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    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    Ebook610 pages9 hours

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    By Mark Twain

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 1, 1970
    Author

    Mark Twain

    Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, left school at age 12. His career encompassed such varied occupations as printer, Mississippi riverboat pilot, journalist, travel writer, and publisher, which furnished him with a wide knowledge of humanity and the perfect grasp of local customs and speech manifested in his writing. It wasn't until The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), that he was recognized by the literary establishment as one of the greatest writers America would ever produce. Toward the end of his life, plagued by personal tragedy and financial failure, Twain grew more and more cynical and pessimistic. Though his fame continued to widen--Yale and Oxford awarded him honorary degrees--he spent his last years in gloom and desperation, but he lives on in American letters as "the Lincoln of our literature."

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    Reviews for Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    4/5

    175 ratings135 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I'm sorry I waited 67 years to read it! It was a fun read!
    • 5/5
      it was a nice story ! :)
    • 2/5
      I understand that this book was considered The Great American Novel for it's time period, but it didn't resonate with me. Part of it was the character of Huck, part of it was the seemingly scattershot nature of his adventures on the Mississippi River (it certainly wasn't the language, I have no problem with that in this or any other book), but by the time the story got to the fued between the Grangerfords and the Shepardsons, I had checked out of the story. The rest was one of the toughest slogs I've ever had to get through in reading. (Each time it was for a class assignment--the last time was to see if I had the wrong idea about the book,. I wasn't) I won't be reading it again.
    • 3/5
      I think I liked this book better than [book:Tom Sawyer], but that may be because of the dramatization of the voices -- different actors doing the different voices made it easier to follow the dialogue in audio.

      Good to have finally read this American classic.
    • 5/5
      I've read this several times, most recently, I think, to my son when he was about 4 years old (really!) I don't really know what The Great American Novel is, but I think if someone from another country or universe were to read only one American novel, this would be it. Excuse me, I got to light out for the territory now.
    • 4/5
      It was easy to imagine myself as Huck Finn as a kid even though my life bared little obvious resemblance to his. However, my childhood was one of freedom and adventure and I felt like I had found a literary soul brother in Huck as I read about his adventures. While mine weren't on the scale of his many were far removed.
    • 2/5
      Audiobook. The narration was good, but I didn't care all that much for the story. I preferred Tom Sawyer's story to Huck's.
    • 3/5
      I'm listening to the audio version read by Elijah Woods. He did a great job with the dialects, and the story is of course a classic, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I love the characters, though - it's amazing how good Twain is at creating unique lovable characters.
    • 1/5
      I would like to like Mark Twain, but for some reason I don't. I had to read this in 10th grade English and at one point I read several pages and then realized that I hadn't paid attention to it at all. And that was the part about pig's blood and faking a death, or something like that. I still don't know.
    • 4/5
      I half-expected to hate this and find it a chore, and in some parts, I did and it was. But I was also secretly hoping I'd love it, and in parts I did. Which is a bit odd, since it's not a particularly uneven book, except insofar as it alternates between "Huck having adventures" (which I enjoyed), and "Huck floating on a river" (which was god-awfully boring). I like Huck, a good deal more than Tom Sawyer, who makes everything unnecessarily complicated--Huck is more down-to-earth, more practical, less manipulative, and as a result, seems more like a real character than the What-I-Wish-My-Childhood-Had-Been Tom.

      I understand why it's considered the Great American Novel; it puts together the boyhood spirit of adventure with a snapshot of the American south, with all the values and foibles that includes. It's not a romanticized account of life on the river, in a positive or negative direction, but a more straightforward account of what was (or at least, what could have been).
    • 5/5
      It's hard to imagine how I ever thought Mark Twain boring as a kid.

      There's not as much of Tom's brand of zaniness (obviously, since it's not his book) but much more of the satirical version and humor derived from careful phrasing. The satirical humor was especially wonderful.
    • 5/5
      eBook

      What is there to say? It's my favorite novel. Funny and profound and moving; It's almost hard to read because it spins my thoughts and imagination in all different directions on almost every page.

      I suppose you could take something different from it every time you pick it up, but for me, it's about recognizing that everyone has the power to shape their beliefs to meet the world they encounter. As Huck travels down the river, he keeps adopting and discarding the belief systems he encounters until he finally realizes that it's up to him to decide what's right and what's wrong. That he's unable to stick to his guns is what makes this both a tragic work and a profoundly real one.

