Scene (The First Ghost)
-I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.
-Long past?
-Your past. Rise. And walk with me.
-Good heavens. I was bred in this place. I was a boy here.
- Your lip... is trembling. And what's that? On your cheek?
- Nothing. Something in my eye.
-Do you remember the way?
-Remember it? I could walk it blindfolded.
-This...This was my school.
-This school is not quite deserted. A solitary child...neglected by his friends......is left here still.
-I know.
-Poor boy. Poor, poor boy.
-Let's... See another Christmas.
-Ebenezer! Ebenezer! Dear, dear brother! I've come to bring you home!
-Home, little Fan?
- Yes, home! Father is so much kinder than he used to be. He spoke so gently to me one night. I was not afraid to ask him if you might come home. And he said yes! And he sent me in a coach to fetch you. And we're to be together all the Christmas long. And to have the merriest time in all the world!
-You're quite a woman, little Fan.
- She had a large heart.
- She died a woman. And had, as I think....children.
-Yes, one child.
-True. Your nephew.
- Yes.
(Scrooge talks to his wife)
- Ebenezer, it's your pass.
- Another idol has replaced me.
- Another idol? What idol?
- A golden one.
-There is nothing on this earth more terrifying to me...than a life doomed to poverty.
- You fear the world too much, Ebenezer. You've changed.
- Changed?
-Perhaps grown wiser, but I have not changed toward you.
-Our contract is an old one.
-It was made when we were both poor and content to be so.
-When it was made... You were another man.
- I was a boy!
- I release you, Ebenezer.
- Have I ever sought release?
- In words, no.
- In what, then?
-In an altered spirit. In another atmosphere of life. In everything that made my love of any worth in your sight. Tell me, Ebenezer, if this contract had never been between us...would you seek me out now? No.
-You think not?
-I would gladly think otherwise if I could. But if you were free today, would you choose a dowerless girl? A girl left penniless by the death of her parents? You, who weighs everything by gain?
I release you, Ebenezer. May you be happy in the life you've chosen.
Scene 8 (Scrooge and the second ghost)
-Oh, blast!
-Enter, Scrooge!
-Come in! Come in and know me better, man! I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. Look upon me! You have never seen the likes of me before?
-Never.
-Have never walked forth with my elder brothers?
-I don't think that I have. You have many brothers?
-More than 1,800. 1,842, to be exact.
-I see you wear a scabbard, but no sword.
-Indeed. Peace on Earth. Good will toward men.
-Spirit, conduct me where you will.
-Touch my robe.
-What's happening? What are you doing?
- Very strange.
- Indeed. Not many mortals are granted a heavenly perspective of man's world.
-Yes.
-It's quite beautiful.
-Spirit, these poor people have no means to cook their food. And yet you seek to close the only places.…in which they can warm their meager meals every seventh day.
-Hear me, Scrooge. There are some upon this earth of yours…who claim to know me and my brothers...-...and do their deeds of ill will and selfishness in our name. These so-called "men of the cloth"...are as strange to me and my kinas if they never lived. Charge their doings to them, not us.
-Aye. I will.
(In the house of Mr. Cratchit)
-Smell that? Cooking goose! Come on!
-I take it this bleak paupers' dwelling is of some significance.
-It is all your loyal clerk can afford for his meager 15 bob a week.
-Mother! Papa! We just came by the baker shop. And smelled our goose, cooking delicious.
-Shut the door, please. What happened to your precious father? And your brother. And Martha, she wasn't as late last Christmas Day.
-Mother, here she is, Mother. Here's Martha.
-Martha! Wait till you see our goose. This is a wonderful one.
-Peter, off with you to the baker's and collect the bird. And take the children with you. And pray, no dallying.
-Why, bless your heart alive! Dear, how late you are!
-We had a deal of work to finish up last night and clear away this morning.
-Never mind. Long as you're here. Sit ye down before the fire and have a warm.
-No. No, no, no. There's Father coming.
-Hide, Martha. You must hide. Hide, Martha.
- It's cold out there.
- Hello, Father. Hello, Timmy.
-Why, where's our Martha?
-Not coming.
-Not coming? Not coming upon Christmas Day?
-Here I am, Father!
-We got you, Father.
-I couldn't bear to see you in a state of disappointment. If only for a giggle.
-It's so lovely to see you, my Martha.
-Come on, Timmy. I hear the pudding singing in the copper. Shall we have a look, then?
-How did little Timmy behave?
- As good as gold. And better. Somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much.....and he thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people sawed him in church......because he was a cripple......and it might make pleasant for them to remember it upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.
-I believe he grows more hearty and stronger every day, my dear.
-The pudding looks delicious! The whole wash house smells like a pastry cook's shop.
-Spirit, tell me, will Tiny Tim?
-I see a vacant seat in the poor chimney corner...and a crutch without an owner. Carefully preserved.
- Hurrah!
- The Christmas goose!
