I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse . Why show me this , if I am past all hope ? '' For the first time the hand appeared to shake . `` Good Spirit , '' he pursued , as down upon the ground he fell before it : `` your nature intercedes for me , and pities me . Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me by an altered life ? '' The kind hand trembled . `` I will honour Christmas in my heart , and try to keep it all the year . I will live in the Past , the Present , and the Future . The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me . I will not shut out the lessons that they teach . Oh , tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone ! '' In his agony , he caught the spectral hand . It sought to free itself , but he was strong in his entreaty , and detained it . The Spirit , stronger yet , repulsed him . Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate reversed , he saw an alteration in the Phantom 's hood and dress . It shrunk , collapsed , and dwindled down into a bedpost . STAVE FIVE THE END OF IT Yes ! and the bedpost was his own . The bed was his own , the room was his own . Best and happiest of all , the Time before him was his own , to make amends in !
`` I will live in the XXXXX , the Present , and the Future ! ''
Christmas Past alteration bed fate hands heart hood lessons life