Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. TITELBLATT

2. IMPRESSUM

3. CHAPTER I. Civilizing Huck — Moses and the ‘Bulrushers’ — Miss Watson — Tom Sawyer Waits

4. CHAPTER II. The Boys Escape Jim — Jim! — Tom Sawyer’s Gang — Deep-Laid Plans

5. CHAPTER III. A Good Going-Over — Grace Triumphant — Playing Robbers — The Genies — ‘One of Tom Sawyer’s Lies’

6. CHAPTER IV. ‘Slow But Sure’ — Huck and the Judge — Superstition

7. CHAPTER V. Huck’s Father — The Fond Parent — Reform

8. CHAPTER VI. He Went for Judge Thatcher — Huck Decides to Leave — Thinking it Over — Political Economy — Thrashing Around

9. CHAPTER VII. Laying for Him — Locked in the Cabin — Preparing To Start — Sinking the Body — Projecting A Plan — Resting

10. CHAPTER VIII. Sleeping in the Woods — Raising the Dead — On the Watch! — Exploring the Island — A Profitless Sleep — Finding Jim — Jim’s Escape — Signs — ‘Dat One-Laigged Nigger’ — Balum

11. CHAPTER IX. The Cave — The Floating House — A Good Haul

12. CHAPTER X. The Find — Old Hank Bunker — In Disguise

13. CHAPTER XI. Huck and the Woman — The Search — Prevarication — Going to Goshen — ‘They’re After Us!’

14. CHAPTER XII. Slow Navigation — Borrowing Things — Boarding the Wreck — The Plotters — ‘It Ain’t Good Morals’ — Hunting for the Boat

15. CHAPTER XIII. Escaping from the Wreck — The Watchman — Sinking — A Dead Sleep

16. CHAPTER XIV. A General Good Time — The Harem — French

17. CHAPTER XV. Huck Loses the Raft — In the Fog — Asleep On the Raft — Huck Finds the Raft — Trash

18. CHAPTER XVI. Expectation — ‘Good Ole Cairo’ — A White Lie — Floating Currency — Running by Cairo — Swimming Ashore

19. CHAPTER XVII. An Evening Call — The Farm in Arkansaw — Interior Decorations — Stephen Dowling Bots — Poetical Effusions — A Tin Pan Piano

20. CHAPTER XVIII. Col. Grangerford — Aristocracy — Feuds — The Testament — ‘Water-Moccassins!’ — Recovering the Raft — The Wood Pile — Pork and Cabbage — ‘Is Dat You, Honey?’

21. CHAPTER XIX. Tying Up Day-Times — An Astronomical Theory — ‘Dog’s A-Coming’ — Running a Temperance Revival — The Duke of Bridgewater — The Troubles of Royalty

22. CHAPTER XX. Huck Explains — Laying Out a Campaign — Working the Camp Meeting — Sly Courting — A Pirate at the Camp-Meeting — The Duke as a Printer — Jim Wanted

23. CHAPTER XXI. Sword Exercise — Hamlet’s Soliloquy — They Loafed Around Town — A Lazy Town — Old Boggs — Death of Boggs

24. CHAPTER XXII. Sherburn — Attending the Circus — Intoxication in the Ring — The Thrilling Tragedy

25. CHAPTER XXIII. Sold — Royal Comparisons — Jim Gets Homesick

26. CHAPTER XXIV. Jim in Royal Robes — They Take a Passenger — Getting Information — Family Grief

27. CHAPTER XXV. Is it Them? — Singing the ‘Doxolojer’ — We Can Spare It — Awful Square — Funeral Orgies — A Bad Investment

28. CHAPTER XXVI. A Pious King — The King’s Clergy — She Asked His Pardon — Hiding in the Room — Huck Takes the Money

29. CHAPTER XXVII. The Funeral — The Undertaker — Satisfying Curiosity — Suspicious of Huck — Quick Sales and Small Profits

30. CHAPTER XXVIII. The Trip to England — ‘The Brute!’ — Royal Nonesuch — Mary Jane Decides to Leave — Huck Parting with Mary Jane — Mumps — The Opposition Line

31. CHAPTER XXIX. Contested Relationship — The King Explains the Loss — A Question of Handwriting — Tattooing — Digging up the Corpse — Huck Escapes

