A Christmas Carol

“"A merry Christmas, uncle!”

“The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms.”

“said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

“When Scrooge's nephew laughed in this way: holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions: Scrooge's niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he.”

“He rose: but finding that the Spirit made towards the window, clasped his robe in supplication.”

“Holly, mistletoe, red berries, ivy, turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters, pies, puddings, fruit, and punch, all vanished instantly.”

“cried a cheerful voice.”

“Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility.”

“Suddenly a man, in foreign garments: wonderfully real and distinct to look at: stood outside the window, with an axe stuck in his belt, and leading by the bridle an ass laden with wood.”

“If I was to stop half-a-crown for it, you'd think yourself ill-used, I'll be bound?"”

“With an ill-will Scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the Tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put on his hat.”

“It was with great astonishment, and with a strange, inexplicable dread, that as he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing.”

“It was a habit with Scrooge, whenever he became thoughtful, to put his hands in his breeches pockets.”

“Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell.”

“"Ding, dong!"”

“"Ding, dong!"”

“"Is there a peculiar flavour in what you sprinkle from your torch?"”

“And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain.”

“The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectre's voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones.”

“He was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel.”

“Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell.”

“But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I'll keep my Christmas humour to the last.”

“Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.”

“said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

“If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit's nose with a touch of such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose.”

“You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.”

“His body was transparent; so that Scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind.”

“Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.”

“Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.”

“No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him.”

“It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them.”

“pleaded the nephew.”

“The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed.”

“Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost.”

“The clerk smiled faintly.”

“It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.”

“The fireplace was an old one, built by some Dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint Dutch tiles, designed to illustrate the Scriptures.”

“It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house.”

“It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house.”

“It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.”

“"It comes from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men.”

“Scrooge shivered, and wiped the perspiration from his brow.”

“The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went.”

“Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass.”

“Suddenly a man, in foreign garments: wonderfully real and distinct to look at: stood outside the window, with an axe stuck in his belt, and leading by the bridle an ass laden with wood.”

“He only knew that it was quite correct; that everything had happened so; that there he was, alone again, when all the other boys had gone home for the jolly holidays.”

“She clapped her hands and laughed, and tried to touch his head; but being too little, laughed again, and stood on tiptoe to embrace him.”

“"Was I apprenticed here!"”

“Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing.”

“Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire.”

“They entered poor Bob Cratchit's house; the dwelling he had visited before; and found the mother and the children seated round the fire.”

“A cat was tearing at the door, and there was a sound of gnawing rats beneath the hearth-stone.”

“Its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration.”

“May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”

“Speakers and listeners strolled away, and mixed with other groups.”

“The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect.”

“Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, "No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!"”

“It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them.”

“Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran about with flaring links, proffering their services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them on their way.”

“But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part.”

“They were portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold, and now stood, with their hats off, in Scrooge's office.”

“"Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,"”

“I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry.”

“Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him.”

“"Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,"”

“No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge.”

“said Scrooge, trembling.”

“The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters.”

“said a great fat man with a monstrous chin, "I don't know much about it, either way.”

“Topper had clearly got his eye upon one of Scrooge's niece's sisters, for he answered that a bachelor was a wretched outcast, who had no right to express an opinion on the subject.”

“There were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence.”

“Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; and having read all the newspapers, and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker's-book, went home to bed.”

“There was plenty of width for that, and room to spare; which is perhaps the reason why Scrooge thought he saw a locomotive hearse going on before him in the gloom.”

“In came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk, and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches.”

“In they all came, one after another; some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully, some awkwardly, some pushing, some pulling; in they all came, anyhow and everyhow.”

“The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire.”

“He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread.”

“The spectre, after listening for a moment, joined in the mournful dirge; and floated out upon the bleak, dark night.”

“He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.”

“Dine with us to-morrow."”

“We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party.”

“His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding.”

“We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”

“"Man of the worldly mind!"”

“Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly.”

“When they were within two paces of each other, Marley's Ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer.”

“The city had entirely vanished.”

“Why was he filled with gladness when he heard them give each other Merry Christmas, as they parted at cross-roads and bye-ways, for their several homes!”

“said the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down to laugh.”

“said the child, brimful of glee.”

“and in the hall appeared the schoolmaster himself, who glared on Master Scrooge with a ferocious condescension, and threw him into a dreadful state of mind by shaking hands with him.”

“Let's have the shutters up,"”

“and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter, especially provided for that purpose.”

“After a while they played at forfeits; for it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.”

“There were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence.”

“"Is there a peculiar flavour in what you sprinkle from your torch?"”

“Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty.”

“Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!"”

“May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”

“The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner.”

“a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!”

“The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.”

“A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin.”

“Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back.”

“he exclaimed, "I fear you more than any spectre I have seen.”

“He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.”

“He thought of it, felt how easy it would be to do, and longed to do it; but had no more power to withdraw the veil than to dismiss the spectre at his side.”

“"He said that Christmas was a humbug, as I live!"”