      Huck, the boy, is the man I aspire to be. Smart, despite not being educated; wise, yet not without flaws. It's a good day when I recognize his cadences in my thoughts.
    • 5/5
      The classic, an easy read, the dialect is a bit tedious sometimes. Huck's philosophy and Jim's patience are a delight. It seems like idyllic life on another planet.
    • 4/5
      I first read this book in elementary school. Reading it again as an adult has allowed me to appreciate it on a new level.As Twain states at the start of the book, "persons attempting to find a plot in [this book] will be shot." It's simply a compilation of a number of adventures that Finn has with his friend Jim, who happens to be an escaped slave, as they travel down the Mississippi River. Jim is seeking his freedom and Huck is along for the ride.Each vignette presents us with a sample of Twain's sense of satire and the outlandish. He portrays caricature stereotypes of his time, for example, the feuding families of the Appalachian regions, pervasive racism and a constant clash between religion and superstition. The tales also become increasingly extravagant and show Huck's skill in twisting truth to manipulate others.What strikes the modern reader most is the conflicted morality of the narrative. While Huck doesn't think twice about outright lying, cheating and defrauding others, he believes he'll go to hell because he's helping a slave escape to freedom. He acknowledges that Jim is a good and caring man, yet he still treats him as something less than fully human. Parts of the dialogue were, frankly, very difficult to read.This novel needs to be read with the historical framework within which it was written in mind. Also, this particular volume is uncensored so it makes liberal use of "the N word" with the deepest of derogatory intent. While thought provoking, this book should be discussed with young readers so they understand the racist context.
    • 3/5
      This started well and the first few chapters read like a direct continuation of Tom Sawyer, which I really enjoyed. But I did not find the subsequent adventures of Huck Finn engrossing beyond a few humorous touches; the one positive was the friendship between Huck and the runaway slave Jim, but after they fell in with a pair of eccentrics who thought they were royalty/nobility, my interest waned and I gave up just over half way through. 3/5
    • 3/5
      I'm not sure if it was the narration or the subject matter or a dated book, but eh..... Won't make my favorite list.That being said, the ending did surprise me and I liked that part.
    • 5/5
      Huck Finn had burden of being a Classic before I even started reading. Book opens extremely well with hilarious first chapter. After that, first hundred pages, while fast paced and interesting, felt point less as there didn't seem to be any direction to narrative. Once 'King' and 'Duke' characters arrived, story, while still meandering, became exceedingly funny and engaging. Last narrative on freedom of Jim was perhaps a bit stretched yet nonetheless funny. Book ended with nagging feeling of the point of it all. But perhaps that is what is intended because book isn't like other literature where character development and scene depiction takes up lot of word count. Story is very fast moving, full of dialogues, full of action, and really hilarious in parts. In that sense book has quality amenable to children's reading and is adaptable to any movie with minimal tweaking. In the end, book leaves you with wanting more. Though I am little nonplussed by implication by some critics on multi-layered meanings of this book, since I found book to be very straight forward with little scope of ambiguity or multiple interpretation.
    • 5/5
      Took me a while to chew through this one... its longer than I remembered from high school! I'm glad I read it again, however, and am looking forward to the next title in my classics challenge!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. It is exactly what I look for in a book, a great adventure and story. It moves at a good pace and doesn't get caught up in detail of a rock or the weather. The language and writing can be difficult at times to sit through but you get used to it and soon you don't even think about it. A great read
    • 5/5
      I could read this book once a year for the rest of my life. I think it may be my absolute favorite.
    • 3/5
      There are many classics that become icons of cultures and periods. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of those books. Mark Twain is an entertaining part of American history.Most people who have been raised in America know at least Huck Finn’s name. He is known for his escapades in early America and his friendship with the well-known Tom Sawyer. If you haven’t read the book, you’ve seen the movie. That might be a bad thing.How can that be bad? Because if you only watch the movies and then years later read the book, you’ll be very disappointed in what you read.The movies are so different than the book is. Yes, there are many movies, but the majority veer far from Twain’s original works.It also doesn’t help that I am mostly used to contemporary writing which is much different that of the writings of the 1800s and earlier. The works are more description of scenes and actions than we are used to today. The style is vastly different. In fact, you might it difficult to read because of that.You might also find it difficult to read where the dialogue is written exactly the way it was spoken. When the slave, Jim, speaks, it is not in formal English. It is written as he spoke it. In reading these parts, you might want to read it aloud so you can hear what he said instead of reading it.I also found reading of Huck and Tom’s actions rather difficult. I don’t see boys of their age really acting that way, but that is how Twain wanted them to be. I really think the movies ruined it for me. Though I still enjoy Twain’s short stories. Maybe that is where I need to stay with him.Please be aware if you have your children read the book for school. Throughout the book, the ‘n’ word is used. It was a part of the culture’s everyday language which makes it important to use in the story. You might want to explain the use of the word then versus now before reading the book.Note: This was a free copy obtained through a public domain venue.
    • 5/5
      In my opinion, the great American novel.
    • 5/5
      I don't know if I can add much more than what's already been written and said about this enduring classic, except that it's one of the few books that ought to be read by every single member of the human race. Hilarious, enduring in its critical view of racism and endearing in exposing many other human flaws.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic... a struggle to get started with but incredibly rewarding. Twain's word play, sarcasm, and general demeanor are invigorating. Can finally check this off the books I lied about reading in high school... ;)
    • 1/5
      Argh. Classic. I don't think so. It was horrible, just... I know that I'm supposed to see it as some great book that changed whatever, blah, blah, blah, but I just can't stand it. I didn't mind the Tom Sawyer book, but this one, every time I had to read it in school (more than once, including in eighth grade) I just wanted to scream hated it so much. Give me the Sound and the Fury over this.
    • 4/5
      Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is an American classic, famous for its use of the local vernacular, which in this case is from the Midwest Mississippi river valley during the 1830's and 40's. This includes the controversial use of racial slurs, commonly heard as a part of the daily conversation of the time. This novel is also a window into a slice of American frontier living which no longer exists, and had mostly disappeared when Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published in 1885.Huck and Jim's adventures are the most engaging at the beginning and end of the novel. I feel the middle loses focus somewhat as Huck Finn becomes more of a secondary player as he crosses paths in the lives of other characters.If you find the dialogued difficult to read, then I recommend listening to a good audiobook version which will capture the exact flavor of how the speech is supposed to sound.
    • 3/5
      I read this for my American Lit class. I wanted to like it more than I actually did. A lot of it was really pretty wonderful, but overall I found it difficult to get into and stay interested in for very long. Ultimately, I'm glad I read it, especially in a classroom atmosphere where we discussed it ad nauseum. I find I don't really have much more to say about it.
    • 4/5
      It's always daunting, isn't it, to review a classic that so many people have read?We discussed Huck Finn in my American Lit class this semester, and overall there really was quite a bit to discuss, despite the story being a very well-known one (at least to me). There is more to this book than than a simple story of a boy and a man floating down the river in a raft.What I loved about this reading of Huck Finn is that we were also to read Toni Morrison's Introduction to it. It was through this Introduction that I was able to see the story in a completely new light - and to understand just what was so "wonderfully troubling" about it.Morrison talks a lot about silence in the book - the silence in those moments of floating down the river, the silence with regard to learning much of anything about Jim's family, the silence with which Huck treats his friendship with Tom. Then there's the silence of Jim toward Huck - why did he fail to disclose who that man was under the cloth? This is an extraordinarily troubling book, but yes.. a wonderful one as well. It's enlightening - it shows how hard the struggle was to accept the idea that a human is a human, no matter his or her skin color. It's educational, it reminds us of where we've come from in an effort to remind us of where we should not return. It's captured history through the dialect of Jim. It's a look at two individuals escaping slavery - Jim the actual slavery, and Huck, escaping abuse at the hand of his father.I always recommend these books. Tom Sawyer is more suited to younger audiences (although I personally find Tom to be a scoundrel), but Huck Finn is a must read for teenagers and adults.
    • 5/5
      The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book that I remembered fondly from my childhood that actually holds up to another reading as an adult. Twain's wit and humor still carry the story for me as when I was a child, however, this time around, I was better able to appreciate the social and political commentary infused throughout the story. That's the magic of Twain's masterpiece: it's attraction to both young and old for both the same and different facets. For the young, this is a rollicking adventure story of an ornery youth and his escaped slave friend. It's the classic buddy tale infused with humor and narrow escapes. For the adult, There are the deeper layers of Huck's constant struggle with his own inner morality versus the popular opinion of what is considered to be right in the eyes of whites in the pre-civil war Mississippi River area.For a great escape and a look into the culture of the central United States just prior to the Civil War, I highly recommend Huckleberry Finn for all audiences.
    • 3/5
      Setting: Huck Finn is set on the Mississippi River before the Civil War and deals with the themes of friendship and human vices.Plot: Huck Finn, an orphan, escapes town on a raft and has many adventures with Jim, a runaway slave.Characters: Huck Finn (protagonist)- independent, thoughtful; Jim- slave, honest; Tom Sawyer- romantic, adventurous; Duke and King (antagonists)- two con men out for moneySymbols: river; Allusions: Hamlet, romantic literatureCharacteristics: an indirect satire on human vicesResponse: at first it was hard to read but eventually it became more intriguing. I appreciated it, but I personally dislike the plot.

