The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapter 19 (1)
No.17 Chapter (1)
After less than a minute, a person rushed outside without sticking his head out of the window and said loudly:
"Shut up, boys! Who's there?"

I say:

"it's me."

"who are you?"

"George? Jackson, sir."

"What are you doing here?"

"Don't do anything, sir. I'm trying to go over here, but these dogs are blocking my way."

"Hey, what are you doing sneaking around here in the middle of the night?"

"I'm not sneaking, sir. I just fell into the water from the steamboat."

"Hey, fell off the boat, really? Why, somebody strike a match. What did you say your name was?"

"George? Jackson, sir. I'm only a boy."

"Listen, if you're not lying, you don't have to be afraid—nobody's going to hurt you. But don't run around, just stand where you are. Somebody get Bob and Tom up and put the gun Here. George Jackson, is there anybody with you?"

"No, sir, no one."

At this time, I heard people moving around in the house and saw lights being lit.The man said loudly:

"Put the light away, Betsy, you old fool--why have you got no brains? Put it on the floor behind the gate. Bob, you and Tom, take your places as soon as you're ready."

"It's all ready."

"Well, George Jackson, do you know the Shepherdsons?"

"No, sir—never heard of it."

"Well, maybe it's true, maybe it's not. Now, get ready. Go ahead, George Jackson. Be careful, take your time—go slowly. If anyone follows you, tell him to stand back and not Move—as soon as he shows up, let him be shot. Now, come on. Come slowly, and you open the door yourself, just open the crack, and you can squeeze in, you hear? ?”

I walked over slowly, thinking that I couldn't go any faster. I walked forward slowly step by step. There was no sound at all, and I felt that I could only hear my own heartbeat.The dogs were as quiet as people, but they followed me closely.When I reached the three-story wooden steps, I heard the door lock unlocked, the door bar removed, and the door bolt pulled.I put my hand on the door, and pushed it a little, and a little, and then I heard someone say, "All right—put your head in." They'll make my head move.

The candles were on the floor, and they were all in the room, staring at me, and I stared at them, just staring at each other for more than ten seconds.The three big men pointed their guns at me, let me tell you, I was so scared that I cringed.The oldest one is in his sixties, the other two are in their thirties - all three are very handsome - and there is a very kind old lady with white hair, behind her there are two young women, I can't see Clearly.The old gentleman said:

"Well, I see no problem. Come in."

No sooner had I entered than the old gentleman locked the door, bolted the bar and bolted it, and told the young men to come in with guns, and they all entered a hall in which a cloth was spread on the floor. There was a new strip of carpet, and they all stood in a corner as soon as they entered, far from the windows-there were no windows at all on this side.They held a candle in their hands, looked me up and down, and said, "Well, he's not from the Shepherdsons, he doesn't look like one at all." Then the old man said he wanted to search me Did he have a weapon on him, and said he didn't mean any harm in doing it, don't take me offended, he just wanted to find out.So instead of searching my pockets, he just touched the outside and said it was ok.He told me to take it easy, take it easy, and tell my own story all over again.But the old lady said:

"My God, Saul, the poor boy is soaking wet, he may be hungry, why don't you ask?"

"That's right, Rachel—I forgot."

The old lady said again:
"Betsy," (it's a nigger) "you go and get him something to eat, you poor boy, hurry up. Hey, you girls, go get Buck up one of you , tell him--oh, he's coming by himself. Buck, take the little visitor and change his wet clothes, and get him some of your dry clothes."

Buck looked about my age--thirteen or fourteen, but a little taller, and he wore only a shirt, and his hair was a mess.He came in yawning and rubbing his eyes vigorously with one fist, dragging a gun in the other.He said:
"Isn't this from the Shepherdson family?"

Everyone said no, it was a false alarm.

"Hmph," he said, "if it's really them, I'll knock one of them to death."

They all laughed, and Bob said:
"Hey, Buck, you're so slow, if it was them, they might have already scalped us."

"Hmph, no one calls me. It's shameless. You always look down on me and never let me do things."

"Don't mind it, Buck, good boy," said the old gentleman. "You've got plenty of work to do, and plenty of good opportunities. Don't feel bad about it. Go now, and do as your mother says."

So we went upstairs to his room, and he found me a denim shirt, and a jacket, and a pair of trousers, which I put on.When I was wearing it, he asked me what my name was, and before I could answer, he told me about him, saying that he caught a magpie and a little rabbit in the woods the day before yesterday, and asked me if the candle was extinguished. where was Moses whenI told him I didn't know, hadn't even heard of it before.

"Well, guess what," he said.

"I've never heard of it before, how can I guess?" I said.

"But you can still guess, can't you? It's not hard at all."

"Which candle?" I asked.

"Well, that will do," he said.

"I don't know where he is," I said. "Where is he?"

"Hey, he's in the dark! Where else could he be?"

"Oh, since you know, why are you still asking me?"

"Well, hell, don't you see it's a riddle? I say, how long are you going to live here? You stay here. You can have a good time here--you don't even have to go to school. You have A dog? I have a dog - he can jump in the water and pick up the little pieces of wood you throw in. Do you like to comb your hair on Sunday? Do you like to do these silly things? I would never do it, but Mama keeps telling me to do it. These old pants are fucking shit, I reckon I'll put them on, but I'd rather not, they're hot. Are you all done? Great, come with me, Old boy."

Cold cornbread, cold corned beef, butter and cheese--that's what they've got me there to eat, and I've never had anything better.Buck and his mother and the others all smoked cornstalk pipes except the nigger and the two young women, and the nigger was gone.They smoked and chatted, and I chatted with them while eating.Two young women were wrapped in quilts with long hair hanging down their backs.They all asked me this and that, and I told them that Dad and I and the rest of the family lived on a small farm in the southern tip of Arkansas, and that my sister, Marianne, ran off and got married, There was no more news.Bill went to find them, but he never heard from them.Tom and Mort died, and there was no one else in the house but me and papa, who had been miserable and poor all his life.As soon as he died, I took what was left of me and left the house, because the farm was not mine.I bought a steerage ticket, took a boat upriver, and accidentally fell off the boat.That's how I got here.After they listened, they said that I could treat this place as my own home and live there for as long as I wanted.By this time it was almost daylight, and everybody went to bed, and I slept with Buck, and when I woke up in the morning, it was hell, and I forgot all about my name.I lay in bed thinking about it for an hour, and as soon as Buck woke up I said:

"Can you write, Buck?"

"I can write," he said.

"I bet you can't spell my name," I said.

"I bet you can do what I can," he said.

"Okay, then tell me, how to spell it."

"George? Jack-K-son, it's over." He spelled out every letter.

"Well," I said, "you spelled it when I thought you couldn't. My name isn't too hard to spell--no trouble."

I secretly wrote down the spelling of this name, because I was afraid that they would ask me to spell it later, so I had to learn it by heart, and I could say it out of my mouth, so that people would think I was used to it.

(End of this chapter)