32. CHAPTER XXX. The King Went for Him — A Royal Row — Powerful Mellow

33. CHAPTER XXXI. Ominous Plans — Jim Gone! — News from Jim — Old Recollections — A Sheep Story — Valuable Information — The Back Country

34. CHAPTER XXXII. Still and Sunday-like — Mistaken Identity — Up a Stump — In a Dilemma

35. CHAPTER XXXIII. A Nigger Stealer — Southern Hospitality — ‘You Impudent Young Rascal’ — A Pretty Long Blessing — Tar and Feathers

36. CHAPTER XXXIV. The Hut by the Ash-Hopper — Outrageous — A Simple Job — Climbing the Lightning-Rod — Troubled with Witches

37. CHAPTER XXXV. Escaping Properly — Dark Schemes — Discrimination in Stealing — A Deep Hole

38. CHAPTER XXXVI. The Lightning-Rod — His Level Best — A Bequest to Posterity — Stealing Spoons — Amongst The Dogs — A High Figure

39. CHAPTER XXXVII. The Last Shirt — Mooning Around — ‘In A Tearing Way’ — Sailing Orders — The Witch Pie

40. CHAPTER XXXVIII. The Coat of Arms — A Skilled Superintendent — Unpleasant Glory — A Tearful Subject

41. CHAPTER XXXIX. Rats — Lively Bedfellows — The Straw Dummy

42. CHAPTER XL. Fishing — The Vigilance Committee — A Lively Run — Jim Advises a Doctor

43. CHAPTER XLI. The Doctor — Uncle Silas — Sister Hotchkiss — Aunt Sally in Trouble

44. CHAPTER XLII. Tom Sawyer Wounded — The Doctor’s Story — Doing Jim A Good Turn — Tom Confesses — Aunt Polly Arrives — ‘Hand Out Them Letters’

45. CHAPTER THE LAST. Out of Bondage — Paying the Captive — Yours Truly, Huck Finn

46. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (ENGLISCH)

Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Huckleberry Finns Abenteuer
Zweisprachige Ausgabe
Übersetzt von Lore Krüger

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© Aufbau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin 1963, 2008

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NOTICE

ZUR BEACHTUNG

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted;

Personen, die versuchen, ein Motiv in dieser Erzählung zu finden, werden gerichtlich verfolgt;

persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

Personen, die versuchen, eine Moral darin zu finden, werden verbannt; Personen, die versuchen, eine Fabel darin zu finden, werden erschossen.

BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR,
Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.

Auf Befehl des Autors
für G.G., Kommandant der Artillerie

EXPLANATORY

ZUR ERKLÄRUNG

In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect;

Im vorliegenden Buch werden eine Anzahl von Dialekten benutzt, nämlich der Negerdialekt von Missouri,

the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary “Pike County” dialect; and four modified varieties of this last.

die extremste Form des südwestlichen Hinterwäldlerdialekts, der gewöhnliche Pike-County-Dialekt und vier gemilderte Abarten des letzteren.

The shadings have not been done in a haphazard fashion, or by guesswork; but painstakingly,

Die Schattierungen sind nicht auf gut Glück und beliebig, sondern sehr sorgfältig vorgenommen worden,

and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech.

mit Hilfe der vertrauenswürdigen Anleitung und Unterstützung durch persönliche Vertrautheit mit diesen verschiedenen Sprachformen.

I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers would suppose

Ich gebe diese Erklärung, weil ohne sie wohl viele Leser annehmen mögen,

that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding.

dass sich alle Personen bemühen, auf die gleiche Weise zu sprechen, ohne dass es ihnen gelingt.

THE AUTHOR.

Der Autor

CHAPTER I.
Civilizing Huck — Moses and the ‘Bulrushers’ — Miss Watson — Tom Sawyer Waits

1. KAPITEL
Huck wird siwilisiert – Moses und die »Bimsen« – Miss Watson – Tom Sawyer wartet

YOU don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter.

Ihr wisst noch nichts von mir, wenn ihr nicht ein Buch gelesen habt, das sich »Tom Sawyers Abenteuer« nennt, aber das macht nichts.

That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly.

Das Buch hat Mr. Mark Twain geschrieben, und im Großen und Ganzen hat er dadrin die Wahrheit gesagt.

There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing.

Es gibt zwar Dinge, wo er ’n bisschen geflunkert hat, aber er hat im Großen und Ganzen die Wahrheit gesagt. Das ist nicht schlimm.

