【外国文学】圣诞欢歌.docx

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1、【外国文学】圣诞欢歌 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 简介埃比尼泽斯克罗吉是一位脾气暴躁、可怜、吝啬的老头儿。当他的外甥在圣诞前夜去看望他并祝他圣诞快乐时，斯克罗吉一点儿也不高兴。“呸！骗人的东西！”他说。“圣诞节是骗人的东西！所有到处游逛说圣诞快乐的人的舌头都应被割掉。是的，他会的！”噢！对了，斯克罗吉是一个刻薄、吝啬的人。他的雇员鲍勃克拉奇蒂每周只能挣得15先令，而且只能在一间又冷又小的办公室上班，办公室里生的火小得连脚指头都暖和不过来。但是那年的圣诞前夜，斯克罗吉已故多年的合伙人雅各布马利的鬼魂拜访了他，其后又有另外三个鬼魂来访那一夜格外漫长和恐

2、怖，当圣诞节最终来临的时候，斯克罗吉的确已判若两人了。查尔斯狄更斯是英国最著名的作家之一，1812年生于朴次茅斯，于1870年去世。他家境贫寒，在不幸的童年之后，他很快变得富有并一举成名。他的著名作品包括雾都孤儿、双城记和圣诞欢歌等。 1 Marleys ghostIt is important to remember that Jacob Marley was deadDid Scrooge know that？Of course he didScrooge and Marley had been partners in London for many years，and excellent

3、 men of business they were，tooWhen Marley died，Scrooge continued with the business aloneBoth names still stood above the office door：Scrooge and MarleySometimes people who were new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge，and sometimes Marley，but he answered to both namesHe did not care what name they

4、 called himThe only thing that mattered to him was the business，and making moneyOh！He was a hard，clever，mean old man，Scrooge was！ There was nothing warm or open about himHe lived a secretive，lonely life，and took no interest in other people at allThe cold inside him made his eyes red，and his thin lip

5、s blue，and his voice high and crossIt put white frost on his old head，his eyebrows and his chinThe frost in his heart made the air around him cold，tooIn the hottest days of summer his office was as cold as ice，and it was just as cold in winterNobody ever stopped him in the street to say，with a happy

6、 smile，My dear Scrooge，how are you？When will you come to see me？No poor man asked him for money，no children asked him the time，no man or woman ever，in all his life， asked him the wayAnimals as well as people were afraid of himDogs used to hide in doorways when they saw him comingBut what did Scrooge

7、 care！It was just what he wantedHe liked being on the edge of peoples busy lives，while warning everyone to keep away from himOne Christmas Eve，old Scrooge was working busily in his officeIt was cold，frosty，foggy weatherOutside it was already dark，although it was only three oclock in the afternoon，an

8、d there were candles in all the office windows The fog covered everything，like a thick grey blanketScrooge kept his office door open，in order to check that his clerk，Bob Cratchit，was workingBob spent his days in a dark little room，a kind of cupboard，next to his employers officeScrooge had a very sma

9、ll fire，but Bobs fire was much smallerIt was very cold in the cupboard，and Bob had to wear his long white scarf to try to keep warmMerry Christmas，uncle！God bless you！cried a happy voiceScrooges nephew had arrivedBah！said Scrooge crosslyHumbug！Christmas is humbug！Surely you dont mean that， uncle？sai

10、d his nephewI do，said scroogeWhy do you call it“merry”Christmas？Youre too poor to be merryWell，replied the nephew，smiling，why are you so cross？Youre too rich to be unhappyof course Im cross，answered the uncle，when I live in a world full of stupid people like you！You say“Merry Christmas”！But what is

11、Christmas？Just a time when you spend too much，when you find yourself a year older and not an hour richer，when you have to pay your billsEveryone who goes around saying“Merry Christmas”should have his tongue cut outYes，he should！Uncle！Please dont say that！said the nephewIve always thought of Christma

12、s as a time to be helpful and kind to other PeopleIts the only time of the year when men and women open their hearts freely to each otherAnd so，uncle， although Ive never made any money from it，I think Christmas has been and will be a good time for me！And I say，God bless Christmas！Bob，in the cupboard

