"کریسمس مبارک، آقای اسکروچ!"

CHAPTER SIX

‘A Merry Christmas, Mr Scrooge!’

The bed was his, the room was his, and best of all, he still had time to be a better man. He jumped out of bed.

‘I will live with the spirits of the past, present and future in me!’ he said, on his knees and with tears in his eyes. ‘Thank you. Jacob Marley! God bless Christmas!’

Then he put on his clothes.

‘My clothes are here: I am here. But the future is not here yet and I can change it!’ he said, laughing and crying at the same time. ‘What shall I do first? Oh, I feel as light as a feather! I’m as happy as an angel! A Merry Christmas to everybody! A Happy New Year to all the world!’

He danced in the sitting-room and looked around.

‘There’s the door where Jacob Marley came in. There’s the place where the Ghost of Christmas Present sat. There’s the window where I saw the ghosts in the air. It’s all right, it’s all true, it all happened!’

And he laughed and laughed. Then the church bells rang - ding, dong, ding, dong! It was a glorious sound! He opened the window and put out his head. No fog. It was a bright, sunny day and the air was cold and sweet.

‘What’s today?’ Scrooge shouted to a boy in the street.

‘Eh?’ The boy looked very surprised.

‘What’s today, my boy?’

‘It’s Christmas Day.’

‘Christmas Day!’ Scrooge said happily to himself. ‘So the Spirits did everything in one night. Hey, boy! Do you know the butcher’s shop in the next street?’

‘Of course!’

‘You’re an intelligent boy! Do you know if they’ve sold that big turkey in the window?’

‘You mean the one as big as me?’

‘What a nice boy!’ said Scrooge. ‘Yes, that one.’

‘No. It’s still there.’

‘Is it? Oh, good! Go and buy it for me, will you? Tell them to bring it here. If you come back in five minutes, I’ll give you half-a-crown.’

The boy ran as fast as possible to the shop.

‘I’ll send it to Bob Cratchit,’ Scrooge said. ‘Ha, ha! He won’t know who sent it!’

And he wrote Bob’s address on a piece of paper. When the butcher’s man arrived with the enormous turkey, Scrooge told him to call a cab. He paid for the turkey and the cab, and he gave the boy half-a-crown. He was laughing all the time. Then he put on his coat and walked along the street. He looked at all the people with a happy smile.

‘Good morning!’ people said to him. ‘A Merry Christmas to you!’

And Scrooge answered in the same way.

‘Ah, there are the two gentlemen who were asking for money in my office yesterday,’ he said. ‘How do you do my dear sirs! A Merry Christmas to you!’

‘Mr Scrooge?’ asked one of them.

‘Yes. That’s my name and perhaps you don’t like me. Please excuse me for yesterday. Listen.’

Scrooge spoke quietly in the man’s ear.

‘Are you serious, Mr Scrooge?’ The man was very surprised.

‘Of course. Can you do me that favour?’

‘My dear Scrooge, that’s very generous! I don’t know what to say to thank you.’

‘Don’t say anything. Come and see me tomorrow. I’ll give it to you then. All right?’

Then Scrooge continued walking. He watched the people, he kissed little children, he played with some dogs, he looked at everything with love, and he felt very happy.

In the afternoon he went to his nephew’s house. Everybody was in the dining-room.

‘Fred!’ said Scrooge at the door.

‘My God! Who’s that?’ cried Fred.

‘It’s your Uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Can I come in, Fred?’

‘Come in? Of course, uncle! You’re very welcome.’

Everybody was happy to see Scrooge and he was happy to see them. They ate a wonderful dinner, and then they played wonderful games and had a wonderful time!

Scrooge was in his office early the next morning. He was waiting for Bob Cratchit. Of course, he knew Bob would be late. Nine o’clock and no Bob. A quarter past nine. No Bob. At nine-twenty Bob ran in. He went into his room immediately and started to work fast.

‘Hallo!’ Scrooge said in his old angry voice. ‘You’re late!’

‘I’m very sorry, sir!’ Bob answered.

‘Are you? Come here, Cratchit.’

‘It’s only once a year, sir,’ said poor Bob. ‘It won’t happen again.’

‘Well, my friend, I hope not,’ Scrooge said with a big smile. ‘Because I’m going to give you a bigger salary!’

Bob trembled. He couldn’t believe his ears.

‘A merry Christmas, Bob!’ said Scrooge. ‘This will be your happiest Christmas! Yes, I’m going to give you a lot more money and I’m going to help your poor family. Come on make a very big fire and let’s have a drink. Bob Cratchit!’

Scrooge gave Bob more money, helped his family and did much more. Tiny Tim did NOT die and Scrooge was a second father to him. He became a good friend, a good manager and a good man.

A few people laughed at him, of course, but he knew that some people always laugh at anything new, strange, and good. He often laughed now and that was the most important thing to him.

He didn’t see the Spirits again, and he celebrated every Christmas with all his heart. And, like Tiny Tim he said, ‘God bless everyone!’