I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary.

Ich habe noch nie jemand gesehen, der nicht hin und wieder mal geschwindelt hätte, außer Tante Polly und die Witwe und vielleicht Mary.

Aunt Polly — Tom’s Aunt Polly, she is — and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book,

Über Tante Polly – das ist Tom seine Tante Polly – und Mary und die Witwe Douglas ist alles in dem Buch berichtet worden,

which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.

das zum größten Teil ein wahres Buch ist, mit eben ein paar Flunkereien, wie ich schon gesagt habe.

Now the way that the book winds up is this: Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich.

Das Buch endet nun so: Tom und ich fanden das Geld, das die Räuber in der Höhle versteckt hatten, und wir wurden dadurch reich.

We got six thousand dollars apiece — all gold. It was an awful sight of money when it was piled up.

Wir kriegten jeder sechstausend Dollar – alles in Gold. Es war ’ne furchtbare Menge Geld, wie das Ganze da so auf einem Haufen lag.

Well, Judge Thatcher he took it and put it out at interest,

Na, Richter Thatcher nahm’s und legte’s gegen Zinsen an,

and it fetched us a dollar a day apiece all the year round — more than a body could tell what to do with.

und das brachte uns pro Mann pro Tag einen Dollar ein, das ganze Jahr über so viel, dass man nicht weiß, was man damit anstellen soll.

The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me;

Die Witwe Douglas, die nahm mich als Sohn an und erklärte, sie wollte mich siwilisieren;

but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways;

immerzu im Haus zu wohnen war aber ein schweres Leben, wenn man in Betracht zieht, wie scheußlich regelmäßig und anständig die Witwe in allem war,

and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer I lit out.

und als ich’s daher nicht mehr aushalten konnte, verdrückte ich mich.

I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied.

Ich stieg wieder in meine alten Lumpen und meine Zuckertonne und war frei und zufrieden.

But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers,

Aber Tom Sawyer, der stöberte mich auf und sagte, er wollte ’ne Räuberbande gründen

and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable. So I went back.

und ich dürfte mitmachen, wenn ich zur Witwe zurückgehen und achtbar sein würde. Da bin ich eben zurückgegangen.

The widow she cried over me, and called me a poor lost lamb, and she called me a lot of other names, too, but she never meant no harm by it.

Die Witwe weinte über mich und nannte mich ein armes, verirrtes Lamm und gab mir noch ’ne Menge andere Namen, aber sie hat’s nicht böse gemeint.

She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up.

Sie steckte mich wieder in diese neuen Sachen, und mir blieb nichts andres übrig, als immerzu zu schwitzen und zu schwitzen und mir ganz eingezwängt vorzukommen.

Well, then, the old thing commenced again. The widow rung a bell for supper, and you had to come to time.

Na ja, und dann ging die alte Leier wieder los. Die Witwe läutete eine Glocke zum Abendbrot, und man musste pünktlich kommen.

When you got to the table you couldn’t go right to eating, but you had to wait

Wenn man am Tisch angelangt war, durfte man nicht etwa gleich essen, sondern musste warten,

for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn’t really anything the matter with them

bis die Witwe ihren Kopf runtergebogen und ’n bisschen über das Essen gebrummt hatte, trotzdem gar nichts damit los war.

— that is, nothing only everything was cooked by itself.

Das heißt, nichts, bloß alles war einzeln gekocht.

In a barrel of odds and ends it is different; things get mixed up, and the juice kind of swaps around, and the things go better.

In ’nem Behälter mit allerlei Resten ist das anders, da vermischt sich alles, und der Saft schwappt so rum, und’s schmeckt viel besser.

After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers,

Nach dem Abendbrot holte sie dann ihr Buch raus und lernte mir was über Moses und die Bimsen,

and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time;

und ich war ordentlich scharf drauf, alles über ihn zu erfahren, aber schließlich verriet sie, dass Moses schon ’ne beträchtliche Weile tot ist;

so then I didn’t care no more about him, because I don’t take no stock in dead people.

da habe ich mir dann nichts mehr aus ihm gemacht, denn für Tote intressier ich mich nicht.

Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t.

Bald darauf wollte ich rauchen und bat die Witwe, ’s mir zu erlauben. Das wollte sie aber nicht.