13、，agreed loudly，without thinkingHe immediately realized his mistake，and went quickly back to his work，but Scrooge had heard himIf I hear another sound from you，said Scrooge，youll lose you job！Dont be angry with him，uncle，said the nephewcome and have dinner with us tomorrowDinner with you？Ill see you

14、dead first！But why wont you come？Why？Because Christmas is humbug！Good afternoon！I want nothing from youI ask nothing of youWhy cant we be friends？Good afternoon！said ScroogeI am sorry，with all my heart，to find you like thisI have never wanted to argue with youBut I came to see you and invite you bec

15、ause its Christmas，and so Ill say，a merry Christmas，uncle！Good afternoon，said ScroogeAnd a happy new year！Good afternoon！said ScroogeHis nephew left the room，without an angry word，stopping only to wish Bob Cratchit a merry ChristmasThen two other gentlemen came inThey were large，round，comfortable-lo

16、oking men，with books and papers in their handsThis is Scrooge and Marleys，I think，said one of them， looking at the papers that he was carryingAm I speaking to Mr Scrooge or Mr Marley？Mr Marley is dead，scrooge repliedHe died seven years ago today，on Christmas EveIm sure that you are just as kind to t

17、he poor as your partner，said the gentleman，smilingWhat was true was that Scrooge was just as mean as Marley，and Marley had been just as mean as ScroogeAt this happy time of year，Mr Scrooge，the gentleman went on，taking up his pen，we should help poor people who have no food or clothes or homesAre ther

18、e no prisons？asked Scrooge coldlyPlenty of prisons，said the gentlemanAnd the workhouses，where poor people can live and work？Are they still open？Yes，they are，Im sorry to sayIm happy to hear It，said ScroogeI thought，from what you said at first，that perhaps these useful places were closed，for some reas

19、onBut some of us feel，replied the gentleman，that these places dont offer enough to poor peopleWere hoping to give some meat and drink，and wood for a fire，to people who need all these thingsThis is a time when we should all be able to enjoy ourselvesHow much will you give，sir？Nothing！scrooge repliedI

20、 dont have a merry Christmas myself，and I wont pay for other people to be merryWe all have to pay for prisons and workhousesthey cost enoughThe poor will have to go thereMany cant go there，and many prefer to dieIf they prefer to die，why dont they die，then？There are too many people in the world，so it

21、s a good thing if some of them dieAll this is none of my business！Its enough for a man to understand his own business，and not to think about other peoplesIm a very busy manGood afternoon，gentlemen！The gentlemen shook their heads a little sadly，and left the officeScrooge went back to his work，feeling

22、 pleased with himselfNow the fog was at its thickest outside，and the cold was bitingLights shone brightly from the shop windowsPeople were hurrying here and thererich and poor aliketo buy what they needed for tomorrows Christmas dinnerAt last it was time to close the officeScrooge got up slowly from

23、 his deskBob was waiting for this moment，and he immediately put on his hatYoull want a holiday all day tomorrow，I suppose？said ScroogeIf you dont mind，sirI do mindIts not fairI have to pay you for a days work when you dont do any workIts only once a year，sir，said Bob politelyThats no reason for robb

24、ing me every twenty-fifth of December！said Scrooge，putting on his coatBut I suppose you must have itBe here early next morningYes，sir，I will，I promise，Bob said happilyScrooge walked out，without another wordWhen bob had closed the office，he ran home to his family in Camden Town as quickly as possible

25、Scrooge always used to eat his dinner alone，in the same miserable little eating-houseTonight was no different from other nightsHe read the newspapers，looked at his bank books， and went home to bedHe lived in rooms which had once belonged to his dead partnerThey were in an old，dark building in a lone

26、ly side street，where no one except Scrooge livedIn the blackness of the night，through the fog and the frost， Scrooge had to feel his way along the street with his handsHe finally reached his front door and put the key in the lockSuddenly，to his great surprise，he saw that the knocker was not a knocke

27、r 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 Marleys name to his visitorsBut there in front of him was Marleys face，white and ghostly， with terrible staring eyesAs Scrooge looked，it became a knocker againHe wa

28、s afraid，but he did not show his fearHe turned the key， opened the door and walked inHe did look around before he shut the door，and he did look behind the door，to see if anyone was hiding thereBut there was nothing thereHe shut the door with a bang，to show that he was not afraidWith his one candle h

