One night, the old money-lender Ebenezer Scrooge receives four visitors. The first is the ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns Scrooge of the night ahead. The next three spirits show Scrooge what he once was, what he came to be, and what will become of him if he continues to be a miserly, selfish, cheerless person. Scrooge must regain his compassion and humanity to avoid the fate shown to him by the last spirit. First published in 1843, Charles Dickens' English novella is a cla