5 The plan to free Jim

When I heard that，Inearly fell through the floor，but it wasa big piece of luck．It was easy for meto be Tom Sawyer because Tom was my best friend．Heand his brother Sid lived with their Aunt Polly up in St Petersburg， andI knew all about them．Now I learnt thatAunt Polly had a sister，who was MrsPhelps．She and her husband were Tom'sAunt Sally and Uncle Silas．And Tom wascoming down south by boat to stay with them for a bit．

We all sat there talking and I could answer all theirquestions about the Sawyer family．I wasfeeling really happy about this when suddenly I heard a boat on the river．'Tomcould be on that boat，'I thought，'andhe's going to walk in here and call out my name before I can stop him．I'vegot to go and meet him．'

So I told the Phelpses that I would go into town to get mybags， which were at the boat station．Ihurried up the road and before I was halfway¹ to town，therewas Tom Sawyer coming along．

When he saw me， hismouth fell open and he looked a bit white in the lace．'Aren'tyou dead？'he said．'Everybodysaid that you were murdered！'

'I'm not dead yet，'Isaid，'but listen…'Itold him about my adventures，and Tomloved all that．Then I told him about thePhelpses and that they thought I was Tom Sawyer．'Whatshall we do？'I asked him．

Tom thought for a bit，andthen he said，'I know．Youtake my bags and say they're yours． I'llcome to the house in about half an hour．'

'All right，'I said，'butthere's another thing．You know old MissWatson's slave⁴ Jim， who ran away？Well，he's aprisoner here，and I'm going to help himescape．'

'Jim？'Tom said．'Buthe's—'Then he stopped and thought．'Right．I'llhelp，too，I'llmake a really good plan．'He looked veryexcited．

So I went back to the house with the bags，andTom came along half an hour later．Heknocked on the door and when his Aunt Sally opened it， hesaid he was Sid， Tom's brother．Hewanted his visit to be a surprise for his dear old Aunt Sally，hesaid．

Well，Aunt Sally wasvery pleased to see Tom and Sid．Shethought it was wonderful．She and UncleSilas were really nice people．

When we were alone later，Tomand I talked about Jim's escape．I said Ihad a plan，and Tom listened to it．

'It's a good plan，'hesaid when I finished．'But it's too easy！It's got to be a real escape，likea real adventure³ in a sto-ry-book．So wewant something difficult and dangerous．

Now，listen to this…'

So he told me his plan．Iknew it would be a good one be-cause Tom's plans are always crazy and exciting．

And we sure had a lot of fun with that plan！Weknew that Jim was locked up in a hut⁶ outside the house．Everynight we got out through our bedroom window and dug⁷ a hole right under thewall of the hut．It took us a week，andit was hard work．We talked to Jimsecretly and told him about the plan，andhe was really pleased．

We also wrote secret letters to everybody．Tomsaid that people always do this in books．Wewrote that there was a gang⁸ of slave-thieves coming up from the south．Theywanted to steal Jim and get the three hundred dollars from his owner．Well，thePhelpses and their friends got very excited， andon the night of the escape⁵ I went into the sitting-room，andthere was a crowd of men in there—allwith guns！

I ran and told Tom， andhe said that this was really good．'It'sa real adventure now， all right，'hesaid， very excited．'Perhapsthey'll come after us，and shoot，andwe'll all get killed！'

Well，there wasn'ttime to think about it because it all happened so quickly．Wegot Jim out through the hole under the wall，andbegan to run down to the river．But themen heard us and came after us．Theybegan to shoot，and so we ran as fast aswe could to the canoe．We got in it andwent over to Spanish¹⁰ Island．My raft¹¹ wasthere，and our plan was to escape on thatand go on down river．

'Now，Jim，'Icried，'you're a free man！'Wewere all very happy，but Tom was thehappiest of all，because he had a bulletin¹² his leg．

When Jim and I heard that，weweren't so happy．Tom wanted theadventure to go on， but Jim and I saidthat a doctor must look at Tom's leg．Tomwas getting angry about this，but Jimsaid：

