The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapter 29

Chapter 22

People were swarming down the street towards the Sherborne house, shouting and screaming and mad as Indians, and everything had to get out of their way or be trampled to mud, that stock Frenzy looks horrific indeed.The dolls in front of the group screamed and fled in all directions.Every glass window facing the street was crowded with women's faces, black children were climbing on every tree, and some timid men and women watched from behind the fence, and when the crowd came near them, they hurriedly dispersed. Go, back away.Many women and girls were terrified and wept bitterly.

The crowd crowded in front of the wooden fence of Sherborne's house, the crowd was packed tightly, and the noise of voices made people dizzy.It was a small yard about twenty feet in circumference.Someone shouted: "Tear down the courtyard wall! Tear down the courtyard wall!" People immediately started to smash, pull, pull, and bump. The wall fell down quickly, and the crowd crowded in front of them surged like a wave. go in.

Just then Sherborne appeared on the roof of his little porch.He held a double-barreled gun in his hand, and his expression was extremely calm, without saying a word.The uproar stopped suddenly and the crowd began to retreat.

Sherborne still didn't say a word, just stood there silently, looking down at the crowd.The dead silence made people feel uncomfortable, and goosebumps appeared all over their bodies.Sherborne scanned the crowd slowly. The people he scanned wanted to appear stronger than him, and tried to stare back at him fiercely, but they couldn't, and ended up lowering their eyes, looking furtive. .Then Sherborne laughed, a sneer that was painful to hear, as awkward as sand in bread.

Then he spoke, slowly and arrogantly:

"You people still want to abuse the criminal law! It's funny. How dare you want to kill a good man! Because you dare to bully a helpless and homeless passing woman, you think Do you dare to do something to a good man? Have you ever thought about it, even if a good man falls into the hands of 1 people like you, you will never even think about touching him—unless you are secretly plotting against him.

"Don't I know you guys? I know what you're capable of. I was born in the South, I grew up in the South, I lived in the North for years; who hasn't seen it? Most people are cowards. Bullying, go home and pray to God, wish I could swallow it like a slave. In the South, a good man single-handedly can stop and rob a whole stagecoach full of people in broad daylight. The newspapers call you brave people , you think you are braver than others, but you are no different from others, and you are not braver at all. How can your jury dare not even hang a murderer? Because they are afraid that the murderer's friends will be with you. They do it behind their backs—those people do.

"That's why they always let the prisoner go free; only wait for some daring man to take a hundred masked cowards and go and lynch the wretch in the dark. It's your fault that you didn't let a daring man People brought it, that's not counting, and you didn't wait till it was dark, and you didn't put on your masks. Only one of you had half a guts--Buck? Harkness, right there--if he didn't Encourage you to come, you will not meddle in this business at all.

"You didn't want to come. No one likes trouble and risk. But if a man with the slightest guts—like that Buck Harkness over there—says 'Hang him! Hang him! Kill him!' You dare not retreat, for fear that people will find out that you are a coward, so you yell louder yourself, grab the hem of the man who has the slightest courage, and follow him to come here to play wild, swearing what you are going to do Great cause. The most pitiful thing is a mob, and an army is a mob—they fight not on their own natural courage, but on the strength of their numbers and the encouragement of their officers. But it's even more pitiful to be a mob without a leader. Look, the only way in front of you is to go home with your tail between your legs, and curl up in your den. If you want to kill anyone, just You have to wait until dark, according to the southern custom, and you have to come with a brave man, don't forget to wear a mask. Now, let me go-take your half-court man Take it away." After speaking, he swung the gun to his left hand and pulled the bolt.

The crowd suddenly began to recede like an ebb tide, scattered in all directions in a blink of an eye, and ran away, even Buck?Harkness also hung his head and fled behind the crowd, looking humble and pitiful.I could have stayed on if I wanted to, but I don't want to.

I went over to the circus, and hung around in the back, and when the keepers were gone, I slipped in under the tent.I have 20 gold coins and some change in my pocket, but I think it’s better to save some, because I’m away from home like this, and I’m with some people I don’t know, and I might need the money at any time, so add more It always pays to be careful.I wouldn't mind paying for a circus if I had no other choice, but it would be a pity to waste it.

It was really a first-rate circus show.When the actors rode in, it was fantastic, they were all riding in pairs, a man and a woman.The men wore sweatshirts and sweatpants, no shoes, no stirrups, and they looked relaxed with their hands on their hips—there were twenty of them.Every woman had a lovely complexion, downright beautiful, like a bunch of real queens, and they wore dresses studded with diamonds that must have been worth millions of dollars.I have never seen such a beautiful and luxurious scene.Then they stood up one by one on their horses, and the horses galloped across the circular field, looking so relaxed, elegant, and elegant. Got to get almost to the top of the tent.The rose petal-like short skirt worn by the woman flutters softly around her thighs, like very beautiful flower umbrellas.

