Plot Summary:Old Scrooge is a miser. The timid Christmas greeting of his old-ill-paid clerk, Bob Cratchit, exasperates him; the cheery urchins who assemble to sing a carol outside his window are driven off with threats and imprecations, and when his nephew, accompanied by his young wife, comes to press him to join them at their Christmas dinner, he greets them with black looks and bitter words. Later in the day Scrooge's ire is further increased by a visit from two benevolent gentlemen, who solicit from him in vain a small subscription for the poor. Evening comes at last. Bob Cratchit hurries on to his humble home, where his wife and merry children eagerly await him, happy in the preparation of such Christmas cheer as their small means can afford. Meanwhile Scrooge has also reached his door. His eyes are suddenly attracted to the knocker. A curious change has come over it. What he sees is not a knocker at all, but the ghastly, yet living face of old Marley, his seven-years-dead partner. While ...