She said it was a mean practice and wasn’t clean, and I must try to not do it any more.

Sie sagte, das wäre ’ne niedrige und unsaubre Angewohnheit, und ich sollte versuchen, es nicht mehr zu tun.

That is just the way with some people. They get down on a thing when they don’t know nothing about it.

So machen’s eben manche Leute. Die sind gegen ’ne Sache, von der sie keine Ahnung haben.

Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see,

Da zerbrach sie sich den Kopf über Moses, der überhaupt nicht mit ihr verwandt war und niemand was nützte, weil er ja nicht mehr lebte, seht ihr,

yet finding a power of fault with me for doing a thing that had some good in it.

und mir verübelte sie’s mächtig, weil ich was tat, wo doch was Gutes dran war.

And she took snuff, too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself.

Und dabei schnupfte sie; aber das war natürlich richtig, weil sie’s tat.

Her sister, Miss Watson, a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on, had just come to live with her, and took a set at me now with a spelling-book.

Miss Watson, ihre Schwester, eine reichlich dürre alte Jungfer mit ’ner Brille auf, war grade zur Witwe gezogen und rückte mir nun mit ’ner Fibel zu Leibe.

She worked me middling hard for about an hour, and then the widow made her ease up.

Sie ließ mich ungefähr ’ne Stunde lang ziemlich schwer arbeiten, und dann sorgte die Witwe dafür, dass sie’s ’n bisschen gnädiger machte.

I couldn’t stood it much longer. Then for an hour it was deadly dull, and I was fidgety.

Viel länger hätte ich’s auch nicht ausgehalten. Nun war’s ’ne Stunde lang tödlich langweilig, und ich wurde zapplig.

Miss Watson would say, “Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry”;

Miss Watson sagte dann: »Leg die Füße nicht hier herauf, Huckleberry«,

and “Don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry — set up straight”;

und: »Sitz nicht so krumm, Huckleberry – sitz grade«,

and pretty soon she would say, “Don’t gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry — why don’t you try to behave?”

und bald darauf sagte sie: »Reiß den Mund nicht so auf, Huckleberry, und rekele dich nicht so – weshalb versuchst du nicht, dich zu benehmen?«

Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there.

Dann erzählte sie mir über die Hölle, und ich sagte, ich wollte, ich wäre dort.

She got mad then, but I didn’t mean no harm. All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn’t particular.

Da wurde sie wütend, aber ich habe mir gar nichts Böses dabei gedacht, ich wollte bloß irgendwohin, ich wollte bloß irgend’ne Abwechslung, egal welche.

She said it was wicked to say what I said; said she wouldn’t say it for the whole world;

Sie sagte, es wäre verrucht zu sagen, was ich gesagt hatte, und erklärte, um nichts in der Welt würde sie so was sagen,

she was going to live so as to go to the good place.

sie für ihr Teil wollte so leben, dass sie in den Himmel käme.

Well, I couldn’t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it.

Na, ’s hat mich nicht gereizt, dahin zu kommen, wo sie hinkam, und so habe ich mich denn entschlossen, mich nicht drum zu bemühen.

But I never said so, because it would only make trouble, and wouldn’t do no good.

Gesagt hab ich das aber nicht, denn es hätte nur Unannehmlichkeiten heraufbeschworen und war zu nichts nütze gewesen.

Now she had got a start, and she went on and told me all about the good place.

Jetzt, wo sie mal angefangen hatte, machte sie weiter und erzählte mir alles über den Himmel.

She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever.

Sie sagte, dort hätte man nichts zu tun, als bloß den lieben langen Tag mit ’ner Harfe rumzuspazieren und zu singen, für immer und ewig.

So I didn’t think much of it. But I never said so.

Daher hielt ich nicht viel davon. Gesagt hab ich’s aber nicht.

I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said not by a considerable sight.

Ich fragte sie, ob sie wohl meinte, dass Tom Sawyer dahin käme, und sie sagte, auf keinen Fall.

I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.

Darüber war ich froh, denn ich wollte, dass er und ich beisammen wären.

Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome.

Miss Watson piesackte mich weiter, und es wurde ermüdend und eintönig.

By and by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed.

Nach ’ner Weile holten sie die Nigger rein, und es wurde gebetet, und dann verschwanden alle zu Bett.

I went up to my room with a piece of candle, and put it on the table.

