A Christmas Carol Stave 3

Stave 3

Scrooge wakes in mid-snore and realizes without surprise that the hour is approaching one o'clock. But at the stroke of the hour nothing happens, and Scrooge uncertainly lies in his bed awaiting the second ghost. Scrooge follows a stream of light from the next room and finds a giant surrounded by a feast of Christmas foods filling the room. The Ghost of Christmas Present is pleasant and young. He carries a torch shaped like a Cornucopia, and the ghost has an aura of good cheer and kindness about him. Scrooge is ready to see what the ghost has come to show him, so they take off. First the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge the people of the town in all their merriment on Christmas morning. As they watch the townspeople, the ghost sprinkles good cheer on them from his cornucopia to assure that the spirit of the holiday reaches everyone.

Then the ghost takes Scrooge to Bob Cratchit's house. Inside the small house Cratchit's wife and several children are joyfully preparing their meager Christmas feast. When Bob appears, he carries a small boy on his shoulders and the boy holds a crutch in his hand. Bob tells his wife that on the way home from church that morning, Tim said that, "'he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.'" Stave 3, pg. 94. Bob, with tears in his eyes, insists that Tim is growing stronger every day, but his tears seem to suggest otherwise. As the family enjoys their small feast, Bob wishes them all a merry Christmas, and Tiny Tim echoes with, "'God bless us, every one!'" Stave 3, pg. 96 Then Bob proposes a toast in honor of his employer, Mr. Scrooge. Mrs. Cratchit raises quite a stir at such a preposterous toast, but because it is Christmas and her husband wishes her to do so, she drinks to Scrooge's health although she believes him a stingy, cold, and selfish man. Scrooge questions the ghost…