"Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery." "He cometh up and is cut down like a flower." "He flee from us like a shadow..." "I can hardly believe that Mr. Marley's gone." "He's at peace, Mr. Crump." "He's nowhere, sir." "The truth is he's dead." "Dead as a doornail." "Though I don't know what is particularly dead about a doornail." "I wouldn't think that a doornail was the deadest piece of iron mongery in the trade." "Why not say, dead as a doorknob, or doorknocker?" "Nail, knob, or knocker, Jacob's gone and there's an end to it." "A mighty poor turnout for such an important businessman." "Perhaps it was because of the day he died?" "The day he died, sir?" "Christmas Eve." "But it would account for the lack of grieving relatives." "At least he was spared that in his final hours." "Great loss, sir." "We leave you to grieve in silence." "The firm of Scrooge and Marley will miss your shrewd brain and keen eye, Jacob." "We went through some hard times together." "But we pulled through and we thrived on the idleness of others." "Rest content, Jacob, the firm we built together will prosper." "I promise." "And a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!" "Merry Christmas, sir." "Merry Christmas, sir." "I was wondering, sir, if after seven years you would be removing Mr. Marley's name from the sign outside?" "No, time will erase it at no cost to us." "Yes, sir." "I was just getting some coal, sir, for the fire." "It's going out." "Poke it, sir." "Poke it." "A Merry Christmas, Uncle!" "God save you!" "Bah!" "Humbug!" "Christmas a humbug, Uncle?" "You don't mean it." "I do mean it, sir!" "Merry Christmas." "What reason have you to be merry?" "What right have you to be merry?" "You're poor!" "What right have you to be miserable, then?" "You're rich!" "Merry Christmas!" "Damn your Merry Christmas!" "What's Christmastime to you but a time for paying bills without money." "A time for finding yourself a year older and not an hour richer." "A time for balancing your books and finding every item dead against you." "If I had my way, every idiot who went around with "Merry Christmas" on his lips would be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart." "Come, Uncle." "Nephew, you keep Christmas in your way." "I'll keep it in mine." "But you don't keep it." "Let me leave it alone, then." "I still say, "Merry Christmas."" "That's all you do say and much good it does you." "Much good it will ever do you." "There're many things I've got a lot of good from which haven't made me a penny profit." "Christmas amongst them." "I've always thought of Christmas as a time for good, not a time for profit." "A kind, forgiving time." "A time when men and women can think of others." "It's never put an extra penny in my pocket but I believe Christmas has done me good, and will do me good." "So I still say, "Merry Christmas, Uncle! "" "You said something, Mr. Cratchit?" "No, sir." "Not a sound out of you or you'll make this a truly Merry Christmas by losing your job." "Uncle, don't be hard on Mr. Cratchit." "It's all my fault." "You are quite the powerful speaker, sir." "A wonder you don't go into Parliament." "Don't be angry, Uncle." " Dine with us tomorrow." " Dine with you!" "I'll see you damned first!" "But why?" "Why did you marry?" "Because I fell in love." "Because you fell in love." "Love." "Humbug." "You won't come see me 'cause I'm married?" "Yes." "Well, you never came to see me when I wasn't married." "Good afternoon, Nephew." "I want nothing from you." "I ask nothing of you." "Why can't we be friends?" "Good afternoon." "I'm sorry you're so stubborn." "But I came here full of Christmas spirit." "So I say again, "Merry Christmas, Uncle! "" "Good afternoon." " And a Happy New Year!" " Good afternoon!" "A Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Cratchit!" "Merry Christmas, sir!" "You find my nephew amusing, Cratchit?" "He's a very pleasant fellow, sir." "Yeah, you're another Christmas lunatic like him." "If you say so, sir." "It seems you doubt me, Mr. Cratchit." "What are you then?" "Your clerk, Mr. Scrooge." "My 15-shilling-a-week clerk." "With a wife and family." "Yet you babble about Merry Christmas." "I'll retire to bedlam." "Sir, do you know this area?" "Tolerably well." "We're new here." "We're looking for the offices of Scrooge and Marley." "Some 50 yards along on the right." "Good." "We're collecting charitable donations for the poor of Clerkenwell." "You are collecting money on behalf of a charity from Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge?" "Yes and Mr. Marley and other businessmen of the neighborhood." "Yes, we think Christmas Eve is the most appropriate time for giving freely." "This is the office of Scrooge and Marley?" "It is, sir." "May I press your cudiles, sir." "Do I have the honor of addressing Mr. Scrooge or Mr. Marley?" "Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years." "He died seven years ago, this very night." "Mr. Williams and Mr. Foster." "May we offer our sympathy?" "Why?" "You're not relatives, are you?" "No, but we feel sure you must be thinking about him at this time." "And I'm sure his generosity is represented by his surviving partner." "At this festive time of the year, it's surely desirable that we make some slight provision for the poor and destitute don't you agree?" "I take it that you gentlemen are new to the district?" "New and eager, sir!" "You will agree that many thousands of people lack the basic necessities and many hundreds of thousands lack ordinary comforts." "Are there no prisons?" "Plenty of prisons, sir." "And the union workhouses?" "Are they still in operation?" "Yes, they are." "I only wish I could say they were not." "A few of us are endeavoring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink and means of warmth." "How much may we put you down for, Mr. Scrooge?" "Nothing." "You wish to remain anonymous?" "I wish to be left alone." "I don't make merry myself at Christmas time and I can't afford to make idle people merry." "I support those institutions I have mentioned, and I expect the poor to make use of them." "Those who are badly off must go there." "Many cannot go there and many would rather die." "If they would rather die, they'd better do it and decrease the surplus population." "Mr. Cratchit would you show these gentlemen out?" "I'm going to try Scrooge's." "No, don't do that." ""Good King Wenceslas looked out" ""On the feast of Stephen" ""When the snow lay round about" ""Deep and crisp and even" ""Brightly shown the moon that night" ""Though the frost was cruel" ""When a poor man came in..."" "It's Scrooge!" "Run!" "Away with you." "You'll want all day tomorrow, I suppose?" "If it's convenient, sir." "It's not convenient!" "And it's not fair." "If I was to deduct half a crown for you taking the day off you'd think yourself ill-used." "I'll be bound." "But you don't think me ill-used when I pay you a day's wages for no work." "It's only once a year, sir." "Fine excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December." "I suppose you must have the whole day." "You'll be here all the earlier the next morning." "Yes, sir." "Merry..." "You were about to say something, Cratchit?" "Nothing, sir." "Jacob." "Jacob Marley." "Humbug." "Indigestion." "No." "I won't believe it." "What business do you want with me?" "Much." "Who are you, sir?" "Ask me who I was." "Very well, who were you then?" "In life, I was your partner." "Jacob Marley." "Can you sit down?" "I can." "Well, do it then." "You don't believe in me?" "I don't." "Why do you doubt your senses?" "Because little things upset them." "An upset stomach can put them quite out of order." "You could be a crumb of moldy cheese." "An underdone turnip." "Moldy cheese?" "An underdone turnip?" "Or some British beef." "That can be mighty upsetting to the stomach." "There's more gravy than grave about you, Jacob!" "What is it?" "Speak up, man!" "Why do spirits walk the earth?" "Why do they come to me?" "It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men and travel far and wide." "And if that spirit goes not forth in life it is condemned to do so after death." "It is doomed to wander through the world." "Woe is me!" "And witness what it cannot share but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!" "You're fettered." "Tell me why?" "I wear the chain I forged in life." "I made it link by link and yard by yard." "It is a ponderous chain." "Do you know the weight and length of the strong coil you bear?" "It was as heavy and as long as this seven Christmas Eve's ago." "You have labored on it since." "Jacob!" "Jacob Marley." "Speak comfort to me, Jacob." "I have none to give." "I cannot rest." "I cannot stay." "I cannot linger anywhere." "Never to be able to make amends for missed opportunities." "The torture of remorse." "I don't understand why you're suffering?" "All your life you were a good businessman." "That's why I'm suffering!" "The suffering I caused others is being repaid." "Jacob, it was business!" "Business?" "Mankind was my business!" "The common good was my business." "At this time of the rolling year, I suffer most." "Why I can appear to you tonight in a shape that you can see, I do not know." "But I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day, trying to reach you." "Listen to me, Ebenezer, my time on earth is nearly