The Virtual Coffeehouse

I'm just putting this out there-- maybe we can go over this in class tomorrow. I always have seen in play productions and the movie version of A Christmas Carol as that Scrooge gets three visions (ghosts) on Christmas Eve night and that when he wakes up in the morning it's Christmas Day (when he buys the turkey for the Cratchits).

I'm confused by what this means in the book--- it seems to be different from the movie/play versions.

Jacob Marley says:

"Expect the first to-morrow when the bell tolls one"

"Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third upon the next night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate" (50)

If this is Christmas Eve night, wouldn't this sequence of events take us past Christmas Day?

I'm sorry if this is a silly question, maybe Dickens' language is just tripping me up again [/u]