'You listen to me，TomSawyer．You say I'm a free man now，andperhaps I am．But old Jim is not going torun away and leave one of his friends with a bullet¹³ in his leg！ SoI'm staying right here until a doctor comes．'

I knew Jim would say that． Hewas a good， true friend， andyou can't say that about many people．

Well，that was the endof the adventure，really．Iwent and found a doctor in the town．Hewas a kind old man，and he said he wouldgo over to the island． But Tom's leg gotvery bad，and the next day the doctor andsome other men carried Tom home to the Phelpses' house．Theybrought Jim too， and they locked him upin the hut again．But the doctor said，'Bekind to him， because he didn't run awayand he stayed to help me with the boy．'

They took Tom up to bed because his leg was really bad，andAunt Sally sat with him while he slept．Ididn't want to answer any questions so I kept out of everybody's way．

When Tom woke up the next day，hefelt better．I was in the room and hesaid to me，'Jim's all right，isn'the？'

I didn't know what to say because Aunt Sally was listening，and before I could stop him，Tomwent on：

'We did it，Aunt Sally．Meand Tom here．We helped Jim escape．'Hetold her all about the digging¹⁴ and everything，andAunt Sally's mouth was opening¹⁵ and closing like a fish．Thenshe got really angry with Tom．

'That slave is locked up again and he's going to stay there．Andif I catch you again—'

Tom suddenly sat up in bed．'Youcan't do that！'he cried．'Jimwas old Miss Watson's slave， but shedied two months ago．Before she died，shewrote that she wanted Jim to be free，andnot a slave any more．Jim's a free man，nota slave！

Well，that was asurprise to me and Aunt Sally！Shethought Tom was crazy．'But Sid，whydid you help him to escape，if he wasfree already？'she said．

'I wanted the adventure，ofcourse！'said Tom．'Wemade a really exciting plan and… Oh my！…AUNTPOLLY！'

We turned round，andthere was Tom's Aunt Polly in the doorway！Thatwas the second big surprise．Aunt Sallywas really pleased to see her sister，andjumped up to put her arms round her． Igot under the bed as fast as I could．Therewas trouble coming for me and Tom， thatwas for sure．

Then Aunt Polly said to Tom，'Youalways were a terrible boy，Tom Sawyer，andI want to know—'

'But Polly dear，'saidAunt Sally，'this isn't Tom．It'sSid．Tom was here a minute ago．Whereis he？'

'Where's Huck Finn，youmean，' replied Aunt Polly．'Comeout from under that bed， Huck Finn．'

So Tom and I had to explain everything．AuntPolly said that Aunt Sally wrote and told her that Tom and Sid were there．Sheknew that it wasn't true， so she decidedto come and find out what was happening．Butshe said that it was true about Miss Watson and that Jim was a free man now．

We got Jim out of the hut and Aunt Sally and Uncle Silaswere really nice to him．Later，Tom，Jim and I had a long talk by ourselves．Tomtalked and talked，and then he said，'Let'sall three of us run away one night，andgo and have ad-ventures in the wild country down south．'

It sounded like a good plan to me．'Theonly thing is，'I said，'Ihaven't got any money to buy the right clothes and things．Allmy money back in St Petersburg will be in Pop's pockets by now．'

'No，'said Tom．'Yourmoney's all there．Your Pop never cameback．'

'No，and he won't comeback，Huck，'Jimsaid．'You remember that dead man on theriver，when I said“Don'tlook at his face”？Well，thatwas your Pop．You can get your money whenyou want．'

Tom's leg is almost better now， andI haven't got any more to write about．I'mreally pleased about that because it was very difficult to write a book and Iwon't do it again．But I think I'm goingto have to run away before the others，becauseAunt Sally wants me to live with her． I'llhave to sleep in a bed and wear clean clothes and learn to be good，andI can't do that again．I've done it oncealready．

The End

Yours Truly¹⁷

Huck Finn

5 使吉姆获得自由的计划

当我听到这话时，我差点儿没掉进地板缝里去，不过，这可是太幸运了。冒充汤姆•索亚对我来说是件容易事，因为，汤姆是我最好的朋友。他和他的弟弟锡德和他们的菠莉姨妈一起住在圣彼得斯堡，他们的事我都知道，现在，我知道了菠莉姨妈有一个妹妹，她是斐尔普斯太太。她和她的丈夫是汤姆的萨莉姨妈和赛拉斯姨夫。汤姆要乘船南下和他们小住一阵。

