A CHRISMAS CAROL

AUTOR: CHARLES DICKENS

It was Christmas Eve, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and in the city of London it was very cold and almost dark. There was no sunlight because of the thick fog in the air.

In the centre of the city two names were painted on the door of an old building: Scrooge and Marley. Jacob Marley had dyed seven years ago.

Scrooge didn't like people. He didn't care about people. He only cared about only one thing: money!

He had no friends. Nobody visited his house. Nobody said hello to him as he walked through the street.

But Scrooge wanted his life to be this way. He liked writing down amounts of money people owed him and people had given him in his account books and working in his office - even in Christmas. `Nonsense! Rubbish! Christmas is nonsense. It's humbug! Bah!' Scrooge said.

It was cold outside, but the fire in the fireplace was very small. The door of Scrooge's office was open, and he could see into the next room, which was very small and cold too. Bob Cratchit worked there. He could not have a bigger fire because Scrooge kept most of the coal in his own office. And Scrooge wouldn't let Bob have another piece of coal. So Bob continued working for Scrooge.

Suddenly Fred, Scrooge's nephew opened the door and invited him to have dinner with Fred's family. `Never! You mustn't say anything more, nephew! Goodbye!' said Scrooge, and continued working.

As Fred left, a gentleman came in. He asked money for the poor people who lived in prisons and workhouses. `Good. Put the poor people in workhouses. There are too many people in the world; tell them to go away and die. Goodbye!' So the gentleman left.

At last, Scrooge decided it was time to stop work. So he and Bob went to their houses and eat dinner (Bob with his family and Scrooge alone).

Suddenly, Jacob Marley's ghost appeared next to the fire. He said three other ghosts were going to appear that night: Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. They were going to help him to be good and kind to other people.

Ghost of Christmas Past showed Scrooge how was Christmas as a boy and as a teenager. They were happy Christmas, bus as Scrooge grew up they became sadder. An hour passed and the ghost was gone, and Scrooge was sleeping in his bed. Scrooge was ready for the following ghost.

Ghost of Christmas Present showed Scrooge how was Christmas in the present, but in other places of different families: the Cratchit's house, Fred's family, and more. Then, they saw two poor children in torn clothes. And he remembered his own words `Put the poor people in workhouses' he had said them to the gentleman. He opened to say something to the ghost but it was no more there. It was the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

This ghost showed Scrooge terrible things: He would dye, and people were happy about this, nobody would care about his death and nobody would go to his funeral. People would steal the thing of his house… Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit's little child, also would die. Scrooge also remembered the words he had said to the gentleman that day `There are too many people in the world; tell them to go away and dye'. He was horrified of himself. To make those things not to happen, Scrooge decided he would live a better life, he would care about people, Christmas and he would think about past, present and future.

Scrooge closed his eyes then opened again. He was in his own bedroom. `Jacob Marley, thank you for sending the three ghosts, thank you for coming to help me'. He said. He was happy. He had a merry Christmas. He helped poor people. He paid a doctor for Tiny Tim and raised the wages of Bob. The gentleman came again, and Scrooge gave him a lot of money. He also bought more coal, and the office was no cold any more.