Scrooge Page #3

l won't look!

- You shall.

Now see yourself in business, Ebenezer.

Come, come Mr. Fezziwig,

We are good friends, l think,

besides good men of business.

We're men of vision and progress.

Why don't you sell out while

the going's good?

You'll never get a better offer.

This is the age of the machine

and the factory and the vested interest.

We small traders are all history,

Mr. Fezziwig.

Huh, Doh-Doh's.

- Yes, l dare say we are.

And the offer is a very large one,

l have to admit,

but it's not just for money alone

that one spends a lifetime

building up a business, Mr. Jorkin.

Well, if it isn't, l'd like you to tell me

what you do spend a lifetime

building up a business for?

lt's to preserve a way of life that

one knew and loved.

No, l can't see my way to selling out

to the new vested interest, Mr. Jorkin.

l have to be loyal to the old ways

and die out with them, if needs must.

Well, ha ha ha. You know what they say

about time and tide, Mr. Fezziwig.

They wait for no one.

There's more in life than money, Sir.

Oh, excuse me, Mr. Fezziwig, Sir?

Uh yes, yes, my boy?

The foreman would appreciate a word with

you, if you could spare the time, Sir.

Uh, yes, yes, of course.

Excuse me a moment.

Ha ha ha, you can't teach an old dog

new tricks. Can you, Mr. Scrooge?

Nor teach the leopard to change its spots.

Well l - l think l know what Mr. Fezziwig

means though, Sir.

Oh, so you hate progress

and money too, do you?

Well no, l don't hate them, Sir, but ...

well, perhaps the machines aren't such

a good thing for mankind, after all.

Sage and onions, my dear fellow!

Ha! Gammon and spinach.

Why, suppose l told you,

you could get twice the salary

Old Fezziwig can afford to pay you?

And advancement he can't

afford to offer you...

as a clerk in a new company?

What would you say to that, eh?

Well l - l'd still say money wasn't

everything, Sir.

Ha, well if it ain't,

l don't know what is.

Come and see me one day

anyway, young fellow.

You're smart and you're no fool.

That's the kind of buck they're

looking for these days.

No, Spirit, not here.

- Yes, ...here.

Fan, it's Ebenezer, your brother.

Do you know me?

Ebenezer.

l sent for you.

Promise me...

Promise you what, Fan?

l'll promise you anything, dearest.

Only there, there isn't going

to be any need.

You're going to get well again, Fan.

You are! you are.

Dear God, you must!

Fan you-you-you can't die.

Fan, you mustn't die!

You're going to get well again, Fan.

Fan, you're going to get well again!

Fan...

How could you have brought me here?

Have you no mercy, no pity?

Ebenezer.

Brother?

Ebenezer?

Promise me...

you'll take care of my boy.

Promise me

you'll take care my...

You heard her.

Forgive me, Fan.

Forgive me.

Forgive me, Fan!

Forgive me, Fan.

Well, there you are, me buck.

That's where you'll start.

And you can work your way up as high as

the dome in St. Paul's Cathedral,

if you have a mind to do so.

Control the cash box and

you control the world.

By the way, how did Old Fezziwig take it

when you said you were leaving him?

He wished me luck, Sir.

No hard feelings, eh?

Starting with a clean slate?

Good.

And now let me introduce you to your

fellow clerk. Mr. Marley!

Just a moment please.

Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge, the new clerk.

Mr. Jacob Marley,

our wizard of the accounts.

Your servant, Mr. Marley.

- Your servant, Mr. Scrooge.

l'm sure you two gentlemen

will get along famously.

l'm sure we shall Mr. Jorkin, Sir.

Yes, heh heh, well l'll leave you to it.

Thank you.

The place, no doubt, seems new

and strange to you.

Somewhat.

The world is on the verge of new

and great changes, Mr. Scrooge.

Some of them, of necessity,

will be violent. Do you agree?

No, l think the world is becoming

a very hard and cruel place, Mr. Marley.

One must steel oneself to survive it.

Not be crushed under with

the weak and the infirm.

l think we have many things

in common, Mr. Scrooge.

l hope so, Mr. Marley.

Oh, excuse me, Mr. Scrooge, Sir.

- Yes?

Pardon the liberty, but do you know if

l'm to be kept on here, Sir?

What's your present salary?

- Five shillings a week, Sir.

You can stay for four shillings a week.

- Well yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.

lsn't that Old Fezziwig?

Alice.

The same Alice you swore to love

for all eternity, Ebenezer.

She is not changed by the

harshness of the world.

But you are.

Then you no longer love me?

You no longer love me.

- When have l ever said that.

ln words? ... Never.

- Well, in what then?

ln the way you have changed.

- But how have l changed towards you?

By changing toward the world.

ls it such a terrible thing for a man to

struggle for something better than he is?

Another idol has replaced me in your

heart. ...A golden idol.

lt's singular.

The world, that can be so brutally

cruel to the poor,

professes to condemn the pursuit of

wealth in the same breath.

You fear the world too much.

- Ha! ... with reason!

But, l am not changed toward you!

Aren't you?

Our promise is an old one.

lt was made when we were both poor

and content to be so.

lf you had never made that promise,

tell me...

would you seek me out and

try to win me now.

Of course, l would.

No.

lf you were free today, would you choose

a direless girl with -

with neither wealth nor social standing?

You, who now weigh everything by gain!

l bring you nothing but

repentance and regret.

That is why ...

l released you.

You know l'm right then?

l must bow to your conviction

that you are.

May you be happy in the life

you have chosen.

Thank you.

l shall be.

Goodbye.

Show me no more.

- But l told you.

These are but shadows of the

things that have been.

That they are what they are.

Do not blame me.

- Take me away!

Very well.

But we have not done yet, Ebenezer Scrooge.

We do, but turn, another page.

And as your business prospered,

Ebenezer Scrooge,

a golden idol took possession

of your heart ...

as Alice said it would.

May we hear those figures, Mr. Snedrig?

At your pleasure.

Certainly, Mr. Groper.

Well, gentlemen,

after seventeen years of existence,

the Amalgamated Mercantile Society's

books show the startling figures

of a liability of three thousand-

two hundred pounds,

eight shillings and 10 pence.

And a total asset of eleven pounds,

eight shillings, and 10 pence.

Well at least the 10 pences

cancel each other out.

How much of this is the

company's capital?

All of it, Mr. Rosebed.

ln short, Sir, you're not only a bankrupt,

you're an embezzler of

the company's funds.

l also beat my wife and skewer innocent

babies when in my cups.

Take a very cool attitude,

if l may say so, Sir.

So do Mr. Scrooge and Mr. Marley.

They're not facing prosecution

for the capital offense.

Oh, but gentlemen it could

have been any one of you.

We're all cut-throats under

this fancy linen, Mr. Snedrig.

l must ask you to speak

for yourself, Mr. Jorkin!

And what would you gain

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