介绍:
A Christmas Carol
Scrooge fell to the ground in front of the spirit, holding its long dark robe, and cried, “Spirit! Listen! I am a changed man! I have learnt my lesson from your spirits! Tell me that my future will change, if I change my life now! I will remember the past, and think of the future. I will be good to other people. I will keep Christmas in my heart, and will try to be kind, and cheerful, and merry, every day.”
In his excitement he found it difficult to speak. His face was still wet from crying. “Here are my bed － curtains!” he cried delightedly. “It is a dream! And I’m alive! The future will be different! I know it will!” laughing at the same time, “A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy new year to all the world!”
Really, for a man who hadn’t laughed for so many years, it was an excellent laugh. The father of a long line of excellent laughs!
Just then he heard the church bells ring out louder than he had ever heard before. Running to the window, he opened it and looked out. No fog at all: a clear, bright, cold day, golden sunlight, blue sky, sweet clean air, merry bells. Oh, wonderful! Wonderful!
Now he finished dressing, and went out into the streets, wearing his best clothes. The town was full of happy and busy people, and Scrooge smiled at all of them. Three or four men said cheerfully to him, “Good morning, sir! And a merry Christmas to you!” Scrooge thought these were the best sounds that he had ever heard.
He went to church, watched the people, gave children money for sweets, and discovered that he had never been so happy in his life. In the afternoon he went to his nephew’s house. He passed the door several times before he was brave enough to knock. But at last he did it, and was taken into the sitting-room, where Fred and his pretty wife were waiting for their friends to arrive for dinner. And what a wonderful dinner he had!
He was early at the office the next morning, and saw his clerk Bob Cratchit. “A merry Christmas, Bob!” he said, and it was clear that he meant it. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, than I’ve given you for a long time. I’m going to pay you well, and help you with your family, and we’ll discuss it all this afternoon over a Christmas drink, Bob! Put more wood on the fire at once, Bob Cratchit, and let’s be comfortable!”
In a word, Scrooge changed and did everything that he had promised, and more.
