The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The old man recovered in a short time, and wandered about the town again, before going to court with Judge Thatcher, and making him hand over the money.He came to look for me again, thinking that I didn't quit school, caught me twice, and beat me with a whip, but I still went to school, always avoiding him, or running away, telling him to chase after him not on.I used to be reluctant to go to school, but now I want to go to school, just to be angry with the old man.It was such a time-consuming business, and they didn't look like they were going to do it, so I used to borrow a couple of dollars from Judge Thatcher to my father to save him from beating me up.Every time he got money, he always got drunk, and every time he got drunk, he would run around in town, and every time he played around, he had to be locked up.This routine has become his daily routine-he has the ability to make such a fool.

He used to hang around the widow's house all the time, and the widow got angry, and told him she wouldn't be polite if he kept hanging around.Hey, look how crazy he is.He said he'd like to see Huck?Who is in charge of Finn?So one day in the spring he caught me and took me in a boat and paddled about three miles up the river to the other side of the river in Illinois where there was a wood with no houses but a There is an old wooden house, but the trees grow densely there, if you don't know this wooden house in advance, you will definitely not be able to find it.

He has been holding on to me so tightly that I can't run away at all.We lived in that old wooden house, and every night he would lock the door and put the key under his head to sleep.He had a gun, probably stolen, and we hunted and fished for our living.Every few days he would lock me up in the house, and walk the three miles by himself, and take the fish and game to the ferry to trade for the whiskey, and get it back and have a good time, and beat me up again.At last the widow found out where I was, and sent a man to fetch me, but papa took him with a gun and sent him off.It didn't take me long to get used to the place, and I kind of liked it there, and it was good for everything but the whip.

We have nothing to do all day long, and we are comfortable and happy when we are lazy, smoking, fishing, neither studying nor doing any homework.More than two months passed in a blink of an eye, and the clothes I was wearing were dirty and torn. I really wondered how I got used to it when I was in the widow's house. At that time, I had to wash my face and hands, and I had to eat on a plate. Got to comb my hair, got to go to bed and get up on a regular schedule, and was constantly bothered by books, not to mention that old Miss Watson was constantly picking on me.No matter what I don't want to go back.I stopped swearing at first, because the widow didn't like it; but now I slipped, because my father didn't care.On the whole it looked like a good time in the woods.

But my father made the hickory stick more and more convenient, and I couldn't stand it.I beat him so badly that there was no good spot all over my body.He also keeps locking me in the house alone and going outside by himself.Once he locked me up for three days and almost suffocated me.I thought he'd been drowned, and I'd never go out again for the rest of my life.I was terrified, so I made up my mind to try to escape.But after trying countless times, he couldn't escape from this hut.There ain't a single window through which the dog could get out, and the chimney was too narrow for me to get out of it.The door was of planks of oak, thick and strong.Dad was so ghostly that he didn't even leave a knife or anything when he left.

I searched the house at least a hundred times; in fact, I was always searching and never stopped, because that was the only way to pass the time.But this time I found one thing at last; I found an old rusty saw, without the handle, stuck between the rafters and the roof boards.I put a little oil on the saw blade and got to work.There was a table at the far end of the room, and an old horse blanket nailed to the log wall behind it to keep out the wind from blowing through the cracks in the wood and blowing out the candles.I got under the table, threw back the blanket, and started sawing, trying to cut off the bottom log so I could get out.Well, it was a lot of work, but when it was almost done, I heard a gunshot in the woods, and I knew it was Dad firing the gun.I quickly cleaned up the traces of sawing wood, laid the raised blanket flat, hid the saw, and after a while, my father came in.

Dad lost his temper again and showed his true colors again.He said he'd been walking around town and everything wasn't going his way.His lawyer said that as soon as the case went to trial, he would probably win and get the money; but there was always a reason for putting the case back, and Judge Thatcher had something to do.He said that some people decided that the original lawsuit would still go to court, that I would be sentenced to sever ties with him, and let the widow be my guardian.I was taken aback when I heard that, because I really didn't want to go back to the widows, and I couldn't bear their discipline, and all the civilized upbringing they talked about.Then, the old man began to curse again, cursing all the people and things he could think of, and then going back and repeating the curse, for fear of missing something, and finally cursed in general again, which was the end.There were a lot of people he didn't even know their names, but he still scolded them, and when he got to them, he replaced their names with "that thing called" and then continued to scold them.

