The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapter 24 (2)
Chapter 19 (2)
"Well, I've been preaching about abstinence for a week, and women of all ages have cheered me on, because I'm trying to attack the drunks. You know, I charge a dime apiece, and kids and niggers are free. , I can earn five or six dollars a night, and the business is booming. Then, I don’t know how people found me secretly drinking, and the word spread last night. A black man came to me this morning and told me that everyone was riding a horse. They gathered together quietly with the dogs, and they will come to catch me soon, saying that they want me to run for half an hour first, and then catch up and catch me. If they catch me, they will smear me with asphalt, stick feathers, and parade me. I didn't wait for breakfast, so I didn't care about being hungry."

"Old man," said the young man, "I think we should join forces. What do you think?"

"No problem. What's your main business?"

"My line of work is a newspaper printer, and I also sell medicine. I also act in plays, specializing in tragedies. I also practice hypnotism when I get a chance, look at bones, and sometimes I have to change tricks. I teach singing and geography in schools. Occasionally gave speeches—oh, I do everything, whatever comes my way, so it's not much of a business. What's your business?"

"I've been a doctor for a long time, and my specialty is massage, treating tumors, hemiplegia, etc. If someone asks me to tell a fortune, I'm very good at it. I also preach, give evangelistic meetings in the field, everywhere sermon."

For a while neither of them said anything; then the younger sighed, and said:
"What luck!"

"What do you mean by 'unlucky'?" asked the bald man.

"I didn't expect that I would live this kind of life, lowering my status to be with this kind of person." He picked up a rag and wiped the corners of his eyes.

"To hell with you, isn't it your luck to be with me?" the bald man said sharply and arrogantly.

"Yes, it's not bad enough. It's what I'm destined to be. I was so noble before. It's all my own fault. I don't blame you, gentlemen, nor anybody else. I deserve it. Let this cruel world punish me. One thing I know: there will be a place for me to die anyway. The world can go on raging, taking my people, my property, everything, but it won't To my burial place. Sooner or later I'll go to sleep and forget everything, and then my poor broken heart will rest in peace," he kept wiping his eyes. "Damn your poor heart," said the bald man, "what are you going to do to us with your poor broken heart? We didn't hurt you."

"I know you didn't hurt me. I don't blame you, gentlemen. I did it myself, I did it. I deserve it, I deserve it at all, and I don't complain."

"From what position did you fall? What was your original status?"

"Well, you won't believe it if you tell it. People don't believe it. Don't tell me, it doesn't matter. The secret of my birth..."

"The secret of your birth? You mean..."

"Well, gentlemen," said the young man solemnly, "I will tell you my secret, because I think you can trust me. I am a legitimate duke!"

Jim's eyes went round when he said that, and I guess mine did too.But the bald man said, "No! Impossible!"

"It is true. My great-grandfather was the eldest son of the Duke of Bridgewater, who fled to this country at the end of the last century to enjoy the free air. He married here, and died leaving a son, his The father also died almost at the same time. The second son of the late duke, who was the real duke when he was still a baby, took the title and property himself. I am the direct descendant of the baby, and I am the rightful Duke of Bridgewater. Pity me here, deprived of my dignity, cast out everywhere, shabby, worn out, and discouraged, and now reduced to a raft with a gang of scoundrels!"

Jim and I both sympathized with him very much and tried to comfort him.But he said that consolation was useless, he would not feel better, and said that if we could recognize his status, it would be better than anything else.We just said, we are willing to admit it, and we need him to tell us how to admit it.He just told us to bow when we spoke to him, and to address him as "Your Excellency" or "Sir" or "Sir," even if we just called him "Bridgewater," because that's It is a title of title, not just a name; when eating, someone should serve him and obey his orders.

This was very easy, so we did it.Jim stood beside him throughout the meal, saying, "Would you like some of this, sir? Would you like some of that, sir?" He looked very happy.

But the old man has become less talkative.He looked very unhappy and preoccupied when he saw us circling around the duke.In the afternoon he said: "I say, Bridgewater, I really feel sorry for you, too, but you're not the only one who has suffered that way."

"is it?"

"Yes. You are not the only one who has been wronged to fall from your high position."

"God!"

"To be honest, you are not the only one who hides the secret of your life experience in your heart," oh my god, he cried.

"If you have something to say, what's the matter with you?"

"Bridgewater, can I trust you?" the old man sobbed.

"If I reveal your secret," he took the old man's hand and squeezed it tightly, "I'll be damned to death. Tell it!"

"Bridgewater, I am the former Dauphin of France!"

This time, Jim and I stared straight at him.Then the duke asked:
"what are you?"

"Indeed, my friend, it is true. Before you is the poor Dauphin of France who has been missing for many years, Louis XVII, the son of Louis XVIII and Marie Antoinette."

"You! At your age (if the French Dauphin was alive, he would have been about 55 years old.—Editor's Note.)! You might as well say that you are Charlemagne, Emperor of Western Rome. I think you are at least six years old. Seven hundred years old."

"How much I have suffered, Bridgewater. My sufferings have frosted my beard and hair, prematurely decayed, and prematurely bald. Misery, in this rough cloth, you see the true Dauphin of France."

As he spoke, he began to cry again, and the more he cried, the more sad he became.Jim and I felt sorry for him, and didn't know what to do for a while.However, we feel happy and proud to have him with us.So we set about comforting him as we did the Count, trying to reassure him.But he said, nothing is useless, only after death, he will be at ease after everything is settled.However, he said that if someone can treat him according to his status, kneel down on one leg when talking to him, and call him "Your Majesty", serve him first when eating, and sit down when he gives him a seat, he will to feel a little more comfortable.So Jim and I started calling him Your Majesty, and doing this and that for him, and standing when he didn't tell us to sit.All this made him extremely happy and comfortable.

But the earl was jealous now, and seemed dissatisfied with our service to the king.But the King was still very friendly to him, saying that his father had a special regard for the Duke's great-grandfather and the other Dukes of Bridgewater, and allowed them to visit his palace from time to time.Still, the duke was morose for a long time.Afterwards the King said: "Bridgewater, it looks like we're going to have to stay on this wretched raft for a damn long time, what's the matter with you being so sour? It just makes everyone uncomfortable I'm not born a duke, don't blame me; you weren't born a king and you can't blame you. What's the use of being angry? Listen to me, make it easy, that's my motto. It's not bad if we meet in a place like this Well, there's plenty to eat, and life is easy. Come, duke, come, hold hands, we're good friends."

The Duke shook hands with him, and Jim and I were delighted to see it.That all put an end to their awkwardness, and we were very glad, because it's bad luck to get angry on a raft.When we are on the raft together, we all hope to be content, to be happy with ourselves, and to be kind to others.

It didn't take long for me to understand that these two guys were not kings and dukes at all, but two rogue liars full of lies.But I didn't say it, I just knew it in my heart.This is the best way, so as not to quarrel with others and cause trouble.They want us to call 'em kings and dukes, and I don't object, as long as there's peace of mind.It was useless to tell Jim that in my mind, so I didn't tell him.Although my father and I didn't learn anything else, at least I learned how to get along with this type of person, and they can do what they like.

(End of this chapter)