“顽童”汤姆·索亚

马克・吐温，一提到他的名字，人们就会想起汤姆・索亚和哈克贝利・费恩这两个可爱的儿童形象。脍炙人口的幽默与讽刺，以及对儿童心理世界的精细刻画，使马克・吐温笔下“顽童”的文学形象一百年来饮誉世界，而《 汤姆・索亚历险记》也因此成为全世界最受欢迎的儿童小说之一。那个顽皮、放荡不羁、爱恶作剧、想法奇特、天真烂漫的汤姆・索亚已成为人们心中的经典形象。

故事发生在19世纪上半叶密西西比河畔的一个普通小镇上。汤姆・索亚是一个调皮的孩子，他和同父异母的弟弟一起接受波莉姨妈的监护。他总能想出各种各样的恶作剧，让波莉姨妈无可奈何，而他也总能想出办法来躲避惩罚。镇上有个孩子叫哈克贝利・费恩。他的父亲总是酗酒，因此他跑出来自己生活。他看起来和文明社会格格不入，大人们都不喜欢他，可他和汤姆却成了好朋友。最近汤姆事事不顺，他喜欢的女孩贝基生了他的气，不再理睬他，波莉姨妈也总是呵斥他，他觉得没人关心他。汤姆决定永远离开这个伤心地。于是他约了哈克和村上的另一个孩子计划乘船去一个海岛，开始他们的冒险旅程……

Tom now felt hopeless again.He felt that no one cared about him anymore. He didn’t want to be a bad boy； it’s just that people gave him no choice. How can someone be good without love?So Tom decided that it wasn’t his fault that he was the way he was. It was everyone else’s fault. He left the village， imaging that he would never return. After walking quite a long way，he found his good friend，Joe Harper. He seemed to be feeling pretty terrible himself. When Tom told him that he was planning on traveling the world looking for new and exciting adventures，Joe said that he had the same idea. He was angry because his mother had hit him for no reason. He didn’t feel that she loved him or wanted him anymore， so he ran away.

The boys decided that since they had both lost their families，they would have to be a family now. Just the two of them：Tom and Joe， friends and brothers forever. So， now they had to plan what they would do next. After a few moments， they agreed to become pirates.

Near the village，at the widest part of the Mississipi River， was a small island，about one mile wide. Tom and Joe decided to make this their new home. It was totally empty of people and there were lots of trees， so no one would be able to see them from the shore. It was the perfect secret hiding place for pirates.

While looking at the island， they met Huckleberry Finn. He didn’t have family either， so they asked him if he’d like to become a pirate too. He agreed to join them very happily.

They planned to meet at 12 o’clock that night and take a small boat over to the island；this way，no one could see them going there. They were all to bring food and any other useful supplies to help them live on the island.

Tom brought some meat， a compass，and his knife with him that evening. He waited for his friends up on a hill above the river. It was a very quiet night，so he started to whistle.Then he heard someone whistle the same song somewhere down t he hill. Tom tried whistling again， and someone said： “Hey!Who’s that?”

“I’m Tom Sawyer，the famous Black Pirate! And who am I talking to ?”

“Huck Finn，the Red-Handed and Joe Harper，the Destroyer of the Seas.” These were all names that Tom had found in one of his favorite books .

“Do you know the secret word?”

“Blood !”

“OK，wait for me，I’m coming down.”Tom said as he started walking down the hill.

Once they were together，they looked at what everyone had brought.Joe had some meat with him and Huck had brought his tobacco.

Seeming happy with this，the Black Pirate said:“OK， men. Now we need something to build a fire with.”

They decided to steal some firewood from one of the riverboats. This would be pretty easy to do now that most of the workers were in the village， but just in case someone had stayed behind to guard the boat， they were very careful when they aboard.

Once they had the firewood， the pirates then found the little boat that would take them to their island.Tom stood at the front of the boat and gave orders to the other boys：“OK，let’s go faster now. All right. A little to the right. Wait， not a little to the left. Watch out for those rocks up ahead!”

At one point they could see the village they would leave forever. Tom was happy to be leaving it and everyone he ever knew. He thought about his aunt and Becky， and he wished they could see him now， being so brave.

