowly backwards to the window，which began to open．When the ghost reached the window，it held up its hand，and Scrooge listened．He could hear a noise of sad crying in the air．The spirit began to cry，too，and it moved out into the frosty，dark night to join the others．Scrooge ran to the window．Outside，the air was full of spirits，all wearing chains like Marley's ghost，all crying miserably as they realized，too late，the terrible mistakes that they had made in their lives．

Little by little，the spirits and their voices disappeared into the fog and the darkness，and the night was silent again．Scrooge closed the window，and checked his bedroom door．It was still locked．He started to say，‘Humbug！’but stopped suddenly．Perhaps because he was very tired，or because it was late，he went straight to bed，without taking off his clothes，and fell asleep immediately．

■ 1 馬利的鬼魂

要記住雅各布·馬利已經死了，這可是件重要的事兒。斯克羅吉知道這個嗎？他當然知道。斯克羅吉和馬利在倫敦曾是多年的合作伙伴，並且他們還都是精明的生意人。當馬利死的時候，斯克羅吉一個人繼續操持著生意。辦公室門口的上方懸掛的依舊是兩個人的名字：斯克羅吉和馬利。有時初次來這兒打交道的人們喊斯克羅吉斯克羅吉，有時喊馬利，但兩個名字他都應答。他不在乎別人叫他什麼名字。對他來說唯一重要的事情是他的生意和賺錢。

噢！他是一個刻薄、精明、吝嗇的老頭兒，斯克羅吉的確是這樣的！他沒有絲毫熱情，也從來不敞開心扉。他過著神祕、孤獨的生活，對別人絲毫不感興趣。他內心的冷漠使他的眼睛呈紅色，他的薄脣呈藍色，他的嗓音既高又暴躁。他的冷漠使他的老腦殼、眉毛和下巴罩上了白色的冰霜。他內心的冰霧使得他周圍的空氣都變得寒冷。在最炎熱的夏日裡他的辦公室也很冰冷，就像冬天一樣寒冷。

走在街上沒有人截住他並面帶幸福的微笑向他說，“我親愛的斯克羅吉，你好嗎？你什麼時候來我這裡坐坐？”窮人沒有向他討過錢，孩子們沒有向他問過時間。在他一生中，從沒有任何人，無論男女，向他問過路。人和動物都怕他。狗見到他來了就藏到門廊下。但斯克羅吉在乎什麼呢！這正是他夢寐以求的。他喜歡處在人們繁忙生活的邊緣，他警告所有的人都離他遠點兒。

在一個聖誕前夜，老斯克羅吉正在辦公室忙碌著。天氣寒冷，還有霜凍，霧濛濛的。雖然才下午3點，但外面天已經黑了，辦公室窗子裡都亮起了蠟燭。霧就像一條厚厚的毯子籠罩了一切。

斯克羅吉辦公室的門總是敞開著，目的是監督他的僱員，鮑勃·克拉奇蒂有沒有怠工。鮑勃整天呆在老闆隔壁的一間小黑屋裡，它實際是一個壁櫥。斯克羅吉房間的火很小，鮑勃的火更小。壁櫥裡冷極了，鮑勃不得不戴著他那條白色的長圍巾取暖。

“舅舅，聖誕快樂！上帝保佑你！”一個聲音高興地說。斯克羅吉的外甥已經到了。

“呸！”斯克羅吉惱怒地說。“騙人的東西！”

“聖誕節是騙人的東西！舅舅，當然你不是這個意思？”他外甥說。

“我就是這個意思，”斯克羅吉說。“你為什麼管它叫‘快樂’的聖誕節？你太窮了，根本快樂不起來。”

“哎，”外甥笑著回答說，“你為什麼這麼生氣？你很有錢不該不高興啊。”

“我當然生氣，”舅舅回答說，“當我生活在一個滿是像你這種蠢人的世界裡！你說‘聖誕快樂’！但聖誕節是什麼？不過是一個讓你大把大把花錢的日子，這時你會發現你老了一歲可財富卻沒有增加半點，而且你還得去付所有的賬單。所有到處遊逛說‘聖誕快樂’的人的舌頭都應被割掉。是的，他會的！”

“舅舅，請不要這麼說！”外甥說。“我一直把聖誕看作是一個幫助別人、善待別人的日子。一年中只有這麼一天男男女女可以彼此自由地敞開心扉。所以舅舅，儘管我從未發過聖誕的財，我認為對我來說聖誕節一直就是而且也將是美好的時刻！願上帝保佑你！”

坐在壁櫥裡的鮑勃未加思索大聲表示贊同。但他立刻意識到自己所犯的錯誤，便又立即埋頭工作，但斯克羅吉已經聽見了他的話。

“如果我再聽到你發出一點聲音的話，”斯克羅吉說，“你就會丟掉這份工作！”

“舅舅，別生他的氣，”外甥說。“明天來和我們一起吃晚飯吧。”

