Jacob Marley was dead. There was no doubt about that. The priest, the worker, and the person who took care of the body signed the book. Ebenezer Scrooge signed it too. Everyone in the city knew the name of Ebenezer Scrooge. Jacob Marley was as dead as a door-nail (a very dead piece of metal).
Did Ebenezer Scrooge know that Jacob Marley was dead? Of course he did. Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley were business partners for many years. Ebenezer Scrooge was Jacob Marley's only friend. He was the only person at the funeral. But Ebenezer Scrooge was a good businessman. On the day of the funeral, he made a very good business deal.
The story must start with the death of Jacob Marley. If you do not believe he was dead, the story is not special. It is like the play Hamlet. In that play, the father is a ghost. If the father did not die first, the ghost would not be a surprise.
Ebenezer Scrooge never painted over the name of Jacob Marley. The sign above the door still said "Scrooge and Marley." Sometimes people called Ebenezer Scrooge "Marley." He did not care. He answered to both names.
Ebenezer Scrooge was a very mean and greedy man. He loved money more than people. He was hard and sharp like a flint (a type of stone that makes sparks for fire). He was lonely like an oyster (a sea animal that lives in a hard shell). He was very cold inside.
The cold inside him made his face look frozen. His nose was thin and pointed. His lips were blue and his voice was sharp. He always carried his cold with him. He made his office cold in the summer. He did not make it warm at Christmas.
Weather did not change Ebenezer Scrooge. No wind was colder than he was. No snow was more determined. Heavy rain often "came down" (fell) on the city. But Ebenezer Scrooge never "came down" (gave) money to any person.
No one stopped him in the street to say hello. No beggars asked him for money. Children did not ask him for the time. Even dogs for blind people moved away from him. Ebenezer Scrooge liked this. He wanted people to stay away from him.
One Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge sat in his counting-house (a place where people do business and count money). It was very cold and foggy. People in the street were cold. It was only three o'clock, but it was already dark. The fog was very thick.
Ebenezer Scrooge left his door open. He wanted to watch his clerk (a person who works with papers and numbers in an office). The clerk, Bob Cratchit, worked in a small, cold room. Ebenezer Scrooge had a very small fire. Bob Cratchit’s fire was even smaller.
Ebenezer Scrooge kept the coal box in his own room. If Bob Cratchit took more coal, Ebenezer Scrooge said he would fire him. So Bob Cratchit wore a comforter (a long, wool scarf). He tried to get warm from his candle, but he stayed cold.
"A Merry Christmas, Uncle! God save you!" cried a happy voice. It was the nephew of Ebenezer Scrooge, Fred.
"Bah!" said Ebenezer Scrooge. "Humbug!" (Humbug means something that is not true or is nonsense).
Fred was warm from walking. His face was red and his eyes were bright. "Christmas is not a humbug, Uncle!" Fred said.
"Why are you happy?" Ebenezer Scrooge asked. "You are poor."
"Why are you sad?" Fred asked. "You are rich."
Ebenezer Scrooge said "Humbug!" again.
"Don't be angry, Uncle," Fred said.
"Everyone is a fool," Ebenezer Scrooge said. "Christmas is only a time for paying bills. It is a time when you are older but not richer. I think every person who says 'Merry Christmas' is an idiot."
Fred spoke about Christmas. He said it was a kind and charitable time. It was the only time when people opened their hearts to others. It did not give him money, but it did him good.
Bob Cratchit clapped his hands in the other room. Ebenezer Scrooge told Bob Cratchit to be quiet. Then he told Fred to leave the office. Fred invited Ebenezer Scrooge to dinner the next day, but Ebenezer Scrooge said no.
Fred left the office. He was still happy. He said "Merry Christmas" to Bob Cratchit. Bob Cratchit was cold, but he was warmer than Ebenezer Scrooge. He said "Merry Christmas" back to Fred.
Then two men came into the office. They were kind and wore nice clothes. They wanted money for poor people. "Jacob Marley is dead," Ebenezer Scrooge said. "He died seven years ago tonight."
The men asked for money to buy food and wood for the poor. "Are there no prisons?" Ebenezer Scrooge asked. "Are there no workhouses (places where poor people lived and worked for very little money)?"
The men said there were prisons and workhouses. But many people did not want to go there. Many people wanted to die instead.
"If they want to die, they should do it," Ebenezer Scrooge said. "Then there will be fewer people in the world. It is not my business." Ebenezer Scrooge told the men to leave.
The fog became thicker and it was very cold. A boy started to sing a Christmas song at the door. Ebenezer Scrooge grabbed a ruler to hit him. The boy ran away in fear.
Finally, it was time to close the office. Bob Cratchit wanted to stay home the next day for Christmas. "That is not fair," Ebenezer Scrooge said. "I must pay you for a day of no work." But he let Bob Cratchit stay home.
Bob Cratchit went home happily. He played with children in the snow. Ebenezer Scrooge ate dinner alone in a sad restaurant. Then he went home to his dark rooms.
Ebenezer Scrooge lived in the old rooms of Jacob Marley. The building was old and dark. Ebenezer Scrooge looked at the knocker (a metal object on a door used for hitting it). Suddenly, it was not a knocker. It was the face of Jacob Marley!
The face had a strange light. Its eyes were open but they did not move. Ebenezer Scrooge was very scared. But then it became a knocker again.
Ebenezer Scrooge went inside. He looked behind the door, but he saw nothing. He went upstairs. He thought he saw a hearse (a car that carries a dead body to a funeral) moving in front of him.
He went into his room and locked the door twice. He sat by his small fire to eat his gruel (a thin soup made from oats and water). Suddenly, an old bell in the room started to ring. Then every bell in the house rang.
Then he heard a loud noise from the cellar. It was the sound of a heavy chain. The ghost of Jacob Marley came through the locked door. It was the same face and the same clothes.
The ghost had a long chain around its body. The chain was made of money-boxes, keys, and locks. The ghost was transparent (a person could see through its body). Ebenezer Scrooge did not want to believe his eyes.
"You are perhaps a piece of bad meat or a potato," Ebenezer Scrooge said.
The ghost made a loud cry. It shook its chain. It took the bandage off its head and its jaw fell down. Ebenezer Scrooge fell on his knees in fear.
"In life, I only cared about money," the ghost said. "Now I must travel the earth forever. I wear the chain I made when I was alive. You are making a long chain too, Ebenezer Scrooge."
"But you were a good businessman, Jacob," Ebenezer Scrooge said.
"Mankind was my business!" the ghost cried. "Charity and mercy were my business!"
The ghost told Ebenezer Scrooge he had one chance to be better. Three spirits would visit him. The first would come tomorrow at one o'clock.
The ghost walked to the window and opened it. Ebenezer Scrooge looked out. The air was full of ghosts with chains. They were sad because they wanted to help people but they could not. Then they disappeared.
Ebenezer Scrooge went to bed. He fell asleep immediately.