29、e went slowly up the stairsIt was impossible to see into all the dark cornersDarkness was cheap， and Scrooge liked itBut he remembered the face，so he walked through all his rooms，checking that everything was all rightNobody under the table or the bed，nobody behind the door！On the small fire in the b

30、edroom there was a pot of soup，and Scrooges bowl was ready on the tableNobody in any of the rooms！Sure that he was safe now，Scrooge shut and locked his bedroom door behind himHe sat down by the fire to eat his soupThe fireplace was an old one，with hundreds of pictures on the tiles around the fireBut

31、 Scrooge could only see Marleys face on every tileHumbug！said Scrooge to the tiles，and walked across the roomWhen he sat down again，he noticed a bell on the other side of the roomAs he looked，he saw，with great surprise and fear，that the bell was slowly beginning to move from side to sideSoon it was

32、ringing loudly，and so was every bell in the houseSuddenly they all stopped ringing at the same moment，and then came a strange noise from down belowIt sounded like someone pulling heavy chains across the floorScrooge remembered hearing that ghosts in old houses sometimes pulled chains behind themThen

33、 a door below opened with a crash，and the noise started coming up the stairsIt was coming towards his doorIts humbug still！cried ScroogeBut the colour left his face when，without stopping，it came straight through the heavy，locked door，and appeared in front of himIt was Marleys ghost！Scrooge could see

34、 right through its bodyAround its middle was a long chain，which had money-boxes，keys，bank books， and heavy purses on itThe ghosts death-cold eyes stared fixedly at ScroogeWell！said Scrooge，trying to pretend that nothing strange was happeningWhat do you want？And who are you？In life I was your partner

35、，Jacob MarleyIts humbug，I tell you！said ScroogeThere are no ghosts！But when he said this，the ghost gave a terrible cry， and shook its chain in a very frightening wayAt 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 f

36、rom 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 deathWe have to carry the chains that we made for ourselves in our lifetimeDo you，Ebenezer Scrooge，recognize my chain？It is very like the one that you wear！Sc

37、rooge looked around him，but could see no chainJacob，he said，please tell me more！I cannot help you much，Ebenezer！I cannot rest，I cannot stay anywhere for longI 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

38、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 lifeBusiness！cried the ghost miserablyWhy didnt I think of people as my business？I thought only about making money，not about being kind and helpful to other peopl

39、eListen to me，Ebenezer！I am here tonight to warn youYou still have a chance to save yourself from what has happened to meThree spirtis will come to visit you：the first tomorrow at one oclock，the second at the same time the next night，and the third at midnight the following nightYou will not see me a

40、ny more，and for your own peace after death，remember what I have told you！The spirit walked slowly backwards to the window，which began to openWhen the ghost reached the window，it held up its hand，and Scrooge listenedHe could hear a noise of sad crying in the airThe spirit began to cry，too，and it move

41、d out into the frosty，dark night to join the othersScrooge ran to the windowOutside，the air was full of spirits，all wearing chains like Marleys ghost，all crying miserably as they realized，too late，the terrible mistakes that they had made in their livesLittle by little，the spirits and their voices di

42、sappeared into the fog and the darkness，and the night was silent againScrooge closed the window，and checked his bedroom doorIt was still lockedHe started to say，Humbug！but stopped suddenlyPerhaps because he was very tired，or because it was late，he went straight to bed，without taking off his clothes，

43、and fell asleep immediately 1 马利的鬼魂要记住雅各布马利已经死了，这可是件重要的事儿。斯克罗吉知道这个吗？他当然知道。斯克罗吉和马利在伦敦曾是多年的合作伙伴，并且他们还都是精明的生意人。当马利死的时候，斯克罗吉一个人继续操持着生意。办公室门口的上方悬挂的依旧是两个人的名字：斯克罗吉和马利。有时初次来这儿打交道的人们喊斯克罗吉斯克罗吉，有时喊马利，但两个名字他都应答。他不在乎别人叫他什么名字。对他来说唯一重要的事情是他的生意和赚钱。噢！他是一个刻薄、精明、吝啬的老头儿，斯克罗吉的确是这样的！他没有丝毫热情，也从来不敞开心扉。他过着神秘、孤独的生活，对别人丝毫不感兴趣