He said he really wanted to see how the widow came to take me away.And said he'd be on the alert, and if they dared to try this trick on him, he knew what to do: Hide me in a place six or seven miles away, and they couldn't find me if they tried, and I'd be sure to tell them to throw in the towel. .His plan made me uneasy again, but it was over soon; I figured I wouldn't hang around him all the time and give him a chance to get my way.

The old man brought back some things and asked me to carry them on the boat.I saw that there were many things in the boat, including a fifty-pound sack of cornmeal, a large piece of bacon, a four-gallon jug of whiskey, an old book and two waste newspapers for cushioning, There are also some ammunition and hemp balls.I carried a bag back first, then came out and sat on the bow to catch my breath, while thinking about the matter from beginning to end.I figured if I got away I'd take the gun and some fishing lines and run off into the woods.I figured I couldn't stay in one place all the time, it was better to wander around the country, mostly at night, hunting and fishing for my survival, and going far away, the old man and the widow would never find me.I figured if Dad had been really drunk that night I could have sawed the hole and got out.I reckon he's going to be pretty drunk.I was so full of thoughts about it that I forgot how long I sat there, when I heard the old man call out and ask me if I was asleep or drowned.

After I moved all my things into the cabin, it was almost dark.While I was making supper, the old man had a shot of whiskey, and then he started swearing again.In fact, he was drunk in the town, and he lay in the stinky ditch all night. He looked really good, rolled in mud. When people saw him, they might think he was Adam just created by God.As long as he gets drunk, nine out of ten he will curse the government.This time was no exception, he said:

"It's also called the government! Haha, look, look, what kind of thing is it, come up with this outrageous law, and take away people's own sons--other people's own flesh and blood, without asking how much effort and effort people have spent How much worry and money was spent to bring him up. Fortunately, the son has been brought up anyway, and he will soon be able to do some work, respect and respect the father, so that he can rest, but at this time the law comes Get in and fight against him. What kind of government is this? Not counting, the law is still helping that old judge Thatcher rob me of my property. This is a good thing the law does. The law has 6000 The man with a lot of money forced him to live in such a dilapidated hut, wearing tattered clothes that even pigs wouldn't wear.

This is also the government!No one can expect to enjoy his rights with such a government controlling man.Sometimes I really want to leave the country forever.Yes, that's what I said to them; that's what I said to that old Thatcher's face.There are many people who have heard me say this, and they will remember it.I said that I don't care about anything anyway, anyway, I want to leave this unreasonable country, and never touch it for the rest of my life.That's what I said.I said look at my hat, can this also be called a hat?The shell of the hat was so high, and the brim was drawn down to the chin, that it wasn't really a hat at all, but it looked like I had stuck my head into a chimney of a tin stove.Look, I said, I wear such a shabby hat, and we'd be a rich man in this town, if I could enjoy my rights.

"Yeah, yes, it's not a bad government, it's not a bad government. Haha, look. There's a free nigger in Ohio, a mulatto, and he's white, almost like a white guy. He's dressed like hell The whitest shirt, and the brightest hat, were as well-dressed as anyone in the town; and with a gold watch on a gold chain, and a silver-handled cane in his hand, it The number one rich man in the state. Also, didn’t you expect it? People say that he is a university professor who can speak any language and knows everything in the world. That’s not too bad, the worst is yet to come. People say he was able to vote when he was in his hometown. Yeah, I can't figure it out. I wonder what the country is like? It happened to be election day, if I wasn't too drunk to walk If so, vote in person.