They rode faster and faster, making various movements on the horse, first stretching one leg into the air, and then changing the other leg.The horse's body leaned more and more, the foreman turned straight around the pillars in the field, cracked the whip in his hand, and shouted: "Hi! Hi!" The clown hiding behind him kept talking. wisecrack.Later, those people on the horses let go of their grip on the reins, the women curled their hands on their hips, the men crossed their arms on their chests, and the horses turned sideways when they ran. It was so touching!In the end, they all jumped off their horses and bowed to the people. It was the first time I saw such a charming appearance, and then they jumped off the stage happily, and the audience applauded together, almost crazy with excitement.

The whole circus performance was wonderful, and the clown was amused from the beginning to the end, making people laugh until their stomachs hurt.The head waiter just wanted to say something to him, but he immediately threw out the witty words waiting for him to talk back to the head waiter, what he said was so funny, I don't know how he could come up with so many funny words Come, and it's so easy, blurted out.If it were me, I wouldn't be able to think of so many good things in a year.Later, a drunk man also wanted to enter the arena. He said he was going to perform on horseback, and claimed that he could ride as well as them.They got into an argument with him and tried to throw him out, but he wouldn't do it and the show stopped.People started booing and laughing at him, and now he was very angry, and he was so angry that he was dancing and making noise in the arena.This made the people angry, and many people left their benches and rushed towards the center of the arena, shouting loudly: "Beat this guy! Throw him out!" Two women screamed in fright.The foreman quickly said a few words, saying that he hoped that everyone would not make a mess, and if this person promised not to make trouble again, if he could really sit firmly on the horseback, let him ride a horse.Everyone laughed and agreed, and the man mounted the horse.

As soon as he sat on the horse's back, the horse immediately wanted to break free from the rein, spread its legs and galloped and jumped. The two people from the circus held the horse's rein tightly, trying to control the horse. Hugging the horse's neck, the horse jumped, and his legs were thrown into the air. The people in the audience stood up, yelled and laughed loudly, and finally laughed until tears flowed down.The circus people tried their best, but the horse broke free from the rein and galloped around the field. The drunk man hugged the horse's neck tightly, and fell to the side after a while, dragging one leg almost to the ground. After a while, it fell to the other side, and the other leg was almost dragged to the ground. People were going crazy with joy.But I didn't think it was funny, I was shaking with fright when I saw him so dangerous.However, not long after, he struggled to sit up straight and held the rein in his hand. He swayed from side to side, jumped up suddenly, threw off the rein and stood on the horse's back!The horse ran more and more vigorously, as if the house was on fire.The man stood firmly on the horseback, as if he had never been drunk in his life.Then, he began to take off his clothes, throwing them back as he took them off.He took off so quickly that he threw his clothes all over the place, throwing away seventeen sets of clothes in all.He finally showed his true colors, a tall and handsome young man, wearing the most colorful and beautiful clothes.He whipped the horse with a whip, and the horse ran like a gust of wind.Finally, he jumped off his horse, bowed to everyone, and easily skipped off the stage and entered the dressing room.Surprised and delighted, the people roared like thunder.

Only then did the foreman realize that he had been duped. People had never seen that kind of embarrassing face.In fact, it was an actor in his own team.In fact, he came up with this idea himself, and he didn't disclose it to anyone.I was also duped, and I felt strange. I didn't want to be that foreman, even if I was given 1000 yuan, I wouldn't do it.I don't know if there's a better circus, but I've never seen one.Anyway, I think this show is good enough, and no matter where I meet in the future, I will definitely patronize it every time.

We also played that night, but only twelve people came to see, and the tickets were just enough to cover the expenses.They were always laughing, and it made the duke so angry that the play was not over, and all the people left, except for a sleeping child.The duke said these Arkansas fools couldn't read Shakespeare at all, and he thought they liked nothing more than lowbrow--maybe not even lowbrow.He said he could adapt to their tastes.So the next morning, he got some large pieces of packing paper and some ink, and scribbled a few posters, and stuck them up all over the village.The poster reads:

staged in the town court hall
Thrilling Tragedy "The King's Panther Camel"

Also known as "Royal Monster"! ! !
by world famous tragic star

Famous actors of London and Continental theaters

Little David?Garrick!
With old Edmund?Starring Keane!
Only for three nights!

Tickets cost [-] cents each.

At the bottom, in the largest letters, read:

Women and children are not suitable.

"Just wait and see," he said, "if that line doesn't bring them in, I don't touch the bones of the Arkansas!"

(End of this chapter)