A Christmas Carol in Prose

A Christmas Carol is a short novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1843. It tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a mean, miserable, bitter old man with no friends and an unhealthy obsession with money. Seven years since the death of his business partner, Jacob Marley, and Scrooge is being mean to his employee Bob Cratchit, forever hounding marketplace sellers who took out loans with him, and being frugal to the extreme. Scrooge also dislikes Christmas - so much so he cannot understand why Bob wishes to leave early on Christmas Eve to spend time with his wife and children, including his crippled son, Tiny Tim. Nor will he accept a dinner invitation from his nephew Fred. However, on the night before Christmas, he is forewarned by the spirit of his former partner Marley, that three ghosts will arrive in succession and take him on journeys to show him his past, present and future. Scrooge spends the night in anxious anticipation as each ghost arrives, fulfils it's task, and leaves. And with each one, he learns a lesson. When morning arrives, Scrooge has been transformed, and the people around him get to share in his new found joy.
Apparently, the inspiration for Ebeneezer Scrooge was a member of Parliament called John Elwes - a man so miserly, he even 'complained bitterly of the birds robbing him of so much hay with which to build their nests.' Adapted many times for tv and film, A Christmas Carol has remained a favourite, and has given the English vernacular the saying 'Bah! Humbug!' as well as the name Scrooge being adopted as a term for a stingy person.