    Book preview

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain

    HUCKLEBERRY FINN, By Mark Twain, Complete

    The Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete

    by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

    almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or

    re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

    with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

    Title: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete

    Author: Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

    Release Date: August 20, 2006 [EBook #76]

    Last Updated: February 14, 2013

    Language: English

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HUCKLEBERRY FINN ***

    Produced by David Widger

    ADVENTURES

    OF

    HUCKLEBERRY FINN

    (Tom Sawyer's Comrade)

    By Mark Twain

    Complete

    LINK TO THE ORIGINAL HTML FILE: This eBook has been reformatted for better appearance in Mobile Viewers such as Kindles and others. The original format, which the editor believes has a more attractive appearance for laptops and other computers, may be viewed by clicking on this box.

    CONTENTS.

    CHAPTER I.

    Civilizing Huck.—Miss Watson.—Tom Sawyer Waits.

    CHAPTER II.

    The Boys Escape Jim.—Torn Sawyer's Gang.—Deep-laid Plans.

    CHAPTER III.

    A Good Going-over.—Grace Triumphant.—One of Tom Sawyers's Lies.

    CHAPTER IV.

    Huck and the Judge.—Superstition.

    CHAPTER V.

    Huck's Father.—The Fond Parent.—Reform.

    CHAPTER VI.

    He Went for Judge Thatcher.—Huck Decided to Leave.—Political

    Economy.—Thrashing Around.

    CHAPTER VII.

    Laying for Him.—Locked in the Cabin.—Sinking the Body.—Resting.

    CHAPTER VIII.

    Sleeping in the Woods.—Raising the Dead.—Exploring the Island.—Finding

    Jim.—Jim's Escape.—Signs.—Balum.

    CHAPTER IX.

    The Cave.—The Floating House.

