3 Huck and Jim travel¹ south

For some days everything went along² quietly，butwe were getting bored． We wanted to knowwhat was⁴ happening in town and so I decided⁶ to go and find out． Jimsaid，'Why don't you wear the old dressand the hat that we found⁸ in the house？ Peoplewon't know you， then． They'llthink you're a girl．' And so I did．

Just after it was dark，Igot into the canoe¹² and went up the river to the bottom¹³ of the town．There，Ileft the canoe and went on foot． Beforelong， I came¹⁴ to a little house which wasalways empty．Now there was a light on，andwhen I looked through the window， I sawa woman of about forty．She was astranger and that was good because she didn't know me．SoI knocked¹⁶ on the door．'I must rememberthat I'm a girl'I said⁷ to myself．

The woman opened the door．'Comein，' she said．Shelooked at me with her little bright eyes．'What'syour name？'she asked．

'Sarah Williams，'Ireplied．'I'm going¹⁸ to see my uncle，onthe other side¹⁹ of town．My mother's ill，you see，andshe needs help．'

'Well， you can't gothere by yourself²⁰ now．It's too dark．Myhusband will be home in about an hour． Waitfor him and he'll walk with you．'

And then she began to tell me about all her troubles．I was getting bored³ with all this until²² she saidsomething about Pop²³ and my murder．

'Who did⁹ it？'I asked．

'Well，'she replied，'somepeople say old Finn did it him-self；otherpeople think it was a slave²⁵ who ran¹⁵ away that night．Hisname was Jim． They'll give three hundreddollars to anybody²⁶ who finds him——andthey'll give two hundred dollars for old Finn． Hegot drunk²⁷ and left town with two strangers．Alot of people think he killed²⁹ his boy and he's going to come back one day，and get all Huck Finn's money．''And what about the slave？'I asked．

'Oh，they'll sooncatch him． People want the three hundreddollars． I think he's on Jackson'sIsland， you know．I'veseen smoke there．My husband's gone toget two of his friends and they're going over there with a gun³⁰ later³¹ tonight．'

When I heard this， myhands began to shake． The woman lookedat me strangely，but then she smiled andsaid kindly，'What did you say your namewas？'

'M－Mary Williams．'

'Oh，' she said，'Ithought it was Sarah．'

'Er… well， yes，it is． SarahMary Williams． Some people call me Sarahand some people call me Mary， you see．'

'Oh，do they？'Shesmiled again．'Come on，now—what'syour real³⁴ name？ Bill？ Bob？I know you're not really a girl．'

So then I had³⁶ to tell her another story， witha different name，and I said I wasrunning away． She said she wouldn't tellanybody， and gave³⁷ me some food before Ileft．I hurried back to the island andJim．

'Quick，Jim！'Icried，waking him up．'They'recoming to get us！'

We got¹¹ out the raft³⁸ as⁵ fast as we could，putall our things on it， tied the canoe onbehind， and moved off⁴⁰ down the river．Whenit began to get light，we hid． Whenit was dark¹⁰ again，we travelled⁴² on．On the fifth⁴³ night we passed St Louis， andwe decided to go on down to Cairo⁴⁴ in Illinois，sellthe raft there and get a boat to Ohio．Thereare no slaves⁴⁵ in Ohio．

We slept for most of that day and we began our journeyagain when it was dark．After some time，wesaw lights on the Illinois side of the river and Jim got very excited．He thought³³ it was Cairo． Jimgot the canoe ready and I went off in it to take a look at those lights．But it wasn't Cairo．

After that， we wenton down the river． It was very dark thatnight and it wasn't easy to see where we were going．Suddenly，a big steamboat came at us very fast， andthe next minute it was right over us． Jimand I jumped off the raft into the water． Theboat hit the raft and went on up the river．

When I came up out of the water， Icouldn't see Jim any-where．I called outhis name again and again，but there wasno answer．'He's dead！'I thought．Slowly， Iswam to the side of the river and got out．Isaw that I was near a big old wood-en house． Suddenlya lot of very angry dogs jumped out at me．Theymade a terrible⁴⁹ noise and someone⁵⁰ called from the house，'Who'sthere？'

'George Jackson，'Ianswered quickly．'I've fallen off ariver boat．'

Well， the people wholived in that house were very kind，andthey took⁵¹ me in and gave me some new clothes and a good meal． Itold them that my family were all dead，sothey said I could³⁹ stay with them as long as I wanted． Itwas a beautiful house and the food was good there， soI stayed．

A few⁵³ days later one of the slaves in the house came to meand said，'Come with me！'Together，wewent down to some trees by the river．'Inthere！'he said and went away．

On the ground， Ifound a man， asleep． Itwas Jim！ I was really pleased⁵⁶ to see him．Whenthe steamboat hit the raft，Jim told me，the raft didn't break up．Jimswam after it and caught it． Then hebegan to look for me．

We decided to leave at once． It'sall right living⁵⁷ in a house for a little while， butyou feel more free⁵⁹ and easy and comfort-able on a raft．

