词汇提示

1.hoards 存储

2.frugality 节约

3.drags 拖，拉

4.ledgers 账簿

5.purses 钱包

6.deeds 房契

7.condemned 被判死刑

8.crutch 拐杖

9.pawnbroker 当铺商人

10.acquaintance 熟人

原文

Ebenezer Scrooge

In the story "A Christmas Carol," Scrooge is an English businessman who thinks about nothing but money.

He has no friends, and spends no time with his family.

He lives alone, eats alone, and works alone, except for his underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit.

Scrooge never spends his money, but hoards it all, and prides himself on his frugality.

Scrooge hates Christmas.

It is all nonsense to him.

People spend money on food, and gifts, and parties.

Often they can't afford what they spend.

Worse than that, they take a whole day off work and so lose a chance to make more money.

Scrooge is angry that he has to give his clerk the day off with pay.

He feels that he is being robbed.

Christmas is also a time when people are asked to give money to help the poor.

Scrooge is angry when two men come to his door asking for donations.

Scrooge argues that he pays taxes, which support prisons and workhouses.

It is not his business to worry about the problems of other people.

Scrooge represents businessmen who see the "bottom line" as all that matters.

Scrooge's partner Marley had died seven years earlier.

He was like Scrooge in all respects.

That evening, which is Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by Marley's ghost.

Marley drags steel chains round about him, which contain keys, cash-boxes, ledgers, purses and deeds.

These are the things that Marley cared about when he was alive.

Marley is condemned in death to wander the world and tells Scrooge that the same fate is likely to happen to him.

However, three spirits will visit Scrooge, and if Scrooge listens to them, he may escape his fate.

The first spirit comes and takes Scrooge back to the early scenes of his own life.

He sees himself being left behind at school while the other boys went home for the holidays.

Then his little sister arrives to tell him he could go home too.

Another scene was of a cheerful Christmas party, when Scrooge was a young man.

A third scene showed him with the girl he was planning to marry.

She left him because he no longer cared about anything but money.

The second spirit shows Scrooge what people are doing that very Christmas.

He shows Scrooge the preparations that people even poor people, are making to celebrate Christmas.

They visit Bob Cratchit's tiny home.

There they see the family cooking their little Christmas dinner.

Bob's son, Tiny Tim, has been weakened by disease, and has to use a crutch to walk.

The family is delighted with its meal, small as it is.

They see other scenes of poor people -miners and sailors - celebrating Christmas.

Finally, they visit Scrooge's nephew, and view his Christmas party and its games.

The third spirit was the spirit of Christmas Yet to Come - the Future.

This spirit does not talk but points to scenes connected with Scrooge.

They overhear some businessmen joking about someone who has recently died, but no one is going to the funeral.

Scrooge sees that he no longer occupies his usual place of business.

The spirit then shows him two women who have stolen the bed clothes, curtains, and clothes of the dead man and taken them to a pawnbroker.

The spirit takes Scrooge to the room where the dead man died.

The only people who are happy about the death are a young couple who owed him money.

The spirit then shows Scrooge the Cratchit's house, where they are mourning the death of Tiny Tim.

Finally, the spirit takes him to a churchyard, where they stand among the graves.

Then the spirit points to the name of the dead man on the tombstone - "Ebenezer Scrooge.

Scrooge is going to die, and no one will care.

Scrooge finds himself in his own bed on Christmas morning.

He is resolved now to avoid the fate that the spirits had shown him.

He is delighted that he is getting a second chance.

Scrooge decides to surprise all his acquaintances, and he begins by buying a huge goose and sending it to the Cratchits.

On his walk, he meets the two men collecting for the poor, and offers them a large sum of money.

He goes on to join his nephew at his Christmas party.

The next day when Bob Cratchit comes into work, Scrooge gives him a raise in his salary.

He also takes care of Tiny Tim, so that Tim's health is recovered.

Charles Dickens' story was written at a time when governments did very little to help the poor.

Wages were very low, and many businessmen were unwilling to look after their workers properly.

Dickens points out that people like Scrooge not only make other people unhappy, but also are usually unhappy themselves.

It is possible to be a very rich businessman, and a poor human being at the same time.

