‘Who and what are you，sir？’asked Scrooge．
‘I am the ghost of Christmas Past，’replied the spirit，in a soft，gentle voice．
‘Do you mean long ago in the past？’asked Scrooge．
‘No．Your past．’
‘Spirit，please tell me why you are here．’
‘I am here for your own good，’answered the ghost．
‘Thank you，’replied Scrooge politely．But secretly he thought，‘Bah！A night of unbroken sleep is a more useful thing to have！’
The spirit seemed to hear him thinking，and said at once，‘I am here to help you change your life！Watch and listen！’It put out a strong hand，and held Scrooge by the arm．‘Get up，and come with me！’
It was dark and cold outside．Scrooge did not want to go anywhere，and for a moment he thought about pretending to be too ill to go out．But he did not like to refuse，so he said nothing，and got out of bed．Together they passed through the wall of the house out into the darkness．
Suddenly Scrooge realized they were standing on an open country road，with fields on each side．London，the fog，and the darkness had all disappeared，and it was a clear，cold， winter day，with snow on the ground．
‘Good Heavens！’cried Scrooge．‘I was born near here！I rememher it well！’
The spirit looked kindly at the old man．‘How strange that you've forgotten it for so many years！What is that on your face？Are you crying？’
Scrooge put a hand over his eyes．‘It's nothing—I've got a cold，that's all．Take me where you want，spirit！’
Scrooge recognized every field，post，and tree，as they walked along the road towards a little market town．All around thgm were young schoolboys on horses and in farmers’carts，laughing and wishing each other a merry Christmas，as they travelled to their homes for the Christmas holiday．
‘They are only shadows from the past，’said the spirit．‘They cannot see us．’
Scrooge knew and named all of them．Why was he so delighted to see them？Why did his cold heart beat faster when they went past，shouting‘Merry Christmas！’？What was‘merry Christmas’to Scrooge？What good had it ever done to him？
‘Not everyone has left the school，’said the ghost．‘There is one lonely child there still，one child whose friends have all gone．’
‘I know！’said Scrooge．And now he was crying openly．
They turned into a smaller road，and soon came to the school．Inside，in the long，cold，silent classroom，a lonely boy sat reading near a small fire．When he saw his poor forgotten past self，Scrooge sat down at one of the desks，put his head in his hands and cried．
‘Poor boy！I wish—but it's too late now．’
‘What's the matter？’asked the spirit．
‘There was a boy singing Christmas carols at my door yesterday．I'm sorry I didn't give him anything，that's all．’
The ghost smiled，and lifted its hand，saying，‘Let's see another past Christmas！’
The schoolroom became darker and dirtier．There was the young Scrooge again，a little older and bigger than before．He was not reading this time，but was walking up and down， looking very unhappy．The door opened，and a little girl， much younger than him，came running in．Putting her arms round his neck，she said lovingly to him，‘I've come to bring you home，dear brother！Father is so much kinder than he used to be！The other day I asked him if you could come home，and he said yes！And we're going to spend Christmas together，and have the merriest time！’she was laughing delightedly as she began to pull him towards the door．They went out happily together，hand in hand．
‘What a warm heart she had！’said the ghost．
‘You're right，’said Scrooge．‘I agree with you，spirit！’
‘She married，I understand，’continued the ghost，‘and had children，I think，before she died．’
‘One child，’answered Scrooge．
‘True，’said the ghost．‘Your nephew！’
Scrooge did not answer at once．‘Yes，’he said at last．
Now the school had disappeared，and they were in the middle of a busy town，with shadowy crowds and carts all around them．Here it was Christmas time again，but it was evening， and there were lights in the shops and streets．
The ghost stopped at an office door．‘Do you know this place，Scrooge？’he asked．
‘Know it！’cried Scrooge．‘Why，I was a clerk here！’
They went in，and when they saw a large，kind-looking old gentleman sitting at a high desk，Scrooge cried excitedly，‘Good Heavens，it's old Fezziwig！God bless him！It's Fezziwig alive again！’
Old Fezziwig put down his pen，and looked at the clock．Fastening his coat buttons over his fat stomach，he started laughing as he called out in a rich，deep，happy voice， ‘Ebenezer！Dick！Seven o'clock！No more work tonight！It'sChristmas Eve，remember！’
The young Scrooge hurried in，with another clerk．
‘That's Dick Wilkins！’said Scrooge quietly to the ghost．
‘He always liked me．Oh dear！poor Dick！’
