The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapter 34

Chapter 27

I tiptoed to their door, and after listening to them for a while, they were both snoring, so I continued on tiptoe and went downstairs smoothly.There was no sound at all.I looked in through a crack in the dining room door, and saw that the vigilers were all asleep in their chairs.This door led into the parlour, where the dead man was parked, and a candle was burning in both rooms.I walked around from the outside and saw that the door of the living room was open, and there was no one inside, only Peter's body.I went sideways, but the front door was locked and the key wasn't there.Just then, I heard someone behind me coming down the stairs towards me.I hurried into the living room, looked around hastily, and found that the only place where I could hide the purse was the coffin.The lid of the coffin was pulled back about a foot, revealing the face of the dead man covered with a damp sheet and wearing a shroud.I stuffed the purse into the coffin, a little lower than the dead man's folded hands, which gave me a shiver, for his hands were so cold.When it was over, I hurried across the room and fled behind the door.

Is it Mary?simple.She went softly to the coffin, knelt down and looked in, and then, covering her face with her handkerchief, she began to cry.I couldn't hear her cry because her back was turned to me.I slipped out quietly, and as I passed the dining room, I thought to myself, I must not let the vigilante see me. I looked in through the crack in the door and saw that everything was normal.They didn't even move.

I quietly climbed upstairs and got into bed, feeling quite uncomfortable.I've put so much thought into it, and taken so many risks, to get it like this.I thought it would be nice if the purse could stay there, because I could give it to Mary when I got a hundred or two miles down the river?Jane writes a letter, and she can dig up the grave and get the money; but it may not be so, and the money-bag may be found when the lid is closed on the coffin.Then the king could get the money again, and so there was no telling how long it would be before he got another chance to get it out of his hands.Of course I'd like to sneak downstairs and get the money out of there, but I'm afraid to try again.The time is getting closer and closer to dawn, and soon, the vigilantes will be active, and I will be caught. When I was caught, I still had 6000 yuan in my hand, and no one asked me to keep the money. .I thought to myself, I don't want to get involved in this kind of trouble.

In the morning, when I went downstairs, the door of the living room was closed, and the vigilantes were gone.The only ones present were the family, the Widow Bartley, and us.I watched people's faces, trying to see if something had happened, but I couldn't see anything.

Towards noon the undertaker arrived with a helper.They put the coffin on two chairs in the middle of the room, and then they lined up our chairs in rows, borrowing many chairs from neighbors, and filling the corridors, the living room, and the dining room.I saw that the lid of the coffin was still the same, but there were so many people around me that I dared not look inside.

The crowds soon came pouring in, and two swindlers and three girls sat in the front chairs before the head of the coffin, and for half an hour they walked slowly in a single file to the coffin, looking at the dead. Some of them shed a few tears on their faces, and the atmosphere was very solemn and solemn, only the three girls covering their eyes with handkerchiefs and the two swindlers bowed their heads and sobbed from time to time.Other than that there was no sound in the house except the soles of shoes scraping against the floor and people blowing their noses—except at church, where people didn't blow their noses as much as at funerals.

Then the room was full of people, and the undertaker, in his black gloves, walked softly up and down tending to everyone, making everything perfect.He moves as lightly as a cat.He directs the movement of the people to make way for latecomers, to let them squeeze in, and he does so without saying a word, only with gestures and nods.Then he stood still against the wall.I have never seen such a gentle, flexible, light-footed man; there is no smile on his face, he is like a piece of ham.

They borrowed a pedal organ--a faulty one.When everything was ready, a young woman sat down to play the organ, and the organ creaked and everyone sang along.In my opinion, only Peter was spared the trouble.Then Reverend Hobson began to speak slowly and solemnly, when there came from the basement a wild barking of dogs, the loudest a man had ever heard in all his life.It was really just a dog barking, but it was so loud that it could scare a man to death.The pastor had to stand in front of the coffin and wait for the sound to stop-people were at a loss.In a second the quick man of the undertaker's made a gesture to the minister, as if to say, "Don't worry—I'll take care of this." He bent sideways and walked along the wall, Only his shoulders stick out above people's heads.

The barking grew louder and louder, and he walked along two walls until he disappeared into the basement doorway.Within two seconds, we heard a sound of a dog being hit hard. The dog barked twice and then stopped making trouble.Everything was quiet again.The pastor continued to speak in a serious manner just now. Two minutes later, the back and shoulders of the man in the funeral home appeared again. He bent down and turned around along the three walls, then straightened up, rolled his hands into a tube and put it over his mouth, stretched his neck, and lowered his voice with a hoarse voice. , over everyone's heads, said to the priest, "It caught a mouse!" Then he stooped again and slipped back to his seat along the wall.People seem to be very satisfied with this explanation, because people naturally want to know why things happen.It doesn't take much effort to do such small things, but such small things can make a person respected and liked by others.There's no one in this town as likable as this man from the Undertaker.

The funeral sermon was good, but it was too long and annoying.After it was over, the king said something again, still his old cliché.At last, when his old trick was done, the undertaker walked quietly up to the coffin, screwdriver in hand.I was sweating all over my body, and I stared straight at him.He didn't even make a single superfluous movement, he just pushed the lid of the coffin back lightly, as lightly as a sledge, and then tightened all the screws tightly.Now I'm dumbfounded!I don't know if the money is still in there.I thought to myself, I wonder if someone secretly took the money away?So now how do I know if it's time to give it to Mary?Jane writes?What would she think of me if she dug up the grave and found no money?I thought, Hell, they might catch me and put me in jail.I'd better keep it a secret, say nothing, write nothing at all.I'm screwed with this.I was trying to make it better, but it turned out to be a hundred times worse, and I wish I hadn't bothered with this damned business, this damned nuisance!
They buried the dead, and we came home.I fidgeted and kept watching people's faces—I couldn't help myself, I couldn't help but look at people's faces.But I couldn't see anything, people's faces showed nothing.