    CHAPTER X.

    The Find.—Old Hank Bunker.—In Disguise.

    CHAPTER XI.

    Huck and the Woman.—The Search.—Prevarication.—Going to Goshen.

    CHAPTER XII.

    Slow Navigation.—Borrowing Things.—Boarding the Wreck.—The

    Plotters.—Hunting for the Boat.

    CHAPTER XIII.

    Escaping from the Wreck.—The Watchman.—Sinking.

    CHAPTER XIV.

    A General Good Time.—The Harem.—French.

    CHAPTER XV.

    Huck Loses the Raft.—In the Fog.—Huck Finds the Raft.—Trash.

    CHAPTER XVI.

    Expectation.—A White Lie.—Floating Currency.—Running by

    Cairo.—Swimming Ashore.

    CHAPTER XVII.

    An Evening Call.—The Farm in Arkansaw.—Interior Decorations.—Stephen

    Dowling Bots.—Poetical Effusions.

    CHAPTER XVIII.

    Col. Grangerford.—Aristocracy.—Feuds.—The Testament.—Recovering the

    Raft.—The Wood—pile.—Pork and Cabbage.

    CHAPTER XIX.

    Tying Up Day—times.—An Astronomical Theory.—Running a Temperance

    Revival.—The Duke of Bridgewater.—The Troubles of Royalty.

    CHAPTER XX.

    Huck Explains.—Laying Out a Campaign.—Working the Camp—meeting.—A

    Pirate at the Camp—meeting.—The Duke as a Printer.

    CHAPTER XXI.

    Sword Exercise.—Hamlet's Soliloquy.—They Loafed Around Town.—A Lazy

    Town.—Old Boggs.—Dead.

    CHAPTER XXII.

    Sherburn.—Attending the Circus.—Intoxication in the Ring.—The

    Thrilling Tragedy.

    CHAPTER XXIII.

    Sold.—Royal Comparisons.—Jim Gets Home-sick.

    CHAPTER XXIV.

    Jim in Royal Robes.—They Take a Passenger.—Getting Information.—Family

    Grief.

    CHAPTER XXV.

    Is It Them?—Singing the Doxologer.—Awful Square—Funeral Orgies.—A

    Bad Investment .

    CHAPTER XXVI.

    A Pious King.—The King's Clergy.—She Asked His Pardon.—Hiding in the

    Room.—Huck Takes the Money.

    CHAPTER XXVII.

    The Funeral.—Satisfying Curiosity.—Suspicious of Huck,—Quick Sales and

    Small.

    CHAPTER XXVIII.

    The Trip to England.—The Brute!—Mary Jane Decides to Leave.—Huck

    Parting with Mary Jane.—Mumps.—The Opposition Line.

    CHAPTER XXIX.

    Contested Relationship.—The King Explains the Loss.—A Question of

    Handwriting.—Digging up the Corpse.—Huck Escapes.

    CHAPTER XXX.

    The King Went for Him.—A Royal Row.—Powerful Mellow.

    CHAPTER XXXI.

    Ominous Plans.—News from Jim.—Old Recollections.—A Sheep

    Story.—Valuable Information.

    CHAPTER XXXII.

    Still and Sunday—like.—Mistaken Identity.—Up a Stump.—In a Dilemma.

    CHAPTER XXXIII.

    A Nigger Stealer.—Southern Hospitality.—A Pretty Long Blessing.—Tar

    and Feathers.

    CHAPTER XXXIV.

    The Hut by the Ash Hopper.—Outrageous.—Climbing the Lightning

    Rod.—Troubled with Witches.

    CHAPTER XXXV.

    Escaping Properly.—Dark Schemes.—Discrimination in Stealing.—A Deep

    Hole.

    CHAPTER XXXVI.

    The Lightning Rod.—His Level Best.—A Bequest to Posterity.—A High

    Figure.

    CHAPTER XXXVII.

    The Last Shirt.—Mooning Around.—Sailing Orders.—The Witch Pie.

    CHAPTER XXXVIII.

    The Coat of Arms.—A Skilled Superintendent.—Unpleasant Glory.—A

    Tearful Subject.

    CHAPTER XXXIX.

    Rats.—Lively Bed—fellows.—The Straw Dummy.

    CHAPTER XL.

    Fishing.—The Vigilance Committee.—A Lively Run.—Jim Advises a Doctor.

    CHAPTER XLI.

    The Doctor.—Uncle Silas.—Sister Hotchkiss.—Aunt Sally in Trouble.

    CHAPTER XLII.

    Tom Sawyer Wounded.—The Doctor's Story.—Tom Confesses.—Aunt Polly

    Arrives.—Hand Out Them Letters    .

    CHAPTER THE LAST.

    Out of Bondage.—Paying the Captive.—Yours Truly, Huck Finn.

    ILLUSTRATIONS.

    The Widows

    Moses and the Bulrushers

    Miss Watson

    Huck Stealing Away

    They Tip-toed Along

    Jim

    Tom Sawyer's Band of Robbers  

    Huck Creeps into his Window

    Miss Watson's Lecture

    The Robbers Dispersed

    Rubbing the Lamp

    ! ! ! !