gone." "I'm here to warn you that you have a chance of escaping my terrible fate." "A chance I got for you." "You were always a good friend to me." "You will be haunted by three spirits." " Is this the chance you spoke of?" " It is." "Then, I'd rather not." "Without their visits, you've no hope of escaping your fate." "Expect the first tomorrow, when the bell tolls 1:00." "Couldn't they come at once, get it done with?" "Expect the second spirit on the next night at the same time." "The third, the night following at 12:00." "Look to see me no more and for your own sake remember what has passed between us." "These spirits try to interfere for good in human affairs." "But they've lost the power forever." "That is the curse we bear." "A quarter past." "Half past." "A quarter to it." "The hour itself." "Nothing's happened." "Are you the spirit, whose coming was foretold?" "I am." "Who?" "What are you?" "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past." "Long past?" "No." "Your past." "Spirit, put on your cap." "Be covered." "What?" "Would you soon put out the light I give?" "Is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap and forced me to wear it low upon my brow?" "I'd no intention of offending you, sir." "Thank ye." "What business brings you here?" "Your welfare." "Oh, well, I'm much obliged to you." "But a peaceful night of unbroken rest would've been more conducive to that end." "Your reclamation then." "Come with me." "Some other time perhaps." "I'm not dressed." "I've a weak chest." "A monstrous head cold." "Rise and walk with me." "No, I'm mortal." "I'm liable to fall." "All I have to do is touch you." "There." "Good Heavens!" "I know this place!" "I was a boy here." "You remember the way?" "Remember it?" "I could walk it blindfold." "I know these boys." "We went to the same school." "There's Jenkins!" "And Tony Veck!" "And Benjamin Fish." "And Toby Bell." "Toby!" "They are only shadows of the things that have been." "They can't see us or hear us." "They're going home for the Christmas holidays." "It's my old school." "Why didn't you go home for Christmas?" "I wasn't wanted." "My father turned against me when my mother died." "Sent me away." "Didn't want to see me, ever." "That's hard." "Life is hard." "Let's see another Christmas." "Fran!" "Brother!" "Brother!" "Fran!" " What are you doing here, Fran?" " I've come to bring you home, Brother!" "Home!" "Home, home!" "For how long?" "For ever and ever." "Father's changed." "He's so much kinder than he used to be." "Home is like heaven now!" "He spoke so gently to me one dear night when I was going to bed as I wasn't 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." "Fran!" "Come on!" " Come on!" " I'm coming, Fran." "Hurry up." "Such a delicate creature." "But she had a large heart." "So she had." "You're right." "I'll not deny it, Spirit." "God forbid." "She died young." "Too young." "Your sister married and had children." "One child." "True." "Your nephew." "Fred...yes." "You know this place?" "Know it?" "I was apprenticed here!" "Fezziwig." "It's old Fezziwig, alive again." "Yo-ho, Ebenezer!" "Dick." "It's 7:00." "Dick Wilkins!" "Why, bless me!" "There he is." "He was very much attached to me, was Dick." "No more work, boys." "It's Christmas Eve, Dick." "It's Christmas, Ebenezer." "No more business." "Doors closed, shutters up, before you can say "Jack Robinson." Yo-ho, yo-ho, quickly." "Quickly clear away." "Mind the ledger, mind the ledger." "Now then." "Make more room for the dancing." "Hilli-ho." "Hilli-ho, Dick." "Hilli-ho, Ebenezer." "That's right." "Shut 'em up, boys." "Shut 'em up." "Doors next." "Chair up." "Chair up." "We're ready ladies." "Hold your horses, husband." "Horses?" "Horses?" "I see no horses, my dear." "Splendid woman, Mrs. Fezziwig." "Little Eli Fezziwig." "Marigold." "Daisy and Lily Fezziwig." "Ebenezer!" "Ebenezer!" "Do the trick." "You want the trick, Master Eli?" "Abracadabra one, two three!" "Mrs. Fezziwig, I thought you were on a diet." "I am but I need this to give me the strength to go on with it." "Tuck in one and all." "Eat heartily before Mrs. Fezziwig has it all." "And remember, remember, she's on a diet!" "Your turn, Mr. Fezziwig." "Not tonight, Mrs. F." "Oh, persuade him, Ebenezer." "It wouldn't be Christmas without you performing, Mr. Fezziwig." "Oh, very well." "I could always coax him into it." "Silence, Ms. Fezziwig." ""Everyone surely knows" ""I want to marry Rose" ""I am not a one to pose" ""I want to marry Rose, but" ""There's her uncle and her brother And her sister and her mother" ""Yes, her uncle and brother her sister and mother, but" ""Rose Rose Rose I'm not going to marry all of those" ""Aunties in dozens and fat-headed cousins In row rows rows rows" ""Rose Rose Rose I'm not going to marry all of those" ""Aunties in dozens and fat-headed cousins In rows rows rows rows"" "The Portsmouth Polka!" "Fezziwig once said to me:" ""Ebenezer, when happiness shows up..." ""...always give it a comfortable seat."" "True." "Giving people pleasure is such a small matter." "He only spent a few pounds." "Three or four at best." "Is it so much that he deserves praise for it." "You don't understand, Spirit." "He had the power to make us happy or unhappy." "To make our work heavy or light." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Looking back perhaps things seem better than they really were." "All this was a lie then." "The world changes." "You can't trust anything." "But no it was just like this, right down to the last mince pie and dance." "The years change people." "I don't wish to look, sir." "You must." "There's nothing the world is so hard on as poverty, Belle." "And there's nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth." "You fear the world too much." "All your nobler hopes have merged into the one hope of being rich." "One master passion engulfs you." "Money." "What of it?" "Even if I have grown wiser, I've not changed towards you have I?" "Our promise to marry is an old one." "It was made when we were poor and content to be so until we improved our fortunes." "You are changed." "When we promised each other, you were another man." "I was a boy." "How often and how keenly I have thought of this, I will not say." "But I have thought of it and can release you from your promise." "No, no." "Have I ever asked you to release me?" "In words." "No." "Never." "How then?" "In your changed nature." "In everything that made me love you." "If this had never been between us, tell me would you seek me out and try to win me now?" "No." "You think not?" "I know you wouldn't, my love." "Speak to her." "Why doesn't he speak to her?" "If you were free today, tomorrow, yesterday would you choose a poor girl like me to marry?" "You who weigh everything by gain?" "No, there'd be no profit in it." "And if you forgot your principle of profit for a moment and did marry me you'd regret it, my love, I know." "And so, I release you with a full heart for the love of the man you once were." "May you be happy in the life you've chosen." "Go after her." "Don't be afraid." "Go after her!" "No more." "Show me no more." "Take me home." "Why do you delight in torturing me?" "Haunt me no longer!" "Come in." "Come in and know me better." "Have you never seen anything like this before?" "Not in this house." "I am the Ghost of Christmas Present." "Haven't you met with others of my family?" "My older brothers who preceded me?" "I don't think I have, Spirit." "Have you had many brothers?" "More than 1800." "A tremendous family to provide for." "Spirit, take me where you wish." "I'd like to get it over and done with." "Touch my robe." "Why do you sprinkle water onto the food?" "Is there a blessing in it?" "There is." "My own." "Would it apply to any meal on this day?" "To any kindly given." "To a poor one most of all." "Why to a poor one most of all?" "Because it needs it most." "Where are we going now?" "Mr. Cratchit's house, every Christmas." "My clerk, Bob Cratchit?" "The same Bob you pay 15 "bob" a week." "Every Saturday he pockets just 15 copies of his Christian name and yet here I am, the Ghost of Christmas Present, going to bless him." ""Talk about a penn'orth of fun" ""Yesterday it fair took the bun" ""In came the broker's men To collar our few sticks" ""But we were up to all their tricks" ""We've all been having a go at 'em We've all been having a go" ""One's in the dusthold minus pants The other's gone home in an ambulance" ""Oh good gracious, didn't we make a show" ""Seventeen of us besides myself" ""And, we've all been having a go" ""Oh, we've all been having a go" ""Yeah, we've all been having a go"" "Let the punch get nice and hot, Belinda." "Your father should be home any minute with Tim." " Martha's here." " Martha is here!" "Martha is here!" "Hurray!" " You should see the goose, Martha!" " It's such a goose, Martha." "You'll not believe it." "Bless my heart alive, my dear." "You're late." "We had a great deal of work to finish off, so I slept in the workshop." "Then we had to clear away this morning." "She sounds like a very hard working young girl." "She has to be." "Never mind." "So as long as you're here." "Sit yourself down by the fire and have yourself a good warm." "Here's Father coming." "Father's coming?" "Hide, Martha!" "Go on, hide!" "Go, go, go." "Whoa there, dobbin." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas, Father." "And so say all of us." "Come on, Tim." "You need a wash." "I didn't know Cratchit had a crippled son." "Why didn't you ask?" "Where's Martha?" "She's not coming." "Not coming?" "Not coming on Christmas Day?" "Martha!" "It's Martha!" "Of course, it is." "Come on, girls." "Let's get the table laid." "How did Tim behave?" "As good as gold." "And better." "Somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much and he thinks the strangest things you ever heard." "He told me, coming home he hoped the people saw him in church because he was a cripple and it might be pleasant to remember on Christmas who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." "Not many remember that, you can count on it." "I think he's getting better by the day." "He's growing stronger, Mother." "Everyone go to the table." "The goose!" "Is it ready?" "It should be, it's been cooking for the past five hours." "Here you go, Tim." "And here's the gravy." "The goose." "The goose." "The goose." "The goose." "The goose..." "It's beautiful." "It's not there to be looked at." "No, no." "You do the honors, Mother." "It's a beauty." "Where did you get it, Mother?" "The market." "I left it late, so I got it cheap." "Very clever, my dear." "It does smell good, I must say." "It's so tender." "It melts in your mouth." "I love the gravy." "It's just sage and onion." "It's a feast, Mother." "Only you could've done it." "What do you think, Tim?" "What'd you say, Tim?" "Speak up, Tim!" "Give the lad a chance." "It's the best goose we've ever had." "Tell me, Spirit." "Will Tiny Tim live?" "I see an empty chair by the fireplace and a crutch without an owner carefully preserved." "Unless, the future changes, the child will die." "Wonderful meal, Mother." "You done us proud." "The best is yet to come, Robert." "Pudding!" "It might not be done yet." "Mother might break it, turning it out." "Suppose somebody got over the garden wall and stole it when we were eating the goose." " Don't say that." " They couldn't." " Oh, my goodness!" " Look at the flames." "It's great." "And there's the holly." "Pass that to your father." "Well?" "Well?" "This is without a doubt the greatest success you have achieved since we were married." "I had my doubts about it." "I wasn't too sure about the flour." "There's nothing wrong with that pudding except it's very small for such a large family." "Nobody complained." "Any Cratchit would blush at even the hint of such a thing." "Look." "A Merry Christmas to us all." "My dear, God bless us." "Merry Christmas!" "God bless us!" "God bless us, every one." "Is there no chance that boy will be spared?" "Not if the future remains unaltered." "Hmm." "But so what if it happens?" "If he'll die, he'd better do it quickly and decrease the surplus population." "Man." "If you be a man in your heart, forbear that wicked cant until you've discovered what the surplus really is and where it is." "Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die?" "It may be in the sight of heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child." "God!" "To hear the insect on the leaf pronouncing that there is too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust." "A toast, children." "To Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast." "Did you say, "Scrooge, Founder of the Feast?"" "Well, my dear..." ""Founder of the Feast," indeed." "I wish I had him here." "I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon." "I hope he'd have a good appetite for it." "My dear, the children." "It's Christmas Day." "It should be Christmas Day, I'm sure on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge." "You know he is, Robert!" "Nobody knows it better than you do, poor fellow!" "My dear, Christmas Day..." "I'll drink to his health for your sake and the day's, not for his." "Long life to him." "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." "A nice gesture." "A long life to him." "A Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge." "Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge." "He'll be as merry as a graveyard on a wet Sunday." "Let's forget Ebenezer Scrooge, and enjoy ourselves." "Give us a song, Tim lad." ""Silent night" ""Holy night" ""All is calm" ""All is bright" ""Round yon Virgin" ""Mother and Child" ""Holy infant so tender and mild" ""Sleep in..." ""...heavenly peace..."" "He said that Christmas was a humbug." "He really did." "It seems the less Uncle Scrooge knows, the more stubbornly he knows it." "The narrower a man's mind, the broader his statements." " That's we'll put, Mr. Bennett." " Thank you, my dear." "Do you think he believes it, about Christmas and humbug?" "Oh yes, he believes it." "More shame on him, Fred." "That's what I say." "More shame on him." "If you say so, so do I, Miss Betsy." "Mr. Haines." "Please, call me Topper." "Everyone I like calls me Topper." "Oh, Mr. Topper." "My uncle's a very comical old fellow, but I'll not say anything against him." "Heat the poker, Topper." "You're so easygoing, Fred." "Why won't you say anything against Uncle Scrooge after the way he's treated you?" "Why won't you, Fred?" "Because I think his offenses carry their own punishment." "I've not patience with the man." "Well, Mr. Scrooge certainly has very few friends." "He's the most uncivil man I've ever met, Mr. Bennett." "He never says "Good morning" or "Good evening" or "Merry Christmas."" "He leaves a bad taste in people's eyes." "Poor devil." "Who suffers from his ill humor?" "Only himself." "By not making merry with us, I'm sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his moldy office or his dusty chambers." "Anyway, I mean to keep the door of happiness open and give him a chance every year to slip in whether he likes it or not." "The poker, Topper!" " Topper, would you do the honors?" " My pleasure." "I don't understand why your husband defends Mr. Scrooge." "It's because his mother loved Scrooge so when they were children." "If my mother loved someone, they must've had a good heart in them, just as she did." "She gave that heart to you, my dear." "That's why I love you." "They're talking about your little sister, Fran, aren't they?" "Yes, they are." "I sometimes forget that Fred is Fran's child." "You shouldn't." "We have to go now." "Let's play Consequences or Cupid's Coming." "No, no." "Dumb Crambo." "Blind-Man's-Bluff." "Let's play Blind-Man's-Bluff." "Games, Spirit." "Games." "It's been so long since..." "Let's stay a little." "He's cheating." "He's cheating." "He is cheating." "Cheat?" "It's an outrage." "Pretty little nose." " And a little mouth." " Mr. Topper!" "It's Betsy!" "Forfeit." "Oh, Mr. Topper!" "It must be a kiss." "A kiss." "A kiss." "Come on." "Now, we must go." "Wait, Spirit." "I need to hear." "That was my sister's favorite tune." "Fran." "Yes." "You should've accepted Fred's invitation to dine." "What?" "For Fran's sake, if not for yours." "I should." "We still have much to do." "You've grown old, Spirit." "Are spirits' lives so short?" "My life on this globe is very brief." "It ends tonight." "Tonight?" "Tonight at midnight." "The time is drawing near." "Spirit, forgive me, but..." "I see something strange and not belonging to you." "There, beneath your robe." "Is it a foot or a claw?" "It might be a claw for all the flesh there is on it." "Look." "Spirit, are they yours?" "No, they are Man's." "This boy is ignorance." "This girl is Want." "Beware of both of them, but most of all beware of the boy." "For on his forehead I see that written which is doom unless the writing is erased." "If you deny him slander those who tell others about him admit he exists, but do nothing about it then doom will engulf you all!" "Are there no shelters?" "No charities to help them?" "Are there no prisons?" "Are there no workhouses?" "You are the Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come?" "You are about to show me the shadows of the things that have not happened but will happen in the time to come." "I fear you more than any of the spirits I've seen." "Will you not speak?" "Lead on." "Lead on, Spirit." "The night is waning fast." "It is precious time to me, I know." "Lead on." "Ah, Spirit." "The Stock Exchange." "Now I feel at home." "I know these men." "Here profit is worshipped and profit is everything." "I can't find out the truth about old Scratchy." "No, I don't know much about it, either." "I only know he's gone." " When?" " Just last night, they say." "What was it?" "I thought he'd never die." "God knows." "What about his money?" "Who'll get it?" "Not me, that's all I know." "It's likely to be a very cheap funeral 'cause I can't think of anyone who'll be there." "Do you think we should volunteer?" "I don't mind going if there's a lunch." "I must be fed." "I never eat lunch, and I never wear black gloves." "So there's not much in it for me, but if you're making up a party..." "Let's just say...we'll think about it." "What's this?" "An undertaker, a laundress, and a charlady." "And all come at once?" " It wasn't planned." " We're here by chance, Joe." "There's no conspiracy." "If I thought that there was, you'd be out like a shot." "I can't be too careful." "As it is, you're welcome." "How goes the day, Joe?" "I'm sure there's no bones older than mine, Mrs. Dilber." "We're all suited to our calling." "Matched