3 哈克和吉姆向南旅行

几天来，一切都很顺利。但是，我们有点烦了。我们想知道镇上发生了什么事情，于是，我决定去查清楚。吉姆说，“你为什么不穿上我们在那木房子里找到的旧衣服，戴上那帽子呢？那样，人们就不会认出你。他们会以为你是一个女孩呢。”于是，我照着他说的做了。

天刚黑，我上了独木舟，往上游划去来到镇边。我把独木舟留在那儿，步行前往。不久，我来到了一座小房子前。这座小房子以前一直是空的，但现在里面有亮光，当我透过窗户往里望时，我看到了一位大约40岁的女人。是个陌生人，这不错，因为她不认识我。所以，我敲了敲门，“我必须记住我是一个女孩儿，”我自言自语道。

那女人开了门。“进来吧，”她说道。她用她那小小的、亮亮的眼睛打量着我。“你叫什么名字？”她问道。

“萨拉•威廉斯，”我回答道。“我打算去见我的舅舅，他住在镇子的另一头。你瞧，我妈妈病了，她需要帮助。”

“噢，你现在不能自己去那儿，天太黑了。我丈夫大约一小时后会回来。等等他，他会跟你一起去的。”

然后，她开始对我讲起她的烦恼。对她所讲的这一切我变得厌烦了，直到她谈起爸爸和我的那件凶杀案。

“是谁干的？”我问道。

“嗯，”她回答道，“有人说是老费恩自己干的，其他的人认为是一个那天夜里逃走的奴隶干的。他的名字叫吉姆。他们出价300美元悬赏捉拿吉姆——并且他们出价200美元悬赏捉拿老费恩。他喝得醉醺醺的，和两个陌生人离开了镇子。许多人认为是他杀了他的儿子，有朝一日，他会回来，并且会得到哈克•费恩所有的钱。”

“那奴隶怎么样了？”我问道。

“噢，他们不久就会抓住他的。人们想要那300美元。我想，他在杰克逊岛上，我看到了那里有烟。我丈夫去找他的两个朋友，今夜晚些时候，他们带着枪要到那儿去。”

当我听到这消息时，我的手开始颤抖起来。那女人奇怪地看着我，然后，她笑了，和蔼地说道：“你说你叫什么名字？”

“玛——玛丽•威廉斯。”

“噢”，她说道，“我原以为是萨拉。”

“欧……噢，是的，是萨拉•玛丽•威廉斯。听我说，有的人叫我萨拉，有的人叫我玛丽。”

“噢，是吗？”她又笑道，“得啦，现在把你的真实名字告诉我？比尔？鲍勃？我知道你的确不是一个女孩儿。”

然后，我不得不又编了一个谎话告诉她，谎话中我又换了一个名字。我说道，我正在离家出走。她言道她不会告诉任何人，并给了我些吃的，然后，我走了。我急忙回到了岛上，回到了吉姆那儿。

“快点，吉姆！”我喊着把他叫醒。“他们来抓我们了！”

我们尽快地把木筏拉出来，把我们所有的东西放在上面，把独木舟拴在木筏后面，顺流而下。天快亮时，我们藏起来，天再黑时，我们继续走。第五天夜里，我们经过了圣路易斯，我们决定继续顺流而下到伊利诺伊州的开罗去，在那儿卖掉木筏，弄条船到俄亥俄州去。俄亥俄州没有奴隶。

那天的大部分时间我们在睡觉，天黑时，我们又开始了我们的旅行。一段时间后，我们看到了河岸边伊利诺伊州的灯光，吉姆兴奋极了，他以为是开罗。吉姆把独木舟准备好，我乘着独木舟前去看看那些灯光，可那不是开罗。

之后，我们继续顺流而下。那天夜里，天很黑，不太容易看清我们在往哪儿走。突然，一只汽船速度很快地冲着我们开过来了，紧接着，它朝我们头顶上压过来。我和吉姆从木筏上跳进水里。汽船撞到了木筏，继续往上游开去。

当我露出水面时，我哪儿也看不到吉姆。我一遍又一遍地大声喊着他的名字，可是没有回答。我想，“他死了！”慢慢地，我游向河边上了岸。就在附近，我看到了一座宽大的老式木房子。突然，许多发怒的狗扑向我。他们发出可怕的吠声，有人在屋里喊道，“谁在哪儿？”

“乔治•杰克逊，”我很快地回答，“我从船上掉到河里了。”

住在那房子里的人很和蔼，他们领我进屋，给了我些新衣服和一顿丰盛的饭。我告诉他们我的家人都死了，于是，他们说我想住多久就能住多久。这是一座漂亮的房子，吃得也不错，于是，我住下来了。

几天后，那家的一个奴隶来找我说，“跟我来！”我们一起来到下游方向河边的小树林。“在那儿！”他说着走开了。

我发现一个人睡在地上，是吉姆！看见他，我真是高兴极了。吉姆告诉我，汽船撞着木筏时，木筏并没有散开。吉姆游着追上那木筏并抓住了。然后，他开始寻找我。

我们决定立即离开。在房子里小住一阵还行，但在木筏上，你感到更自由、更轻松、更舒服。