    Judge Thatcher surprised

    Jim Listening

    Pap

    Huck and his Father

    Reforming the Drunkard

    Falling from Grace

    The Widows

    Moses and the Bulrushers

    Miss Watson

    Huck Stealing Away

    They Tip-toed Along

    Jim

    Tom Sawyer's Band of Robbers  

    Huck Creeps into his Window

    Miss Watson's Lecture

    The Robbers Dispersed

    Rubbing the Lamp

    ! ! ! !

    Judge Thatcher surprised

    Jim Listening

    Pap

    Huck and his Father

    Reforming the Drunkard

    Falling from Grace

    Getting out of the Way

    Solid Comfort

    Thinking it Over

    Raising a Howl

    Git Up

    The Shanty

    Shooting the Pig

    Taking a Rest

    In the Woods

    Watching the Boat

    Discovering the Camp Fire

    Jim and the Ghost

    Misto Bradish's Nigger

    Exploring the Cave

    In the Cave

    Jim sees a Dead Man

    They Found Eight Dollars

    Jim and the Snake

    Old Hank Bunker

    A Fair Fit

    Come In

    Him and another Man

    She puts up a Snack

    Hump Yourself

    On the Raft

    He sometimes Lifted a Chicken

    Please don't, Bill

    It ain't Good Morals

    Oh! Lordy, Lordy!

    In a Fix

    Hello, What's Up?

    The Wreck

    We turned in and Slept

    Turning over the Truck

    Solomon and his Million Wives

    The story of Sollermun

    We Would Sell the Raft

    Among the Snags

    Asleep on the Raft

    Something being Raftsman

    Boy, that's a Lie

    Here I is, Huck

    Climbing up the Bank

    Who's There?

    Buck

    It made Her look Spidery

    They got him out and emptied Him  

    The House

    Col. Grangerford

    Young Harney Shepherdson

    Miss Charlotte

    And asked me if I Liked Her

    Behind the Wood-pile

    Hiding Day-times

    And Dogs a-Coming

    By rights I am a Duke!

    I am the Late Dauphin

    Tail Piece

    On the Raft

    The King as Juliet

    Courting on the Sly

    A Pirate for Thirty Years

    Another little Job

    Practizing

    Hamlet's Soliloquy

    Gimme a Chaw

    A Little Monthly Drunk

    The Death of Boggs

    Sherburn steps out

    A Dead Head

    He shed Seventeen Suits

    Tragedy

    Their Pockets Bulged

    Henry the Eighth in Boston Harbor

    Harmless

    Adolphus

    He fairly emptied that Young Fellow

    Alas, our Poor Brother

    You Bet it is

    Leaking

    Making up the Deffisit

    Going for him

    The Doctor

    The Bag of Money

    The Cubby

    Supper with the Hare-Lip

    Honest Injun

    The Duke looks under the Bed

    Huck takes the Money

    A Crack in the Dining-room Door

    The Undertaker

    He had a Rat!

    Was you in my Room?

    Jawing

    In Trouble

    Indignation

    How to Find Them

    He Wrote

    Hannah with the Mumps

    The Auction

    The True Brothers

    The Doctor leads Huck

    The Duke Wrote

    Gentlemen, Gentlemen!

    Jim Lit Out

    The King shakes Huck

    The Duke went for Him

    Spanish Moss

    Who Nailed Him?

    Thinking

    He gave him Ten Cents

    Striking for the Back Country

    Still and Sunday-like

    She hugged him tight

    Who do you reckon it is?

    It was Tom Sawyer

    Mr. Archibald Nichols, I presume?

    A pretty long Blessing

    Traveling By Rail

    Vittles

    A Simple Job

    Witches

    Getting Wood

    One of the Best Authorities

    The Breakfast-Horn

    Smouching the Knives

    Going down the Lightning-Rod

    Stealing spoons

    Tom advises a Witch Pie

    The Rubbage-Pile

    Missus, dey's a Sheet Gone

    In a Tearing Way

    One of his Ancestors

    Jim's Coat of Arms

    A Tough Job

    Buttons on their Tails

    Irrigation

    Keeping off Dull Times

    Sawdust Diet

    Trouble is Brewing

    Fishing

    Every one had a Gun

    Tom caught on a Splinter

    Jim advises a Doctor

    The Doctor

    Uncle Silas in Danger

    Old Mrs. Hotchkiss

    Aunt Sally talks to Huck

    Tom Sawyer wounded

    The Doctor speaks for Jim

    Tom rose square up in Bed

    Hand out them Letters

    Out of Bondage

    Tom's Liberality

    Yours Truly

    EXPLANATORY

    IN this book a number of dialects are used, to wit:  the Missouri negro dialect; the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary Pike County dialect; and four modified varieties of this last. The shadings have not been done in a haphazard fashion, or by guesswork; but painstakingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech.

    I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers would suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding.

    THE AUTHOR.

    HUCKLEBERRY FINN

    Scene:  The Mississippi Valley Time:  Forty to fifty years ago

    CHAPTER I.

    YOU don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter.  That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly.  There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.  That is nothing.  I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary.  Aunt Polly—Tom's Aunt Polly, she is—and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.