“和你們吃晚飯？門兒也沒有！”

“那你為什麼不來呢？為什麼？”

“因為聖誕節是個騙人的把戲！再見！”

“我什麼也不要你送給我，我什麼都不問你要。我們為什麼不能成為朋友呢？”

“再見！”斯克羅吉說。

“看到你這樣，我真感到難過，我從來就沒想過要與你爭吵，但我來是為了看看你並邀請你，因為是聖誕節，所以我要說一聲，舅舅，聖誕快樂！”

“再見。”斯克羅吉說。

“新年快樂！”

“再見！”斯克羅吉說。

他外甥離開了房間，沒有一句慍怒之言。他停下來只是為了祝鮑勃·克拉奇蒂聖誕快樂。

然後進來了另外兩位紳士，他們身材魁梧，胖胖的，儀表堂堂，手裡拿著書和文件。

“我想，這是斯克羅吉和馬利的辦公室吧，”其中一位看著手中的文件問到。“你是斯克羅吉先生還是馬利先生？”

“馬利先生死了，”斯克羅吉回答說。“他是七年前的今天死的，死在聖誕夜。”

“我肯定你對窮人同你的合夥人的態度一樣好，”紳士微笑著說。

事實是斯克羅吉同馬利一樣的吝嗇，馬利在世時也曾和斯克羅吉一樣吝嗇。

“在一年中這個幸福的日子裡，斯克羅吉先生，”紳士拿起筆繼續說，？我們應該幫助那些沒有衣食和無家可歸的窮人。”

“沒有看守所嗎？”斯克羅吉冷冷地問。

“有很多看守所，”紳士說。

“還有可供窮人生活和工作的濟貧院呢？它們還開著嗎？”

“是的，它們開著，很抱歉。”

“我很高興聽到這個，”斯克羅吉說。“聽你最開始說的，我還以為這些能夠提供幫助的地方由於某種原因都關掉了呢。”

“但是我們有些人感到，”紳士回答說，“這些地方無法為窮人提供足夠的東西。我們希望為那些需要幫助的人提供一些肉類，飲料和柴火。這個時候我們都應該能夠過得開心。你能給多少，先生？”

“什麼都不給！”斯克羅吉回答說。“我自己聖誕節都不快樂，所以我也不會花錢去讓其他人快樂。我們都要付錢給看守所和濟貧院——這筆開銷夠大的了。沒錢的人應該去那兒。”

“很多人不能去，還有很多人寧願去死。”

“如果他們寧願死的話，他們為什麼不去死呢？世界上的人太多了，所以如果有些人死了的話這倒是件好事。這些都與我無關！一個人能清楚他自己該做什麼就夠了，用不著去考慮別人的事。我很忙，再見，先生們！”

兩位紳士難過地搖搖頭，離開了辦公室。斯克羅吉又重新開始工作，心中很得意。

現在外面的霧大得不能再大了，天氣寒冷刺骨。商店的窗戶閃爍出耀眼的光。人們匆忙地穿梭著——有錢人和窮人都一樣——去採購他們明天聖誕晚餐所需要的東西。

最後終於到了關門的時間了。斯克羅吉慢慢地從桌子後站起身。鮑勃等的就是這一刻，所以他立即戴上了帽子。

“我猜測你想明天一天都放假，是嗎？”斯克羅吉問。

“先生，如果你不介意的話。”

“我確實介意，這不公平。你不做任何工作，我還得付你工錢。”

“先生，一年就這麼一次，”鮑勃禮貌地說。

“這也並不能成為每年的12月25五日你搶奪我錢財的理由！”斯克羅吉邊說邊穿上了大衣。“但我想這個節你必須得過。第二天早晨早點到。”

“是的，先生，我會的，我保證。”鮑勃高興地說。斯克羅吉再沒說一名話走了出去。鮑勃關上辦公室的門後，以最快的速度跑回他位於卡姆登鎮的家。

斯克羅吉總是獨自一人在同樣寒酸的小飲食店裡吃晚飯，今晚也同往常一樣。他讀著報紙，看著銀行的存單，然後回家去睡覺。他住在他的合夥人曾住過的房子裡，它在一幢臨街的孤零零的又舊又黑的樓裡，只有斯克羅吉一人住在這裡。

夜幕下，要穿過霧和霜，斯克羅吉不得不用手摸索著在街上前行。最後終於來到了他的前門，把鑰匙插進鎖裡。突然，令他大吃一驚的是，他看到門環已不再是門環了，它已變成了雅各布·馬利的臉了。

直到今天下午他對來訪者說起馬利的名字時，他已經有七年沒有想過他的合夥人了。但呈現在他面前的是馬利的臉，慘白似鬼一般，還有一雙怒目圓睜的恐怖的眼睛。

斯克羅吉看著看著，它又變成了門環，但他沒有表現出他的懼怕。他轉動鑰匙，打開門走了進去。在關上房門以前，他的確環顧了四周，也的確往門後看了看，其目的是看看是否有人藏在那裡，但門後沒有人。他“砰”地一聲把門關上以示他並不懼怕。

