對于絕大部分中國學生來說，學習英文寫作似乎只是為了一個目的――應試。的確，從基礎的中、高考，到大學英語四、六級，乃至高階段的TOEFL、IELTS，研究生入學考試等等，寫作一直是必考的內(nèi)容之一。為了應付這些考試，同學們不得不機械地背誦大量程式化的詞組、句子、甚至是范文。這種做法也許能在短期內(nèi)提高我們的應試能力，可長此以往，英文寫作勢必會重蹈歷史的覆轍，演變成又一種“八股文”，這是我們所不愿意看到的。那么，怎樣才能真正提高自己的寫作能力呢？我想最根本的方法只有一個：閱讀，而且是廣泛的閱讀。
其實，中英文寫作在很多方面是相通的。關于閱讀和寫作的關系，中文有很多俗語：“讀書破萬卷，下筆如有神?！保笆熳x唐詩三百首，不會做詩也會吟?！钡鹊?，英文同樣如此，只有讀得多了，見得廣了，才能寫出精彩的東西。
要讀書，讀些什么內(nèi)容呢？首當其沖的，是文學作品。經(jīng)過時間考驗的文學作品里，凝聚著一門語言的精華。掌握了這些精華，把他們變?yōu)樽约旱难猓憔驼莆樟藢懽鞯木?。有的人也許要問：“英語的文學作品豈止成千上萬，我應該選擇哪些來讀呢？”，給大家一個建議，從簡單的開始讀起，不要開始就讀莎士比亞、喬叟、彌爾頓。從《簡.愛》、《傲慢與偏見》這種難度的書開始會比較適合。此外，大家可以根據(jù)自己喜歡的風格，選擇不同的作家來讀。喜歡幽默，可以讀馬克吐溫的小說；喜歡簡潔，讀培根的散文；喜歡鏗鏘有力，讀蒲柏的英雄雙韻詩；喜歡優(yōu)雅，讀王爾德的童話……對不同的風格有廣泛的涉獵，一定會對自己的寫作大有裨益。除了上述的這些內(nèi)容，我們還要特別注意學習語言背后的文化。比如希臘、羅馬神話，基督教知識等等。舉個例子，表達“致命的弱點”這個意思，一般同學都知道用“fatal weak point”，可如果你知道用“Achilles heel”這樣一個源自希臘神話中的短語，就會顯得與眾不同。
今天我們要推薦閱讀的是美國現(xiàn)實主義小說馬克•吐溫(Mark Twain)的小說《哈克貝利•費恩歷險記》的第15章(附中文對照)，如果你喜歡這樣的文字，可以去看全文。
《哈克貝利•費恩歷險記》，被評論家稱贊為他秀的作品是吐溫用近八年的心血寫完的。這部作品無論從思想內(nèi)容或藝術成就來衡量都很成熟。海明威是這樣評價它的：“一切現(xiàn)代美國文學都來自一本吐溫的著作《哈克貝利•費恩》??這是我們所有書中的。一切美國文學都來自這本書。在它之前或之后都不曾有過能同它媲美的作品?！?《哈克•費恩》中用了第一人稱敘述者，不僅詞匯簡單，口語化而且句子也簡單、直接，具有口語的節(jié)奏。
From ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
Chapter 15
We judged that three nights more Would fetch us to Cairo, 1at
the bottom of Illinois, where the Ohio River comes in, andthat was
what we was after.We would sell the raft and get on a steamboat
and go way up the Ohio amongst the free States, and then be out of
trouble.2
Well, the second night a fog begun to come on, and we made for
a tow-head to tie to, for it wouldn't do to try to run in fog；
but when I paddled ahead i n the canoe, with the line, to make fast,
there warn't anything but little saplings totie to.I passed the
line around one of them right on the edge of the cut bank, but there
was a stiff current, and the raft come booming down so lively she
tore it out by the roots and away she went.I see the fog closing
down, and it made meso sick and scared I couldn't budge for most
a half a minuteit seemed to me—and then there warn't no raft in
sight；you couldn't see twenty yards.3 I jumped into the canoe
and runback to the stern and grabbed the paddle and set her back a
stroke.But she didn't come, I was in such a hurry Ihadn't untied
her.I got up and tried to untie her, but I was so excited my hands
shook so I couldn't hardly do anything with them.
As soon as I got started I took out after the raft, hot and heavy,
right down the tow-head.4 That was all right as far asit went,
but the tow-head warn't sixty yards long, and theminute I flew by
the foot of it I shot out into the solid whitefog, and hadn't no
more idea which way I was going than adead man.
Thinks I, it won't do to paddle；first I know I'll run intothe
bank or a tow-head or something；I got to set still andfloat, and
yet it's mighty fidgety business to have to hold yourhands still
at such a time.I whooped and listened.Away downthere, somewheres,
I hears a small whoop, and up comes myspirits.I went tearing after
it, listening sharp to hear it again.The next time it come, I see
I warn't heading for it but head-ing away to the right of it.And
the next time, I was head-ing away to the left of it—and not gaining
on it much, either, for I was flying around, this way and that and
'tother, 5but it was going straight ahead all the time.
I did wish the fool would think to beat a tin pan, and beatit
all the time, but he never did, and it was the still placesbetween
the whoops that was making the trouble for me.Well, I fought along,
and directly I hears the whoops behind me.Iwas tangled good,
now.That was somebody else's whoop.orelse I was turned around.
I throwed the paddle down.I heard the whoop again；itwas behind me yet, but in a different place；it kept coming,
and kept changing its place, and I kept answering, till by-and-by
it was in front of me again and I knowed the current hadswung the
canoe's head down stream and I was all right, ifthat was Jim and
not some other raftsman hollering.I could-n't tell nothing about
voices in a fog, for nothing don't looknatural nor sound natural
in a fog.
The whooping went on, and in about a minute I come a booming
down on a cut bank6 with smoky ghosts of big treeson it, and the
current throwed me off to the left and shot by, amongst a lot of
snags that fairly roared, the current was tear-ing by them so swift.
In another second or two it was solid white and still again.I
set perfectly still, then, listening to my heart thump, and Ireckon
I didn't draw a breath while it thumped a hundred.
I just give up, then.I knowed what the matter was.Thatcut
bank was an island, and Jim had gone down 'tother sideof it.It
warn't no tow-head, that you could float by in tenminutes.It had
the big timber of a regular island；it mightbe five or six mile
long and more than a half a mile wide.
I kept quiet, with my ears cocked, about fifteen minutes,
Ireckon.I was floating along, of course, four or five mile anhour；
but you don't ever think of that.No, you feel like youare laying
dead still on the water；and if a little glimpse of a snap slips
by, you don't think to yourself how fast you're go-ing, but you
catch your breath and think my！how that snag'stearing along.lf
you think it ain't dismal and lonesome outin a fog that way, by
yourself, in the night, you try it once— you'll see.
Next, for about a half an hour, I whoops now and then；atlast
I hears the answer a loog ways off, and tries to follow it, but
I couldn't do it, and directly I judged I'd got into a nestof
towheads, for I had little dim glimpses of them on bothsides of
me, sometimes just a narrow channel between；andsome that I couldn't
see, I knowed was there, because I'd hearthe wash of the current
against the old dead brush and trashthat hung over the banks.Well,
I warn't long losing thewhoops, down amongst the towheads；and I
only tried to chasethem a little while, anyway, because it was worse
than chas-ing a Jack-o-lantern.You never knowed a sound dodge
aroundso, and swap places so quick and so much.
