1 Tom and the Fence

CHAPTER 1 Tom and the Fence Tom!" No answer. "TOM!" No answer. "Tom Sawyer, you come on out here!" Aunt Polly scrunched her eyes and carefully looked over the bedroom. She'd turned the house upside down but there was still no sign of the adventurous boy. "You just wait until I get ahold of you!" Tom's aunt muttered as she poked under the bed with the broom without success. Seeing an open

第一章汤姆和篱笆汤姆！”不回答。 “汤姆!”不回答。“汤姆·索亚，你快出来！”波莉姨妈皱起眼睛，仔细打量着卧室。 她把房子翻了个底朝天，但还是没有那个爱冒险的男孩的踪影。 “你就等着，等我找到你！”汤姆的姨妈一边用扫帚戳床底下，一边喃喃自语。 看到一个开放

window, she stuck her head out, scanning the garden for a glimpse of her headstrong nephew, but all she saw there was the stack of wood he hadn't cut and the grass he hadn't mowed. Suddenly hearing a small squeak behind her, she turned just in time to seize the small boy by his collar. "Aha!" she cried in triumph. "I knew I should have checked that closet right off! Now, what's that on your mouth?" Tom Sawyer stood before his aunt with his lips smeared a bright red. "Nothing, ma'am." "Nothing indeed! Why that's the fresh raspberry jam I made for Mrs.Harper! And what's that? Take your hands out of those pockets." As Tom slowly took his hands out, a white powder trail began raining down onto the floor.

她从窗户探出头来，扫视着花园，想看一眼她那任性的侄子，但她只看到那堆他没砍的木头和没割的草。 突然，她听到身后有一声轻微的吱吱声，她转过身来，及时抓住了小男孩的衣领。 “啊哈！”她得意地叫道。 “我就知道我应该马上检查那个衣柜！”喂，你嘴上那是什么？”汤姆·索亚站在姨妈面前，嘴唇涂得通红。 “没有,夫人。”“确实没有什么!这是我为哈珀夫人做的新鲜覆盆子果酱！那是什么？ 把你的手从口袋里拿出来。” 汤姆慢慢地把手抽出来，一道白色的粉末像雨点一样落在地板上。

Aunt Polly shoved her hands into the pockets of Tom's overalls. "My goodness!" she cried in disbelief, "you must have a pound of sugar in there!" She put her hands on her hips and looked down at her nephew: "Tom Sawyer, that is absolutely the last straw!" The very next day was Saturday, and a fine summer Saturday it was. The morning sky was bright and fresh and the whole world brimmed with life. Tom, however, stood sadly out on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He looked at the fence in front of Aunt Polly's house. It was at least nine feet high and ran nearly half the block long, and Tom had to paint it all as punishment for the mischief he had caused the day before. Sighing loudly, he dipped the brush in the bucket and began daubing one of the fence boards.

波莉姨妈把手伸进汤姆工作服的口袋里。 “我的天哪！”她难以置信地叫道，“你里面一定有一磅糖！”她双手叉腰，低头看着她的侄子：“汤姆·索亚，你真是忍无可忍了！”第二天是星期六，一个晴朗的夏日星期六。 早晨的天空明亮而清新，整个世界充满了生机。 汤姆却闷闷不乐地站在外面的人行道上，手里拿着一桶灰泥和一把长柄刷子。 他看着波莉姨妈家门前的栅栏。 它至少有九英尺高，几乎有半个街区那么长，汤姆不得不把它刷了一遍，作为对他前一天捣蛋的惩罚。 他大声叹了口气，把刷子浸在桶里，开始涂抹一块篱笆板。

After only a few strokes, Tom sat down. He began to think of all the fun he'd planned for the day. It was such a fine day for fishing, for fighting, for all kinds of adventuring, but Tom knew that painting the fence would take up all afternoon. Worse, other boys would come by soon and see him doing his chores while they had the whole day free for their adventures. Tom could barely stand the thought of it. Slowly, he got up and started back to work, dipping the brush into the bucket of whitewash and making long strokes over the boards of the fence. Tom hadn't been at work five minutes when he heard a sound he feared. It was whistling, and not just any whistling; it was the whistling of a boy set out on some great quest. Tom turned his head halfway and saw Ben Rogers bounding down the street with a hop-skip-and-a-jump, a shiny green apple in his hand.

只划了几下，汤姆坐了下来。 他开始想他为这一天计划的所有乐趣。 这是一个钓鱼、战斗和各种冒险活动的好天气，但汤姆知道粉刷栅栏要占用整个下午的时间。 更糟糕的是，其他男孩很快就会过来，看到他在做家务，而他们却有一整天的自由时间去冒险。 汤姆几乎无法忍受这种想法。 慢慢地，他站起来，重新开始工作，把刷子浸在一桶灰泥里，在篱笆的木板上画了很长一段。 汤姆上班还不到五分钟，就听到了一个令他害怕的声音。 它在吹口哨，而且不是一般的口哨；这是一个男孩的哨声，他要去做一些伟大的探索。 汤姆转过头去，看见本·罗杰斯在街上蹦蹦跳跳，手里拿着一个闪闪发光的绿苹果。

Tom turned back to his painting, but just then he had an idea. He stood up straight and stared at the fence in front of him with deep concentration. Curious at what Tom was doing, Ben Rogers now stopped right behind the silent boy. Tom could still hear him whistling. There was a pause, and then the sound of a big juicy crunch as Ben took a bite out of his apple. Pretending that he hadn't seen Ben at all, Tom started painting again. Ben Rogers started whistling again, this time even louder, but Tom kept on painting. "Got to work, hey?" Ben finally snickered. Tom didn't turn around to answer. Instead, he put his brush down and crossed his arms. He then rubbed his chin with one hand and stared at the fence as if he were working out some great mystery. "I say." Ben coughed in yet another attempt to get Tom's attention. "Aunt Polly

汤姆转身继续画画，但就在这时他有了一个主意。 他站直了身子，全神贯注地盯着面前的篱笆。 本·罗杰斯很好奇汤姆在做什么，就在这个沉默的男孩身后停了下来。 汤姆还能听到他在吹口哨。 停顿了一下，然后本咬了一口苹果，发出一声又大又多汁的嘎吱声。 汤姆假装根本没看见本，又开始画画了。 本·罗杰斯又开始吹口哨，这次声音更大了，但汤姆还在继续画画。 “得工作了，嘿？”本终于窃笑起来。 汤姆没有转身回答。 相反，他放下了刷子，交叉着双臂。 然后他用一只手揉了揉下巴，盯着栅栏，好像在解开什么大谜团。 “我说。”本又咳了一声，想引起汤姆的注意。 “波利姨妈