他手舉起唯一的一根蠟燭慢慢地上了樓，他無法看見所有黑暗的角落。黑暗便宜得很，所以斯克羅吉喜歡它。但他記起了那張臉，所以他到所有的房間都走了一遍看看是否一切都安然無恙。桌子底下和床底下都沒人，門後也沒人！臥室微小的爐火上燉著一鍋湯，斯克羅吉的碗已經擺在了桌子上。所有房間裡都沒有人！確信此刻安全無誤之後，斯克羅吉隨手關上並鎖上了臥室的門。他坐在火旁開始喝湯。

這是一箇舊壁爐，火周圍是數以百計的印有圖案的瓷磚，但斯克羅吉在每張瓷磚上所看到的都是馬利的臉。

“騙人的東西！”斯克羅吉對著瓷磚說，並在屋裡踱著步。當他坐下之後，他發現房間的另一面牆上掛著一個鈴擋。他看著看著，驚奇而又恐懼地發現鈴擋慢慢地開始左右擺動起來，不一會兒，它響了起來，聲音很大，緊接著屋裡所有的鈴鐺都響了起來。

突然它們在同一時間都不響了，緊接著從下面傳來了一個奇怪的聲音，聽上去像是有人拖著沉重的鏈子從地板上走過。斯克羅吉記起曾聽說過有時舊房子裡的鬼魂身後拖著鏈子。然後樓下的一間房門噹啷一聲開了，聲音開始朝樓上走來，朝他的房門走來。

“又是騙人的鬼把戲！”斯克羅吉大聲說道，但當聲音徑直地穿過厚厚的被鎖著的房門出現在他面前時，他面無血色。這是馬利的鬼魂！

斯克羅吉能夠看穿它的軀體。一條長長的鎖鏈纏在腰間，上面掛著錢盒子、鑰匙、存摺和厚厚的錢包。鬼魂死一般冷漠的眼睛盯著斯克羅吉看。

“哎！”斯克羅吉說，極力裝出什麼怪事也沒發生的樣子。“你想要什麼？你是誰？”

“活著的時候我是你的合夥人，雅各布·馬利。”

“我告訴你，這是騙人的。”斯克羅吉說。“沒有鬼魂！”但當他說此話時，鬼魂發出了可怕的叫聲，瘋狂地搖動著身上的鏈子。斯克羅吉嚇得立刻趴倒在地板上，大聲說，“是的！是的！你是真的！我現在明白了！你來幹什麼？為什麼人死後鬼魂要回來？告訴我，雅各布！”

“那些在世時不幫助他人的人，其靈魂死後都要在這個世界上永無休止地遊蕩。我們不得不戴著我們活著時為自己製造的鎖鏈。埃比尼澤·斯克羅吉，你認出我的鎖鏈了嗎？它和你戴的鎖鏈很相似！”

斯克羅吉向他四周看了看，但沒看到鎖鏈。“雅各布，”他說，“請你再多告訴我一些！”

“我幫不上你太大的忙，埃比尼澤！我不能停下來，我不能在一個地方久留。我已經死了七年了，在這七年中，我一直藉著風的翅膀飄遊著！沒有安寧，死了也不得休息，因為我活著的時候從來沒有行善積德！”

“但你是一個精明的商人，雅各布，”斯克羅吉說，他現在開始擔憂起自己的命運來。

“生意！”鬼魂悲慘地說。“我為什麼不把人看作是我的生意？我一心想的就是賺錢，但沒有想過善待別人或是幫助別人。聽我說，埃比尼澤！我今晚來這兒是要警告你，你還有機會拯救你自己避免重蹈我的覆轍。有三個幽靈將來看你：第一個於明天一點鐘來，第二個於次日的同一時間來，第三個於大後天的午夜來。你不會再見到我了，為了你自己死後能太平，務必記住我對你說的話！”

幽靈慢慢地退回到窗前，窗戶開始打開。當鬼魂到了窗前時，它舉起一隻手，斯克羅吉聽著。他聽見空中傳來一聲悽慘的叫聲。幽靈也開始大叫，它來到了霧濛濛、黑漆漆的夜色裡，加入到其它幽靈的行列。外面的空中到處都是幽靈，它們都戴著和馬利鬼魂一樣的鎖鏈，它們都在悲慘地叫著，因為它們過晚地認識到了它們活著的時候所犯下的不可饒恕的錯誤。

漸漸地，幽靈們和它們的吵鬧聲消失在霧靄和夜色中，夜晚又恢復了平靜。斯克羅吉關上窗戶，檢查了臥室的門。門依然鎖著。他開始說，“騙人的東西！”但突然停住了。也許是因為他太累了，或是太晚了，他連衣服也沒脫就上床睡覺了，而且立刻就睡著了。