我们都坐在那儿聊着天，我可以回答所有的有关索亚家的问题。对此我感到很高兴。突然，我听到河上的船声。“汤姆可能在那条船上，”我想着，“他会走进这屋里来，我还来不及阻止他，他就会大声喊出我的名字。我得去迎他。”

于是，我告诉斐尔普斯一家，我要到镇子上的船站去取我的包。我急忙上路，还没走出一半路远，汤姆•索亚沿路走来了。

他看见我时，嘴张着，脸色略微发白，“难道你没死？”他说道，“大家都说，你被杀死了！”

“我还没死呢，”我说道，“可你听着……”我对他讲了我的冒险，汤姆非常喜爱这一切。然后，我跟他讲了斐尔普斯一家的事，并告诉他，他们以为我是汤姆•索亚。“我们该怎么办呢？”我问他。

汤姆略加思索，然后说道，“我知道怎么办。你把我的包拿去，就说是你的。我大约半小时后到。”

“好吧，”我说，“可还有一件事。你知道老沃森小姐的奴隶吉姆吗？他逃走了。唉，他是这儿的一个囚犯，我打算帮助他逃走。”

“吉姆？”汤姆说道，“可他是——”然后，他停下来思考了一下。“好吧，我也帮忙。我要制定一个很好的计划。”他看起来很兴奋。

于是，我拿着包回去了，汤姆半小时后来了。他敲了敲门，萨莉姨妈开门时，他说，他是锡德，汤姆的弟弟。他想使他的来访给他那亲爱的萨莉姨妈一个惊喜，他说道。

嘿，萨莉姨妈看见汤姆和锡德真是高兴极了。她觉得这真是好极了。她和赛拉斯姨夫的确是很好的人。

我们俩单独在一起时，我和汤姆谈起了吉姆逃跑的事。我说，我有一个计划，汤姆听着我的计划。

“这是一个好计划，”我讲完后他说道，“可太容易了！得像个真正的逃跑，像故事书中的真正的冒险。所以，我们要让这冒险困难点，危险点。听听这个……”

于是，他告诉了我他的计划。我明白，这会是一个出色的计划，因为，汤姆的计划41奋总是既疯狂又兴奋。

执行那计划肯定会给我们带来许多的乐趣！我们知道，吉姆被锁在屋外的一个小屋里。每天夜里，我们都从卧室的窗户钻出去，就在小屋墙下挖洞。挖洞花费了我们一星期的时间，这是一件苦差事。我们秘密地同吉姆交谈，并告诉他我们的计划，他高兴极了。

我们也给大家写密信。汤姆说，书中人们总是这样做。我们写道，有一群盗奴贼从南方来。他们想偷走吉姆，从他的主人那儿得到300美元。斐尔普斯一家和他们的朋友很兴奋，逃跑的那天夜里，我走进起居室，那儿有一大群男人——都拿着枪！

我跑去告诉了汤姆，他说，这真不错。“好吧，这是一次真正的冒险，”他说道，很兴奋，“或许他们会追我们，开枪，我们都会被打死！”

没有时间考虑了，因为，这一切发生得太快了。我们把吉姆从墙下的洞里弄出来，开始往河边跑去。但是，那些人听到了我们的声音，追了过来，他们开始开枪，我们尽快地往独木舟那儿跑去。我们上了独木舟，前往西班牙岛，我的木筏停在那儿，我们的计划就是逃到那岛上，然后继续顺流而下。

“嗨，吉姆，”我喊道，“你是一个自由之人了！”我们都很高兴，可汤姆是最高兴的一个，因为，他腿上中了一枪。

我和吉姆听到这话时，可不那么高兴了。汤姆想让这冒险继续下去，可我和吉姆说，一定要找个医生看看汤姆的腿。汤姆对此生气了，可吉姆说道：

“你听我说，汤姆•索亚。你说，我现在是一个自由人了，或许我是。可老吉姆不会逃跑，而丢下一个腿里有颗子弹的朋友！所以，我就呆在这儿，一直到医生来。”

