Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits (Part 1!)

When we last left Scrooge, he had fallen back asleep after his whirlwind journey into Christmas Past!

He wakes up and pulls open his bed curtains, so as not to be surprised by the next ghost. While he's waiting for something to happen, he gradually becomes aware of a light in the adjoining room.

In that room is, of course, the Ghost of Christmas Present. Scrooge greets him timidly and even mentions that he had learned a lesson the night before!

The depiction of the ghost in most adaptations follow the book pretty closely. He's a giant wearing a green robe with a wreath of holly on his head. Dickens says it has dark brown curls, but does not say that it has a beard, though he's almost always depicted as having one. He also wears a belt with an empty sheath and carries a torch.

Scrooge's room is decorated with all sorts of holly, mistletoe and ivy and the ghost sits upon a throne made of all kinds of food. It seems that the way these things are depicted depend upon the budget of the production in question!

The spirit tells Scrooge that he has more than eighteen hundred brothers, which makes sense if there's one for every Christmas and we're in 1843!

So, Scrooge is ready to learn a few things and reform a bit more. What will he see during the present Christmas?