Together the two young clerks put away all the pens and papers，and，following Fezziwig's orders，cleared all the furniture away from the centre of the room．In came a fiddler．In came Mrs Fezziwig，fat and smiling．In came the three Fezziwig daughters，sweet and pretty．In came the six young men who were in love with them．In came the cook，with her young man，the milkman．In came the boy from next door， with the girl from the house opposite．In they came，some quietly，some noisily，but all happy because it was Ghristmas Eve．The fiddler started playing，and away they all went in the dance，twenty pairs at the same time，round and round， down the middle and up again．When they were all tired，old Fezziwig cried out，‘Well done！Now，have something to eat and drink！’there was cake and hot meat and bread and cold meat and fruit，and all kinds of drinks，on a long table near the door．And after they had eaten，they danced again．
When the clock struck eleven，the dancing ended．Mr and Mrs Fezziwig stood by the door，shaking hands with each person as he or she went out，and wishing him or her a merry Christmas．
During this time Scrooge had thought of nothing except what was happening in front of his eyes．He remembered and enjoyed it all with the greatest delight．But when the dancing came to an end，he realized that the ghost was looking at him．The light on the spirit's head was burning very clearly．
‘It seems easy enough to amuse these childish people，’said the ghost．‘It was nothing much that Fezziwig did，was it？ After all，he only spent a few pounds，on food and drink and paying the fiddler．’
‘It isn't a question of money，’replied Scrooge warmly．He was speaking like the young man he used to be，not the old man he was now．‘No，spirit，you see，our employer can make us happy or sad．His words，his looks，all these things are so important！The happiness that he gives is just as valuable as money！’
He suddenly stopped speaking，when he felt the spirit watching him closely．
‘What's the matter？’asked the ghost．
‘Er—nothing，’said Scrooge．‘Just that—I'd like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk now．’
Now Scrooge could see himself again．He was older now， and it was clear that he was beginning to show an unhealthy interest in money．His eyes were restless，and his mouth looked thin and mean．He was not alone，but was sitting beside a lovely young girl．The light that shone brightly from the ghost of Christmas Past showed that she was crying．
‘I know it doesn't matter very much to you，’she said softly．‘You care about gold more than you care about me．Perhaps I shouldn't be sad．Money will give you the happiness that I wanted to give you．’
‘But I haven't changed towards you，have I？’
‘You have changed．We promised to marry a long time ago，when we were both poor，and happy to be poor．I have stayed the same，but you have different hopes and dreams now．I loved the man that you used to be，but I know that you do not wish to marry me any more．So I've come to tell you that you're free．Be happy in the life that you've chosen！’And she left him．
‘Spirit！’cried Scrooge．‘Show me no more！Take me home！This is too painful！’
‘One shadow more！’said the ghost．
‘No more！’cried Scrooge．‘I don't wish to see any more！’But the spirit held his arms，and he could not escape．
Now they were in another place，in a room which was not very large，but comfortable．Near the fire sat a beautiful young girl．Scrooge thought she was the girl that he had just seen，until he saw her，now a good-looking married lady，sitting opposite her daughter．The room was full of children，and noise，and shouting，and laughing．Just then the door opened， and the father entered，carrying a great pile of Christmas presents．The noise became twice as loud，as the children received their presents with delight，and kissed their father gratefully．Finally，the younger ones went upstairs to bed，and Scrooge watched more sadly than ever，as the father sat down with his loving daughter and her mother by the fire．
‘Belle，’said the husband，turning to his wife with a smile，‘I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon．Guess who？ Mr Scrooge！He was sitting alone in his office．His partner is dying，and I don't think he has any other friends．’
‘Spirit！’said Scrooge in a broken voice．‘Take me away from this place．’
‘These are shadows of the things that happened in the past，’said the ghost．‘You chose the life that you preferred， so why cry now？’
‘I can't watch any more！It's too awful！Leave me alone， spirit！’And Scrooge，noticing that the ghostly light was burning high and bright，suddenly took the extinguisher，and pushed it down hard on the spirit's head．But although it covered the ghost's head and body，Scrooge could not hide the light，which continued to shine out strongly from underneath．
Now Scrooge found himself back in his own bedroom again．Feeling very tired，he climbed into bed and at once fell into a deep，heavy sleep．
3 The second of the three spirits
When Scrooge woke up，he realized immediately that the church clock was just going to strike one．He felt sure that the second spirit would Soon visit him．This time he wanted to be ready，so he pulled back all the curtains round his bed himself，and lay there，waiting．At one o'clock，instead of a spirit，a strong light shone down on Scrooge's bed．He felt very frightened．After a few minutes he thought that perhaps the light was coming from the next room，so he got up and went to the door．When he touched it，a strange voice called his name，and asked him to enter．He obeyed．