我知道，吉姆会这样说的。他是一个真正的好朋友，对许多其他的人，你不会这样说的。

说真的，这就是冒险的结束。我去到镇上找了个医生。他是个和蔼的老人，他说，他会到岛上去。可汤姆腿的伤势很重，第二天，医生和其他的一些人把汤姆抬到斐尔普斯家。他们也带回了吉姆，他们又把他锁在木屋里。可医生说，“对他好点儿，因为他没逃跑，他留在那儿帮我照顾这个男孩。”

他们把汤姆放在床上，因为，他腿的伤势很重。他睡觉时，萨莉姨妈坐在他的身边。我不想回答任何问题，所以，我远远地躲开大家。

第二天，汤姆醒来时，他感觉好多了。我在他房间里，他对我说，“吉姆没事儿，是吧？”

我不知道说什么好，因为萨莉姨妈在听着，我还来不及阻止他，汤姆继续说道：

“这件事是我们干的，萨莉姨妈。是我和汤姆。我们帮助吉姆逃跑的。”他把挖洞和所有的一切都告诉了她，萨莉姨妈的嘴像条鱼一样一张一闭。然后，她真的生汤姆的气了。

“那个奴隶又被锁了起来，他要呆在那儿。如果我再抓到你——”

汤姆突然在床上坐起来。“你不能那样做！”他喊道，“吉姆是老沃森小姐的奴隶，可她两个月前去世了。死前她写道，她要让吉姆自由，不再是一个奴隶了。吉姆是一个自由人，不再是一个奴隶！”

我和萨莉姨妈都感到很惊讶！她觉得汤姆疯了。“可是，锡德，如果他已经自由了，那你为什么还帮他逃跑呢？”她说道。

“当然，我想冒险！”汤姆说。“我们制定了一个很令人兴奋的计划，并且……呀，天哪！……菠莉姨妈！”

我们转过身来，汤姆的菠莉姨妈站在门那儿！这是第二个令人大吃一惊的事。萨莉姨妈见到她的姐姐的确很高兴，跳起来搂住了她。我赶快爬到床底下。我和汤姆要有麻烦了，这是肯定无疑的。

然后，菠莉姨妈对汤姆说道，“你总是捣乱，汤姆•索亚，我想知道——”

“可是，亲爱的菠莉，”萨莉姨妈说道，“这不是汤姆，是锡德。汤姆刚才还在这哪。他哪儿去了？”

“你是指哈克•费恩哪儿去了？”菠莉姨妈回答道，“从床底下出来，哈克•费恩。”

所以，我和汤姆不得不解释所有这一切。菠莉姨妈说，萨莉姨妈写信告诉她，汤姆和锡德在那儿。她知道这不是真的，于是，她决定来弄清楚到底是怎么回事。可她说，沃森小姐的事倒是真的，吉姆现在是一个自由人了。

我们把吉姆从小屋里放出来，萨莉姨妈和赛拉斯姨夫待他很友好。后来，汤姆、吉姆和我，就我们三个人，聊了很长时间。汤姆不停地说着，然后，他说道，“有那么一天夜里，我们三个人逃走，到南方荒野的地方去冒险。”

听起来倒是一个不错的计划。“唯一的事情是，”我说道，“我没有钱买合适的衣服和物品。我所有的在圣彼得斯堡的钱这时应该在爸爸的兜里了。”

“不会的，”汤姆说道，“你的钱都在那儿。你爸爸从来没回来。”

“对了，他不会回来了，哈克，”吉姆说道，“你记得河上那个死人吗？我说别看他的脸，那就是你爸爸。你想拿到钱时，你就能拿到。”

汤姆的腿现在差不多好了，我没有什么要写的了。对此我很高兴，因为，写一本书很难，我不会再写了。可我想，在其他人逃跑之前，我得准备先逃走，因为萨莉姨妈想让我和她住在一起。我将不得不睡在床上，穿干净衣服，学着有教养，我不能再那样了。我已经尝试过一次了。

──完──

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哈克•费恩