But when people tell me there's a state in this country that lets niggers vote, it blows my mind.I said I would never vote again.That's what I said; they all heard it; the country is screwed, it's screwed.I will never vote again in my life.You see the arrogance of that nigger, how dare he stand in the way and won't let me if I push him aside.I say to the people, I wonder, why doesn't this nigger just be sold in the market?Well, they said they couldn't sell him until he had lived in the state six months, and he hadn't lived six months yet.Haha, that's a weird thing, the government can't sell a free nigger if he hasn't lived for six months, is that kind of government?There's no shame in this government that calls itself the government, pretends to be the government, thinks it's the government, and has the nerve to sit still for six months before it goes and catches that sneaky, nasty free nigger in the white shirt, and—"

Pa cussed like this, not paying any attention to where his old dangling legs were going, and they bumped into the bacon barrel and took the skin off both shinbones. Rubbed.This made him swear even worse, most of the time he still swears at the black man and the government, but he also swears a few barrels from time to time.He hopped around the room, turning and turning for a while, jumping on one leg and the other, covering one shin bone and the other, Then he suddenly let go of his left foot and kicked the barrel hard with a bang.It's a pity that this time I didn't calculate it well, because he happened to be wearing the boot with two toes exposed, so he yelled in pain, which could make people's hair stand on end in fright, and then saw him He plopped down on the muddy ground, clutching his toes and rolling all over the floor.At this time, he scolded really fiercely, it was the worst scolding in his life.He later said the same thing himself.He'd heard that Thorberry before?Hagen's old man swears when he's at his best, and he says he beat Hagen just now, but I think he's just bragging again.

After supper Pa picked up the jug and said there was enough whiskey in it for two drunks and one madness.I'm tired of hearing that, he keeps saying it.I reckon he'll be drunk in an hour or so, and then I'll take the opportunity to steal the key, or saw a hole and get out, whichever is easier.He kept pouring the wine down his stomach, and then fell on the blanket and became drunk.But I was unlucky, he didn't die of sleep, he was still moving, humming, swinging his arms back and forth, making a fuss in the middle of the night.Later, I was so sleepy that I couldn't keep my eyelids open, so I just fell asleep without knowing it, and the candle was still burning.

I don't know how long I slept, but a sudden scream woke me up.Dad was in front of him, looking crazy, jumping up and down, yelling about snakes, saying that several snakes had crawled on his legs, screaming and jumping up and down, saying that a snake had bitten his cheek , but I didn't see any snakes at all.He was running around the house yelling "Get it off! Get it off! Wow, it's biting my neck!" I've never seen a man with such horrible eyes.It didn't take long before he collapsed on the ground like a deflated ball, panting, and then rolled on the ground very fast, kicking things with his feet and throwing his hands in the air. They scratched him indiscriminately, saying that a devil had gotten on him.After a while, he was tired again, and lay down quietly for a while, humming in a low voice.Then there was no sound at all.I could hear owls and wolves hooting far away in the woods, and it was eerily quiet outside.Dad was lying in the corner of the room. After a while, he sat up and listened for a while with his head tilted, and muttered a few words in a low voice:

"Cha-cha-cha; it's the sound of dead men walking; chi-cha-cha; they're coming for me; but I don't want to--ah, here they come! Don't touch me--don't! Let go—it's cold; let go of me—oh, spare me, poor wretch!"

Then he lay on his stomach, begged them to let him go, wrapped himself in a blanket, and rolled under the old pine table, begging for mercy, and started crying.I could hear him crying through the blanket.

Then he rolled out from under the table, jumped up like crazy, and when he saw me, he jumped at me.He chased me around the house with a jackknife in his hand, called me "the angel of death," and said he was going to kill me so I wouldn't keep pestering him.I begged him to be merciful, and told him I was none other than Huck, but he let out a shrill laugh, and yelled and swore, and kept on chasing me.At one moment I turned sharply, intending to slip under his arm, but he reached out and grabbed me by the collar from behind, thinking that the game was over; but I threw off my clothes , The movement was as fast as lightning, and only then escaped from death and took his life.Before long, he himself was very tired again, and collapsed against the door, saying that he would take a rest before killing me.He pressed the knife under his body and said that he would sleep for a while to refresh himself, and then he would see who was the best.

He dozed off quickly.I slowly moved the slatted chair over, climbed up on it softly, and without making a sound, took the gun down.I poked the breech of the gun with the cleaning rod to make sure it was loaded, then set it on the turnip bucket and aimed it at Dad, and I sat on the back of the gun and waited for him to move.This time is really slow, really strangely quiet.

(End of this chapter)