I had to claw away from the bank pretty lively, four or
fivetimes, to keep from knocking the islands out of the river；
andso I judged the raft must be butting into the bank every nowand
then, or else it would get further ahead and clear out ofhearing—
it was floating a little faster than what I was.
Well, I seemed to be in the open river again, by-and-by, butouldn't hear no sign of a whoop nowheres.I reckonedJim had
fetched up on a snag, maybe, and it was all up withhim.I was good
and tired, so I laid down in the canoe andsaid I wouldn't bother
no more.I didn't want to go to sleep, of course；but I was so sleepy
I couldn't help it；so I thoughtI would take just one little cat-nap.
But I reckon it was more than a cat-nap, for when I wakedup
the stars was shining bright, the fog was all gone, and Iwas
spinning down a big bend stern first.First I didn't knowwhere I
was；I thought I was dreaming；and when things be-gun to come back
to me, they seemed to come up dim out oflast week.
It was a monstrous big river here, with the tallest and
thethickest kind of timber on both banks；just a solid wall, aswell
as I could see, by the stars.I looked away down stream, and seen
a blacK speck on the water.I took out after it；butwhen I got to
it it warn't nothing but a couple of saw-logsmade fast
together.Then I see another speck, and chasedthat；then another,
and this time I was right.It was the raft.
When I got to it Jim was setting there with his head downbetween
his knees, asleep, with his right arm hanging overthe steering
oar.The other oar was smashed off, and the raftwas littered up
with leaves and branches and dirt.So she'dhad a rough time.
I made fast and laid down under Jim's nose on the raft, and
begun to gap, 7 and stretch my fists out against Jim, andsays：
“Hello, Jim, have I been asleep？Why didn't you stir meup？”
“Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck？En you ain'dead—you
ain'drowned—you's back agin？It's too good fortrue, honey, it's
too good for true.Lemme look at you, chile, lemme feel o'you.No,
you ain'dead？you's back agin, 'liveen soun', jis de same ole
Huck—de same ole Huck, thanksto goodness！”
“What's the matter with you, Jim？You been a drinking？”
“Drinkin'？Has I ben a drinkin'？Has I had a chance tobe a
drinkin'？”
“Well, then, what makes you talk so wild？”
“How does I talk wild？”
“How？why, haint you been talking about my coming back, and
all that stuff, as if I'd been gone away？”
“ Huck — Huck Finn, you look me in de eye ；look me inde
eye.Hain't you ben gone away？”
“Gone away？Why, what in the nation do you mean？Ihain't been
gone anywheres.Where would I go to？”
“Well, looky here, boss, dey's sumf'n wrong, dey is.Is I me,
or who is I？Is I heah, or whah is I？Now dat's what Iwants to
know？”
“Well, I think you're here, plain enough, but I think you'reatangle-headed old fool, Jim.”
“I is, is I？Well you answer me dis.Didn't you tote outde
line in de canoe, fer to make fas'to de tow-head？”
“No, I didn't.What tow-head？I hain't seen no tow-head？”
“You hain't seen no tow-head？Looky here—didn't deline pull
loose en de raf'go a hummin'down de river, enleave you en de canoe
behine in de fog？”
“What fog？”
“Why de fog.De fog dat's ben aroun'all night.En didn'tyou
whoop, en didn't I whoop, tell we got mix'up in de is-lands en one
un us got los'en 'tother one was jis'as goodas los', 'kase he
didn'know whah he wuz？En didn't I bustup agin a lot er dem islands
en have a turrible time en mos'git drownded？Now ain'dat so, boss—
ain't it so？You an-swer me dat.”
“well, this is too many for me, Jim.I hain't seen no fog,
nor no islands, nor no troubles, nor nothing.I been settlinghere
talking with you all night till you went to sleep aboutten minutes
ago, and I reckon I done the same.You couldn'ta got drunk in that
time, so of course you've been dreaming.”
“ Dad fetch it, how is I gwyne to dream all dat in ten
min-utes？”
“Well, hang it all, you did dream it, because there didn'tany
of it happen.”
“But Huck, it's all jis'as plain to me as—”
“It don't make no difference how plain it is, there ain't
noth-ing in it.I know, because I've been here all the time.”
Jim didn't say nothing for about five minutes, but set
therestudying over it.Then he says：
“Well, den, I reck'n I did dream it, Huck；but dog mycats ef
it ain't de powerfullest dream I ever see.En I hain'tever had no
dream b'fo'dat's tired me like dis one.”
“Oh, well, that's all right, because a dream does tire abody
like everything, sometimes.But this one was a staving8dream—
tell me all about it, Jim.”
So Jim went to work and told me the whole thing rightthrough,
just as it happened, only he painted it up consider-able.Then he
said he must start in and“'terpret”it, becauseit was sent for
a warning.He said the first tow-head stoodfor a man that would
try to do us some good, but the cur-rent was another man that would
get us away from him.Thewhoops was warnings that would come to
us every now and
then, and if we didn't try hard to make out to understandthem
they'd just take us into bad luck, 'stead of keeping usout of it.The
lot of tow-heads was troubles we was going toget into withquarrelsome people and all kinds of mean folks, but if we minded
our business and didn't talk back and ag-gravate them, we would
pull through and get out of the fog and into the big clear river,
which was the free States, and wouldn't have no more trouble.
It had clouded up pretty dark just after I got onto the raft,
but it was clearing up again, now.
“Oh, well that's all interpreted well enough, as far as it
goes, Jim, ”I says；“but what does these things stand for？”
It was the leaves and rubbish on the raft, and the smashed
oar.You could see them first rate, now.
Jim looked at the trash, and then looked at me, and back at
the trash again.He had got the dream fixed so strong in his head
that be couldn't seem to shake it loose and get the facts back into
its place again, right away . But when he did get the thing
straightened around, he looked at me steady, without ever smiling,
and says：
“What do dey stan'for？I's gwyne to tell you.When I got all
wore out wid work, en wid de callin'for you, en went to sleep, my
heart wuz mos'broke bekase you wuz los', en I didn'k'yer no mo'what
become er me en de raf'.En when I wake up en fine you back agin',
all safe en soun', de tears come en I could a got down on my knees
en kiss'yo'foot I's so thankful.En all you wuz thinkin''bout wuz
how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie.Dat truck dah is
trash；en trash is people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren's
en makes 'em ashamed.”
Then he got up slow, and walked to the wigwam, 9 and went in
there without saying anything but that.But that was enough.It
made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to
take it back.
It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and
hombre myself to a n nigget—but I done it .and I warn't ever sorry
for it afterwards.neither.I didn't do him no moremear onwould
make him feel that way.
