Good evening. Welcome to the Just Sleep podcast. I'm Tasia, your host. Every week, I will read you

an old story to help you relax, put the stressful day behind you, and drift off to sleep.

Occasionally, we will run ads in order to cover the costs of the production of the podcast.

Rest assured, there will be no ads during or after the story.

If you prefer an ad-free and intro-free show, you can join Just Sleep Premium.

Visit JustSleeppodcast.com

slash support for more information.

Tonight, I will be continuing the story of a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

So lie down, close your eyes, and let me read you a story.

Stave 2.

The first of the three spirits.

When Scrooge awoke, it was so dark,

but looking out of bed, he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window

from the opaque walls of his chamber.

He was endeavoring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes when the chimes of neighboring

church struck the four quarters, so he listened for the hour. To his great astonishment,

the heavy bell went on from six to seven and from seven to eight

and regularly up to twelve, then stopped.

Twelve.

It was past two when he went to bed.

The clock was wrong, and Icicle must have gone into the works. Twelve. He touched the

spring of his repeater to correct this most preposterous clock. It's a rapid little pulse

...