    Now the way that the book winds up is this:  Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich.  We got six thousand dollars apiece—all gold.  It was an awful sight of money when it was piled up.  Well, Judge Thatcher he took it and put it out at interest, and it fetched us a dollar a day apiece all the year round—more than a body could tell what to do with.  The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer I lit out.  I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied.  But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable.  So I went back.

    The widow she cried over me, and called me a poor lost lamb, and she called me a lot of other names, too, but she never meant no harm by it. She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn't do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up.  Well, then, the old thing commenced again.  The widow rung a bell for supper, and you had to come to time. When you got to the table you couldn't go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn't really anything the matter with them,—that is, nothing only everything was cooked by itself.  In a barrel of odds and ends it is different; things get mixed up, and the juice kind of swaps around, and the things go better.

    After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people.

    Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me.  But she wouldn't.  She said it was a mean practice and wasn't clean, and I must try to not do it any more.  That is just the way with some people.  They get down on a thing when they don't know nothing about it.  Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see, yet finding a power of fault with me for doing a thing that had some good in it.  And she took snuff, too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself.

    Her sister, Miss Watson, a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on, had just come to live with her, and took a set at me now with a spelling-book. She worked me middling hard for about an hour, and then the widow made her ease up.  I couldn't stood it much longer.  Then for an hour it was deadly dull, and I was fidgety.  Miss Watson would say, Don't put your feet up there, Huckleberry; and Don't scrunch up like that, Huckleberry—set up straight; and pretty soon she would say, Don't gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry—why don't you try to behave?  Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there. She got mad then, but I didn't mean no harm.  All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn't particular.  She said it was wicked to say what I said; said she wouldn't say it for the whole world; she was going to live so as to go to the good place.  Well, I couldn't see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn't try for it.  But I never said so, because it would only make trouble, and wouldn't do no good.

    Now she had got a start, and she went on and told me all about the good place.  She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever.  So I didn't think much of it. But I never said so.  I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said not by a considerable sight.  I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.

    Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome.  By and by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed.  I went up to my room with a piece of candle, and put it on the table.  Then I set down in a chair by the window and tried to think of something cheerful, but it warn't no use.  I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead.  The stars were shining, and the leaves rustled in the woods ever so mournful; and I heard an owl, away off, who-whooing about somebody that was dead, and a whippowill and a dog crying about somebody that was going to die; and the wind was trying to whisper something to me, and I couldn't make out what it was, and so it made the cold shivers run over me. Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that's on its mind and can't make itself understood, and so can't rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving.  I got so down-hearted and scared I did wish I had some company.  Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and it lit in the candle; and before I could budge it was all shriveled up.  I didn't need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. I got up and turned around in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time; and then I tied up a little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away.  But I hadn't no confidence.  You do that when you've lost a horseshoe that you've found, instead of nailing it up over the door, but I hadn't ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep off bad luck when you'd killed a spider.

    I set down again, a-shaking all over, and got out my pipe for a smoke; for the house was all as still as death now, and so the widow wouldn't know. Well, after a long time I heard the clock away off in the town go boom—boom—boom—twelve licks; and all still again—stiller than ever. Pretty soon I heard a twig snap down in the dark amongst the trees—something was a stirring.  I set still and listened.  Directly I could just barely hear a me-yow! me-yow! down there.  That was good!  Says I, me-yow! me-yow! as soft as I could, and then I put out the light and scrambled out of the window on to the shed.  Then I slipped down to the ground and crawled in among the trees, and, sure enough, there was Tom Sawyer waiting for me.

    CHAPTER II.

    WE went tiptoeing along a path amongst the trees back towards the end of the widow's garden, stooping down so as the branches wouldn't scrape our heads. When we was passing by the kitchen I fell over a root and made a noise.  We scrouched down and laid still.  Miss Watson's big nigger, named Jim, was setting in the kitchen door; we could see him pretty clear, because there was a light behind him.  He got up and stretched his neck out about a minute, listening.  Then he says:

    Who dah?

    He listened some more; then he come tiptoeing down and stood right between us; we could a touched him, nearly.  Well, likely it was minutes and minutes that there warn't a sound, and we all there so close together.  There was a place on my ankle that got to itching, but I dasn't scratch it; and then my ear begun to itch; and next my back, right between my shoulders.  Seemed like I'd die if I couldn't scratch.  Well, I've noticed that thing plenty times since.  If you are with the quality, or at a funeral, or trying to go to sleep when you ain't sleepy—if you are anywheres where it won't do for you to scratch, why you will itch all over in upwards of a thousand places. Pretty soon Jim says:

    Say, who is you?  Whar is you?  Dog my cats ef I didn' hear sumf'n. Well, I know what I's gwyne to do:  I's gwyne to set down here and listen tell I hears it agin.

    So he set down on the ground betwixt me and Tom.  He leaned his back up against a tree, and stretched his legs out till one of them most touched one of mine.  My nose begun to itch.  It itched till the tears come into my eyes.  But I dasn't scratch.  Then it begun to itch on the inside. Next I got to itching underneath.  I didn't know how I was going to set still. This miserableness went on as much as six or seven minutes; but it seemed a sight longer than that.  I was itching in eleven different places now.  I reckoned I couldn't stand it more'n a minute longer, but I set my teeth hard and got ready to try.  Just then Jim begun to breathe heavy; next he begun to snore—and then I was pretty soon comfortable again.