-Make space. Let's get that cover off.
-Lovely! Well done, Peter.
-I don't believe I've ever seen a more magnificent goose cooked.
-It is a beautiful bird, that's for sure.B ut I'll pray that one Christmas, perhaps....the children might taste a turkey.
-Perhaps one day, my dear. Perhaps one day.
-A toast.
-To Mr. Scrooge.
-The founder of our feast.
-Founder of the feast, indeed. I wish I had him here.I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon...and I'd hope he'd have a good appetite for it.
-My dear, the children...It's Christmas Day.
-Christmas Day, I'm sure. How can one drink the health...of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge? As you know he is, Robert. Nobody knows it better than you.
-My dear, Christmas Day.
-I'll drink his health for your sake and the day's, not for his.
-A merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
-He'll be very merry and very happy, I have no doubt.
-A merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us.
-God bless us.
-God bless us, everyone.
--Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
- God bless.
-Kind spirit, say Tiny Tim will be spared.
-If these shadows remain unaltered by the future...the child will die.
- Die! No, spirit. No.
-What then? If he is to die, he had better do it. And decrease the surplus population.
(In the house of Scrooge’s nephew)
- So you're thinking of an animal?
- Yes.
- A live animal?
- Yes.
- A rather disagreeable animal?
- Yes.
- A savage animal?
- Yes.
-Wait, wait! Is it an animal that grunts and growls?
-Yes!
- And lives in London?
- Yes.
- A horse?
- No.
- A cow?
- No.
- A dog?
- A pig?
- No.
- An ass?
-Yes and no.
-I know who it is, Fred! I know! It's your Uncle Scrooge!
-Yes!
-Christmas a humbug? Now, he actually said that? As I live. And he believes it.
-I have no patience with him, Fred.
-I have. I'm sorry for him. Who suffers from his ill whims? Only himself.
He decides to dislike us, won't come and dine with us....and what's the consequence? He loses a dinner.
- Indeed, he loses a very good dinner.
- Hear, hear. A magnificent dinner.
-Great.
-He's certainly given us plenty of merriment, that's for sure......and I think it would be ungrateful not to drink to his health.He wouldn't take it from me, but he may have it nevertheless.
-A merry Christmas to the old man, whatever he is. Uncle Scrooge.
-To Uncle Scrooge.
-Are spirits' lives so short?
-My life upon this globe is very brief. It ends tonight.
- Tonight?
- Tonight at midnight. Hark. The time is drawing near.
-Forgive me......but I see something strange protruding from your skirt.Is it a foot or a claw?
-It might be a claw, for the scant amount of flesh there is upon it.
-- Look here.
- Naff off!
-- Oh, man. Look here. You daft old geezer.
-Look! Look! Down here!
-Go away!
- Are they yours?
-They are man's. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both.
-Have they no refuge? No resource?
-Are there no prisons?
-Are there no workhouses?
Scene 9 (Scrooge and the third ghost)
-Am I in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? You're about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened but will happen. Is that so, spirit?
-Ghost of the Future, I fear you more than any specter I have seen.But I know your purpose is to do me good. I am prepared to bear you company.Lead on.
-The night is waning fast. It's precious time to me.
-Lead on, spirit.
-When did he die?
- Last night, I believe. Or sometime Christmas Day.
- I thought he'd never die.
-What's he done with his money?
-Hasn't left it to me. That's all I know.
-It is likely to be a cheap funeral.
-For the life of me, I can't think of anyone who'd want to attend it.
-I don't mind going...if lunch is provided.
-There, yes.
-What a frightful fellow.
- All right.
- Good day, gentlemen.
-Get a hold of yourself, Ebenezer. You're having a wobbly.
-You won't get me in here. Christmas pudding, no doubt. I'm... I'm on Lime Street. Come now.
(Scrooge is dead)
-Merry Christmas, Joe.
-And happy New Year, to be sure. Come in. Sit down in me parlor and let's have a look. Here.
-What do you call these, Mrs. Dilber, huh?
-Mrs. Dilber?
-Bed curtains.
-You mean to say you took them down while he was lying there?
-I do. And why not? You was born to make your fortune, and you certainly will do it. Well, I shan't hold back my hand when I can get something by it...Don't you go getting grease on them blankets now.
- His blankets?
- Whose else do you think? He won't be feeling the cold without them now, I dare say.
-I hope he didn't die of anything catching.
-Don't you be afraid of that.
-I ain't so fond of his company that I'd loiter about.You can look through that shirt till your eyes ache....and you won't find one hole in it. It was the best he had.
- Mrs. Dilber!
-Would have been wasted, only for me.
- You're fired! Fired!
- How did you mean "wasted"?
-Somebody was fool enough to put it on him to be buried in. But I took it off him. This is the end of it, you see. He frightened everyone away while he was alive. Only to profit us now that he's dead. If he'd had somebody to look after him when he was struck with death...instead of lying there, all alone, gasping out his last breath....well, we wouldn't have these things to sell now, would we?
