A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

"It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already—it had not been light all day—and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air."
“The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more children there, than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty. The consequences were uproarious beyond belief; but no one seemed to care; on the contrary, the mother and daughter laughed heartily, and enjoyed it very much; and the latter, soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands most ruthlessly.”
“Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons; while Master Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and getting the corners of his monstrous shirt collar (Bob's private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honour of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the fashionable Parks.”
“The Spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to one. He advanced towards it trembling. The Phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape. ‘Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,’ said Scrooge, ‘answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?’”
“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset.”

«A Christmas Carol» de Charles Dickens está dividido en cinco capítulos, que el autor llamó «staves» (estrofas), siguiendo una metáfora musical, ya que el título hace referencia a un villancico.

Cada capítulo representa una parte importante de la transformación del protagonista, Ebenezer Scrooge:

  1. Stave One: Marley’s Ghost
    (El fantasma de Marley)
    Introduce a Scrooge y su encuentro con el espíritu de su antiguo socio, Jacob Marley, quien le advierte sobre su destino si no cambia.
  2. Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits
    (El primero de los tres espíritus)
    Aparece el Fantasma de las Navidades Pasadas, que lleva a Scrooge a revivir momentos significativos de su vida.
  3. Stave Three: The Second of the Three Spirits
    (El segundo de los tres espíritus)
    El Fantasma de las Navidades Presentes muestra a Scrooge cómo la gente celebra la Navidad en ese momento, incluyendo a su empleado Bob Cratchit.
  4. Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits
    (El último de los espíritus)
    Aparece el Fantasma de las Navidades Futuras, quien revela un destino sombrío si Scrooge no cambia.
  5. Stave Five: The End of It
    (El desenlace)
    Scrooge experimenta su transformación y adopta el espíritu navideño, redimiéndose a través de actos de bondad y generosidad.

Esta estructura refuerza el carácter didáctico y emocional de la obra.

Te regalo a continuación, una copia digital de esta obra imperecedera:

A_Christmas_CarolDescarga

«And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One !«

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.

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