A Christmas Carol - Part 2: The first of three spirits

Selfish businessman Ebenezer Scrooge receives a visit from the first of three spirits. This is the Spirit of Christmas Past.

Transcript

Narrator
Let's continue the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the selfish man who didn't like Christmas. Last time, the ghost of his dead partner, Marley, told Scrooge he would be visited by three spirits. They would give him a chance of escaping Marley's fate. Scrooge was in bed when the curtains were opened and he saw a face...

Spirit of Christmas Past
I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past - your past. Come with me.

Narrator
The Spirit took Scrooge through a wall and suddenly they found themselves on an open country road. The city had disappeared. Scrooge was very excited.

IN SCROOGE'S OLD NEIGHBOURHOOD

Scrooge
Good heavens! I grew up in this place. That's the river! And... Oh, and I used to climb that tree…

Narrator
He remembered everybody's names. He could see them, but they couldn't see him or the Spirit. Then the Spirit invited Scrooge to go to the local school.

Spirit of Christmas Past
The school is not quite empty. There's still a child there...

Scrooge
I know! And I know who it is!

Narrator
There he was, young Scrooge, alone in a room, sad and lonely. But one Christmas, his young sister came to the school with good news.

AT SCROOGE'S OLD SCHOOL

Scrooge's little sister
Hello, my dear brother! I've come to take you home! Home forever and ever. Father is much kinder than he used to be and he sent me in a carriage to bring you. And we'll be together all Christmas, and have the merriest time in all the world!

Spirit of Christmas Past
Your sister... She had a big heart! She died when she was an adult and had, I think, children. Your nephew!

Scrooge
Yes. She was so kind...

Narrator
Do I sense regret in Scrooge's voice? He behaved so badly towards his nephew... But time was running out and the Spirit of Christmas Past had another place to take Scrooge to: a big warehouse.

AT SCROOGE'S OLD WORKPLACE

Spirit of Christmas Past
So, do you recognise this place?

Scrooge
Yes! I was an apprentice here. Oh! Old Mr Fezziwig! That's my old boss!

Mr Fezziwig
Yo ho ho boys, no more work tonight. It's Christmas Eve! Clear away my lads, and let's have lots of room here!

Narrator
The warehouse was transformed into a bright ballroom in no time at all. In came a musician, Mrs Fezziwig and her three daughters, and all the young men and women employed in the business. It got old Scrooge thinking. He told the Spirit...

Scrooge
Mr Fezziwig had the power to make us happy or unhappy; to make our work easy or hard; pleasure or pain. The happiness he gave us is as great as if it had cost a huge pile of gold. I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk Bob Cratchit just now.

Narrator
Is there a change in old Scrooge? Mmmm... Maybe... Well, the mood was darker when the Spirit took Scrooge to see another Christmas a few years later. Then, the young Scrooge was starting to look obsessed with money. He wasn't alone. There was a young woman by his side. Oh, she was crying...

IN THE PAST

Scrooge's girlfriend
Something else has taken my place; if it can cheer and comfort you as I wanted to do, I have no reason to cry. May you be happy in the life you have chosen!

Scrooge
Spirit, show me no more. Take me home. Why do you torture me?

Narrator
It was hard for Scrooge to see how his girlfriend left him when he started to fall in love with money. But the Spirit's work wasn't done yet. He took Scrooge to yet another Christmas a few years from then. And the greedy, old man saw her happy with a husband and children - children who he almost wished were his own. Scrooge was very depressed when he got back home: the kind sister whose son he rejected, the generous employer, the lost girlfriend – that's a lot to take in! But there were still two spirits left. What would the Spirit of Christmas Present show Scrooge? Let's see it tomorrow. I can't wait!

Vocabulary

good heavens!
a formal or old-fashioned way of expressing surprise; equivalent to 'Wow!'

carriage
a vehicle that's pulled by a horse

merriest
(superlative form of merry; comparative: merrier) happiest 

warehouse
very large room where raw materials or manufactured products are stored

apprentice
someone who works in a company to learn their job

Christmas Eve
24 December - the day before Christmas

obsessed
crazy about something; unable to think of anything else

torture
give pain to someone

greedy
somebody who is very, very keen on having a lot of money or food

rejected
not given the love and attention expected