我們斷定，再有三個晚上，我們就會來到開羅。那是在伊利諾斯的南頭，俄亥俄河在此
匯合，我們要到的地方正是這里。我們準備把木筏賣了，搭上輪船，沿著俄亥俄河往上走，
到那些不買賣黑奴的自由洲去，這樣也就擺脫了是非之地啦①。
①諾頓版注：馬克•吐溫為什么沒有按照杰姆求得了自由那個原來的路子寫下去，
評論家們對此歷來都有爭論。據(jù)對手稿進行過研究的人說，馬克•吐溫寫到近第十六章結尾
處便停了下來，一擱筆，恐達兩年。后來續(xù)寫時，愛上了這樣一個寫法，即要抒寫密西西比
河上的自由氣氛，寫成一種時間之流，在時間之流的流逝中，能免于陸地上的殘酷與假冒偽
善這類的災難。比較本書第八章中的注釋。
后來，在第二個夜晚，開始起了霧，我們便朝一處沙洲劃去，把木筏系好，因為在霧中
行舟是不行的。不過，我坐在獨木小舟上，拉著一根纜繩，想把木筏拴在什么一個地方，卻
無處可拴，除了一些小小的嫩枝。我把纜繩套在那凹岸旁邊的一顆小樹上。不過正好有一個
急流，木筏猛地一沖，就把小樹連根拔了起來，而木筏也就往前漂去了。我見到迷霧正四面
八方聚攏來，只感到心里既不舒服，又發(fā)慌，至少有半分鐘動彈不得?！ь^一望，木筏
已經(jīng)無影無蹤。二十碼以外，就什么也望不清。我跳進了獨木小舟，跑到船尾，抄起槳來，
使勁往后一退。可是它動也不動。我一慌張，忘了解開繩索啦。我立起身來，解開了獨木
舟，可是我心慌意亂，兩只手抖抖的，弄得什么事也干不成。
船一開動，我就順著沙洲，朝著木筏，拼命追去。情況還算順利，不過，沙洲還不到六
十碼長，我剛竄過沙洲的末尾，眼看就一頭沖進了白茫茫一片濃濃的大霧之中了。我象個死
人一般，連自己正在往哪一個方向漂行也一點兒辨不清了。
我尋思，這樣一味地劃可不行。首先，我知道會撞在岸上、沙洲上或是別的什么東西上
面。我必須得坐著不動，隨著它漂?？墒前?，在這么一個關頭，偏偏要人家空有雙手不動
彈，叫人如何安得下心。我喊了一聲，又仔細地聽。我聽到，從下游那邊，隱隱約約地從某
處什么地方，遠遠傳來了微弱的喊聲。這下子，我的精神就上來了。我飛快地追趕它，一邊
又屏住氣仔細地聽。等到下一回聽到那喊聲的時候，我這才明白了自己并非是正對著它朝前
趕，而是偏到了右邊去了。等到再下一次，又偏到了左方——偏左也好，偏右也好，進展都
不大，因為我正在團團地亂轉，一會兒這一邊，一會兒那一邊，一會兒又回過頭來，可木筏
卻始終在朝著正前方走。
我心里但愿那個傻瓜會想得到敲響洋鐵鍋這樣一個辦法，可是他從沒有敲過一聲。叫我
最難受的，還是前后兩次喊聲間隙時聽不到一點兒聲音。啊，我一直在拼搏著，可猛聽得那
喊聲又硬是轉到我的身后去了。這下子真是把我搞胡涂了。準是別的什么人的喊聲吧，要不
然，那就是我的劃子轉過頭了。
我把槳一扔，但聽得喊聲又起。還是在我身后，只是換了個地方。喊聲不停地傳來，又
不停地更換地方，我呢，不停地答應。到后來，又轉到了我的前邊了。我知道，是水流把獨
木船的船頭轉到了朝下游的方向，只要那是杰姆的喊聲，并非是別的木筏上的人叫喊聲，那
我還是走對了。在沉沉迷霧中，我委實無法把聲音辨認清楚，因為在沉沉迷霧中，形體也
好，聲音也好，都和原來的本色不一樣。
喊聲繼續(xù)響著。大約一分鐘光景，我突然撞到一處陡峭的河岸上，但見岸上一簇簇黑黝
黝、鬼影森森的大樹。河水把我一沖，沖到了左邊，河水飛箭似地往前直沖，在斷枝殘椏中
一邊咆哮著，一邊夾著它們朝前猛沖。
不一會兒，又只見白茫茫的一片，四周一派寂靜。我就靜靜地坐著，紋絲不動，聽著自
己心跳的聲音。據(jù)我估計，心跳了一百下，我連一口氣也沒有吸。
在那個時刻，我算是死了心了。我明白那究竟是怎么一回事了。那陡峭的河岸是一座小
島。杰姆已經(jīng)到了小島的另一邊了。這里可不是什么沙洲，十分鐘便能漂過的。這里有一般
小島上那種大樹。小島可能有五、六英里長，半英里多寬。
估計有十五分鐘時間，我一聲不響，豎起了耳朵聽。我當然是在漂著，我估計，一小時
漂四五英里路，只是你并不覺得自己是在水上漂。不。你只覺得自己死了一般地躺在水面
上。要是一眼瞥見一段枝椏滑過，也不會想到自己正飛快地往前走，而只是屏住了呼吸，心
里想著，天啊，這段樹枝往前沖得有多快啊。要是你想知道，一個人，在深夜里，四下一片
迷霧，此情此景，會有多凄冷，有多孤單，那你不妨也來試一試——那你就準會知道。
隨后大概有半個鐘點光景，我時不時地喊幾聲，到后來，終于聽到遠處傳來了回答的聲
音，我就使勁追蹤，可是不成。我推斷，我這里陷進了沙洲窩啦。因為在我的左右兩旁，我
都隱隱約約瞥見了沙洲的景色。有的時候，只是在兩岸中間一條狹窄的水道上漂。有些是我
看不見的。只是我知道自己是在那里，因為我聽到了掛在河岸水面上的枯樹殘枝之類的東西
被流水撞擊時發(fā)出的聲音。沒有好久，我在陷進了沙洲窩里以后，連喊聲也聽不見了。我只
是隔一會兒試著追蹤一下。因為實際情況比追蹤鬼火還要糟糕。聲音如此地東躲西閃，難以
捉摸，地點又如此變得飛快，而且面廣量大，這些可真是聞所未聞的。
有四五回，我非得用手利索地推開河岸，免得猛然撞上高出水面的小島。因此我斷定，
我們那個木筏子一定也是時不時撞到了河岸上，不然的話，它會漂到老遠去，聽也聽不見了
——木筏子與我的小舟比起來要漂得快一些。
再后來，我仿佛又進到了大河寬闊的河面上了。不過，到處也聽不到一絲絲喊聲了。我
猜想，會不會杰姆撞到了一塊礁石上，遭到了什么不測呢。我這時候也夠累的了，便在小舟
上躺了下來，跟自己說，別再煩什么神了吧。我當然并非存心要睡覺，不過實在困得沒法
了，所以我想就先打個瞌睡吧。
不過大概不只是打了個瞌睡。我醒來時，只見星星亮晶晶，迷霧已經(jīng)煙消云散，我架的
小舟舟尾朝前，正飛快地沿著一處大的河灣往下游走。開頭，我還不知道自己身在何處，還
以為自己正在做夢呢。等到過去的事慢慢想起來以后，依稀仿佛象是上星期發(fā)生的事。
這里已是一片浩瀚的大河，兩岸參天的大樹濃濃密密，星光照處，仿佛是一堵堵結結實
實的城墻。我朝下游遠處望去，只見水面上有一個黑點，我就朝它追去。一走近，原來只是
捆在一起的幾根圓木。接著看到了另一個黑點，追上去，又是另一個黑點，這一回可是追得
對了，正是我們自己的木筏子。
我上去的時候，杰姆正坐在那里，腦袋往兩腿中間垂著，是睡著了，右胳膊還在掌舵的
槳上耷拉著。另一柄槳已經(jīng)震裂了，木筏子上到處是樹葉、枝椏和灰塵。這樣看來，他過去
的那段時間也充滿了風險。
我把小劃子系好，在木筏上杰姆跟前躺下，打起了呵欠。
我伸出拳頭對杰姆捅了桶。我說：
“喂，杰姆，我剛才睡著了么？你為什么沒有把我叫醒??？”
“天啊，難道是你么，哈克？你沒有死啊——你沒有煙(淹)死啊——你又活過來了
么？這可是太好了，乖乖，難道會有這樣的霍(好)事？讓我好好看一看你，伙計啊，讓我
墨墨(摸摸)你。是啊，你可沒有死，你回來了，活蹦活跳的。還是哈克那個老樣子，謝天
謝地！”
“你怎么啦，杰姆？你喝醉了么？”
“喝醉？我喝醉了么？我難道還有時間喝酒么？”
“好，那么為什么你說話說得沒頭沒腦？”
“我又哪里說得沒頭沒腦？”
“哪里？哈，你不是在說什么我回來了，如此等等一類的話，仿佛我真的走開過似的?！?BR> “哈克——哈克•芬，你看著我，你看著我，難道你沒有走開過？”
“走開？你這是什么意思？我哪兒也沒有去啊。我能到哪里去??？”
“嗯，聽我說，老弟，該是什么地方出了岔兒吧，一定是的。我還是我么？，要不然，
我又是誰呢？我是在這兒么？要不然，我又在哪里呢？這我倒要弄個一青(清)二粗
(楚)?！?BR> “嗯，我看嘛，你是在這里，明明白白的。不過我看啊，杰姆，你可是個一腦袋漿糊的
老傻瓜?！?BR> “我是么？難道我是么？你回答我這個問題。你有沒有坐著小劃子，牽著繩子，想把劃
子拴在沙舟(洲)上？”
“沒有，我沒有。什么沙洲？我沒有見到什么沙洲啊?！?BR> “你沒有見到過什么沙舟(洲)？聽我說——那根繩子不是拉松了么？木筏子不是在河
上順著水嗚嗚地沖下來了么？不是把你和那只小舟給撂在大午(霧)之中么？”
“什么大霧？”
“連大午(霧)都——大午(霧)下了整整一個晚上。難道你不是喊了么？我不是喊了
么？喊到后來，我們便被那些小島弄得暈頭轉向，我們一個迷了路，另一個也迷了路，因為
誰也不知道自己究竟是在哪里。難道我沒有在那些小島上東撞西撞，吃足了苦頭，差一點兒
給煙(淹)死？你說是不是這樣，老弟——是不是這樣？你回答我這個問題?！?BR> “哈，這可叫我太為難了，杰姆。我沒有見到什么大霧，沒有見到什么島嶼，沒有遇到
