A CHRISTMAS CAROL (IN PROSE BEING, A Ghost Story of Christmas)<\/p>\n
by Charles Dickens<\/p>\n
(OCF editing – Part 6)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“At this time of the rolling year,” the spectre said,<\/strong><\/p>\n “I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of<\/strong><\/p>\n fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never<\/strong><\/p>\n raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise<\/strong><\/p>\n Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to<\/strong><\/p>\n which its light would have conducted me!”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the<\/strong><\/p>\n spectre going on at this rate, and began to quake<\/strong><\/p>\n exceedingly.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “Hear me!” cried the Ghost. “My time is nearly<\/strong><\/p>\n gone.”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “I will,” said Scrooge. “But don’t be hard upon<\/strong><\/p>\n me! Don’t be flowery, Jacob! Pray!”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “How it is that I appear before you in a shape that<\/strong><\/p>\n you can see, I may not tell. I have sat invisible<\/strong><\/p>\n beside you many and many a day.”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It was not an agreeable idea. Scrooge shivered,<\/strong><\/p>\n and wiped the perspiration from his brow.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “That is no light part of my penance,” pursued<\/strong><\/p>\n the Ghost. “I am here to-night to warn you, that you<\/strong><\/p>\n have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A<\/strong><\/p>\n chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer.”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “You were always a good friend to me,” said<\/strong><\/p>\n Scrooge. “Thank’ee!”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “You will be haunted,” resumed the Ghost, “by<\/strong><\/p>\n Three Spirits.”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Scrooge’s countenance fell almost as low as the<\/strong><\/p>\n Ghost’s had done.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “Is that the chance and hope you mentioned,<\/strong><\/p>\n Jacob?” he demanded, in a faltering voice.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “It is.”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “I–I think I’d rather not,” said Scrooge.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “Without their visits,” said the Ghost, “you cannot<\/strong><\/p>\n hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first to-morrow,<\/strong><\/p>\n when the bell tolls One.”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “Couldn’t I take ’em all at once, and have it over,<\/strong><\/p>\n Jacob?” hinted Scrooge.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “Expect the second on the next night at the same<\/strong><\/p>\n hour. The third upon the next night when the last<\/strong><\/p>\n stroke of Twelve has ceased to vibrate. Look to see<\/strong><\/p>\n me no more; and look that, for your own sake, you<\/strong><\/p>\n remember what has passed between us!”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When it had said these words, the spectre took its<\/strong><\/p>\n wrapper from the table, and bound it round its head,<\/strong><\/p>\n as before. Scrooge knew this, by the smart sound its<\/strong><\/p>\n teeth made, when the jaws were brought together<\/strong><\/p>\n by the bandage. He ventured to raise his eyes again,<\/strong><\/p>\n and found his supernatural visitor confronting him<\/strong><\/p>\n in an erect attitude, with its chain wound over and<\/strong><\/p>\n about its arm.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The apparition walked backward from him; and at<\/strong><\/p>\n every step it took, the window raised itself a little,<\/strong><\/p>\n so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It beckoned Scrooge to approach, which he did.<\/strong><\/p>\n When they were within two paces of each other,<\/strong><\/p>\n Marley’s Ghost held up its hand, warning him to<\/strong><\/p>\n come no nearer. Scrooge stopped.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear:<\/strong><\/p>\n for on the raising of the hand, he became sensible<\/strong><\/p>\n of confused noises in the air; incoherent sounds of<\/strong><\/p>\n lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and<\/strong><\/p>\n self-accusatory. The spectre, after listening for a moment,<\/strong><\/p>\n joined in the mournful dirge; and floated out upon the<\/strong><\/p>\n bleak, dark night.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Scrooge followed to the window: desperate in his<\/strong><\/p>\n curiosity. He looked out.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither<\/strong><\/p>\n and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they<\/strong><\/p>\n went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley’s<\/strong><\/p>\n Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments)<\/strong><\/p>\n were linked together; none were free. Many had<\/strong><\/p>\n been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He<\/strong><\/p>\n had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white<\/strong><\/p>\n waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to<\/strong><\/p>\n its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist<\/strong><\/p>\n a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below,<\/strong><\/p>\n upon a door-step. The misery with them all was,<\/strong><\/p>\n clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in<\/strong><\/p>\n human matters, and had lost the power for ever.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist<\/strong><\/p>\n enshrouded them, he could not tell. But they and<\/strong><\/p>\n their spirit voices faded together; and the night became<\/strong><\/p>\n as it had been when he walked home.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Scrooge closed the window, and examined the door<\/strong><\/p>\n by which the Ghost had entered. It was double-locked,<\/strong><\/p>\n as he had locked it with his own hands, and<\/strong><\/p>\n the bolts were undisturbed. He tried to say “Humbug!”<\/strong><\/p>\n but stopped at the first syllable. And being,<\/strong><\/p>\n from the emotion he had undergone, or the fatigues<\/strong><\/p>\n of the day, or his glimpse of the Invisible World, or<\/strong><\/p>\n the dull conversation of the Ghost, or the lateness of<\/strong><\/p>\n the hour, much in need of repose; went straight to<\/strong><\/p>\n bed, without undressing, and fell asleep upon the<\/strong><\/p>\n instant.<\/strong><\/p>\n Charles Dickens<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A CHRISTMAS CAROL (IN PROSE BEING, A Ghost Story of Christmas) by Charles Dickens (OCF editing – Part 6) “At this time of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[701],"tags":[1011,1010,94,744],"class_list":["post-16947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quote-of-the-day","tag-a-christmas-carol","tag-charles-dickens","tag-christmas","tag-quote-of-the-day"],"yoast_head":"\n