in heaven." "I am a rag-and-bone man by trade and a rag-and-bone man by nature." "But trade is not what it was." "Why are you looking, Mrs. Dilber?" "Everyone's got a right to take care of themselves." " He always did." " No man more, Mrs. Riggs." "If he'd wanted to keep them after he was dead, wicked old screw why wasn't he more easy-like in his life?" "If he had been he'd had somebody to look after him when he was struck with death instead of lying gasping out his last there." "Alone there." "Undo my bundle, Joe." "Tell me what the value is." "Now, speak plain." "I'm not afraid to go first." "We knew pretty well, we was helping ourselves before we met." "It's no sin." "Only if we get caught." "No chance of that." "Nobody cared what happened to him then nor now." "Open the bundle." "No, ladies." "Mine first." "It's the smallest." "Meager pickings, Mr. Crump." "A pencil case." "Two sleeve buttons, and a brooch...of no great value." "Seven shillings?" "Done." "Me next, Joe." "One sheet." "Four towels." "An old shirt." "Teaspoons." "Sugar tongs." "An old pair of boots in need of repair." "One pound, one shilling, and eight pence, Mrs. Dilber." "One pound, one shilling and eight pence?" "I always give too much to ladies." "It's a weakness of mine." "If you ask for one more penny, I'll repent and knock off five shillings!" "Open my bundle, Joe." "What are we doing in this place, Spirit?" "Bed curtains." "Bed curtains." "You took them down with him lying there cold?" "God in heaven, the rings are still on 'em." "I did it." "And why not?" "You were born to make a fortune, Mrs. Riggs." "I don't hold my hand back when I can get something in it by reaching out." "Are they his blankets, Mrs. Riggs?" "Who else's?" "He isn't likely to catch a cold without them, I daresay." "I hope he didn't die of anything catching." "Don't be afraid of that." "I wasn't so fond of his company that I'd loiter about him for anything like that, if he did." "Look at that shirt, Joe." "Finest bit of silk you'll see in a month of Sundays." "They would've wasted it if it wasn't for me." "What do you mean, wasted it?" "Some fool put it on him to be buried in." "I so took it off again." "Calico's good enough for him." "I understand what you want me to do, Spirit." "I would do it if I could I have not the power, Spirit." "I have not the power." "Isn't there anyone who feels emotion at this man's death?" " Is it good or bad?" " Bad." "We are ruined then." "There's still hope, Caroline." "If he relents, there is." "But that would be a miracle." "He is past relenting." "He's dead." "To whom will our debt be transferred?" "I don't know." "But, it'll take time." "By then, we will be ready with the money." "I never thought death could bring so much happiness." "No, no." "Show me some tenderness connected with the death." "The cemetery." "You went today?" "Yes, my dear." "I wish you could've been there." "It would've done you good to see how green a place it is." "Still, you'll see it often." "I promised him that I would walk there on a Sunday." "My little, little child." "My little child." "There, Tim." "There, Tim." "Don't be afraid." "We will always love you." "Always." "I met Mr. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, on the street today." "He saw that I was a little down and asked what was the matter." "I told him about our boy, Tim, and you know what he said?" "What did he say, dear?" ""I am heartily sorry for it, Mr. Cratchit, and heartily sorry for your good wife."" "By the bye, how he knew that, I don't know." "Knew what dear?" "That you were a good wife." "Everybody knows that." "Well said, my boy." "Anyway, young Fred gives me his card and says:" ""That's where I live, Bob." "Come and visit us."" "I was grateful, not for anything he might do for us so much as his kindly ways." "It really seemed as if he's known our Tim and felt for us." "He sounds a good soul." "You'd be sure of it if you met him, Mother." "I'm sure we'll never forget our Tim, will we?" "Never, Father." "And I know that when we remember how brave and patient he was although he was only small we'll never quarrel amongst ourselves again and forget our Tim in doing it." "Of course we won't, my dear." "I'm very happy." "Very happy." "Spirit, answer me one question." "Are these the shadows of things that will be or the shadows of things that may be, only?" "Men's actions determine certain ends if they persist in them." "But if their actions change, the ends change too." "Say it is so with what you show me." "Am I the man that lay upon that bed?" "Oh, no, Spirit!" "Spirit, no, no!" "Spirit, hear me." "I'm not the man I was." "Why show me this if I am past all hope?" "Good spirit, pity me." "I will know Christmas in my heart, and keep it all the year." "The Spirits of all three Christmases shall thrive in me." "I will not shut out the lessons that they teach." "Oh, let me wash away the writing on this stone!" "My room." "My bed." "Jacob, Heaven and Christmas time be praised." "Still here." "They are not torn down." "Rings and all." "They're here!" "I'm here." "The shadows of the things that would have been can be dispelled." "They will be." "I know they will!" "I don't know what day it is." "I don't know how long I've been among the Spirits." "I don't know anything." "No fog." "No mist." "Clear, bright, cold." "Cold, piping for the blood to dance to." "Hello!" "What's today?" "Eh?" "What's today, my fine fellow?" "Today?" "Why, it's Christmas Day." "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." "Hello, my fine fellow." "Hello." "Do you know the Poulterers in the next street?" "Of course I do." "Have they sold the prize turkey hanging in the window?" "The big one." "The one as big as me?" "That's it." "Delightful boy." "Yes, it's still there." "Good." "Go buy it." "You're jossing." "No." "Go buy it." "In my name." "Tell them to bring it straight here." "Come back with the man and I'll give you a shilling." "Come back in five minutes, I'll give you two." "I'll send it to Bob Cratchit." "He won't know who's it from." "Here's the man and here's the turkey." "Now, where's my two shillings?" "Now that's a turkey." "And here are your two shillings, my boy." "I want you to take this bird to Bob Cratchit." "24 Camden Road, Camden Town." "24 Camden Road?" "No, wait." "You can't carry that bird all the way to Camden Town." "You must take a cab." "Yes, sir." "Keep the change." "And don't tell Cratchit where it came from." "A cab, sir." "A cab." "Good morning, gentlemen." "How good to see you." "Good morning, madam." "Sir!" "Beautiful day." "Good morning, my dear." "What a lovely day." "Fine snowman, fine snowman." "Got you." ""God rest you merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay" ""For Jesus Christ our Savior Was born upon this day" ""To save us all from Satan's power When we were gone astray" ""Oh, tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy" ""Oh, tidings of comfort and joy"" ""...of comfort and joy Comfort and joy" ""Oh, tidings of comfort and joy"" "Merry Christmas." " A Merry Christmas to you both." " A Merry Christmas to you, sir." ""I'm nervous fidgety very reserved in fact I'm almost awfully shy" ""I can't look a girl in the face but I blush for I feel most awfully shy" ""Shy shy shy shy" ""Oh, I'm so shy, dreadfully shy" ""Shy shy shy shy" ""I can't pass a dress shop because I'm so shy" ""I'm nervous jittery quite unsure in truth I'm most dreadfully shy" ""I can't fit all in the day that I blanch for I feel most fearfully shy" ""Shy shy shy shy" ""Oh, I'm so shy dreadfully shy" ""Shy shy shy shy" ""I can't look a girl in the eye I'm so shy"" "Is your master at home, my dear?" "Yes, sir." "Where is he, my love?" "He's in the dining room with his guests." "I'll announce." "Thank ye, thank ye." "He knows me." "I know the way, my dear." "Fred it's I." "It's your Uncle Scrooge." "I've come to dinner." "Will you have me, Fred?" "Bless my soul." "Have you?" "Of course, we'll have you." "Any you, my dear..." "Can you forgive a stupid old man who doesn't want to be left out in the cold anymore?" "Will you take me in?" "Merry Christmas, Uncle." " Merry Christmas." " Merry Christmas." "Mr. Cratchit, a word with you." "What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?" "I'm very sorry, sir." "I'm behind my time." "Oh, yes, you are." "Indeed, you are." "It's only once a year, sir." "It's only once a year." "I was making rather merry yesterday, sir." "I'll tell you what, my friend." "I'm not going to put up with this any longer." "And therefore and therefore I'm going to raise your salary." "Merry Christmas, Bob!" "A Merrier Christmas than I've wished you in many a year." "I'd like to help your family if you'd let me." "I will raise your salary and we will discuss your affairs this afternoon over a Christmas bowl of smoking Bishop." "Make up the fires and before you dot another "i", Bob Cratchit buy another coal scuttle." "My uncle was better than 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 alteration in him but he let them laugh and little heeded them." "His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him." "Come along, Tim." "It was always said of Scrooge that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge." "May that be truly said of us, and all of us." "And so, as Tiny Tim observed:" "God bless us, every