44、。他内心的冷漠使他的眼睛呈红色，他的薄唇呈蓝色，他的嗓音既高又暴躁。他的冷漠使他的老脑壳、眉毛和下巴罩上了白色的冰霜。他内心的冰雾使得他周围的空气都变得寒冷。在最炎热的夏日里他的办公室也很冰冷，就像冬天一样寒冷。走在街上没有人截住他并面带幸福的微笑向他说，“我亲爱的斯克罗吉，你好吗？你什么时候来我这里坐坐？”穷人没有向他讨过钱，孩子们没有向他问过时间。在他一生中，从没有任何人，无论男女，向他问过路。人和动物都怕他。狗见到他来了就藏到门廊下。但斯克罗吉在乎什么呢！这正是他梦寐以求的。他喜欢处在人们繁忙生活的边缘，他警告所有的人都离他远点儿。在一个圣诞前夜，老斯克罗吉正在办公室忙碌着。天气寒冷，还

45、有霜冻，雾蒙蒙的。虽然才下午3点，但外面天已经黑了，办公室窗子里都亮起了蜡烛。雾就像一条厚厚的毯子笼罩了一切。斯克罗吉办公室的门总是敞开着，目的是监督他的雇员，鲍勃克拉奇蒂有没有怠工。鲍勃整天呆在老板隔壁的一间小黑屋里，它实际是一个壁橱。斯克罗吉房间的火很小，鲍勃的火更小。壁橱里冷极了，鲍勃不得不戴着他那条白色的长围巾取暖。“舅舅，圣诞快乐！上帝保佑你！”一个声音高兴地说。斯克罗吉的外甥已经到了。“呸！”斯克罗吉恼怒地说。“骗人的东西！”“圣诞节是骗人的东西！舅舅，当然你不是这个意思？”他外甥说。“我就是这个意思，”斯克罗吉说。“你为什么管它叫快乐的圣诞节？你太穷了，根本快乐不起来。”“哎，”

46、外甥笑着回答说，“你为什么这么生气？你很有钱不该不高兴啊。”“我当然生气，”舅舅回答说，“当我生活在一个满是像你这种蠢人的世界里！你说圣诞快乐！但圣诞节是什么？不过是一个让你大把大把花钱的日子，这时你会发现你老了一岁可财富却没有增加半点，而且你还得去付所有的账单。所有到处游逛说圣诞快乐的人的舌头都应被割掉。是的，他会的！”“舅舅，请不要这么说！”外甥说。“我一直把圣诞看作是一个帮助别人、善待别人的日子。一年中只有这么一天男男女女可以彼此自由地敞开心扉。所以舅舅，尽管我从未发过圣诞的财，我认为对我来说圣诞节一直就是而且也将是美好的时刻！愿上帝保佑你！”坐在壁橱里的鲍勃未加思索大声表示赞同。但他立

47、刻意识到自己所犯的错误，便又立即埋头工作，但斯克罗吉已经听见了他的话。“如果我再听到你发出一点声音的话，”斯克罗吉说，“你就会丢掉这份工作！”“舅舅，别生他的气，”外甥说。“明天来和我们一起吃晚饭吧。”“和你们吃晚饭？门儿也没有！”“那你为什么不来呢？为什么？”“因为圣诞节是个骗人的把戏！再见！”“我什么也不要你送给我，我什么都不问你要。我们为什么不能成为朋友呢？”“再见！”斯克罗吉说。“看到你这样，我真感到难过，我从来就没想过要与你争吵，但我来是为了看看你并邀请你，因为是圣诞节，所以我要说一声，舅舅，圣诞快乐！”“再见。”斯克罗吉说。“新年快乐！”“再见！”斯克罗吉说。他外甥离开了房间，没有一句愠怒之言。他停下来只是为了祝鲍勃克拉奇蒂圣诞快乐。然后进来了另外两位绅士，他们身材魁梧，胖胖的，仪表堂堂，手里拿着书和文件。“我想，这是斯克罗吉和马利的办公室吧，”其中一位看着手中的文件问到。“你