03-02-01-圣诞欢歌 [8]
。他目光焦虑，嘴看上去刻薄且吝啬。他不是独自一人，他身边坐着一个可爱的姑娘。借着“昔日圣诞”鬼魂身上发出的明亮的光可以看出她在哭。
“我知道这对你来说算不了什么，”她轻柔地说，“你把金子看得比我还重。也许我不该难过，金钱会给你带来我想带给你的幸福的。”
“但对你我并没变心，不是吗？”
“你已经变了。在很久以前当我们都还很穷但又穷得快乐的时候我们就许诺过要结婚。我一直没改变想法，但你现在有了不同的希望和理想。我爱的是过去的你，但我知道你不再想娶我了，所以我来是想告诉你你自由了。祝你在你自己选择的道路上幸福生活！”她离开了他。
“幽灵！”斯克罗吉大声说，“别再让我看下去了！带我回家吧！这太痛苦了！”
“还有一个影子！”鬼魂说。
“一个也不要再看了！”斯克罗吉高声喊道。“我不想再看了！”但幽灵抓住他的胳膊，所以他无法逃脱。
现在他们来到了另一个地方，一个不是很大但非常舒适的房间里。火边坐着一位漂亮的年轻姑娘。斯克罗吉想她就是刚才看到过的女孩，到他见到她时，她已是一位漂亮的已婚妇女了，她坐在女儿的对面。房间里都是孩子，满屋子吵闹声、喊叫声和笑声。这时门开了，父亲抱着一大摞圣诞礼物走了进来。当孩子们高兴地拿到礼物时，吵闹声比刚才高了一倍，他们充满感激地吻了父亲。最后，小点儿的孩子们上楼睡觉去了。父亲同他可爱的女儿及妻子在火炉旁坐下，这时，斯克罗吉比往常更加伤心地看着。
“贝尔，”丈夫说着把脸转向妻子，面带微笑。“我今天下午看见了你的一位老朋友，你猜他是谁？斯克罗吉先生！他正独自一人坐在他的办公室里。他的合伙人快要死了，我认为他再没有别的朋友了。”
“幽灵！”斯克罗吉用颤抖的声音说。“带我离开这个地方吧。”
“这都是过去所发生的事情的影子，”鬼魂说，“你选择了你喜欢的生活，现在干嘛要哭呢？”
“我不能再看下去了！太可怕了！幽灵，让我一个人呆着吧！”当斯克罗吉看到鬼火高高地明晃晃地照着时，他突然夺下灭火器，重重地放在了幽灵的头上。但尽管它盖住了鬼魂的头和身体，斯克罗吉还是盖不住它身上的光，那光依旧从下面强烈地放射出来。
现在斯克罗吉发现他又回到了自己的卧室。感觉非常疲劳，他爬上床立刻就进入了沉睡的梦乡。
■ 3 The second of the three spirits
When Scrooge woke up，he realized immediately that the church clock was just going to strike one．He felt sure that the second spirit would Soon visit him．This time he wanted to be ready，so he pulled back all the curtains round his bed himself，and lay there，waiting．At one o'clock，instead of a spirit，a strong light shone down on Scrooge's bed．He felt very frightened．After a few minutes he thought that perhaps the light was coming from the next room，so he got up and went to the door．When he touched it，a strange voice called his name，and asked him to enter．He obeyed．
Although he recognized it as his own room，it looked very different now．The walls were covered with bright green leaves，and there was a good fire burning in the fireplace．On the floor were big plies of the best Christmas food—wonderful rich dark cakes，warm soft bread，colourful apples and oranges，plates of yellow butter，cooked chickens，boxes of chocolates and sugared sweets．Sitting beside all this was a large，smiling spirit，who called out cheerfully to Scrooge， ‘Come in！Chme in，man！I am the ghost of Christmas Present！Look at me！’
Since the first ghost's visit，Scrooge was no longer very sure of himself．So although the spirit's eyes were clear and kind，Scrooge was afraid to look straight into its face．But he could see that its body was dressed in a long green robe，its long brown hair fell freely down its back，and its face wore a warm and friendly smile．Light shone from the torch which it was holding in its strong right hand．
‘Spirit，’said Scrooge quietly，‘take me where you want．Last night I learned a lesson which is working now．If you have anything to teach me tonight，let me learn from you．’
‘Touch my robe！’said the spirit，and Scrooge obeyed．
The food，the room，the fire all disappeared，and they were standing outside in the cold，snowy streets on Christmas morning．Althought the sky was grey and the streets were dirty，the people looked surprisingly cheerful，as they hurried to the bakers'shops with their Christmas dinners，all ready for cooking．The spirit seemed specially interested in poor people．He stood with Scrooge in a baker's doorway and held his torch over the dinners as they were carried past him．Sometimes，when he saw people pushing each other or getting angry，he lifted his torch over their heads，and immediately they became kinder，or stopped arguing，‘because it's Christmas，’they told each other．
‘What does your torch do，spirit？’asked Scrooge．
‘It gives a special taste to people's dinners on this day，’answered the spirit．
‘Why do you use it most on poor people？’said Scrooge．
‘Because poor people need it most，’was the reply．
They went on through London，and came to the small house where Scrooge's clerk lived．Here the spirit smiled，and held his torch high over the door．Inside，Bob Cratchit's wife and second daughter，Belinda，in their everyday dresses，but looking clean and pretty，were putting plates on the table for their Christmas dinner．Bob's son Peter was helping to cook the potatoes，and two smaller Cratchits，a boy and a girl，were running round excitedly．Just then the eldest daughter