什么麻煩，什么都沒有。我在這兒坐著，一整夜在跟你說話來著，只是在十分鐘前你才睡
覺，我呢，大概也是這樣。在那個時間里，你不可能喝醉啊，這樣說來，你肯定是在做夢
吧。”
“真他媽的怪了，我怎么能十分中(鐘)里夢見這么多一大堆的事??？”
“啊，他媽的，你準定是做夢來著，因為根本沒有發(fā)生過其中任何一件事啊?！?BR> “不過哈克，對我來說，這一切是冥冥(明明)白白的——”
“不管多么明明白白，也沒有用，根本沒有這回事啊。這我明白。我自始至終，一直在
這里嘛。”
杰姆有五分鐘之久什么話都沒有說，只是坐在那里，想啊想的。接下來，他說：
“嗯，這么說來，我看我是做了夢了，哈克。不過啊，這可真是我平生一場極大極大的
惡夢了。我平生也從沒有做過這么把我類(累)死的夢哩?！?BR> “哦，不錯，這可沒有什么，因為做夢有時候也確實會累人。不過嘛，這場夢啊，可真
是無比美妙的夢哩——把夢的經(jīng)過，一五一十全都對我說一說，杰姆。”
這樣，杰姆就把全部經(jīng)過從頭到尾說了一遍，跟實際發(fā)生過的事說得一模一樣，只是加
油加醋描畫了一番。他隨后說，他得“詳一詳”這個夢，因為這是上天降下來的一個警告
啊。他說，那第一個沙洲指的是存心對我們做好事的人，可是，那流水指的是另一個人，此
人存心要叫我們遇不到那個好人。喊聲呢，指的是一些警告，警告我們會有時候遇到些什
么，要是我們不能對這些警告的含義弄個明白，那這些警告的喊聲非但不能幫我們逢兇化
吉，反倒會叫我們遭殃。至于沙洲的數(shù)目有多少，指的是我們會有多少回跟愛惹事生非的家
伙和各種各樣卑劣之徒吵架；不過只要我們管好自己本身的事，不去跟人家頂嘴，把事情弄
僵，我們也能頂過去，平安無事；能沖出重重濃霧，漂到寬敞的大河之上，那就是到了解放
了黑奴的自由州，從此無災無難啦。
我上木筏的時候，起了云，天挺黑，這會兒倒是又開朗起來了。
“哦，好啊，杰姆，這樣就把夢全都‘詳’得個清清楚楚了，”我說，“不過嘛，這些
個事情又指的是什么呢？”
我指的是木筏上的樹葉子和那些破破爛爛的東西，還有那支撞裂了的槳。這會兒，這些
能看得清清楚楚了。
杰姆看了一眼那一堆骯臟的東西，接著對我看了一眼，然后又看了一眼那一堆骯臟的東
西。做過了一場夢這樣的觀念，在他的腦子里印得太深了，擺脫不掉，一時間無法把發(fā)生過
的事重新理出個頭路來。不過嘛，等到他把事情理清楚了，他便定神看著我，連一點兒笑容
也沒有，說道：
“這些個事情指的是什么嘛？我要對你說的。我使勁劃，使勁喊你，累得沒得命了。睡
的時候，因為丟失了你，我心都率(碎)了，對自己，對木筏子，我也不放在心上了。一醒
來，發(fā)現(xiàn)你可回來了，一切平安無事，我禁不住流出了眼淚，為了謝天謝地，我恨不得雙膝
跪下，吻你的腳。可是啊，你心里想的只是怎樣編一個荒(謊)來糊弄老杰姆。那邊一堆殘
枝敗葉是骯臟的東西。骯臟的東西也就是人家把臟東西往朋友的腦袋上道(倒)，叫人家為
他害少(臊)的人嘛。”
然后他慢慢地站起身來，往窩棚走去，走了進去，一路之上，不則一聲?？墒沁@就夠
了。我只覺得自己那么卑鄙，簡直想伏下身來親他的腳，求他收回他剛才說的話。
足足經(jīng)過了十五分鐘，我才鼓足了勇氣，在一個黑奴面前低頭認錯——不過我總算認了
錯，并且從此以后，對此從未后悔過。從此以后，我再也沒有卑鄙地作弄過他。我要是早知
道他會那么難過，我也決不會干那樣的事。
其實，中英文寫作在很多方面是相通的。關于閱讀和寫作的關系，中文有很多俗語：“讀書破萬卷，下筆如有神?！保笆熳x唐詩三百首，不會做詩也會吟?！钡鹊?，英文同樣如此，只有讀得多了，見得廣了，才能寫出精彩的東西。
要讀書，讀些什么內(nèi)容呢？首當其沖的，是文學作品。經(jīng)過時間考驗的文學作品里，凝聚著一門語言的精華。掌握了這些精華，把他們變?yōu)樽约旱难猓憔驼莆樟藢懽鞯木?。有的人也許要問：“英語的文學作品豈止成千上萬，我應該選擇哪些來讀呢？”，給大家一個建議，從簡單的開始讀起，不要開始就讀莎士比亞、喬叟、彌爾頓。從《簡.愛》、《傲慢與偏見》這種難度的書開始會比較適合。此外，大家可以根據(jù)自己喜歡的風格，選擇不同的作家來讀。喜歡幽默，可以讀馬克吐溫的小說；喜歡簡潔，讀培根的散文；喜歡鏗鏘有力，讀蒲柏的英雄雙韻詩；喜歡優(yōu)雅，讀王爾德的童話……對不同的風格有廣泛的涉獵，一定會對自己的寫作大有裨益。除了上述的這些內(nèi)容，我們還要特別注意學習語言背后的文化。比如希臘、羅馬神話，基督教知識等等。舉個例子，表達“致命的弱點”這個意思，一般同學都知道用“fatal weak point”，可如果你知道用“Achilles heel”這樣一個源自希臘神話中的短語，就會顯得與眾不同。
今天我們要推薦閱讀的是美國現(xiàn)實主義小說馬克•吐溫(Mark Twain)的小說《哈克貝利•費恩歷險記》的第15章(附中文對照)，如果你喜歡這樣的文字，可以去看全文。
《哈克貝利•費恩歷險記》，被評論家稱贊為他秀的作品是吐溫用近八年的心血寫完的。這部作品無論從思想內(nèi)容或藝術成就來衡量都很成熟。海明威是這樣評價它的：“一切現(xiàn)代美國文學都來自一本吐溫的著作《哈克貝利•費恩》??這是我們所有書中的。一切美國文學都來自這本書。在它之前或之后都不曾有過能同它媲美的作品?！?《哈克•費恩》中用了第一人稱敘述者，不僅詞匯簡單，口語化而且句子也簡單、直接，具有口語的節(jié)奏。
From ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
Chapter 15
We judged that three nights more Would fetch us to Cairo, 1at
the bottom of Illinois, where the Ohio River comes in, andthat was
what we was after.We would sell the raft and get on a steamboat
and go way up the Ohio amongst the free States, and then be out of
trouble.2
Well, the second night a fog begun to come on, and we made for
a tow-head to tie to, for it wouldn't do to try to run in fog；
but when I paddled ahead i n the canoe, with the line, to make fast,
there warn't anything but little saplings totie to.I passed the
line around one of them right on the edge of the cut bank, but there
was a stiff current, and the raft come booming down so lively she
tore it out by the roots and away she went.I see the fog closing
down, and it made meso sick and scared I couldn't budge for most
a half a minuteit seemed to me—and then there warn't no raft in
sight；you couldn't see twenty yards.3 I jumped into the canoe
and runback to the stern and grabbed the paddle and set her back a
stroke.But she didn't come, I was in such a hurry Ihadn't untied
her.I got up and tried to untie her, but I was so excited my hands
shook so I couldn't hardly do anything with them.
As soon as I got started I took out after the raft, hot and heavy,