    Tom he made a sign to me—kind of a little noise with his mouth—and we went creeping away on our hands and knees.  When we was ten foot off Tom whispered to me, and wanted to tie Jim to the tree for fun.  But I said no; he might wake and make a disturbance, and then they'd find out I warn't in. Then Tom said he hadn't got candles enough, and he would slip in the kitchen and get some more.  I didn't want him to try.  I said Jim might wake up and come.  But Tom wanted to resk it; so we slid in there and got three candles, and Tom laid five cents on the table for pay. Then we got out, and I was in a sweat to get away; but nothing would do Tom but he must crawl to where Jim was, on his hands and knees, and play something on him.  I waited, and it seemed a good while, everything was so still and lonesome.

    As soon as Tom was back we cut along the path, around the garden fence, and by and by fetched up on the steep top of the hill the other side of the house.  Tom said he slipped Jim's hat off of his head and hung it on a limb right over him, and Jim stirred a little, but he didn't wake. Afterwards Jim said the witches be witched him and put him in a trance, and rode him all over the State, and then set him under the trees again, and hung his hat on a limb to show who done it.  And next time Jim told it he said they rode him down to New Orleans; and, after that, every time he told it he spread it more and more, till by and by he said they rode him all over the world, and tired him most to death, and his back was all over saddle-boils.  Jim was monstrous proud about it, and he got so he wouldn't hardly notice the other niggers.  Niggers would come miles to hear Jim tell about it, and he was more looked up to than any nigger in that country.  Strange niggers would stand with their mouths open and look him all over, same as if he was a wonder.  Niggers is always talking about witches in the dark by the kitchen fire; but whenever one was talking and letting on to know all about such things, Jim would happen in and say, Hm!  What you know 'bout witches? and that nigger was corked up and had to take a back seat.  Jim always kept that five-center piece round his neck with a string, and said it was a charm the devil give to him with his own hands, and told him he could cure anybody with it and fetch witches whenever he wanted to just by saying something to it; but he never told what it was he said to it.  Niggers would come from all around there and give Jim anything they had, just for a sight of that five-center piece; but they wouldn't touch it, because the devil had had his hands on it.  Jim was most ruined for a servant, because he got stuck up on account of having seen the devil and been rode by witches.

    Well, when Tom and me got to the edge of the hilltop we looked away down into the village and could see three or four lights twinkling, where there was sick folks, maybe; and the stars over us was sparkling ever so fine; and down by the village was the river, a whole mile broad, and awful still and grand.  We went down the hill and found Jo Harper and Ben Rogers, and two or three more of the boys, hid in the old tanyard.  So we unhitched a skiff and pulled down the river two mile and a half, to the big scar on the hillside, and went ashore.

    We went to a clump of bushes, and Tom made everybody swear to keep the secret, and then showed them a hole in the hill, right in the thickest part of the bushes.  Then we lit the candles, and crawled in on our hands and knees.  We went about two hundred yards, and then the cave opened up. Tom poked about amongst the passages, and pretty soon ducked under a wall where you wouldn't a noticed that there was a hole.  We went along a narrow place and got into a kind of room, all damp and sweaty and cold, and there we stopped.  Tom says:

    Now, we'll start this band of robbers and call it Tom Sawyer's Gang. Everybody that wants to join has got to take an oath, and write his name in blood.

    Everybody was willing.  So Tom got out a sheet of paper that he had wrote the oath on, and read it.  It swore every boy to stick to the band, and never tell any of the secrets; and if anybody done anything to any boy in the band, whichever boy was ordered to kill that person and his family must do it, and he mustn't eat and he mustn't sleep till he had killed them and hacked a cross in their breasts, which was the sign of the band. And nobody that didn't belong to the band could use that mark, and if he did he must be sued; and if he done it again he must be killed.  And if anybody that belonged to the band told the secrets, he must have his throat cut, and then have his carcass burnt up and the ashes scattered all around, and his name blotted off of the list with blood and never mentioned again by the gang, but have a curse put on it and be forgot forever.

    Everybody said it was a real beautiful oath, and asked Tom if he got it out of his own head.  He said, some of it, but the rest was out of pirate-books and robber-books, and every gang that was high-toned had it.

    Some thought it would be good to kill the families of boys that told the secrets.  Tom said it was a good idea, so he took a pencil and wrote it in. Then Ben Rogers says:

    Here's Huck Finn, he hain't got no family; what you going to do 'bout him?

    Well, hain't he got a father? says Tom Sawyer.

    Yes, he's got a father, but you can't never find him these days.  He used to lay drunk with the hogs in the tanyard, but he hain't been seen in these parts for a year or more.

    They talked it over, and they was going to rule me out, because they said every boy must have a family or somebody to kill, or else it wouldn't be fair and square for the others.  Well, nobody could think of anything to do—everybody was stumped, and set still.  I was most ready to cry; but all at once I thought of a way, and so I offered them Miss Watson—they could kill her.  Everybody said:

    Oh, she'll do.  That's all right.  Huck can come in.

    Then they all stuck a pin in their fingers to get blood to sign with, and I made my mark on the paper.