“我知道这对你来说算不了什么，”她轻柔地说，“你把金子看得比我还重。也许我不该难过，金钱会给你带来我想带给你的幸福的。”
“但对你我并没变心，不是吗？”
“你已经变了。在很久以前当我们都还很穷但又穷得快乐的时候我们就许诺过要结婚。我一直没改变想法，但你现在有了不同的希望和理想。我爱的是过去的你，但我知道你不再想娶我了，所以我来是想告诉你你自由了。祝你在你自己选择的道路上幸福生活！”她离开了他。
“幽灵！”斯克罗吉大声说，“别再让我看下去了！带我回家吧！这太痛苦了！”
“还有一个影子！”鬼魂说。
“一个也不要再看了！”斯克罗吉高声喊道。“我不想再看了！”但幽灵抓住他的胳膊，所以他无法逃脱。
现在他们来到了另一个地方，一个不是很大但非常舒适的房间里。火边坐着一位漂亮的年轻姑娘。斯克罗吉想她就是刚才看到过的女孩，到他见到她时，她已是一位漂亮的已婚妇女了，她坐在女儿的对面。房间里都是孩子，满屋子吵闹声、喊叫声和笑声。这时门开了，父亲抱着一大摞圣诞礼物走了进来。当孩子们高兴地拿到礼物时，吵闹声比刚才高了一倍，他们充满感激地吻了父亲。最后，小点儿的孩子们上楼睡觉去了。父亲同他可爱的女儿及妻子在火炉旁坐下，这时，斯克罗吉比往常更加伤心地看着。
“贝尔，”丈夫说着把脸转向妻子，面带微笑。“我今天下午看见了你的一位老朋友，你猜他是谁？斯克罗吉先生！他正独自一人坐在他的办公室里。他的合伙人快要死了，我认为他再没有别的朋友了。”
“幽灵！”斯克罗吉用颤抖的声音说。“带我离开这个地方吧。”
“这都是过去所发生的事情的影子，”鬼魂说，“你选择了你喜欢的生活，现在干嘛要哭呢？”
“我不能再看下去了！太可怕了！幽灵，让我一个人呆着吧！”当斯克罗吉看到鬼火高高地明晃晃地照着时，他突然夺下灭火器，重重地放在了幽灵的头上。但尽管它盖住了鬼魂的头和身体，斯克罗吉还是盖不住它身上的光，那光依旧从下面强烈地放射出来。
现在斯克罗吉发现他又回到了自己的卧室。感觉非常疲劳，他爬上床立刻就进入了沉睡的梦乡。
■ 3 The second of the three spirits
When Scrooge woke up，he realized immediately that the church clock was just going to strike one．He felt sure that the second spirit would Soon visit him．This time he wanted to be ready，so he pulled back all the curtains round his bed himself，and lay there，waiting．At one o'clock，instead of a spirit，a strong light shone down on Scrooge's bed．He felt very frightened．After a few minutes he thought that perhaps the light was coming from the next room，so he got up and went to the door．When he touched it，a strange voice called his name，and asked him to enter．He obeyed．
Although he recognized it as his own room，it looked very different now．The walls were covered with bright green leaves，and there was a good fire burning in the fireplace．On the floor were big plies of the best Christmas food—wonderful rich dark cakes，warm soft bread，colourful apples and oranges，plates of yellow butter，cooked chickens，boxes of chocolates and sugared sweets．Sitting beside all this was a large，smiling spirit，who called out cheerfully to Scrooge， ‘Come in！Chme in，man！I am the ghost of Christmas Present！Look at me！’
Since the first ghost's visit，Scrooge was no longer very sure of himself．So although the spirit's eyes were clear and kind，Scrooge was afraid to look straight into its face．But he could see that its body was dressed in a long green robe，its long brown hair fell freely down its back，and its face wore a warm and friendly smile．Light shone from the torch which it was holding in its strong right hand．
‘Spirit，’said Scrooge quietly，‘take me where you want．Last night I learned a lesson which is working now．If you have anything to teach me tonight，let me learn from you．’
‘Touch my robe！’said the spirit，and Scrooge obeyed．
The food，the room，the fire all disappeared，and they were standing outside in the cold，snowy streets on Christmas morning．Althought the sky was grey and the streets were dirty，the people looked surprisingly cheerful，as they hurried to the bakers'shops with their Christmas dinners，all ready for cooking．The spirit seemed specially interested in poor people．He stood with Scrooge in a baker's doorway and held his torch over the dinners as they were carried past him．Sometimes，when he saw people pushing each other or getting angry，he lifted his torch over their heads，and immediately they became kinder，or stopped arguing，‘because it's Christmas，’they told each other．
‘What does your torch do，spirit？’asked Scrooge．
‘It gives a special taste to people's dinners on this day，’answered the spirit．
‘Why do you use it most on poor people？’said Scrooge．
‘Because poor people need it most，’was the reply．
They went on through London，and came to the small house where Scrooge's clerk lived．Here the spirit smiled，and held his torch high over the door．Inside，Bob Cratchit's wife and second daughter，Belinda，in their everyday dresses，but looking clean and pretty，were putting plates on the table for their Christmas dinner．Bob's son Peter was helping to cook the potatoes，and two smaller Cratchits，a boy and a girl，were running round excitedly．Just then the eldest daughter