right down the tow-head.4 That was all right as far asit went,
but the tow-head warn't sixty yards long, and theminute I flew by
the foot of it I shot out into the solid whitefog, and hadn't no
more idea which way I was going than adead man.
Thinks I, it won't do to paddle；first I know I'll run intothe
bank or a tow-head or something；I got to set still andfloat, and
yet it's mighty fidgety business to have to hold yourhands still
at such a time.I whooped and listened.Away downthere, somewheres,
I hears a small whoop, and up comes myspirits.I went tearing after
it, listening sharp to hear it again.The next time it come, I see
I warn't heading for it but head-ing away to the right of it.And
the next time, I was head-ing away to the left of it—and not gaining
on it much, either, for I was flying around, this way and that and
'tother, 5but it was going straight ahead all the time.
I did wish the fool would think to beat a tin pan, and beatit
all the time, but he never did, and it was the still placesbetween
the whoops that was making the trouble for me.Well, I fought along,
and directly I hears the whoops behind me.Iwas tangled good,
now.That was somebody else's whoop.orelse I was turned around.
I throwed the paddle down.I heard the whoop again；itwas behind me yet, but in a different place；it kept coming,
and kept changing its place, and I kept answering, till by-and-by
it was in front of me again and I knowed the current hadswung the
canoe's head down stream and I was all right, ifthat was Jim and
not some other raftsman hollering.I could-n't tell nothing about
voices in a fog, for nothing don't looknatural nor sound natural
in a fog.
The whooping went on, and in about a minute I come a booming
down on a cut bank6 with smoky ghosts of big treeson it, and the
current throwed me off to the left and shot by, amongst a lot of
snags that fairly roared, the current was tear-ing by them so swift.
In another second or two it was solid white and still again.I
set perfectly still, then, listening to my heart thump, and Ireckon
I didn't draw a breath while it thumped a hundred.
I just give up, then.I knowed what the matter was.Thatcut
bank was an island, and Jim had gone down 'tother sideof it.It
warn't no tow-head, that you could float by in tenminutes.It had
the big timber of a regular island；it mightbe five or six mile
long and more than a half a mile wide.
I kept quiet, with my ears cocked, about fifteen minutes,
Ireckon.I was floating along, of course, four or five mile anhour；
but you don't ever think of that.No, you feel like youare laying
dead still on the water；and if a little glimpse of a snap slips
by, you don't think to yourself how fast you're go-ing, but you
catch your breath and think my！how that snag'stearing along.lf
you think it ain't dismal and lonesome outin a fog that way, by
yourself, in the night, you try it once— you'll see.
Next, for about a half an hour, I whoops now and then；atlast
I hears the answer a loog ways off, and tries to follow it, but
I couldn't do it, and directly I judged I'd got into a nestof
towheads, for I had little dim glimpses of them on bothsides of
me, sometimes just a narrow channel between；andsome that I couldn't
see, I knowed was there, because I'd hearthe wash of the current
against the old dead brush and trashthat hung over the banks.Well,
I warn't long losing thewhoops, down amongst the towheads；and I
only tried to chasethem a little while, anyway, because it was worse
than chas-ing a Jack-o-lantern.You never knowed a sound dodge
aroundso, and swap places so quick and so much.
