The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapter 41 (2)
Chapter 31 (2)
hack?Finn I've never felt so innocent in my life, and I know I can pray now.But I didn't start praying right away, I put the paper there and thought about it--thinking how good it would be, I almost became a lost lamb, and I was going to go to hell at the end.I went on thinking about it.Thinking and thinking, I can't help but think of our journey, Jim's shadow is always in front of me, I think of the days and nights, sometimes moonlight, sometimes stormy, we float down the river together, talking together , sing together, laugh out loud together.For some reason, all I thought of was his good, and I couldn't think of anything that would make me feel so hard on him.I always thought of him keeping watch for me during his night shift, so as not to wake me up so I could go on sleeping.I saw him so happy again when I came back in the fog.And that time when I was avenging my family, I went to the swamp to find him, and he was so happy.I also think of many such things.He's always calling me "Baby" and he's so kind to take care of me and do everything for me.Then I remembered the time I told those two guys that Jim was saved because somebody got smallpox on our raft, and he didn't know what to do with it, and said I was old Jim's best friend in the world, He also said that I was his only friend now.Thinking of this, I just turned my head and saw the letter.

This is a dilemma.I picked up the letter and held it in my hand.I was shaking because I had to make up my mind.The choice of one of the two roads is a matter of great importance to my life, and I know it in my heart.I pondered for a while, but I didn't dare to vent my breath, and finally said to myself:
"Hey, go to hell, go to hell," and tear the letter to shreds.

It's terrible enough to think and say that, but I've said it.I don’t regret what I said, and I don’t intend to change my ways from now on.I threw all the things I had thought to the back of my mind, and said in my heart, I am going to take the evil path again. I have been familiar with this path since I was a child, and I am not good at doing good things.First, I gotta steal Jim out of his slavery, and if I could think of anything worse, I'd do it, and I'd do it all the time, and I'd have a good time doing it.

Then I began to think about how to do it. I thought about many ways in my mind, and finally settled on an idea that I thought was satisfactory.I had a good view of a wooded sandbank a little further downriver, and as soon as it was dark I rowed out the raft and anchored it there for concealment.I slept all night, got up at dawn, ate breakfast, put on the new clothes I bought from the store, packed up other clothes and odds and ends, and went to the shore in a small boat.I figured out where the Phelps house was, and anchored the boat a little downstream from his house, and hid my package in the woods, a quarter of a mile down a sawmill by the river. , I filled the boat with water, filled it with many stones, and sank it to the bottom of the water, so that I could find it later when I needed it.

Then I went down the road, and when I passed the sawmill, I saw a sign: "Phelps Sawmill," and I went another two or three hundred yards, and when I got to the village, I His eyes rolled around to look around. It was already broad daylight at this time, but there was not even a single person around.But I didn't care a bit, because I didn't want to meet anyone at all, I just wanted to get acquainted with the place.According to my plan, I was going to pretend to be from the village up the river instead of down the river.So when I got acquainted with the place, I headed straight for the town.Well, the first person I met when I got there was the Duke, and he's putting up the play--"Royal Beasts" only runs for three nights--old trick.These two liars have really thick skins!I had a face-to-face meeting with him, and there was no way to hide.He looked surprised and asked:

"Hey, where have you been?" Then, pretending to be happy and concerned, he asked, "Where's the raft? Have you found a good place to hide it?"

I say:

"Ah! I was just about to ask you, sir."

He looked unhappy all at once, and said:
"How did you even think of asking me?"

"Yesterday," said I, "saw the king in that drunken state in that tavern, and I thought it would be hours before he was sober and got him back, so I wandered about the town to pass the time." I met a man who offered me a dime and asked me to row a boat across the river to carry a sheep, and I agreed. When we were about to pull the sheep onto the boat, the man let me pull The rope, he pushed behind, the sheep was too big for me to pull, it broke free and ran away, and we chased after it. We didn't have a dog, so we had to follow it all over the world, running in the fields, until finally it ran and we caught him and paddled across the river. Then I ran down to the raft, and when I got there, the raft was gone. I thought, 'They must have made trouble, Fleeing on a raft, they took my black person too, I'm just a black person, now I'm in a place with no one, how can I live.' I sat down and cried .I slept all night in the woods. But where's the raft? And Jim, poor Jim!"

