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Charles Dickens (Feb. 7, 1812-June 9, 1870) was probably the best author in England in the 19^th century and wrote a lot of novels and hundreds of short stories. And this holiday season, Macy's in Philadelphia continued to make the setting of the story “A Christmas Carol” by Dickens.

Dickens was renowned for his humor and how he based his stories on real-life problems. This style led him to fame and had a ton of criticism at the same time because he didn’t write in the formal and educated way that most authors use. As the years went on, vivid stories became more and more popular around the world. Today, Dickens is a legend and famous enough to be the theme of the spectacular Macy's Show. A little replica of the Victorian town in “A Christmas Carol” was created according to one of Dickens's most successful books. I read a tiny bit of it myself, and the plot sounded rather interesting although I wasn’t the biggest fan of the old English vocabulary of words.

In Macy's Dickens Village, I walked on a path through a small English town, and signs were posted telling the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character of a bitter old miser. Scrooge hated Christmas for it was the same day his sole friend and partner Jacob Marley died. He was “the cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice…” as Dickens described. Scrooge met Marley’s ghost seven years later and became nice and friendly after a little (long) chat. The town seemed just like what the story described, with every house lit with candlelight and families eating and feasting on a cold, damp Christmas Eve. The cobbled floor and the flickering streetlamps added even more to the effect that I was no longer in the 21^st century but back in 1843. Then, I saw a well-known climactic scene. Scrooge was begging at the ghost which had chains on his wrists. Right after came the time when the ghost took Scrooge to his grave. Scrooge cried and promised to be good again, and the happy ever ending came when Scrooge, the next day, bid everyone a merry Christmas.

Dickens is certainly the great writer to make such an impact 200 years later. He’s on the same floor as Mark Twain and Shakespeare, and maybe even more.

【红霞译文】

查尔斯·狄更斯(1812.2.7─1870.6.9)大概是英国十九世纪最著名的作家，曾写过许多长篇小说及短篇故事。今年节日期间，费城梅西百货商场继续将狄更斯的《圣诞颂歌》列为庆祝活动之一。

狄更斯素以幽默著称，擅长揭露现实生活中的社会黑暗，具有独特的创作风格，因此而横遭指责，因为他从不像当时多数作家那样循规蹈矩，并摈弃传统的学院派写作方式。随着时间推移，狄更斯笔下生动有趣的故事流传久远，深受世界各地广大民众的喜爱。如今狄更斯已被视为传奇人物，名声享誉英伦三岛内外，这也是为什么梅西百货商场不遗余力，特意把狄更斯其中一部著名作品改编成童话展览，根据《圣诞颂歌》完整地策划出一个维多利亚式的乡村小镇。我只读了该部中篇小说一小部分，剧情挺有嚼头，但本人并不热衷书中老式英语的遣词用句。

在梅西狄更斯村庄，我漫步走在英格兰式民间小镇里，一边阅读注解介绍，一边追踪主人公埃比尼泽·史高治刻薄吝啬的情节进展。史高治讨厌圣诞节，因为就在圣诞节前夜，其唯一的朋友及生意伙伴雅各·马利不幸过世。正如狄更斯形容的那样，史高治“面无表情，捏着鼻子，眼睛血红，嘴皮薄得泛蓝，老是压低嗓门说话，显得格外狡猾”。七年后，史高治遇到这位老友马利的鬼魂，两人聊天长谈之后，史高治变得和蔼友善多了。小镇看上去很像书中所描述的，天气朦朦胧胧，各家各户点着蜡烛，在寒冷阴湿的圣诞前夜合欢共饮，鹅卵石路面配上忽明忽暗的街灯，让我顿时感到自己不是身居廿一世纪，而是回到了一八四三年。接着，眼前出现著名的场景：史高治祈求鬼魂用锁链铐住自己的手腕，随后随鬼魂走进墓地。他痛哭流涕，发誓要重新做人；第二天，史高治恭祝大家圣诞快乐，结局皆大欢喜。

无疑，狄更斯堪称伟大的作家，二百年来一直影响着文学发展。可以说，他与马克·吐温、莎士比亚等其他文坛巨匠齐名。