I had to claw away from the bank pretty lively, four or
fivetimes, to keep from knocking the islands out of the river；
andso I judged the raft must be butting into the bank every nowand
then, or else it would get further ahead and clear out ofhearing—
it was floating a little faster than what I was.
Well, I seemed to be in the open river again, by-and-by, butouldn't hear no sign of a whoop nowheres.I reckonedJim had
fetched up on a snag, maybe, and it was all up withhim.I was good
and tired, so I laid down in the canoe andsaid I wouldn't bother
no more.I didn't want to go to sleep, of course；but I was so sleepy
I couldn't help it；so I thoughtI would take just one little cat-nap.
But I reckon it was more than a cat-nap, for when I wakedup
the stars was shining bright, the fog was all gone, and Iwas
spinning down a big bend stern first.First I didn't knowwhere I
was；I thought I was dreaming；and when things be-gun to come back
to me, they seemed to come up dim out oflast week.
It was a monstrous big river here, with the tallest and
thethickest kind of timber on both banks；just a solid wall, aswell
as I could see, by the stars.I looked away down stream, and seen
a blacK speck on the water.I took out after it；butwhen I got to
it it warn't nothing but a couple of saw-logsmade fast
together.Then I see another speck, and chasedthat；then another,
and this time I was right.It was the raft.
When I got to it Jim was setting there with his head downbetween
his knees, asleep, with his right arm hanging overthe steering
oar.The other oar was smashed off, and the raftwas littered up
with leaves and branches and dirt.So she'dhad a rough time.
I made fast and laid down under Jim's nose on the raft, and
begun to gap, 7 and stretch my fists out against Jim, andsays：
“Hello, Jim, have I been asleep？Why didn't you stir meup？”
“Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck？En you ain'dead—you
ain'drowned—you's back agin？It's too good fortrue, honey, it's
too good for true.Lemme look at you, chile, lemme feel o'you.No,
you ain'dead？you's back agin, 'liveen soun', jis de same ole
Huck—de same ole Huck, thanksto goodness！”
“What's the matter with you, Jim？You been a drinking？”
“Drinkin'？Has I ben a drinkin'？Has I had a chance tobe a
drinkin'？”
“Well, then, what makes you talk so wild？”
“How does I talk wild？”
“How？why, haint you been talking about my coming back, and
all that stuff, as if I'd been gone away？”
“ Huck — Huck Finn, you look me in de eye ；look me inde
eye.Hain't you ben gone away？”
“Gone away？Why, what in the nation do you mean？Ihain't been
gone anywheres.Where would I go to？”
“Well, looky here, boss, dey's sumf'n wrong, dey is.Is I me,
or who is I？Is I heah, or whah is I？Now dat's what Iwants to
know？”
“Well, I think you're here, plain enough, but I think you'reatangle-headed old fool, Jim.”
“I is, is I？Well you answer me dis.Didn't you tote outde
line in de canoe, fer to make fas'to de tow-head？”
“No, I didn't.What tow-head？I hain't seen no tow-head？”
“You hain't seen no tow-head？Looky here—didn't deline pull
loose en de raf'go a hummin'down de river, enleave you en de canoe
behine in de fog？”
“What fog？”
“Why de fog.De fog dat's ben aroun'all night.En didn'tyou
whoop, en didn't I whoop, tell we got mix'up in de is-lands en one
un us got los'en 'tother one was jis'as goodas los', 'kase he
didn'know whah he wuz？En didn't I bustup agin a lot er dem islands
en have a turrible time en mos'git drownded？Now ain'dat so, boss—
ain't it so？You an-swer me dat.”
“well, this is too many for me, Jim.I hain't seen no fog,
nor no islands, nor no troubles, nor nothing.I been settlinghere
talking with you all night till you went to sleep aboutten minutes
ago, and I reckon I done the same.You couldn'ta got drunk in that
time, so of course you've been dreaming.”
“ Dad fetch it, how is I gwyne to dream all dat in ten
min-utes？”
“Well, hang it all, you did dream it, because there didn'tany
of it happen.”
“But Huck, it's all jis'as plain to me as—”
“It don't make no difference how plain it is, there ain't
noth-ing in it.I know, because I've been here all the time.”
Jim didn't say nothing for about five minutes, but set
therestudying over it.Then he says：
“Well, den, I reck'n I did dream it, Huck；but dog mycats ef
it ain't de powerfullest dream I ever see.En I hain'tever had no
dream b'fo'dat's tired me like dis one.”
“Oh, well, that's all right, because a dream does tire abody
like everything, sometimes.But this one was a staving8dream—
tell me all about it, Jim.”
So Jim went to work and told me the whole thing rightthrough,
just as it happened, only he painted it up consider-able.Then he
said he must start in and“'terpret”it, becauseit was sent for
a warning.He said the first tow-head stoodfor a man that would
try to do us some good, but the cur-rent was another man that would
get us away from him.Thewhoops was warnings that would come to
us every now and
then, and if we didn't try hard to make out to understandthem
they'd just take us into bad luck, 'stead of keeping usout of it.The
lot of tow-heads was troubles we was going toget into withquarrelsome people and all kinds of mean folks, but if we minded
our business and didn't talk back and ag-gravate them, we would
pull through and get out of the fog and into the big clear river,
which was the free States, and wouldn't have no more trouble.
It had clouded up pretty dark just after I got onto the raft,
but it was clearing up again, now.
“Oh, well that's all interpreted well enough, as far as it
goes, Jim, ”I says；“but what does these things stand for？”
It was the leaves and rubbish on the raft, and the smashed
oar.You could see them first rate, now.
Jim looked at the trash, and then looked at me, and back at
the trash again.He had got the dream fixed so strong in his head
that be couldn't seem to shake it loose and get the facts back into
its place again, right away . But when he did get the thing
straightened around, he looked at me steady, without ever smiling,
and says：
“What do dey stan'for？I's gwyne to tell you.When I got all
wore out wid work, en wid de callin'for you, en went to sleep, my
heart wuz mos'broke bekase you wuz los', en I didn'k'yer no mo'what
become er me en de raf'.En when I wake up en fine you back agin',
all safe en soun', de tears come en I could a got down on my knees
en kiss'yo'foot I's so thankful.En all you wuz thinkin''bout wuz
how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie.Dat truck dah is
trash；en trash is people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren's
en makes 'em ashamed.”
Then he got up slow, and walked to the wigwam, 9 and went in
there without saying anything but that.But that was enough.It
made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to
take it back.
It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and
hombre myself to a n nigget—but I done it .and I warn't ever sorry
for it afterwards.neither.I didn't do him no moremear onwould
make him feel that way.