Ich ging mit ’nem Kerzenstumpf in mein Zimmer rauf und stellte ihn auf den Tisch.

Then I set down in a chair by the window and tried to think of something cheerful, but it warn’t no use.

Dann setzte ich mich auf ’nen Stuhl, der am Fenster stand, und versuchte, an was Lustiges zu denken; es hatte aber keinen Zweck.

I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead. The stars were shining, and the leaves rustled in the woods ever so mournful;

Ich fühlte mich so einsam, dass ich fast wünschte, ich wäre tot. Die Sterne schienen, und die Blätter raschelten so traurig im Wald;

and I heard an owl, away off, who-whooing about somebody that was dead, and a whippowill and a dog crying about somebody that was going to die;

in der Ferne hörte ich ’ne Eule um einen Toten schreien, ein Ziegenmelker und ’n Hund wehklagten um jemand, der sterben sollte,

and the wind was trying to whisper something to me, and I couldn’t make out what it was, and so it made the cold shivers run over me.

der Wind versuchte, mir was zuzuflüstern, aber ich konnte nicht verstehen, was es war, und daher lief ’s mir kalt über den Rücken.

Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes

Dann hörte ich draußen im Wald einen Laut, wie ihn ein Geist von sich gibt,

when it wants to tell about something that’s on its mind and can’t make itself understood,

wenn er mitteilen will, was ihm auf der Seele liegt, sich aber nicht verständlich machen kann

and so can’t rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving.

und deshalb im Grabe keine Ruhe findet und jede Nacht klagend umherirren muss.

I got so downhearted and scared I did wish I had some company.

Ich wurde so niedergeschlagen und ängstlich, dass ich wünschte, ich hätte Gesellschaft.

Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and it lit in the candle; and before I could budge it was all shriveled up.

Dann krabbelte mir ’ne Spinne über die Schulter; ich schnippste sie fort, und sie landete in der Kerze; bevor ich mich rühren konnte, war sie schon ganz zusammengeschrumpelt.

I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign

Mir brauchte nicht erst jemand zu sagen, dass das ein furchtbar böses Vorzeichen war

and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me.

und mir Unglück bringen würde; deshalb hatte ich Angst und schlotterte so, dass mir fast die Sachen vom Leibe fielen.

I got up and turned around in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time;

Ich stand auf und drehte mich dreimal um mich selbst, dabei bekreuzigte ich mir jedes Mal die Brust;

and then I tied up a little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away. But I hadn’t no confidence.

dann band ich mir ’n kleines Büschel Haare mit ’nem Faden zusammen, um Hexen fernzuhalten. Zutrauen hatte ich freilich zu der Sache nicht.

You do that when you’ve lost a horseshoe that you’ve found, instead of nailing it up over the door,

Man tut das, wenn man ein gefundenes Hufeisen wieder verliert, anstatt es über die Tür zu nageln,

but I hadn’t ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep off bad luck when you’d killed a spider.

aber ich hatte nie jemand sagen hören, es wäre ’n Mittel, um Unglück abzuwenden, wenn man ’ne Spinne getötet hat.

I set down again, a-shaking all over, and got out my pipe for a smoke;

Am ganzen Leibe zitternd, setzte ich mich wieder hin und holte meine Pfeife raus, um ein bisschen zu rauchen,

for the house was all as still as death now, and so the widow wouldn’t know.

denn im Haus war’s jetzt totenstill, und so würde die Witwe nichts merken.

Well, after a long time I heard the clock away off in the town go boom — boom — boom — twelve licks; and all still again — stiller than ever.

Na, nach langer Zeit hörte ich dann die Turmuhr drüben in der Stadt schlagen, bum, bum, bum … zwölf Schläge – und dann war alles wieder still, stiller noch als vorher.

Pretty soon I heard a twig snap down in the dark amongst the trees — something was a-stirring.

Kurz darauf hörte ich unten im Finstern zwischen den Bäumen einen Zweig knacken – irgendwas bewegte sich.

I set still and listened. Directly I could just barely hear a “me-yow! me-yow!” down there.

Ich saß still und spitzte die Ohren. Gleich darauf ertönte von da unten ein so leises »Miau! Miau!«, dass ich’s grad noch hören konnte.

That was good! Says I, “me-yow! me-yow!” as soft as I could, and then I put out the light and scrambled out of the window on to the shed.