one!" "Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery." "He cometh up and is cut down like a flower." "He flee from us like a shadow..." "I can hardly believe that Mr. Marley's gone." "He's at peace, Mr. Crump." "He's nowhere, sir." "The truth is he's dead." "Dead as a doornail." "Though I don't know what is particularly dead about a doornail." "I wouldn't think that a doornail was the deadest piece of iron mongery in the trade." "Why not say, dead as a doorknob, or doorknocker?" "Nail, knob, or knocker, Jacob's gone and there's an end to it." "A mighty poor turnout for such an important businessman." "Perhaps it was because of the day he died?" "The day he died, sir?" "Christmas Eve." "But it would account for the lack of grieving relatives." "At least he was spared that in his final hours." "Great loss, sir." "We leave you to grieve in silence." "The firm of Scrooge and Marley will miss your shrewd brain and keen eye, Jacob." "We went through some hard times together." "But we pulled through and we thrived on the idleness of others." "Rest content, Jacob, the firm we built together will prosper." "I promise." "And a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!" "Merry Christmas, sir." "Merry Christmas, sir." "I was wondering, sir, if after seven years you would be removing Mr. Marley's name from the sign outside?" "No, time will erase it at no cost to us." "Yes, sir." "I was just getting some coal, sir, for the fire." "It's going out." "Poke it, sir." "Poke it." "A Merry Christmas, Uncle!" "God save you!" "Bah!" "Humbug!" "Christmas a humbug, Uncle?" "You don't mean it." "I do mean it, sir!" "Merry Christmas." "What reason have you to be merry?" "What right have you to be merry?" "You're poor!" "What right have you to be miserable, then?" "You're rich!" "Merry Christmas!" "Damn your Merry Christmas!" "What's Christmastime to you but a time for paying bills without money." "A time for finding yourself a year older and not an hour richer." "A time for balancing your books and finding every item dead against you." "If I had my way, every idiot who went around with "Merry Christmas" on his lips would be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart." "Come, Uncle." "Nephew, you keep Christmas in your way." "I'll keep it in mine." "But you don't keep it." "Let me leave it alone, then." "I still say, "Merry Christmas."" "That's all you do say and much good it does you." "Much good it will ever do you." "There're many things I've got a lot of good from which haven't made me a penny profit." "Christmas amongst them." "I've always thought of Christmas as a time for good, not a time for profit." "A kind, forgiving time." "A time when men and women can think of others." "It's never put an extra penny in my pocket but I believe Christmas has done me good, and will do me good." "So I still say, "Merry Christmas, Uncle! "" "You said something, Mr. Cratchit?" "No, sir." "Not a sound out of you or you'll make this a truly Merry Christmas by losing your job." "Uncle, don't be hard on Mr. Cratchit." "It's all my fault." "You are quite the powerful speaker, sir." "A wonder you don't go into Parliament." "Don't be angry, Uncle." " Dine with us tomorrow." " Dine with you!" "I'll see you damned first!" "But why?" "Why did you marry?" "Because I fell in love." "Because you fell in love." "Love." "Humbug." "You won't come see me 'cause I'm married?" "Yes." "Well, you never came to see me when I wasn't married." "Good afternoon, Nephew." "I want nothing from you." "I ask nothing of you." "Why can't we be friends?" "Good afternoon." "I'm sorry you're so stubborn." "But I came here full of Christmas spirit." "So I say again, "Merry Christmas, Uncle! "" "Good afternoon." " And a Happy New Year!" " Good afternoon!" "A Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Cratchit!" "Merry Christmas, sir!" "You find my nephew amusing, Cratchit?" "He's a very pleasant fellow, sir." "Yeah, you're another Christmas lunatic like him." "If you say so, sir." "It seems you doubt me, Mr. Cratchit." "What are you then?" "Your clerk, Mr. Scrooge." "My 15-shilling-a-week clerk." "With a wife and family." "Yet you babble about Merry Christmas." "I'll retire to bedlam." "Sir, do you know this area?" "Tolerably well." "We're new here." "We're looking for the offices of Scrooge and Marley." "Some 50 yards along on the right." "Good." "We're collecting charitable donations for the poor of Clerkenwell." "You are collecting money on behalf of a charity from Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge?" "Yes and Mr. Marley and other businessmen of the neighborhood." "Yes, we think Christmas Eve is the most appropriate time for giving freely." "This is the office of Scrooge and Marley?" "It is, sir." "May I press your cudiles, sir." "Do I have the honor of addressing Mr. Scrooge or Mr. Marley?" "Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years." "He died seven years ago, this very night." "Mr. Williams and Mr. Foster." "May we offer our sympathy?" "Why?" "You're not relatives, are you?" "No, but we feel sure you must be thinking about him at this time." "And I'm sure his generosity is represented by his surviving partner." "At this festive time of the year, it's surely desirable that we make some slight provision for the poor and destitute don't you agree?" "I take it that you gentlemen are new to the district?" "New and eager, sir!" "You will agree that many thousands of people lack the basic necessities and many hundreds of thousands lack ordinary comforts." "Are there no prisons?" "Plenty of prisons, sir." "And the union workhouses?" "Are they still in operation?" "Yes, they are." "I only wish I could say they were not." "A few of us are endeavoring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink and means of warmth." "How much may we put you down for, Mr. Scrooge?" "Nothing." "You wish to remain anonymous?" "I wish to be left alone." "I don't make merry myself at Christmas time and I can't afford to make idle people merry." "I support those institutions I have mentioned, and I expect the poor to make use of them." "Those who are badly off must go there." "Many cannot go there and many would rather die." "If they would rather die, they'd better do it and decrease the surplus population." "Mr. Cratchit would you show these gentlemen out?" "I'm going to try Scrooge's." "No, don't do that." ""Good King Wenceslas looked out" ""On the feast of Stephen" ""When the snow lay round about" ""Deep and crisp and even" ""Brightly shown the moon that night" ""Though the frost was cruel" ""When a poor man came in..."" "It's Scrooge!" "Run!" "Away with you." "You'll want all day tomorrow, I suppose?" "If it's convenient, sir." "It's not convenient!" "And it's not fair." "If I was to deduct half a crown for you taking the day off you'd think yourself ill-used." "I'll be bound." "But you don't think me ill-used when I pay you a day's wages for no work." "It's only once a year, sir." "Fine excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December." "I suppose you must have the whole day." "You'll be here all the earlier the next morning." "Yes, sir." "Merry..." "You were about to say something, Cratchit?" "Nothing, sir." "Jacob." "Jacob Marley." "Humbug." "Indigestion." "No." "I won't believe it." "What business do you want with me?" "Much." "Who are you, sir?" "Ask me who I was." "Very well, who were you then?" "In life, I was your partner." "Jacob Marley." "Can you sit down?" "I can." "Well, do it then." "You don't believe in me?" "I don't." "Why do you doubt your senses?" "Because little things upset them." "An upset stomach can put them quite out of order." "You could be a crumb of moldy cheese." "An underdone turnip." "Moldy cheese?" "An underdone turnip?" "Or some British beef." "That can be mighty upsetting to the stomach." "There's more gravy than grave about you, Jacob!" "What is it?" "Speak up, man!" "Why do spirits walk the earth?" "Why do they come to me?" "It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men and travel far and wide." "And if that spirit goes not forth in life it is condemned to do so after death." "It is doomed to wander through the world." "Woe is me!" "And witness what it cannot share but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!" "You're fettered." "Tell me why?" "I wear the chain I forged in life." "I made it link by link and yard by yard." "It is a ponderous chain." "Do you know the weight and length of the strong coil you bear?" "It was as heavy and as long as this seven Christmas Eve's ago." "You have labored on it since." "Jacob!" "Jacob Marley." "Speak comfort to me, Jacob." "I have none to give." "I cannot rest." "I cannot stay." "I cannot linger anywhere." "Never to be able to make amends for missed opportunities." "The torture of remorse." "I don't understand why you're suffering?" "All your life you were a good businessman." "That's why I'm suffering!" "The suffering I caused others is being repaid." "Jacob, it was business!" "Business?" "Mankind was my business!" "The common good was my business." "At this time of the rolling year, I suffer most." "Why I can appear to you tonight in a shape that you can see, I do not know." "But I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day, trying to reach you." "Listen to me, Ebenezer, my time on earth is nearly