我們斷定，再有三個晚上，我們就會來到開羅。那是在伊利諾斯的南頭，俄亥俄河在此
匯合，我們要到的地方正是這里。我們準備把木筏賣了，搭上輪船，沿著俄亥俄河往上走，
到那些不買賣黑奴的自由洲去，這樣也就擺脫了是非之地啦①。
①諾頓版注：馬克•吐溫為什么沒有按照杰姆求得了自由那個原來的路子寫下去，
評論家們對此歷來都有爭論。據(jù)對手稿進行過研究的人說，馬克•吐溫寫到近第十六章結尾
處便停了下來，一擱筆，恐達兩年。后來續(xù)寫時，愛上了這樣一個寫法，即要抒寫密西西比
河上的自由氣氛，寫成一種時間之流，在時間之流的流逝中，能免于陸地上的殘酷與假冒偽
善這類的災難。比較本書第八章中的注釋。
后來，在第二個夜晚，開始起了霧，我們便朝一處沙洲劃去，把木筏系好，因為在霧中
行舟是不行的。不過，我坐在獨木小舟上，拉著一根纜繩，想把木筏拴在什么一個地方，卻
無處可拴，除了一些小小的嫩枝。我把纜繩套在那凹岸旁邊的一顆小樹上。不過正好有一個
急流，木筏猛地一沖，就把小樹連根拔了起來，而木筏也就往前漂去了。我見到迷霧正四面
八方聚攏來，只感到心里既不舒服，又發(fā)慌，至少有半分鐘動彈不得?！ь^一望，木筏
已經(jīng)無影無蹤。二十碼以外，就什么也望不清。我跳進了獨木小舟，跑到船尾，抄起槳來，
使勁往后一退。可是它動也不動。我一慌張，忘了解開繩索啦。我立起身來，解開了獨木
舟，可是我心慌意亂，兩只手抖抖的，弄得什么事也干不成。
船一開動，我就順著沙洲，朝著木筏，拼命追去。情況還算順利，不過，沙洲還不到六
十碼長，我剛竄過沙洲的末尾，眼看就一頭沖進了白茫茫一片濃濃的大霧之中了。我象個死
人一般，連自己正在往哪一個方向漂行也一點兒辨不清了。
我尋思，這樣一味地劃可不行。首先，我知道會撞在岸上、沙洲上或是別的什么東西上
面。我必須得坐著不動，隨著它漂?？墒前?，在這么一個關頭，偏偏要人家空有雙手不動
彈，叫人如何安得下心。我喊了一聲，又仔細地聽。我聽到，從下游那邊，隱隱約約地從某
處什么地方，遠遠傳來了微弱的喊聲。這下子，我的精神就上來了。我飛快地追趕它，一邊
又屏住氣仔細地聽。等到下一回聽到那喊聲的時候，我這才明白了自己并非是正對著它朝前
趕，而是偏到了右邊去了。等到再下一次，又偏到了左方——偏左也好，偏右也好，進展都
不大，因為我正在團團地亂轉，一會兒這一邊，一會兒那一邊，一會兒又回過頭來，可木筏
卻始終在朝著正前方走。
我心里但愿那個傻瓜會想得到敲響洋鐵鍋這樣一個辦法，可是他從沒有敲過一聲。叫我
最難受的，還是前后兩次喊聲間隙時聽不到一點兒聲音。啊，我一直在拼搏著，可猛聽得那
喊聲又硬是轉到我的身后去了。這下子真是把我搞胡涂了。準是別的什么人的喊聲吧，要不
然，那就是我的劃子轉過頭了。
我把槳一扔，但聽得喊聲又起。還是在我身后，只是換了個地方。喊聲不停地傳來，又
不停地更換地方，我呢，不停地答應。到后來，又轉到了我的前邊了。我知道，是水流把獨
木船的船頭轉到了朝下游的方向，只要那是杰姆的喊聲，并非是別的木筏上的人叫喊聲，那
我還是走對了。在沉沉迷霧中，我委實無法把聲音辨認清楚，因為在沉沉迷霧中，形體也
好，聲音也好，都和原來的本色不一樣。
喊聲繼續(xù)響著。大約一分鐘光景，我突然撞到一處陡峭的河岸上，但見岸上一簇簇黑黝
黝、鬼影森森的大樹。河水把我一沖，沖到了左邊，河水飛箭似地往前直沖，在斷枝殘椏中
一邊咆哮著，一邊夾著它們朝前猛沖。
不一會兒，又只見白茫茫的一片，四周一派寂靜。我就靜靜地坐著，紋絲不動，聽著自
己心跳的聲音。據(jù)我估計，心跳了一百下，我連一口氣也沒有吸。
在那個時刻，我算是死了心了。我明白那究竟是怎么一回事了。那陡峭的河岸是一座小
島。杰姆已經(jīng)到了小島的另一邊了。這里可不是什么沙洲，十分鐘便能漂過的。這里有一般
小島上那種大樹。小島可能有五、六英里長，半英里多寬。
估計有十五分鐘時間，我一聲不響，豎起了耳朵聽。我當然是在漂著，我估計，一小時
漂四五英里路，只是你并不覺得自己是在水上漂。不。你只覺得自己死了一般地躺在水面
上。要是一眼瞥見一段枝椏滑過，也不會想到自己正飛快地往前走，而只是屏住了呼吸，心
里想著，天啊，這段樹枝往前沖得有多快啊。要是你想知道，一個人，在深夜里，四下一片
迷霧，此情此景，會有多凄冷，有多孤單，那你不妨也來試一試——那你就準會知道。
隨后大概有半個鐘點光景，我時不時地喊幾聲，到后來，終于聽到遠處傳來了回答的聲
音，我就使勁追蹤，可是不成。我推斷，我這里陷進了沙洲窩啦。因為在我的左右兩旁，我
都隱隱約約瞥見了沙洲的景色。有的時候，只是在兩岸中間一條狹窄的水道上漂。有些是我
看不見的。只是我知道自己是在那里，因為我聽到了掛在河岸水面上的枯樹殘枝之類的東西
被流水撞擊時發(fā)出的聲音。沒有好久，我在陷進了沙洲窩里以后，連喊聲也聽不見了。我只
是隔一會兒試著追蹤一下。因為實際情況比追蹤鬼火還要糟糕。聲音如此地東躲西閃，難以
捉摸，地點又如此變得飛快，而且面廣量大，這些可真是聞所未聞的。
有四五回，我非得用手利索地推開河岸，免得猛然撞上高出水面的小島。因此我斷定，
我們那個木筏子一定也是時不時撞到了河岸上，不然的話，它會漂到老遠去，聽也聽不見了
——木筏子與我的小舟比起來要漂得快一些。
再后來，我仿佛又進到了大河寬闊的河面上了。不過，到處也聽不到一絲絲喊聲了。我
猜想，會不會杰姆撞到了一塊礁石上，遭到了什么不測呢。我這時候也夠累的了，便在小舟
上躺了下來，跟自己說，別再煩什么神了吧。我當然并非存心要睡覺，不過實在困得沒法
了，所以我想就先打個瞌睡吧。
不過大概不只是打了個瞌睡。我醒來時，只見星星亮晶晶，迷霧已經(jīng)煙消云散，我架的
小舟舟尾朝前，正飛快地沿著一處大的河灣往下游走。開頭，我還不知道自己身在何處，還
以為自己正在做夢呢。等到過去的事慢慢想起來以后，依稀仿佛象是上星期發(fā)生的事。
這里已是一片浩瀚的大河，兩岸參天的大樹濃濃密密，星光照處，仿佛是一堵堵結結實
