1 Tom and the Widow

该页暂无翻译

CHAPTER 1 Scene: The Mississippi Valley Forty to fifty years ago (1835–1845) Tom and the Widow You don't know about me unless you've read a book called The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that doesn't matter. That book was written by Mr. Mark Twain and he told the truth, mainly. There were some things he stretched, though. That's nothing. I've never met anyone who hasn't lied at one time or another, except Aunt Polly, or the widow. That's Tom's Aunt Polly.

She and the Widow Douglas are both in that book, which is mostly a true book, as I said before. The way that book ends, Tom and I found the money that the robbers had hidden in the cave and it made us rich. Six thousand dollars each, all in gold. Judge Thatcher put it in the bank for us and we could each get a dollar a day. We didn't know what to do with all that money anyway. The Widow Douglas took me in as a son and promised to civilize me. It was rough living in the house all the time. The widow was so regular and decent in all of her ways. When I couldn't stand it any longer, I ran away. I got into my old rags and felt free and satisfied. But Tom Sawyer hunted me down and said he was planning to start a gang, a band of robbers. He said I might join in if I went back to the widow and acted properly. So I went back. The widow cried over me and called me a poor lost lamb. She called me a lot of other

names, too, but she never meant any harm. She put me in some new clothes again and I couldn't do anything but sweat and feel all cramped up. Then the old things started up again. The widow rang a bell for supper and I had to come in on time. When I got to the table I couldn't start eating right away. I had to wait for the widow to lower her head and grumble a little over the food. There was nothing wrong with the food, except that everything was separate. I was used to eating a stew full of odds and ends. Things in a stew get mixed up and the juice kind of swaps around and everything goes better. The widow's sister, Miss Watson, had just come to live with her. She set after me on my first night back with a spelling-book. She worked with me for about an hour, until the widow made her ease up. I couldn't stand it much longer. I went up to my room, sat by the window, and tried to think of something cheerful, but it was no use. I got so down-hearted and lonesome I

wished I had some company. Pretty soon I heard a twig snap down in the dark. I sat still and listened. I could just barely hear a "me-yow! meyow!" I said, "me-yow! me-yow!" as softly as I could and then I put out the light and climbed out of the window onto the shed. I slipped down to the ground and crawled in among the trees. And sure enough, there was Tom waiting for me. We went along a short path. Just as we passed the kitchen, I fell over a root and made a noise. We crouched down and laid still. Miss Watson's slave, Jim, was sitting at the kitchen door. "Who's there?" he said. He listened some more and walked near us. For minutes and minutes there wasn't a sound. He couldn't see us, but he must have known someone was nearby. He sat down on the ground near me and Tom and said he knew someone was there. He told us he would wait until we showed ourselves. He leaned against a tree and stretched

his legs out until one of them almost touched mine. Soon he began to breathe heavily and then he started snoring, so Tom and I could finally get away. When Tom and I got to the edge of the hilltop, we looked down into the village and could see three or four lights twinkling. The stars over us were sparkling. Down by the village was the river. It was a whole mile wide and awfully still and grand. We found Jo Harper and Ben Rogers, and two or three more of the boys. We untied a little boat, floated down the river to the big scar on the hillside, and went ashore. We went to a clump of bushes, where Tom made everybody swear to keep the place a secret. Then he showed us a hole in the hill, right in the thickest part of the bushes. We lit candles and crawled in on our hands and knees. After a minute or two the cave opened up. Tom ducked under a wall in the cave and crawled into another hole. We followed along the narrow path until