Das war gut! Ich machte ebenfalls, so leise ich konnte: »Miau! Miau!«, löschte das Licht und kletterte zum Fenster raus auf den Schuppen.

Then I slipped down to the ground and crawled in among the trees, and, sure enough, there was Tom Sawyer waiting for me.

Dann ließ ich mich auf den Boden gleiten und kroch rüber zwischen die Bäume, und richtig, da wartete Tom Sawyer auf mich.

NOTICE

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR,
Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.

EXPLANATORY

In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect; the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary “Pike County” dialect; and four modified varieties of this last. The shadings have not been done in a haphazard fashion, or by guesswork; but painstakingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech.

I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers would suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding.

THE AUTHOR.

CHAPTER I.
Civilizing Huck — Moses and the ‘Bulrushers’ — Miss Watson — Tom Sawyer Waits

YOU don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary. Aunt Polly — Tom’s Aunt Polly, she is — and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.

Now the way that the book winds up is this: Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich. We got six thousand dollars apiece — all gold. It was an awful sight of money when it was piled up. Well, Judge Thatcher he took it and put it out at interest, and it fetched us a dollar a day apiece all the year round — more than a body could tell what to do with. The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied. But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable. So I went back.

The widow she cried over me, and called me a poor lost lamb, and she called me a lot of other names, too, but she never meant no harm by it. She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up. Well, then, the old thing commenced again. The widow rung a bell for supper, and you had to come to time. When you got to the table you couldn’t go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn’t really anything the matter with them — that is, nothing only everything was cooked by itself. In a barrel of odds and ends it is different; things get mixed up, and the juice kind of swaps around, and the things go better.

After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn’t care no more about him, because I don’t take no stock in dead people.

Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was a mean practice and wasn’t clean, and I must try to not do it any more. That is just the way with some people. They get down on a thing when they don’t know nothing about it. Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see, yet finding a power of fault with me for doing a thing that had some good in it. And she took snuff, too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself.

Her sister, Miss Watson, a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on, had just come to live with her, and took a set at me now with a spelling-book. She worked me middling hard for about an hour, and then the widow made her ease up. I couldn’t stood it much longer. Then for an hour it was deadly dull, and I was fidgety. Miss Watson would say, “Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry”; and “Don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry — set up straight”; and pretty soon she would say, “Don’t gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry — why don’t you try to behave?” Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there. She got mad then, but I didn’t mean no harm. All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn’t particular. She said it was wicked to say what I said; said she wouldn’t say it for the whole world; she was going to live so as to go to the good place. Well, I couldn’t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it. But I never said so, because it would only make trouble, and wouldn’t do no good.

Now she had got a start, and she went on and told me all about the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever. So I didn’t think much of it. But I never said so. I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.

Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome. By and by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed. I went up to my room with a piece of candle, and put it on the table. Then I set down in a chair by the window and tried to think of something cheerful, but it warn’t no use. I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead. The stars were shining, and the leaves rustled in the woods ever so mournful; and I heard an owl, away off, who-whooing about somebody that was dead, and a whippowill and a dog crying about somebody that was going to die; and the wind was trying to whisper something to me, and I couldn’t make out what it was, and so it made the cold shivers run over me. Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that’s on its mind and can’t make itself understood, and so can’t rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving. I got so downhearted and scared I did wish I had some company. Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and it lit in the candle; and before I could budge it was all shriveled up. I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. I got up and turned around in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time; and then I tied up a little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away. But I hadn’t no confidence. You do that when you’ve lost a horseshoe that you’ve found, instead of nailing it up over the door, but I hadn’t ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep off bad luck when you’d killed a spider.

I set down again, a-shaking all over, and got out my pipe for a smoke; for the house was all as still as death now, and so the widow wouldn’t know. Well, after a long time I heard the clock away off in the town go boom — boom — boom — twelve licks; and all still again — stiller than ever. Pretty soon I heard a twig snap down in the dark amongst the trees — something was a-stirring. I set still and listened. Directly I could just barely hear a “me-yow! me-yow!” down there. That was good! Says I, “me-yow! me-yow!” as soft as I could, and then I put out the light and scrambled out of the window on to the shed. Then I slipped down to the ground and crawled in among the trees, and, sure enough, there was Tom Sawyer waiting for me.