實的城墻。我朝下游遠處望去，只見水面上有一個黑點，我就朝它追去。一走近，原來只是
捆在一起的幾根圓木。接著看到了另一個黑點，追上去，又是另一個黑點，這一回可是追得
對了，正是我們自己的木筏子。
我上去的時候，杰姆正坐在那里，腦袋往兩腿中間垂著，是睡著了，右胳膊還在掌舵的
槳上耷拉著。另一柄槳已經(jīng)震裂了，木筏子上到處是樹葉、枝椏和灰塵。這樣看來，他過去
的那段時間也充滿了風險。
我把小劃子系好，在木筏上杰姆跟前躺下，打起了呵欠。
我伸出拳頭對杰姆捅了桶。我說：
“喂，杰姆，我剛才睡著了么？你為什么沒有把我叫醒??？”
“天啊，難道是你么，哈克？你沒有死啊——你沒有煙(淹)死啊——你又活過來了
么？這可是太好了，乖乖，難道會有這樣的霍(好)事？讓我好好看一看你，伙計啊，讓我
墨墨(摸摸)你。是啊，你可沒有死，你回來了，活蹦活跳的。還是哈克那個老樣子，謝天
謝地！”
“你怎么啦，杰姆？你喝醉了么？”
“喝醉？我喝醉了么？我難道還有時間喝酒么？”
“好，那么為什么你說話說得沒頭沒腦？”
“我又哪里說得沒頭沒腦？”
“哪里？哈，你不是在說什么我回來了，如此等等一類的話，仿佛我真的走開過似的?！?BR> “哈克——哈克•芬，你看著我，你看著我，難道你沒有走開過？”
“走開？你這是什么意思？我哪兒也沒有去啊。我能到哪里去??？”
“嗯，聽我說，老弟，該是什么地方出了岔兒吧，一定是的。我還是我么？，要不然，
我又是誰呢？我是在這兒么？要不然，我又在哪里呢？這我倒要弄個一青(清)二粗
(楚)?！?BR> “嗯，我看嘛，你是在這里，明明白白的。不過我看啊，杰姆，你可是個一腦袋漿糊的
老傻瓜?！?BR> “我是么？難道我是么？你回答我這個問題。你有沒有坐著小劃子，牽著繩子，想把劃
子拴在沙舟(洲)上？”
“沒有，我沒有。什么沙洲？我沒有見到什么沙洲啊?！?BR> “你沒有見到過什么沙舟(洲)？聽我說——那根繩子不是拉松了么？木筏子不是在河
上順著水嗚嗚地沖下來了么？不是把你和那只小舟給撂在大午(霧)之中么？”
“什么大霧？”
“連大午(霧)都——大午(霧)下了整整一個晚上。難道你不是喊了么？我不是喊了
么？喊到后來，我們便被那些小島弄得暈頭轉向，我們一個迷了路，另一個也迷了路，因為
誰也不知道自己究竟是在哪里。難道我沒有在那些小島上東撞西撞，吃足了苦頭，差一點兒
給煙(淹)死？你說是不是這樣，老弟——是不是這樣？你回答我這個問題?！?BR> “哈，這可叫我太為難了，杰姆。我沒有見到什么大霧，沒有見到什么島嶼，沒有遇到
什么麻煩，什么都沒有。我在這兒坐著，一整夜在跟你說話來著，只是在十分鐘前你才睡
覺，我呢，大概也是這樣。在那個時間里，你不可能喝醉啊，這樣說來，你肯定是在做夢
吧。”
“真他媽的怪了，我怎么能十分中(鐘)里夢見這么多一大堆的事??？”
“啊，他媽的，你準定是做夢來著，因為根本沒有發(fā)生過其中任何一件事啊?！?BR> “不過哈克，對我來說，這一切是冥冥(明明)白白的——”
“不管多么明明白白，也沒有用，根本沒有這回事啊。這我明白。我自始至終，一直在
這里嘛。”
杰姆有五分鐘之久什么話都沒有說，只是坐在那里，想啊想的。接下來，他說：
“嗯，這么說來，我看我是做了夢了，哈克。不過啊，這可真是我平生一場極大極大的
惡夢了。我平生也從沒有做過這么把我類(累)死的夢哩?！?BR> “哦，不錯，這可沒有什么，因為做夢有時候也確實會累人。不過嘛，這場夢啊，可真
是無比美妙的夢哩——把夢的經(jīng)過，一五一十全都對我說一說，杰姆。”
這樣，杰姆就把全部經(jīng)過從頭到尾說了一遍，跟實際發(fā)生過的事說得一模一樣，只是加
油加醋描畫了一番。他隨后說，他得“詳一詳”這個夢，因為這是上天降下來的一個警告
啊。他說，那第一個沙洲指的是存心對我們做好事的人，可是，那流水指的是另一個人，此
人存心要叫我們遇不到那個好人。喊聲呢，指的是一些警告，警告我們會有時候遇到些什
么，要是我們不能對這些警告的含義弄個明白，那這些警告的喊聲非但不能幫我們逢兇化
吉，反倒會叫我們遭殃。至于沙洲的數(shù)目有多少，指的是我們會有多少回跟愛惹事生非的家
伙和各種各樣卑劣之徒吵架；不過只要我們管好自己本身的事，不去跟人家頂嘴，把事情弄
僵，我們也能頂過去，平安無事；能沖出重重濃霧，漂到寬敞的大河之上，那就是到了解放
了黑奴的自由州，從此無災無難啦。
我上木筏的時候，起了云，天挺黑，這會兒倒是又開朗起來了。
“哦，好啊，杰姆，這樣就把夢全都‘詳’得個清清楚楚了，”我說，“不過嘛，這些
個事情又指的是什么呢？”
我指的是木筏上的樹葉子和那些破破爛爛的東西，還有那支撞裂了的槳。這會兒，這些
能看得清清楚楚了。
杰姆看了一眼那一堆骯臟的東西，接著對我看了一眼，然后又看了一眼那一堆骯臟的東
西。做過了一場夢這樣的觀念，在他的腦子里印得太深了，擺脫不掉，一時間無法把發(fā)生過
的事重新理出個頭路來。不過嘛，等到他把事情理清楚了，他便定神看著我，連一點兒笑容
也沒有，說道：
“這些個事情指的是什么嘛？我要對你說的。我使勁劃，使勁喊你，累得沒得命了。睡
的時候，因為丟失了你，我心都率(碎)了，對自己，對木筏子，我也不放在心上了。一醒
來，發(fā)現(xiàn)你可回來了，一切平安無事，我禁不住流出了眼淚，為了謝天謝地，我恨不得雙膝
跪下，吻你的腳。可是啊，你心里想的只是怎樣編一個荒(謊)來糊弄老杰姆。那邊一堆殘
枝敗葉是骯臟的東西。骯臟的東西也就是人家把臟東西往朋友的腦袋上道(倒)，叫人家為
他害少(臊)的人嘛。”
然后他慢慢地站起身來，往窩棚走去，走了進去，一路之上，不則一聲?？墒沁@就夠
了。我只覺得自己那么卑鄙，簡直想伏下身來親他的腳，求他收回他剛才說的話。
足足經(jīng)過了十五分鐘，我才鼓足了勇氣，在一個黑奴面前低頭認錯——不過我總算認了
錯，并且從此以后，對此從未后悔過。從此以后，我再也沒有卑鄙地作弄過他。我要是早知
道他會那么難過，我也決不會干那樣的事。