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The Author
Charles Dickens was one of the greatest English writers. He was born near Portsmouth, in the south of England, on 7th February 1812. His father worked in an office, but he didn't earn much money and the family was poor and couldn't pay the bills. When Charles was 12 years old, his father and the most of his family went to prison. He didn't because he went to work in a factory. He had to work very hard and so at this time he was very unhappy.
When Dickens was 15 years old, he went to work in an office. He didn't earn much money, but he had many friends.
In 1833, Charles started writing stories. He became rich and famous. His books are: A Christmas Carol, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend, David Copperfield and many more.
Many of Dickens stories are about poor people because he knew how poor people lived. And he wanted everyone to know how poor people lived. After his books were published, many laws were changed.
Charles Dickens died on 9th June 1870. He was 58 years old. He is buried in the famous church, Westminster Abbey, in London.
The Characters
Ebenezer Scrooge: He is a rich businessman. He doesn't care about people. He only cares about money. He works in an office in London. He thinks that Christmas is humbug.
The Ghost of Christmas Past: It wears a long white robe and carries a branch from a green holly tree in its hand. And it has summer flowers on its robe, too. There is a bright light coming out of its head.
The Ghost of Christmas Present: It wears a long green and white robe. Its hair is long and brown. And there are leaves from a holly tree around the top of its head.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come: It wears a long black robe, which hides its body and its face.
Fred: He is the nephew of Scrooge. He's very friendly and always invites his uncle to his Christmas Dinner.
Bob Crachit: He is the secretary of Scrooge. He is a very friendly person, too. But he's poor. He's got six children and a small house.
The Story
Scrooge is working in an office in London. "Scrooge and Marley" is written on the door of the office, but Marley is dead. He was Scrooge's friend and they worked together.
On Christmas Eve comes a man into the office and asks for some money for the poor people. But Scrooge doesn't give him any. After that, his nephew Fred comes, wishes him a Merry Christmas and invites him to the Christmas Dinner. But Scrooge says that Christmas is humbug and that he won't come to the Dinner. Then Scrooge says to his secretary that he mustn't be late tomorrow. But when he will, he'll lose his job. Then Scrooge goes home. At his house he feels very afraid because he sees the face of his dead friend Marley on his door-knocker. But he says that it's humbug and enters the house. He goes to his room and suddenly a ghost appears. It is the ghost of Marley. It says to Scrooge that when he won't change, and will be a good and friendly person, he'll die soon. It says that it'll send three ghosts to him. The Ghost of Christmas Past will come at two o'clock this morning. The Ghost of Christmas Present will come at one o'clock next night. And The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come will come at midnight the following day. Then Marley's ghost disappears. Scrooge goes to bed at three o'clock. At two o'clock he wakes up. He finds it very strange that he has slept for a day. Suddenly The Ghost of Christmas Past comes in. He shows Scrooge how he celebrated Christmas in his past life. Scrooge feels very happy when he sees that. But the best thing is that the other people can't see him. Then they come back to Scrooge's room. Scrooge falls asleep. He wakes up at one o'clock the next night. Then comes The Ghost of Christmas Present. It shows Scrooge the Christmas parties of the present time. Scrooge sees his nephew. He celebrates Christmas with his family and friends. It's very loud and the people there are happy. Then he sees his secretary Bob with his wife and six children. They are very poor people, but they are happy. And the youngest boy, Tiny Tim, is very sick. He will die, when he won't eat more. But the family hasn't got more money and so all think that he will die soon. Scrooge feels very sorry for him.
Before the ghost and Scrooge go back to the bedroom, Scrooge sees poor people in the streets. And he sees how poor they are. When they arrive at the room, Scrooge falls asleep. He wakes up at midnight. Now comes The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. With that ghost Scrooge sees very horrible things. He sees that he'll die and after his death people will steal his things because he won't have friends, who will care about that. Then he sees that Tiny Tim will die, too. Scrooge is very frightened. But suddenly he is in his room again. And he's completely changed. He goes to the party of Fred, his nephew. But before he does that, he goes to the man who asked him for some money for the poor people. He gives him a lot of money. Then he buys a big turkey and sends it to his secretary Bob. After that all he goes to Fred's party. Fred is very happy about the coming of his uncle.
On the next morning Scrooge is waiting for Bob in his office. He isn't punctual. But he doesn't lose his job. Scrooge pays the doctor for Tiny Tim so he can survive. He also helps the rest of Bob's family. So it all has a happy end.
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