Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions

Book excerpt: The last of the Christmas Numberscompiled by Charles Dickens, this is a charming and highly entertaining series of stories from one of England's best-known and most widely read novelists. Named after the man who delivered him as a baby, Doctor Marigold is a poor hawker who, after a dreadful turn of events, finds happiness with his adopted daughter Sophy. She is a deaf mute, and to help her learn to read and communicate, Doctor Marigold "prescribes" her various stories, which he collects into a book while she is at school. These prescriptions, written by Dickens and five other distinguished Victorian writers, are tales of adventure and romance, featuring thieves, kidnappings, and witchcraft. Together they form a wonderful selection of tales that are told with the clever wit and brilliant description that characterize Dickens' writing.