Although he recognized it as his own room，it looked very different now．The walls were covered with bright green leaves，and there was a good fire burning in the fireplace．On the floor were big plies of the best Christmas food—wonderful rich dark cakes，warm soft bread，colourful apples and oranges，plates of yellow butter，cooked chickens，boxes of chocolates and sugared sweets．Sitting beside all this was a large，smiling spirit，who called out cheerfully to Scrooge， ‘Come in！Chme in，man！I am the ghost of Christmas Present！Look at me！’
Since the first ghost's visit，Scrooge was no longer very sure of himself．So although the spirit's eyes were clear and kind，Scrooge was afraid to look straight into its face．But he could see that its body was dressed in a long green robe，its long brown hair fell freely down its back，and its face wore a warm and friendly smile．Light shone from the torch which it was holding in its strong right hand．
‘Spirit，’said Scrooge quietly，‘take me where you want．Last night I learned a lesson which is working now．If you have anything to teach me tonight，let me learn from you．’
‘Touch my robe！’said the spirit，and Scrooge obeyed．
The food，the room，the fire all disappeared，and they were standing outside in the cold，snowy streets on Christmas morning．Althought the sky was grey and the streets were dirty，the people looked surprisingly cheerful，as they hurried to the bakers'shops with their Christmas dinners，all ready for cooking．The spirit seemed specially interested in poor people．He stood with Scrooge in a baker's doorway and held his torch over the dinners as they were carried past him．Sometimes，when he saw people pushing each other or getting angry，he lifted his torch over their heads，and immediately they became kinder，or stopped arguing，‘because it's Christmas，’they told each other．
‘What does your torch do，spirit？’asked Scrooge．
‘It gives a special taste to people's dinners on this day，’answered the spirit．
‘Why do you use it most on poor people？’said Scrooge．
‘Because poor people need it most，’was the reply．
They went on through London，and came to the small house where Scrooge's clerk lived．Here the spirit smiled，and held his torch high over the door．Inside，Bob Cratchit's wife and second daughter，Belinda，in their everyday dresses，but looking clean and pretty，were putting plates on the table for their Christmas dinner．Bob's son Peter was helping to cook the potatoes，and two smaller Cratchits，a boy and a girl，were running round excitedly．Just then the eldest daughter，Martha，arrived home from work．
‘Here's Martha，mother！’cried the two young Cratchits happily．‘We're having a really big chicken for dinner， Martha！’In fact it was only a small chicken，but it seemed large to the excited children．
‘My dear，how late you are！’said Mrs Cratchit，kissing her daughter several times．
‘We were so busy yesterday，mother！’replied the girl．‘That's why we didn't finish until this morning！’
‘Well！Never mind，now that you're here．God bless you！ Sit down by the fire，my dear！’
‘No，no！Father's coming！’ried the two young Cratchits．‘Hide，Martha，hide！’
So Martha hid herself，and in came Bob in his thin coat and long white scarf，with his son Tiny Tim in his arms．Poor Tiny Tim！He had not walked since he was born，and although he could pull himself and his thin little legs along with the help of a wooden crutch，he was not strong enough to travel far alone．
‘Why，where's Martha？’cried Bob，looking round．
‘Not coming，’said Mrs Cratchit．
‘Not coming！’repeated Bob，his cheerful smile disappearing．‘Not coming on Christmas Day！’
But Martha didn't like to worry her father for a minute，so she ran out from behind the door and kissed him， while the two young Cratchits showed Tiny Tim the chicken，now ready to eat．
Scrooge and the spirit watched as the family sat down to eat．It was a poor enough meal，but to them it seemed wonderful，and they ate every bit of it．
‘It's the best chicken I've ever tasted，’said Bob， smiling round at his family， who， with their mouths full，all agreed．
And then，the most exciting moment of the day！Belinda put a clean plate in front of each person， and they all turned to look at Mrs Cratchit as she came in from the kitchen．Her face was hot from her morning's work， but she was smiling happily as she carried in-the Christmas pudding， in its little circle of blue fire！
Oh，it was a wonderful pudding！They were all delighted with it．
‘It's your greatest success in all the years that we've been married，my dear！’said Bob．
‘Well，I did wonder how much fruit to put in it，’said his wife，‘but， yes， it's a good one！’And she laughed just like a young girl．
