The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I had no choice but to close the door, bite the bullet and turn around.He used to beat me up a lot, so I was terrified when I saw him.I thought I was still afraid of him now; but after a while of comprehension, I realized that I was wrong.That is to say, he came so unexpectedly that at first sight, I was taken aback with fright, and I could say that I couldn't even breathe; but after a while, I saw that there was no need to be afraid of him, and there was no need to be frightened at all.

He's almost 50 years old, he looks the same age, his hair is long and messy and greasy, messy, you can see his eyes sparkle through the strands of messy hair in front of his face, that way It really looks like it's hiding behind the vines.The hair is all black, not gray at all, and the long tangled beard is also all black.There is not even a trace of blood on the part of the face that is not covered by the hair. It is white, but it is so white that it is uncomfortable to look at, and it makes people get goosebumps—white like a tree frog, like a fish. belly.As for the clothes he was wearing, they were nothing but rags.He put one foot on the knee of the other leg, the boot on this foot was split, and two toes were exposed and twisted.His hat fell on the floor with its old black brim and sunken crown like a pot lid.

I stood there looking at him and he sat looking at me with the chair tilted back a little bit.After a while I put the candle on the table, and looking up, I saw the window was open, and knew that he had come in through the roof of the shed.He looked me up and down, and finally said:
"It's flat, and it's quite impressive. You think you're great, don't you?"

"Yes, yes, no, no," I said.

"You're not allowed to talk back to me," he said. "You've been shaking since I left. I'm going to kill you for your prestige. I heard that you've been educated. If you can write, let it go. Even if your father can't do it, you can do it, so you feel better than your father, don't you? I can't let you go on like this anymore. Who told you to meddle with nothing and do stupid things? Say Ah, who told you to do it."

"It was the widow who told me to do it."

"The widow, hey, who told the widow to meddle in her own business?"

"No one."

"Well, I'll teach her how to meddle in her own business. You have to remember—quickly drop me out of school, do you hear me? I'm going to teach these people a lesson, so they know how to make other people's children grow up and put on airs in front of their own fathers , Pretending to be stronger than his father. If you go to school to mess around again, let me catch you, you will look good, do you hear? Your mother can't read and write all her life, and the whole family is just like your mother. I'm no exception. You're lucky, after you recognize two characters, your tail goes up to the sky. You can't stand this, do you hear me? I said, read to me."

I just picked up the book and started reading, about General Washington and the wars.After less than a minute of reading, he slapped the book flying and fell to the other side of the room.He said:
"It seems right, you really know how to study. I just heard you say that I really can't believe it. Listen, don't put on such a stinking air for me again, I don't like this. Be careful in the future Son, you self-important fellow. If I catch you around the school, I'll beat you up. You've got to be religious when you go to school, and I don't believe that. Never seen such a bastard son like you. "

He picked up a yellow and blue color picture, which showed a child and some cows, and after a glance, he asked:
"What kind of trick is this?"

"They gave it to me because I did my homework well."

He tore the painting to pieces, and said:

"I'll give you something better than that--a whip."

He sat there, muttering and cursing.After a while he said:
"Look at you, you're a fine young man. A bed, a bedding, and a mirror, and a rug on the floor; but your own father is in a tannery with pigs. Sleeping together. Never seen your kind of son. I'll kill you for your dignity, and then I'll break with you. Oh, you're still putting on airs. I heard you got rich, yes No? What's going on?"

"It's all bullshit, that's all."

"Listen—be careful what you talk to me, I've got a lot of patience—don't be so petty. I've been in town two days, and I've heard people say you're rich. Down the river old I heard about it from afar. That’s why I came here. Give me your money tomorrow, I want it to be useful.”

"I have no money."

"You're talking nonsense. Judge Thatcher has the money. Go and get it for me. I'll have to." "I don't have any money, that's the truth. Go ask Judge Thatcher, and tell him the same."

"Okay, then I'll ask him and tell him to take out the money, at least to clarify the matter. I said, how much money do you have in your pocket? Take it out for me."

"There's only one dollar, and I'm going to use it—"

"I don't care what you're going to use it for—get it out for me."

He snatched the coin, bit it between his teeth to see if it was real, and then said he was going to town for a whiskey, and said he hadn't had a drink all day.He got out of the window, climbed onto the roof of the shed, and poked his head in again to scold me for putting on airs, and he also wanted to be better than him, the old man.Later I guessed that he climbed down and left, but unexpectedly he came back and poked his head through the window, telling me not to forget about dropping out of school, he was going to watch secretly, if I didn’t drop out, he would beat me up.

Next day, very drunk, he found Judge Thatcher and yelled at him to force him to hand over the money. come out.

The judge and the widow also went to the court and asked the court to separate us from the father-son relationship and let the judge or the widow be my guardian.But I happened to meet a new judge who didn't know the old man's behavior at all, so he said that this kind of family affairs, especially the divorce of his own flesh and blood, could be ignored by the court; The child is taken from his father.So Judge Thatcher and the widow had to let go of the matter.

This made the old man very happy.He said if I didn't get him some money, he'd beat me all black and blue.I couldn't help it, so I went to Judge Thatcher and borrowed three dollars, and the old man got very drunk when he took it, shouted and shouted, cursed the street everywhere, knocked on an iron basin, and made a fuss all over the town, almost all the time. It was rowdy until midnight; then they locked him up and sent him to court the next day, where he was locked up for another week.In this way, he also said that he was quite satisfied, and that now his son was under his control again, and he wanted to show his son some color.

After the old man came out, the new judge said he wanted to make him a new man, so he took him to his own house, changed his clothes, dressed him cleanly and decently, and had three meals with the judge's family. Eat, it can be said that this family can't be better for him.After supper the judge told him about sobriety and all that, and the old man burst into tears and said he had been a jerk and been fooling around.Now he wants to start a new life and never let others be ashamed of him. He hopes that the judge will help him and stop looking down on him.The judge said that after hearing this, he really wanted to hug him, and couldn't help crying, and his wife also cried.Dad said he used to be misunderstood and thought him a bad guy.The judge said Thaksin believed it.The old man was right when he said sympathy was all a wretch wanted; and they wept again.When it was time to go to bed, the old man stood up, held out his hand, and said:
"Look at my hand, gentlemen and ladies, take this hand and shake it. It used to be a pig's trotter, but now it has changed into a human hand. , not turning back even in death. Remember my words—don't forget I said it. The hand is clean now, take it—don't be afraid."

So everyone shook his hand one by one and wept again.The judge's wife even kissed his hand.Then the old man signed a letter of guarantee—it was a pledge.The judge said it was the holiest moment ever, and that's about it.Then they took the old man into a beautiful room, which was reserved for guests.But at some point in the night, his addiction to alcohol relapsed, and he couldn't bear it anymore. He climbed from the window to the porch, slipped down a porch post, and exchanged his new coat for a jug. Shochu, crawled back into the house again, had enough addiction.Before daybreak he crawled out again, very drunk, and fell off the porch, breaking his arms in two places.He was found after the sun came out, and he was freezing to death.Later they went to the empty room and saw that it was in a mess, and they couldn't get in without seeing what was under their feet.

The judge got a little offended.He said that it seemed that he had to be forced to use a gun to get him to change his ways, and he couldn't think of any other good way.

(End of this chapter)