-Spirit! I see! I see! The case of this unhappy man who dies a solitary, lonesome death...might be my own. My life tends that way now.
-Merciful heavens! What's this? Spirit, this is a fearful place. When I leave it, I shall not leave its lesson. Trust me. Let's go!
-I understand. And I would, if I could, but I have not the power.
-Spirit, if there is any person who feels emotion caused by this man's death...show that person to me, I beg you.
- Are we ruined?
- There is hope yet.
-Hope? Only if he relents.
-He is past relenting. He is dead.
-Dead? To whom will our debts be transferred?
-I don't know, but by then we'll have the money. And even if we don't, it's unlikely any new creditor will ever be so merciless. -We shall sleep tonight with light hearts, my dear.
-Let me see some tenderness connected to death......or this chamber will forever haunt me!
(At the house of Mr. Cratchit)
-It's late.
-Past your father's time.
-He's walked slow these last few evenings.
-Oh, he has walked...
...with Tiny Tim on his shoulders...fast, indeed. But he was very light......to carry, and......your father loved him so.
- Father.
- You went today, then?
-Yes, my dear.
-I wish you could have gone.
-Would have done you good to see how green a place it is.
-You'll see it often. And I promised him I would walk there every... Every Sunday. My little child!My little child.
-Father, please don't be grieved. Please, Father.
-I'm all right, love. I'm quite at peace.
-I'm sure none of us will ever forget our poor Tiny Tim.
- Oh, no, Father.
- Never ever.
-Thank you. Thank you, my dears.
-Bob.
(Scrooge at his own grave)
Specter... Something tells me our parting moment is at hand. Tell me......who... was that man we saw lying dead?
-Spirit......before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point....answer me one question! Are these the shadows of things that will be...or shadows of things that may be? Men's courses in life foreshadow certain ends. But if these courses are departed from,these ends will change. Isn't that so?
-No. No! Am I that man who lay upon the bed?
-No. Spirit, hear me! I'm not the man I was! Why show me this if I'm past all hope?
-Spirit! Spirit, assure me that I may change these shadows you've shown me! Change them by an altered life!
-No, spirit! No! No, spirit!
-Good spirit... Help me!
-Spirit! Help me, spirit!
-Help, spirit!
-Spirit, I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will not shut out the lessons of the past, nor present, nor future.
-Oh, please, spirit.... tell me I may sponge away the writing on that stone!
Scene 10 (The ending)
-Still here? They're still here. I'm still here. I'm still here. I'm still here! I don't know what to do. I'm light as a feather, merry as a schoolboy. I've heard that laugh before.
-Good morning, sir. A merry Christmas to you.
-And to you, sir.
- Happy holiday!
-And a merry Christmas to you.
-"God bless you, sir. " - Thank you, sir.
-Glad tidings.
-Sir.
-My dear sir, how do you do? I hope you succeeded yesterday. A merry Christmas to you, sir.
-Mr. Scrooge?
-Yes. That is my name, and I fear it may not be pleasant to you. But allow me to ask your pardon.
And will you have the goodness...
-Lord bless me! My dear Mr. Scrooge, are you serious?
- And not a farthing less. A great many back payments are included in it, I assure you.
-My dear sir, I don't know what to say to such...
-Do not say anything. I'm much obliged to you. Many thanks to you. And bless you.
(Scrooge at his nephew’s)
- Is your master at home?
- Yes, sir.
-I'm... His uncle.
-Uncle Scrooge? Well, bless my soul.
-I've... Come to dinner...if you'll have me.
-Of course, Uncle! Welcome! Welcome!
-Merry Christmas! Everybody, this is my uncle, Ebenezer.
-Next year we must have this dinner at my house. I insist. I'll spare no expense. After all, you can't take it with you, can you?
-No, you can't.
(At Scrooge’s counting house)
-A full 16 minutes late. What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?
-I'm very sorry, sir. I am a bit behind in my time.
-You are, indeed. Step in here.
-Well, it's only once a year, sir. It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday.
-Now, I'll tell you what, Mr. Cratchit. I'm not going to stand for this sort of thing any longer.
And therefore...And therefore......I am about to raise your salary!
A merry Christmas to you, Bob. A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow....than I've given you in many a year. I'll raise your salary, and do whatever I can to help your struggling family. And we'll discuss your affairs...this very afternoon over a bowl of Christmas punch. But first, let's make up the fires. I want you to go out....and buy another scuttle of coal...before you dot another "I", Bob Cratchit. Off with you, Bob.
We've wassailing to do. Hilly-ho, Bob!
-Yeah. Yes, sir. Right away, sir.
And Scrooge was better than his word. He did all that he said he would and more. And to our Tiny Tim, who got well, Scrooge was like a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master..and as good a man as the good old city ever knew. And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well. And so, as Tiny Tim observed...
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