gone." "I'm here to warn you that you have a chance of escaping my terrible fate." "A chance I got for you." "You were always a good friend to me." "You will be haunted by three spirits." " Is this the chance you spoke of?" " It is." "Then, I'd rather not." "Without their visits, you've no hope of escaping your fate." "Expect the first tomorrow, when the bell tolls 1:00." "Couldn't they come at once, get it done with?" "Expect the second spirit on the next night at the same time." "The third, the night following at 12:00." "Look to see me no more and for your own sake remember what has passed between us." "These spirits try to interfere for good in human affairs." "But they've lost the power forever." "That is the curse we bear." "A quarter past." "Half past." "A quarter to it." "The hour itself." "Nothing's happened." "Are you the spirit, whose coming was foretold?" "I am." "Who?" "What are you?" "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past." "Long past?" "No." "Your past." "Spirit, put on your cap." "Be covered." "What?" "Would you soon put out the light I give?" "Is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap and forced me to wear it low upon my brow?" "I'd no intention of offending you, sir." "Thank ye." "What business brings you here?" "Your welfare." "Oh, well, I'm much obliged to you." "But a peaceful night of unbroken rest would've been more conducive to that end." "Your reclamation then." "Come with me." "Some other time perhaps." "I'm not dressed." "I've a weak chest." "A monstrous head cold." "Rise and walk with me." "No, I'm mortal." "I'm liable to fall." "All I have to do is touch you." "There." "Good Heavens!" "I know this place!" "I was a boy here." "You remember the way?" "Remember it?" "I could walk it blindfold." "I know these boys." "We went to the same school." "There's Jenkins!" "And Tony Veck!" "And Benjamin Fish." "And Toby Bell." "Toby!" "They are only shadows of the things that have been." "They can't see us or hear us." "They're going home for the Christmas holidays." "It's my old school." "Why didn't you go home for Christmas?" "I wasn't wanted." "My father turned against me when my mother died." "Sent me away." "Didn't want to see me, ever." "That's hard." "Life is hard." "Let's see another Christmas." "Fran!" "Brother!" "Brother!" "Fran!" " What are you doing here, Fran?" " I've come to bring you home, Brother!" "Home!" "Home, home!" "For how long?" "For ever and ever." "Father's changed." "He's so much kinder than he used to be." "Home is like heaven now!" "He spoke so gently to me one dear night when I was going to bed as I wasn't 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." "Fran!" "Come on!" " Come on!" " I'm coming, Fran." "Hurry up." "Such a delicate creature." "But she had a large heart." "So she had." "You're right." "I'll not deny it, Spirit." "God forbid." "She died young." "Too young." "Your sister married and had children." "One child." "True." "Your nephew." "Fred...yes." "You know this place?" "Know it?" "I was apprenticed here!" "Fezziwig." "It's old Fezziwig, alive again." "Yo-ho, Ebenezer!" "Dick." "It's 7:00." "Dick Wilkins!" "Why, bless me!" "There he is." "He was very much attached to me, was Dick." "No more work, boys." "It's Christmas Eve, Dick." "It's Christmas, Ebenezer." "No more business." "Doors closed, shutters up, before you can say "Jack Robinson." Yo-ho, yo-ho, quickly." "Quickly clear away." "Mind the ledger, mind the ledger." "Now then." "Make more room for the dancing." "Hilli-ho." "Hilli-ho, Dick." "Hilli-ho, Ebenezer." "That's right." "Shut 'em up, boys." "Shut 'em up." "Doors next." "Chair up." "Chair up." "We're ready ladies." "Hold your horses, husband." "Horses?" "Horses?" "I see no horses, my dear." "Splendid woman, Mrs. Fezziwig." "Little Eli Fezziwig." "Marigold." "Daisy and Lily Fezziwig." "Ebenezer!" "Ebenezer!" "Do the trick." "You want the trick, Master Eli?" "Abracadabra one, two three!" "Mrs. Fezziwig, I thought you were on a diet." "I am but I need this to give me the strength to go on with it." "Tuck in one and all." "Eat heartily before Mrs. Fezziwig has it all." "And remember, remember, she's on a diet!" "Your turn, Mr. Fezziwig." "Not tonight, Mrs. F." "Oh, persuade him, Ebenezer." "It wouldn't be Christmas without you performing, Mr. Fezziwig." "Oh, very well." "I could always coax him into it." "Silence, Ms. Fezziwig." ""Everyone surely knows" ""I want to marry Rose" ""I am not a one to pose" ""I want to marry Rose, but" ""There's her uncle and her brother And her sister and her mother" ""Yes, her uncle and brother her sister and mother, but" ""Rose Rose Rose I'm not going to marry all of those" ""Aunties in dozens and fat-headed cousins In row rows rows rows" ""Rose Rose Rose I'm not going to marry all of those" ""Aunties in dozens and fat-headed cousins In rows rows rows rows"" "The Portsmouth Polka!" "Fezziwig once said to me:" ""Ebenezer, when happiness shows up..." ""...always give it a comfortable seat."" "True." "Giving people pleasure is such a small matter." "He only spent a few pounds." "Three or four at best." "Is it so much that he deserves praise for it." "You don't understand, Spirit." "He had the power to make us happy or unhappy." "To make our work heavy or light." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Looking back perhaps things seem better than they really were." "All this was a lie then." "The world changes." "You can't trust anything." "But no it was just like this, right down to the last mince pie and dance." "The years change people." "I don't wish to look, sir." "You must." "There's nothing the world is so hard on as poverty, Belle." "And there's nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth." "You fear the world too much." "All your nobler hopes have merged into the one hope of being rich." "One master passion engulfs you." "Money." "What of it?" "Even if I have grown wiser, I've not changed towards you have I?" "Our promise to marry is an old one." "It was made when we were poor and content to be so until we improved our fortunes." "You are changed." "When we promised each other, you were another man." "I was a boy." "How often and how keenly I have thought of this, I will not say." "But I have thought of it and can release you from your promise." "No, no." "Have I ever asked you to release me?" "In words." "No." "Never." "How then?" "In your changed nature." "In everything that made me love you." "If this had never been between us, tell me would you seek me out and try to win me now?" "No." "You think not?" "I know you wouldn't, my love." "Speak to her." "Why doesn't he speak to her?" "If you were free today, tomorrow, yesterday would you choose a poor girl like me to marry?" "You who weigh everything by gain?" "No, there'd be no profit in it." "And if you forgot your principle of profit for a moment and did marry me you'd regret it, my love, I know." "And so, I release you with a full heart for the love of the man you once were." "May you be happy in the life you've chosen." "Go after her." "Don't be afraid." "Go after her!" "No more." "Show me no more." "Take me home." "Why do you delight in torturing me?" "Haunt me no longer!" "Come in." "Come in and know me better." "Have you never seen anything like this before?" "Not in this house." "I am the Ghost of Christmas Present." "Haven't you met with others of my family?" "My older brothers who preceded me?" "I don't think I have, Spirit." "Have you had many brothers?" "More than 1800." "A tremendous family to provide for." "Spirit, take me where you wish." "I'd like to get it over and done with." "Touch my robe." "Why do you sprinkle water onto the food?" "Is there a blessing in it?" "There is." "My own." "Would it apply to any meal on this day?" "To any kindly given." "To a poor one most of all." "Why to a poor one most of all?" "Because it needs it most." "Where are we going now?" "Mr. Cratchit's house, every Christmas." "My clerk, Bob Cratchit?" "The same Bob you pay 15 "bob" a week." "Every Saturday he pockets just 15 copies of his Christian name and yet here I am, the Ghost of Christmas Present, going to bless him." ""Talk about a penn'orth of fun" ""Yesterday it fair took the bun" ""In came the broker's men To collar our few sticks" ""But we were up to all their tricks" ""We've all been having a go at 'em We've all been having a go" ""One's in the dusthold minus pants The other's gone home in an ambulance" ""Oh good gracious, didn't we make a show" ""Seventeen of us besides myself" ""And, we've all been having a go" ""Oh, we've all been having a go" ""Yeah, we've all been having a go"" "Let the punch get nice and hot, Belinda." "Your father should be home any minute with Tim." " Martha's here." " Martha is here!" "Martha is here!" "Hurray!" " You should see the goose, Martha!" " It's such a goose, Martha." "You'll not believe it." "Bless my heart alive, my dear." "You're late." "We had a great deal of work to finish off, so I slept in the workshop." "Then we had to clear away this morning." "She sounds like a very hard working young girl." "She has to be." "Never mind." "So as long as you're here." "Sit yourself down by the fire and have yourself a good warm." "Here's Father coming." "Father's coming?" "Hide, Martha!" "Go on, hide!" "Go, go, go." "Whoa there, dobbin." