03-02-01-圣诞欢歌 [2]
．He finally reached his front door and put the key in the lock．Suddenly，to his great surprise，he saw that the knocker was not a knocker any more，but had become the face of Jacob Marley！
He had not thought of his partner for seven years，until that afternoon，when he spoke Marley's name to his visitors．But there in front of him was Marley's face，white and ghostly， with terrible staring eyes．
As Scrooge looked，it became a knocker again．He was afraid，but he did not show his fear．He turned the key， opened the door and walked in．He did look around before he shut the door，and he did look behind the door，to see if anyone was hiding there．But there was nothing there．He shut the door with a bang，to show that he was not afraid．
With his one candle he went slowly up the stairs．It was impossible to see into all the dark corners．Darkness was cheap， and Scrooge liked it．But he remembered the face，so he walked through all his rooms，checking that everything was all right．Nobody under the table or the bed，nobody behind the door！On the small fire in the bedroom there was a pot of soup，and Scrooge's bowl was ready on the table．Nobody in any of the rooms！Sure that he was safe now，Scrooge shut and locked his bedroom door behind him．He sat down by the fire to eat his soup．
The fireplace was an old one，with hundreds of pictures on the tiles around the fire．But Scrooge could only see Marley's face on every tile．
‘Humbug！’said Scrooge to the tiles，and walked across the room．When he sat down again，he noticed a bell on the other side of the room．As he looked，he saw，with great surprise and fear，that the bell was slowly beginning to move from side to side．Soon it was ringing loudly，and so was every bell in the house．
Suddenly they all stopped ringing at the same moment，and then came a strange noise from down below．It sounded like someone pulling heavy chains across the floor．Scrooge remembered hearing that ghosts in old houses sometimes pulled chains behind them．Then a door below opened with a crash，and the noise started coming up the stairs．It was coming towards his door．
‘It's humbug still！’cried Scrooge．But the colour left his face when，without stopping，it came straight through the heavy，locked door，and appeared in front of him．It was Marley's ghost！
Scrooge could see right through its body．Around its middle was a long chain，which had money-boxes，keys，bank books， and heavy purses on it．The ghost's death-cold eyes stared fixedly at Scrooge．
‘Well！’said Scrooge，trying to pretend that nothing strange was happening．‘What do you want？And who are you？’
‘In life I was your partner，Jacob Marley．’
‘It's humbug，I tell you！’said Scrooge．‘There are no ghosts！’But when he said this，the ghost gave a terrible cry， and shook its chain in a very frightening way．At once Scrooge fell on the ground in great fear，crying，‘Yes！Yes！You are real！I see that now！Why have you come？Why do ghosts come back from the dead？Tell me，Jacob！’
‘The spirit of every man who does not help other people in life has to travel endlessly through the world after his death．We have to carry the chains that we made for ourselves in our lifetime．Do you，Ebenezer Scrooge，recognize my chain？It is very like the one that you wear！’
Scrooge looked around him，but could see no chain．‘Jacob，’he said，‘please tell me more！’
‘I cannot help you much，Ebenezer！I cannot rest，I cannot stay anywhere for long．I have been dead for seven years and all that time I have been travelling on the wings of the wind！ No peace，no rest for me in death，because I was never good or kind in life！’
‘But you were always a good man of business，Jacob，’said Scrooge，who was now beginning to worry about his own life．
‘Business！’cried the ghost miserably．‘Why didn't I think of people as my business？I thought only about making money，not about being kind and helpful to other people．Listen to me，Ebenezer！I am here tonight to warn you．You still have a chance to save yourself from what has happened to me．Three spirtis will come to visit you：the first tomorrow at one o'clock，the second at the same time the next night
He had not thought of his partner for seven years，until that afternoon，when he spoke Marley's name to his visitors．But there in front of him was Marley's face，white and ghostly， with terrible staring eyes．
As Scrooge looked，it became a knocker again．He was afraid，but he did not show his fear．He turned the key， opened the door and walked in．He did look around before he shut the door，and he did look behind the door，to see if anyone was hiding there．But there was nothing there．He shut the door with a bang，to show that he was not afraid．
With his one candle he went slowly up the stairs．It was impossible to see into all the dark corners．Darkness was cheap， and Scrooge liked it．But he remembered the face，so he walked through all his rooms，checking that everything was all right．Nobody under the table or the bed，nobody behind the door！On the small fire in the bedroom there was a pot of soup，and Scrooge's bowl was ready on the table．Nobody in any of the rooms！Sure that he was safe now，Scrooge shut and locked his bedroom door behind him．He sat down by the fire to eat his soup．
The fireplace was an old one，with hundreds of pictures on the tiles around the fire．But Scrooge could only see Marley's face on every tile．
‘Humbug！’said Scrooge to the tiles，and walked across the room．When he sat down again，he noticed a bell on the other side of the room．As he looked，he saw，with great surprise and fear，that the bell was slowly beginning to move from side to side．Soon it was ringing loudly，and so was every bell in the house．
Suddenly they all stopped ringing at the same moment，and then came a strange noise from down below．It sounded like someone pulling heavy chains across the floor．Scrooge remembered hearing that ghosts in old houses sometimes pulled chains behind them．Then a door below opened with a crash，and the noise started coming up the stairs．It was coming towards his door．
‘It's humbug still！’cried Scrooge．But the colour left his face when，without stopping，it came straight through the heavy，locked door，and appeared in front of him．It was Marley's ghost！
Scrooge could see right through its body．Around its middle was a long chain，which had money-boxes，keys，bank books， and heavy purses on it．The ghost's death-cold eyes stared fixedly at Scrooge．
‘Well！’said Scrooge，trying to pretend that nothing strange was happening．‘What do you want？And who are you？’
‘In life I was your partner，Jacob Marley．’
‘It's humbug，I tell you！’said Scrooge．‘There are no ghosts！’But when he said this，the ghost gave a terrible cry， and shook its chain in a very frightening way．At once Scrooge fell on the ground in great fear，crying，‘Yes！Yes！You are real！I see that now！Why have you come？Why do ghosts come back from the dead？Tell me，Jacob！’
‘The spirit of every man who does not help other people in life has to travel endlessly through the world after his death．We have to carry the chains that we made for ourselves in our lifetime．Do you，Ebenezer Scrooge，recognize my chain？It is very like the one that you wear！’
Scrooge looked around him，but could see no chain．‘Jacob，’he said，‘please tell me more！’
‘I cannot help you much，Ebenezer！I cannot rest，I cannot stay anywhere for long．I have been dead for seven years and all that time I have been travelling on the wings of the wind！ No peace，no rest for me in death，because I was never good or kind in life！’
‘But you were always a good man of business，Jacob，’said Scrooge，who was now beginning to worry about his own life．
‘Business！’cried the ghost miserably．‘Why didn't I think of people as my business？I thought only about making money，not about being kind and helpful to other people．Listen to me，Ebenezer！I am here tonight to warn you．You still have a chance to save yourself from what has happened to me．Three spirtis will come to visit you：the first tomorrow at one o'clock，the second at the same time the next night