In the evening the king visited the houses, and flattered the people, and made them all very happy, and they were very friendly to him.He spread the word that his English brethren were anxious for him to go back, so he wanted to get the real estate dealt with as soon as possible, and then go back.He was very sad that he couldn't stay for a long time, and everyone felt very sorry, and hoped that he could stay for a longer period of time, but they said that they all knew it was impossible.He said that he and William were going to take the children to England, and it was a great joy to everybody, because then the girls would be in a good place to be with their kindred.The girls were happy too--they were so happy about going to England that they didn't know what trouble there was in the world.They want him to sell all the property as soon as he wants, and they will prepare it as soon as possible.Seeing these poor children being deceived by the lie, they are so happy and happy, I feel very uncomfortable, but I really can't think of any safe way to change this situation.

The King did it right away, and he put up posters saying that the house, and the negroes in the family, and all the rest of the property were going to be auctioned off two days after the funeral.However, if someone wants to buy it separately before then, it's fine.

So, at noon on the second day after the funeral, the girls' interest was hit first-two black slave traders came.The king sold them all the niggers in the house for a fair price, for what they called a promissory note payable in three days.So they were taken away, the sons sold up the river to Memphis, and the mother to Orleans down the river.The girls and the niggers were very sad, and they wept together, and it made me so sad to watch.The girls said they never dreamed that their families would be broken up or that they would be sold elsewhere.I will never forget the sight of these poor wretched girls cuddling with blacks and weeping and weeping in agony.If I hadn't known the deal was no good, and the niggers would be home in a week or two, I'd have been able to stop myself from denouncing these two rascals.

This incident also caused quite a commotion in the town. Some people came forward and said bluntly that it was outrageous to separate the mother and child like this.It made the two swindlers lose some face, but, in spite of the duke's objections, the old wretch insisted on going on.The duke was really disturbed.

The next day came the day of the auction.Next day, towards daylight, the king and duke came up in the garret and shook me awake.I knew something was wrong just by the look on their faces.the king asked:
"Say, did you come to my room the night before?"

"No, Your Majesty." That's what I always call him when there is no one else around.

"Did you go to my room yesterday and last night?"

"No, Your Majesty."

"You've got to tell the truth—don't lie to me."

"Everything I said is the truth, Your Majesty, it is indeed the truth. I have never been near your room since Miss Mary Jane took you and the Duke to her room."

duke said:
"Did you see anyone go in there?"

"No, sir, I believe I remember well, no."

"Don't worry, think about it."

I thought about it and thought my chance was here and I said, "Oh, I've seen niggers go in there a few times."

They both nearly jumped up in surprise, as if they hadn't expected it, and then, as if they hadn't.The duke asked:
"Why, have they all gone in?"

"No... at least they didn't go in at the same time. In other words, I didn't see them come out at the same time, they just came out one by one."

"Hi—when was that?"

"It was the day of the funeral. It was in the morning. It wasn't too early because I slept in so late. I was walking downstairs when I saw them."

"Okay, on to—what did they do? How did they behave?"

"They didn't do anything. They looked nothing special to me. They tiptoed away, and of course I knew they wanted to tidy up His Majesty's house, because they must have thought you You are already up, but you haven't woken up yet, so they don't want to cause trouble, so they walk away gently so as not to wake you up."

"This is really bad!" said the King.They both looked downcast at once, lost their minds for a moment, stood there scratching their heads and thinking for a while, and then the prince gave a wry smile and said:
"Those niggers did a really good job of it. They acted like they were dying of grief, like they wouldn't want to leave this place! But I really believed them. You believed it too, and everyone believed it Don't ever tell me that niggers don't have talent for acting. They play tricks that can take everybody. I think they can make a fortune. If I have money and a theater, I'll find them Come to play better than any team, but we replaced them with a worthless thing. And now you can't even use the worthless thing. Where's that thing--the promissory note?"

"It's in the bank and waiting for us to pick it up. Where do you think it can be?"

"Well, that's a relief, thank God."

I pretended to be timid and asked:
"Did something go wrong?"

King Wang turned to me and shouted viciously:
"None of your business! Don't make guesses, keep your mouth shut. Mind your own business--if you have your own business to worry about. As long as you're in this town, remember this-- Do you understand?" Then he turned to the Duke and said, "Let's just pretend it never happened and don't mention it at all."

As they climbed down the ladder, the prince smiled wryly again and said:
"Small profits but quick turnover! Business is not bad."

The king turned and yelled at him, gnashing his teeth:

"I just wanted to get things done, so I sold them as soon as possible. This business is so messed up that you can't get anything, and you have to lose money. Can you blame me? Your fault is smaller than mine?"

"If you'd listened to me, they'd still be in the house, and we'd be gone."

The king talked back to him again, and then took it out on me.Blame me for seeing a black person come out of his house so furtively and not tell him, even a fool could see something was wrong.Later he turned to complaining about himself, saying that he shouldn't have gotten up so early that day, and should have slept in as usual, and said that in the future, nothing would make him get up early.They just walked away noisily.I'm so glad I put it all on the niggers, and the niggers don't get hurt at all.

(End of this chapter)