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas, Father." "And so say all of us." "Come on, Tim." "You need a wash." "I didn't know Cratchit had a crippled son." "Why didn't you ask?" "Where's Martha?" "She's not coming." "Not coming?" "Not coming on Christmas Day?" "Martha!" "It's Martha!" "Of course, it is." "Come on, girls." "Let's get the table laid." "How did Tim behave?" "As good as gold." "And better." "Somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much and he thinks the strangest things you ever heard." "He told me, coming home he hoped the people saw him in church because he was a cripple and it might be pleasant to remember on Christmas who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." "Not many remember that, you can count on it." "I think he's getting better by the day." "He's growing stronger, Mother." "Everyone go to the table." "The goose!" "Is it ready?" "It should be, it's been cooking for the past five hours." "Here you go, Tim." "And here's the gravy." "The goose." "The goose." "The goose." "The goose." "The goose..." "It's beautiful." "It's not there to be looked at." "No, no." "You do the honors, Mother." "It's a beauty." "Where did you get it, Mother?" "The market." "I left it late, so I got it cheap." "Very clever, my dear." "It does smell good, I must say." "It's so tender." "It melts in your mouth." "I love the gravy." "It's just sage and onion." "It's a feast, Mother." "Only you could've done it." "What do you think, Tim?" "What'd you say, Tim?" "Speak up, Tim!" "Give the lad a chance." "It's the best goose we've ever had." "Tell me, Spirit." "Will Tiny Tim live?" "I see an empty chair by the fireplace and a crutch without an owner carefully preserved." "Unless, the future changes, the child will die." "Wonderful meal, Mother." "You done us proud." "The best is yet to come, Robert." "Pudding!" "It might not be done yet." "Mother might break it, turning it out." "Suppose somebody got over the garden wall and stole it when we were eating the goose." " Don't say that." " They couldn't." " Oh, my goodness!" " Look at the flames." "It's great." "And there's the holly." "Pass that to your father." "Well?" "Well?" "This is without a doubt the greatest success you have achieved since we were married." "I had my doubts about it." "I wasn't too sure about the flour." "There's nothing wrong with that pudding except it's very small for such a large family." "Nobody complained." "Any Cratchit would blush at even the hint of such a thing." "Look." "A Merry Christmas to us all." "My dear, God bless us." "Merry Christmas!" "God bless us!" "God bless us, every one." "Is there no chance that boy will be spared?" "Not if the future remains unaltered." "Hmm." "But so what if it happens?" "If he'll die, he'd better do it quickly and decrease the surplus population." "Man." "If you be a man in your heart, forbear that wicked cant until you've discovered what the surplus really is and where it is." "Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die?" "It may be in the sight of heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child." "God!" "To hear the insect on the leaf pronouncing that there is too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust." "A toast, children." "To Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast." "Did you say, "Scrooge, Founder of the Feast?"" "Well, my dear..." ""Founder of the Feast," indeed." "I wish I had him here." "I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon." "I hope he'd have a good appetite for it." "My dear, the children." "It's Christmas Day." "It should be Christmas Day, I'm sure on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge." "You know he is, Robert!" "Nobody knows it better than you do, poor fellow!" "My dear, Christmas Day..." "I'll drink to his health for your sake and the day's, not for his." "Long life to him." "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." "A nice gesture." "A long life to him." "A Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge." "Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge." "He'll be as merry as a graveyard on a wet Sunday." "Let's forget Ebenezer Scrooge, and enjoy ourselves." "Give us a song, Tim lad." ""Silent night" ""Holy night" ""All is calm" ""All is bright" ""Round yon Virgin" ""Mother and Child" ""Holy infant so tender and mild" ""Sleep in..." ""...heavenly peace..."" "He said that Christmas was a humbug." "He really did." "It seems the less Uncle Scrooge knows, the more stubbornly he knows it." "The narrower a man's mind, the broader his statements." " That's we'll put, Mr. Bennett." " Thank you, my dear." "Do you think he believes it, about Christmas and humbug?" "Oh yes, he believes it." "More shame on him, Fred." "That's what I say." "More shame on him." "If you say so, so do I, Miss Betsy." "Mr. Haines." "Please, call me Topper." "Everyone I like calls me Topper." "Oh, Mr. Topper." "My uncle's a very comical old fellow, but I'll not say anything against him." "Heat the poker, Topper." "You're so easygoing, Fred." "Why won't you say anything against Uncle Scrooge after the way he's treated you?" "Why won't you, Fred?" "Because I think his offenses carry their own punishment." "I've not patience with the man." "Well, Mr. Scrooge certainly has very few friends." "He's the most uncivil man I've ever met, Mr. Bennett." "He never says "Good morning" or "Good evening" or "Merry Christmas."" "He leaves a bad taste in people's eyes." "Poor devil." "Who suffers from his ill humor?" "Only himself." "By not making merry with us, I'm sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his moldy office or his dusty chambers." "Anyway, I mean to keep the door of happiness open and give him a chance every year to slip in whether he likes it or not." "The poker, Topper!" " Topper, would you do the honors?" " My pleasure." "I don't understand why your husband defends Mr. Scrooge." "It's because his mother loved Scrooge so when they were children." "If my mother loved someone, they must've had a good heart in them, just as she did." "She gave that heart to you, my dear." "That's why I love you." "They're talking about your little sister, Fran, aren't they?" "Yes, they are." "I sometimes forget that Fred is Fran's child." "You shouldn't." "We have to go now." "Let's play Consequences or Cupid's Coming." "No, no." "Dumb Crambo." "Blind-Man's-Bluff." "Let's play Blind-Man's-Bluff." "Games, Spirit." "Games." "It's been so long since..." "Let's stay a little." "He's cheating." "He's cheating." "He is cheating." "Cheat?" "It's an outrage." "Pretty little nose." " And a little mouth." " Mr. Topper!" "It's Betsy!" "Forfeit." "Oh, Mr. Topper!" "It must be a kiss." "A kiss." "A kiss." "Come on." "Now, we must go." "Wait, Spirit." "I need to hear." "That was my sister's favorite tune." "Fran." "Yes." "You should've accepted Fred's invitation to dine." "What?" "For Fran's sake, if not for yours." "I should." "We still have much to do." "You've grown old, Spirit." "Are spirits' lives so short?" "My life on this globe is very brief." "It ends tonight." "Tonight?" "Tonight at midnight." "The time is drawing near." "Spirit, forgive me, but..." "I see something strange and not belonging to you." "There, beneath your robe." "Is it a foot or a claw?" "It might be a claw for all the flesh there is on it." "Look." "Spirit, are they yours?" "No, they are Man's." "This boy is ignorance." "This girl is Want." "Beware of both of them, but most of all beware of the boy." "For on his forehead I see that written which is doom unless the writing is erased." "If you deny him slander those who tell others about him admit he exists, but do nothing about it then doom will engulf you all!" "Are there no shelters?" "No charities to help them?" "Are there no prisons?" "Are there no workhouses?" "You are the Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come?" "You are about to show me the shadows of the things that have not happened but will happen in the time to come." "I fear you more than any of the spirits I've seen." "Will you not speak?" "Lead on." "Lead on, Spirit." "The night is waning fast." "It is precious time to me, I know." "Lead on." "Ah, Spirit." "The Stock Exchange." "Now I feel at home." "I know these men." "Here profit is worshipped and profit is everything." "I can't find out the truth about old Scratchy." "No, I don't know much about it, either." "I only know he's gone." " When?" " Just last night, they say." "What was it?" "I thought he'd never die." "God knows." "What about his money?" "Who'll get it?" "Not me, that's all I know." "It's likely to be a very cheap funeral 'cause I can't think of anyone who'll be there." "Do you think we should volunteer?" "I don't mind going if there's a lunch." "I must be fed." "I never eat lunch, and I never wear black gloves." "So there's not much in it for me, but if you're making up a party..." "Let's just say...we'll think about it." "What's this?" "An undertaker, a laundress, and a charlady." "And all come at once?" " It wasn't planned." " We're here by chance, Joe." "There's no conspiracy." "If I thought that there was, you'd be out like a shot." "I can't be too careful." "As it is, you're welcome." "How goes the day, Joe?" "I'm sure there's no bones older than mine, Mrs. Dilber." "We're all suited to our calling." "Matched