Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0131/01318.txt

Text File | 1993-07-27 | 8KB | 142 lines

$Unique_ID{bob01318}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, The
I Discover Moses And The Bulrushers}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Twain, Mark}
$Affiliation{}
$Subject{widow
book
couldn't
off
time
told
heard
put
say
set
hear
audio
hear
sound
}
$Date{}
$Log{Hear Huckleberry Finn*50290015.aud
}
Title:       Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, The
Author:      Twain, Mark

I Discover Moses And The Bulrushers

     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.

[Hear Huckleberry Finn]
Mr. Mark Twain told the truth.

     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 bodycould
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 felt 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 doinga 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,
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.