At this the spirit raised a frightful cry , and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise , that Scrooge held on tight to his chair , to save himself from falling in a swoon . But how much greater was his horror when the phantom , taking off the bandage round his head , as if it were too warm to wear indoors , its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast ! Scrooge fell upon his knees , and clasped his hands before his face . `` Mercy ! '' he said . `` Dreadful apparition , why do you trouble me ? '' `` Man of the worldly mind ! '' replied the Ghost , `` do you believe in me or not ? '' `` I do , '' said Scrooge . `` I must . But why do spirits walk the earth , and why do they come to me ? '' -LSB- Illustration : To sit staring at those fixed glazed eyes in silence , for a moment , would play , Scrooge felt , the very deuce with him . -RSB- `` It is required of every man , '' the Ghost returned , `` that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men , and travel far and wide ; and , if that spirit goes not forth in life , it is condemned to do so after death . It is doomed to wander through the world -- oh , woe is me ! -- and witness what it can not share , but might have shared on earth , and turned to happiness ! '' Again the spectre raised a cry , and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands . `` You are fettered , '' said Scrooge , trembling . `` Tell me why ? '' `` I wear the chain I forged in life , '' replied the Ghost . `` I made it link by link , and yard by yard ; I girded it on of my own free-will , and of my own free-will I wore it .
Is its pattern strange XXXXX you ? ''
At among by if of on that to upon within