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‘Are spirits' lives so short? ’asked Scrooge.
“幽灵的生命如此短暂吗？”斯克罗吉问。
‘My life in this world ends at midnight tonight. Listen! It's a quarter to midnight now! ’
“我的生命在今天午夜时结束。听着，现在离午夜只差一刻钟了！”
The church clock was striking the three quarters.
教堂的钟正在敲响三刻的时晨。
‘Excuse me for asking, spirit, ’said Scrooge, ‘but what are those strange things near your foot? ’
“幽灵，请问，”斯克罗吉说，“你脚边是什么东西？”
‘Oh man, look here! ’said the spirit sadly, and brought out from under his robe two ghostly figures, a boy and a girl. They were thin and poorly dressed, with cold, mean eyes and dry, yellow skin, and their faces showed only a frightening and murderous hate. Scrooge had never seen anything so terrible or so sad.
“噢！伙计，看这个！”幽灵悲伤地说，并从他的长袍下掏出两个鬼魂似的塑像，一个男孩一个女孩。他们骨瘦如柴，破衣烂衫，目光冷漠犀利，皮肤干燥发黄，他们的脸上充满了可怕的、凶狠的仇恨表情。斯克罗吉从未见到过如此可怕、糟糕的场面。
‘These miserable children are Man's, ’said the spirit. ‘The boy is Crime. The girl is Need. They will destroy Man if nothing is done about them. ’
“这些悲惨的孩子属于人类，”幽灵说。“男孩叫‘罪恶’，女孩叫‘需要’。如果不为他们做点什么的话，他们将毁掉人类。”
‘Can't anyone help them? ’cried Scrooge.
“难道就没有人能帮助他们吗？”斯克罗吉高声问道。
‘Are there no prisons? ’said the spirit, turning on Scrooge for the last time with his own words. ‘Are there on workhouses? ’
“难道没有看守所吗？”幽灵说着斯克罗吉自己曾说过的话，并最后一次把脸转向他。“难道没有济贫院吗？”
The clock struck twelve. Scrooge looked, but could no longer see the ghost or the children. He was alone again.
钟敲响了12点。斯克罗吉看着，但他再也看不到幽灵和孩子们了。又剩下他一人了。