"How do I know—I'm talking about the whereabouts of the raft. The old fool made a deal with someone and got forty yuan, but when we found him in that tavern, those bastards had been betting with him for a long time Fifty cents a game, and he had nothing left but to pay the bill. Late last night, when I got him back, the raft was gone, and we said, 'That little rascal stole Our raft, leaving us behind, went downstream by itself."

"I ain't gonna leave my black person, can I? He's the only black person I have in the world, my only property."

"We didn't think about it that way. In fact, we also regarded him as our own black man. God, we did regard him as our own black man. Didn't we worry about him less? So we looked at the wood The row is gone, and I'm so poor that I don't have any money in my pocket. I can't think about it, so I have to bring out the 'Royal Monster' again. I've been wandering around, my mouth is as dry as a powder keg. You What about the dime? Give it to me."

I had quite a lot of money, so I gave him a dime, but I begged him to buy something to eat with the money and give me some, I said I only had that dime, and said that I hadn’t paid for it since yesterday I haven't eaten since then.He didn't say a word.Then he turned to me and said:

"Do you think that black person will expose us? If he does, we'll skin him!"

"How could he expose? Didn't he run away?"

"No! That old fool sold him, and I didn't get any money from the sale, and the money is gone."

"Sold him?" I said, and wept. "That's my black person, and the money is mine. Where is he? I want my black person."

"Come on, you ain't gonna get your black person back anyway, so stop crying. Tell me, would you expose us? Well, I wouldn't blame you if I believed you. But if you dare expose us . . . "

He said no more, but I never saw the Duke's eyes look so terrible.I still continued to whimper and cry non-stop, saying:

"I don't want to expose anyone, and I don't have time to. I have to get my black man back."

At this moment, he seemed a little uneasy, and stood there blankly, the leaflets on his arms were blown wildly by the wind.He frowned, thought and thought, and finally said:

"Let me tell you something. We're going to be here three days. If you swear you won't find out about us, or that black person, I'll tell you where to find him."

I swore a curse, and he said:
"A farmer named Silas? Fe..." He broke off at this point.You see, he was going to tell me the truth, but he stopped talking, and I knew he must be thinking, trying to change his mind.Sure enough.He doesn't believe me, he wants to send me away and not come here for three days.So he said right away, "The man who bought him was called Abram Foster--Abram G. Foster, and he lived forty miles in the country from here, on the way to Lafayette. "

"Okay," I said, "I'll be there in three days on foot. I'll be leaving this afternoon."

"No, that's not right. You have to go now, don't waste time, and don't talk too much on the way. Shut up and go your way, and then we'll spare you. Do you understand?"

That's exactly what I wanted to hear, that's what I wanted him to say.I will complete my plan alone.

"Go away, then," he said, "you and Mr. Foster can say what you like. Probably you can convince him that Jim's your black person—some idiots don't even ask for paperwork— — At least I heard there are such fools in the south. You can tell him that the leaflets and bounties are fake, tell him it is a way to protect him, and maybe he will believe you. Go your way now , You can say whatever you want to him, but I can tell you clearly that you are not allowed to chew your tongue along the way."

I left him and walked away to the country.I didn't look back, but I could still feel him staring at me.I know I can keep him watching until he gets tired.I went on for a mile, and stopped only when I was in the country.Then I walked back the way I came, through the woods to Phelps' house.I figured I'd cut the corners and get down to my business right away, because I'm gonna keep Jim's mouth shut before those two guys go.I really don't want to deal with this guy anymore.I've seen enough of what they've done, and I'm going to get rid of them all.

(End of this chapter)