翻译

埃比尼泽·斯克鲁奇

在故事《圣诞颂歌》中，斯克罗吉是一位英国商人，除了钱什么都不想。
他没有朋友，也没有时间和家人在一起。
他一个人生活，一个人吃饭，一个人工作，除了工资低的店员鲍勃·克拉奇特。
斯克罗吉从不花钱，而是把钱都存起来，并以自己的节俭为荣。
斯克罗吉讨厌圣诞节。
这对他来说都是无稽之谈。
人们把钱花在食物、礼物和聚会上。
他们经常买不起他们所花的钱。
更糟糕的是，他们休息一整天，因此失去了赚更多钱的机会。
斯克罗吉对他不得不给他的职员一天带薪休假感到愤怒。
他觉得自己被抢劫了。
圣诞节也是人们被要求捐钱帮助穷人的时候。
当两个男人上门要求捐款时，斯克罗吉很生气。
斯克罗吉辩称，他缴纳税款，支持监狱和济贫院。
担心别人的问题不是他的事。
斯克罗吉代表的是将“底线”视为最重要的商人。
斯克罗吉的搭档马利早在七年前就去世了。
他在各方面都像史克鲁奇。
那天晚上，也就是圣诞节前夕，史克鲁奇被马利的鬼魂拜访。
马利拖着铁链围着他，里面有钥匙、钱箱、账本、钱包和契约。
这些都是马利生前关心的事情。
马利被判死刑，去流浪世界，告诉史克鲁奇，同样的命运很可能会发生在他身上。
然而，三个鬼魂将拜访斯克罗吉，如果斯克罗吉听从他们的话，他可能会逃脱命运。
第一个灵魂降临，将斯克罗吉带回了他自己生活的早期场景。
当其他男孩回家度假时，他看到自己被留在学校。
然后他的小妹妹来告诉他他也可以回家了。
另一个场景是一个欢快的圣诞派对，当时斯克罗吉还是个年轻人。
第三幕是他和他计划结婚的女孩在一起。
她离开了他，因为他除了钱什么都不在乎了。
第二种精神向斯克罗吉展示了人们在圣诞节做什么。
他向斯克罗吉展示了人们甚至穷人为庆祝圣诞节所做的准备。
他们参观了鲍勃·克拉奇特的小家。
在那里，他们看到一家人在做圣诞大餐。
鲍勃的儿子蒂尼·蒂姆（Tiny Tim）因疾病而身体虚弱，不得不用拐杖行走。
这家人很喜欢这顿饭，尽管它很小。
他们看到了穷人——矿工和水手——庆祝圣诞节的其他场景。
最后，他们拜访了斯克罗吉的侄子，并观看了他的圣诞派对和游戏。
第三种精神是圣诞节的精神——未来。
这种精神不会说话，而是指向与斯克罗吉有关的场景。
他们无意中听到一些商人开玩笑说有人最近去世了，但没有人参加葬礼。
斯克罗吉发现他不再占据他通常的营业场所。
然后，鬼魂向他展示了两个女人，她们偷走了死者的床上用品、窗帘和衣服，并将其带到了当铺。
鬼魂将斯克罗吉带到死者死亡的房间。
唯一对死亡感到高兴的是一对欠他的钱的年轻夫妇。
然后，鬼魂出现在克拉奇特的斯克罗吉家，他们正在那里悼念小蒂姆的死。
最后，鬼魂把他带到一个教堂墓地，在那里他们站在坟墓中间。
然后灵魂指向墓碑上死者的名字——“埃比尼泽·斯克鲁奇”。
斯克罗吉会死的，没人会在乎。
圣诞节早晨，斯克罗吉发现自己躺在自己的床上。
他现在下定决心要避免鬼魂给他的命运。
他很高兴得到了第二次机会。
斯克罗吉决定给所有熟人一个惊喜，他首先买了一只大鹅，然后把它送到克拉奇家。
在散步时，他遇到了两个为穷人募捐的人，并给了他们一大笔钱。
他继续和侄子一起参加他的圣诞聚会。
第二天，当鲍勃·克拉奇开始上班时，斯克罗吉给了他加薪。
他还照顾小蒂姆，使蒂姆的健康得到恢复。
查尔斯·狄更斯的故事是在政府几乎没有帮助穷人的时候写的。
工资很低，许多商人不愿意妥善照顾他们的工人。
狄更斯指出，像斯克罗吉这样的人不仅让别人不开心，而且他们自己也不开心。
有可能成为一个非常富有的商人，同时也是一个穷人。

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Level 4-Day 48.Ebenezer Scrooge