Marley's ghost1

Marley's ghost1 It is important to remember that Jacob Marley was dead．Did Scrooge know that？Of course he did．

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Bah！’said Scrooge crossly．‘Humbug！’

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

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

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

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