in heaven." "I am a rag-and-bone man by trade and a rag-and-bone man by nature." "But trade is not what it was." "Why are you looking, Mrs. Dilber?" "Everyone's got a right to take care of themselves." " He always did." " No man more, Mrs. Riggs." "If he'd wanted to keep them after he was dead, wicked old screw why wasn't he more easy-like in his life?" "If he had been he'd had somebody to look after him when he was struck with death instead of lying gasping out his last there." "Alone there." "Undo my bundle, Joe." "Tell me what the value is." "Now, speak plain." "I'm not afraid to go first." "We knew pretty well, we was helping ourselves before we met." "It's no sin." "Only if we get caught." "No chance of that." "Nobody cared what happened to him then nor now." "Open the bundle." "No, ladies." "Mine first." "It's the smallest." "Meager pickings, Mr. Crump." "A pencil case." "Two sleeve buttons, and a brooch...of no great value." "Seven shillings?" "Done." "Me next, Joe." "One sheet." "Four towels." "An old shirt." "Teaspoons." "Sugar tongs." "An old pair of boots in need of repair." "One pound, one shilling, and eight pence, Mrs. Dilber." "One pound, one shilling and eight pence?" "I always give too much to ladies." "It's a weakness of mine." "If you ask for one more penny, I'll repent and knock off five shillings!" "Open my bundle, Joe." "What are we doing in this place, Spirit?" "Bed curtains." "Bed curtains." "You took them down with him lying there cold?" "God in heaven, the rings are still on 'em." "I did it." "And why not?" "You were born to make a fortune, Mrs. Riggs." "I don't hold my hand back when I can get something in it by reaching out." "Are they his blankets, Mrs. Riggs?" "Who else's?" "He isn't likely to catch a cold without them, I daresay." "I hope he didn't die of anything catching." "Don't be afraid of that." "I wasn't so fond of his company that I'd loiter about him for anything like that, if he did." "Look at that shirt, Joe." "Finest bit of silk you'll see in a month of Sundays." "They would've wasted it if it wasn't for me." "What do you mean, wasted it?" "Some fool put it on him to be buried in." "I so took it off again." "Calico's good enough for him." "I understand what you want me to do, Spirit." "I would do it if I could I have not the power, Spirit." "I have not the power." "Isn't there anyone who feels emotion at this man's death?" " Is it good or bad?" " Bad." "We are ruined then." "There's still hope, Caroline." "If he relents, there is." "But that would be a miracle." "He is past relenting." "He's dead." "To whom will our debt be transferred?" "I don't know." "But, it'll take time." "By then, we will be ready with the money." "I never thought death could bring so much happiness." "No, no." "Show me some tenderness connected with the death." "The cemetery." "You went today?" "Yes, my dear." "I wish you could've been there." "It would've done you good to see how green a place it is." "Still, you'll see it often." "I promised him that I would walk there on a Sunday." "My little, little child." "My little child." "There, Tim." "There, Tim." "Don't be afraid." "We will always love you." "Always." "I met Mr. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, on the street today." "He saw that I was a little down and asked what was the matter." "I told him about our boy, Tim, and you know what he said?" "What did he say, dear?" ""I am heartily sorry for it, Mr. Cratchit, and heartily sorry for your good wife."" "By the bye, how he knew that, I don't know." "Knew what dear?" "That you were a good wife." "Everybody knows that." "Well said, my boy." "Anyway, young Fred gives me his card and says:" ""That's where I live, Bob." "Come and visit us."" "I was grateful, not for anything he might do for us so much as his kindly ways." "It really seemed as if he's known our Tim and felt for us." "He sounds a good soul." "You'd be sure of it if you met him, Mother." "I'm sure we'll never forget our Tim, will we?" "Never, Father." "And I know that when we remember how brave and patient he was although he was only small we'll never quarrel amongst ourselves again and forget our Tim in doing it." "Of course we won't, my dear." "I'm very happy." "Very happy." "Spirit, answer me one question." "Are these the shadows of things that will be or the shadows of things that may be, only?" "Men's actions determine certain ends if they persist in them." "But if their actions change, the ends change too." "Say it is so with what you show me." "Am I the man that lay upon that bed?" "Oh, no, Spirit!" "Spirit, no, no!" "Spirit, hear me." "I'm not the man I was." "Why show me this if I am past all hope?" "Good spirit, pity me." "I will know Christmas in my heart, and keep it all the year." "The Spirits of all three Christmases shall thrive in me." "I will not shut out the lessons that they teach." "Oh, let me wash away the writing on this stone!" "My room." "My bed." "Jacob, Heaven and Christmas time be praised." "Still here." "They are not torn down." "Rings and all." "They're here!" "I'm here." "The shadows of the things that would have been can be dispelled." "They will be." "I know they will!" "I don't know what day it is." "I don't know how long I've been among the Spirits." "I don't know anything." "No fog." "No mist." "Clear, bright, cold." "Cold, piping for the blood to dance to." "Hello!" "What's today?" "Eh?" "What's today, my fine fellow?" "Today?" "Why, it's Christmas Day." "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." "Hello, my fine fellow." "Hello." "Do you know the Poulterers in the next street?" "Of course I do." "Have they sold the prize turkey hanging in the window?" "The big one." "The one as big as me?" "That's it." "Delightful boy." "Yes, it's still there." "Good." "Go buy it." "You're jossing." "No." "Go buy it." "In my name." "Tell them to bring it straight here." "Come back with the man and I'll give you a shilling." "Come back in five minutes, I'll give you two." "I'll send it to Bob Cratchit." "He won't know who's it from." "Here's the man and here's the turkey." "Now, where's my two shillings?" "Now that's a turkey." "And here are your two shillings, my boy." "I want you to take this bird to Bob Cratchit." "24 Camden Road, Camden Town." "24 Camden Road?" "No, wait." "You can't carry that bird all the way to Camden Town." "You must take a cab." "Yes, sir." "Keep the change." "And don't tell Cratchit where it came from." "A cab, sir." "A cab." "Good morning, gentlemen." "How good to see you." "Good morning, madam." "Sir!" "Beautiful day." "Good morning, my dear." "What a lovely day." "Fine snowman, fine snowman." "Got you." ""God rest you merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay" ""For Jesus Christ our Savior Was born upon this day" ""To save us all from Satan's power When we were gone astray" ""Oh, tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy" ""Oh, tidings of comfort and joy"" ""...of comfort and joy Comfort and joy" ""Oh, tidings of comfort and joy"" "Merry Christmas." " A Merry Christmas to you both." " A Merry Christmas to you, sir." ""I'm nervous fidgety very reserved in fact I'm almost awfully shy" ""I can't look a girl in the face but I blush for I feel most awfully shy" ""Shy shy shy shy" ""Oh, I'm so shy, dreadfully shy" ""Shy shy shy shy" ""I can't pass a dress shop because I'm so shy" ""I'm nervous jittery quite unsure in truth I'm most dreadfully shy" ""I can't fit all in the day that I blanch for I feel most fearfully shy" ""Shy shy shy shy" ""Oh, I'm so shy dreadfully shy" ""Shy shy shy shy" ""I can't look a girl in the eye I'm so shy"" "Is your master at home, my dear?" "Yes, sir." "Where is he, my love?" "He's in the dining room with his guests." "I'll announce." "Thank ye, thank ye." "He knows me." "I know the way, my dear." "Fred it's I." "It's your Uncle Scrooge." "I've come to dinner." "Will you have me, Fred?" "Bless my soul." "Have you?" "Of course, we'll have you." "Any you, my dear..." "Can you forgive a stupid old man who doesn't want to be left out in the cold anymore?" "Will you take me in?" "Merry Christmas, Uncle." " Merry Christmas." " Merry Christmas." "Mr. Cratchit, a word with you." "What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?" "I'm very sorry, sir." "I'm behind my time." "Oh, yes, you are." "Indeed, you are." "It's only once a year, sir." "It's only once a year." "I was making rather merry yesterday, sir." "I'll tell you what, my friend." "I'm not going to put up with this any longer." "And therefore and therefore I'm going to raise your salary." "Merry Christmas, Bob!" "A Merrier Christmas than I've wished you in many a year." "I'd like to help your family if you'd let me." "I will raise your salary and we will discuss your affairs this afternoon over a Christmas bowl of smoking Bishop." "Make up the fires and before you dot another "i", Bob Cratchit buy another coal scuttle." "My uncle was better than 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 alteration in him but he let them laugh and little heeded them." "His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him." "Come along, Tim." "It was always said of Scrooge that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge." "May that be truly said of us, and all of us." "And so, as Tiny Tim observed:" "God bless us, every one!"