    Now, says Ben Rogers, what's the line of business of this Gang?

    Nothing only robbery and murder, Tom said.

    But who are we going to rob?—houses, or cattle, or—

    Stuff! stealing cattle and such things ain't robbery; it's burglary, says Tom Sawyer.  We ain't burglars.  That ain't no sort of style.  We are highwaymen.  We stop stages and carriages on the road, with masks on, and kill the people and take their watches and money.

    Must we always kill the people?

    Oh, certainly.  It's best.  Some authorities think different, but mostly it's considered best to kill them—except some that you bring to the cave here, and keep them till they're ransomed.

    Ransomed?  What's that?

    I don't know.  But that's what they do.  I've seen it in books; and so of course that's what we've got to do.

    But how can we do it if we don't know what it is?

    "Why, blame it all, we've got to do it.  Don't I tell you it's in the books?  Do you want to go to doing different from what's in the books, and get things all muddled up?"

    "Oh, that's all very fine to say, Tom Sawyer, but how in the nation are these fellows going to be ransomed if we don't know how to do it to them?—that's the thing I want to get at.  Now, what do you reckon it is?"

    Well, I don't know.  But per'aps if we keep them till they're ransomed, it means that we keep them till they're dead.

    "Now, that's something like.  That'll answer.  Why couldn't you said that before?  We'll keep them till they're ransomed to death; and a bothersome lot they'll be, too—eating up everything, and always trying to get loose."

    How you talk, Ben Rogers.  How can they get loose when there's a guard over them, ready to shoot them down if they move a peg?

    "A guard!  Well, that is good.  So somebody's got to set up all night and never get any sleep, just so as to watch them.  I think that's foolishness. Why can't a body take a club and ransom them as soon as they get here?"

    "Because it ain't in the books so—that's why.  Now, Ben Rogers, do you want to do things regular, or don't you?—that's the idea.  Don't you reckon that the people that made the books knows what's the correct thing to do?  Do you reckon you can learn 'em anything?  Not by a good deal. No, sir, we'll just go on and ransom them in the regular way."

    All right.  I don't mind; but I say it's a fool way, anyhow.  Say, do we kill the women, too?

    Well, Ben Rogers, if I was as ignorant as you I wouldn't let on.  Kill the women?  No; nobody ever saw anything in the books like that.  You fetch them to the cave, and you're always as polite as pie to them; and by and by they fall in love with you, and never want to go home any more.

    Well, if that's the way I'm agreed, but I don't take no stock in it. Mighty soon we'll have the cave so cluttered up with women, and fellows waiting to be ransomed, that there won't be no place for the robbers. But go ahead, I ain't got nothing to say.

    Little Tommy Barnes was asleep now, and when they waked him up he was scared, and cried, and said he wanted to go home to his ma, and didn't want to be a robber any more.

    So they all made fun of him, and called him cry-baby, and that made him mad, and he said he would go straight and tell all the secrets.  But Tom give him five cents to keep quiet, and said we would all go home and meet next week, and rob somebody and kill some people.

    Ben Rogers said he couldn't get out much, only Sundays, and so he wanted to begin next Sunday; but all the boys said it would be wicked to do it on Sunday, and that settled the thing.  They agreed to get together and fix a day as soon as they could, and then we elected Tom Sawyer first captain and Jo Harper second captain of the Gang, and so started home.

    I clumb up the shed and crept into my window just before day was breaking. My new clothes was all greased up and clayey, and I was dog-tired.

    CHAPTER III.

    WELL, I got a good going-over in the morning from old Miss Watson on account of my clothes; but the widow she didn't scold, but only cleaned off the grease and clay, and looked so sorry that I thought I would behave awhile if I could.  Then Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it.  She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it.  But it warn't so.  I tried it. Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks.  It warn't any good to me without hooks.  I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn't make it work.  By and by, one day, I asked Miss Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool.  She never told me why, and I couldn't make it out no way.

    I set down one time back in the woods, and had a long think about it.  I says to myself, if a body can get anything they pray for, why don't Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on pork?  Why can't the widow get back her silver snuffbox that was stole?  Why can't Miss Watson fat up? No, says I to my self, there ain't nothing in it.  I went and told the widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying for it was spiritual gifts.  This was too many for me, but she told me what she meant—I must help other people, and do everything I could for other people, and look out for them all the time, and never think about myself. This was including Miss Watson, as I took it.  I went out in the woods and turned it over in my mind a long time, but I couldn't see no advantage about it—except for the other people; so at last I reckoned I wouldn't worry about it any more, but just let it go.  Sometimes the widow would take me one side and talk about Providence in a way to make a body's mouth water; but maybe next day Miss Watson would take hold and knock it all down again.  I judged I could see that there was two Providences, and a poor chap would stand considerable show with the widow's Providence, but if Miss Watson's got him there warn't no help for him any more.  I thought it all out, and reckoned I would belong to the widow's if he wanted me, though I couldn't make out how he was a-going to be any better off then than what he was before, seeing I was so ignorant, and so kind of low-down and ornery.

    Pap he hadn't been seen for more than a year, and that was comfortable for me; I didn't want to see him no more.  He used to always whale me when he was sober and could get his hands on me; though I used to take to

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