“He left the room, and went up-stairs into the room above, which was lighted cheerfully, and hung with Christmas.”

“We may sleep to-night with light hearts, Caroline!"”

“'Heartily sorry,' he said, 'for your good wife.”

“At last the plump sister, falling into a similar state, cried out: "I have found it out!”

“The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed.”

“Expect the first to-morrow, when the bell tolls One."”

“he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; "and therefore I am about to raise your salary!"”

“She was a mild and patient creature if her face spoke truth; but she was thankful in her soul to hear it, and she said so, with clasped hands.”

“Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler.”

“The parlour was the space behind the screen of rags.”

“He had not gone far, when coming on towards him he beheld the portly gentleman, who had walked into his counting-house the day before, and said, "Scrooge and Marley's, I believe?"”

“Scrooge muttered, putting his hand in his pocket, and looking about him, after drying his eyes with his cuff: "but it's too late now."”

“His colour changed though, when, without a pause, it came on through the heavy door, and passed into the room before his eyes.”

“"There's the saucepan that the gruel was in!"”

“The more he thought, the more perplexed he was; and the more he endeavoured not to think, the more he thought.”

“You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.”

“The upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in its folds, as if the Spirit had inclined its head.”

“No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge.”

“Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost.”

“An old, old man and woman, with their children and their children's children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire.”

“growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice, as near as he could feign it.”

“So surely as they raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud; and so surely as they stopped, his vigour sank again.”

“He was endeavouring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes, when the chimes of a neighbouring church struck the four quarters.”

“Poulterers' and grocers' trades became a splendid joke: a glorious pageant, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do.”

“Scrooge looked at the Ghost, and with a mournful shaking of his head, glanced anxiously towards the door.”

“Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head.”

“The cellar-door flew open with a booming sound, and then he heard the noise much louder, on the floors below; then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards his door.”

“"There's the saucepan that the gruel was in!"”

“His tea was ready for him on the hob, and they all tried who should help him to it most.”

“This idea taking full possession of his mind, he got up softly and shuffled in his slippers to the door.”

“After a short period of blank astonishment, in which the old man with the pipe had joined them, they all three burst into a laugh.”

“From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable.”

“Again the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands.”

“The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business.”

“The Spirit did not tarry here, but bade Scrooge hold his robe, and passing on above the moor, sped--whither?”

“Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him.”

“How it bared its breadth of breast, and opened its capacious palm, and floated on, outpouring, with a generous hand, its bright and harmless mirth on everything within its reach!”

“No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells.”

“he retorted.”

“Holly, mistletoe, red berries, ivy, turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters, pies, puddings, fruit, and punch, all vanished instantly.”

“Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass.”

“replied the Ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved.”

“It was strange, too, that while Scrooge remained unaltered in his outward form, the Ghost grew older, clearly older.”

“The Ghost was greatly pleased to find him in this mood, and looked upon him with such favour, that he begged like a boy to be allowed to stay until the guests departed.”

“The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.”

“It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers.”

“It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it.”

“He stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk, who, cold as he was, was warmer than Scrooge; for he returned them cordially.”

“It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them.”

“To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale.”

“said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

“muttered Scrooge; who overheard him: "my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry Christmas.”

“"We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner,"”

“Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back.”

“"And the Union workhouses?"”

“Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him.”

“Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty.”

“The poulterers' shops were still half open, and the fruiterers' were radiant in their glory.”

“If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit's nose with a touch of such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose.”

“The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge's keyhole to regale him with a Christmas carol: but at the first sound of "God bless you, merry gentleman!”

“With an ill-will Scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the Tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put on his hat.”

“said Scrooge, "you don't think me ill-used, when I pay a day's wages for no work."”

“The clerk promised that he would; and Scrooge walked out with a growl.”

“Nor was it more retentive of its ancient state, within; for entering the dreary hall, and glancing through the open doors of many rooms, they found them poorly furnished, cold, and vast.”

“and in the hall appeared the schoolmaster himself, who glared on Master Scrooge with a ferocious condescension, and threw him into a dreadful state of mind by shaking hands with him.”

“The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless.”

“Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the back-yard, and stolen it, while they were merry with the goose--a supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid!”

“To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue.”

“He fastened the door, and walked across the hall, and up the stairs; slowly too: trimming his candle as he went.”

“There was plenty of width for that, and room to spare; which is perhaps the reason why Scrooge thought he saw a locomotive hearse going on before him in the gloom.”

“Sitting-room, bedroom, lumber-room.”

“It was double-locked, as he had locked it with his own hands, and the bolts were undisturbed.”

“Thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat; put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and his nightcap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel.”

“Thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat; put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and his nightcap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel.”

“As to measuring her waist in sport, as they did, bold young brood, I couldn't have done it; I should have expected my arm to have grown round it for a punishment, and never come straight again.”

“Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head.”

“When it had said these words, the spectre took its wrapper from the table, and bound it round its head, as before.”