A couple of hours later，they landed on the shore of the island. The first thing they did was hide their boat and find a place to keep their food safe from the animals. They decided not to build a shelter for themselves，as they liked the idea of sleeping outside，like real pirates.

Later that evening，after dinner， they relaxed around a fire. Huck thought this was the perfect opportunity to smoke， so he took out his tobacco and started rolling a cigarette. The other two pirates watched him and wished that they knew how to smoke， and then they could really be like pirates.

Huck lay back and began to smoke. After a couple of minutes of silence he asked：“So， what exactly do pirates do?”

Tom was the first to answer：“Well， Huck. They steal treasure from ships and kill the sailors，except for the women. They don’t kill women； they steal them along with the treasure， if they’re pretty.”

“And they wear beautiful clothing from all over the world，”said Joe.

Huck looked at his own clothes.“My clothing’s not very beautiful，” he said .“Where can I get some better ones?”

“Don’t worry， Huck. We’ll have plenty of opportunities to find new clothes once we start to travel.”

Soon they all became tired， but the only person to really sleep was Huckleberry.The other two pirates were feeling a little guilty about having stolen the meat， the boat and the firewood.They agreed never to take anything of anybody else’s in the future.

汤姆现在又感到绝望极了。他感到再也没有一个人关心他了。他不想成为一个坏孩子，只是人们没有给他机会。一个得不到爱的人怎么会变好呢？因此，汤姆认定今天走上这条路不是他的错。那是其他人的错。他离开了村子，并想象自己永远不再回来。走了好长一段路后，他碰到了他的好朋友乔・哈波。乔似乎也在苦恼之中。汤姆告诉他，自己正计划环游世界以寻找新鲜刺激的冒险时，乔说他也有同样的念头。他很气恼，因为他的妈妈无缘无故地揍了他一顿。他觉得她不爱他了，也不需要他了，因此就从家里逃了出来。

两个孩子认为既然他们俩都已没了家，现在他们得组成一个家。这个家只有他们两个人：汤姆和乔，永远的朋友和兄弟。因此，现在他们必须计划好下一步要干什么。片刻之后，他们同意去当海盗。

在村庄附近，密西西比河最宽广的部分，有一个小岛，约一英里宽。汤姆和乔决定在那儿建立他们的新家。那儿荒无人烟，并且树木繁茂，因此，没有人能从岸上看到他们。对于海盗来说，那是一个理想的秘密藏身之地。

在察看海岛时，他们遇见了哈克贝利・费恩。他也没有家，因此，他们问他是否也愿意成为一名海盗。他愉快的答应加入他们的行列。

他们计划在夜里十二点会面，并乘小船到那个小岛上；这样的话，没有人看见他们去那儿。他们打算带上食物和别的有用的物品，以便在海岛上生存下来。

汤姆那晚带了一些肉，一个罗盘，一把小刀。他在河边的一座小山上等着他的朋友。这是个非常宁静的夜晚，于是他吹起了口哨。接着，他听见山下的某个地方有人吹着同样的歌曲。汤姆又试着吹口哨时，听见有人说：“喂！谁呀？”

“我是汤姆・索亚，著名的黑衣侠盗！来者何人？”

“血手大盗哈克・费恩和海上霸王乔・哈波。”所有这些名字都是汤姆从他最爱看的一本书中找到的。

“你知道暗号吗？”

“血！”

“好，等我，我就下来。”汤姆说着就开始向山下走去。

他们一碰面，就查看每个人所带的东西。乔带了一些肉，哈克则带来了他的烟草。

黑衣侠盗对这一切好像很高兴，他说：“好了，伙计们，现在我们还需要生火的东西。”

他们决定去一艘轮船上偷取一些木材。这是件很容易的事情，因为大部分船工都在村子里，但是万一有人留下来护船的话，他们上船时就得非常小心了。

海盗们刚偷到木材，就发现了一条可以将他们渡到他们岛上的小船。汤姆站在船头向其余两个发号施令：“好，现在我们快速前进。好，偏右一点。等等，不要偏左。当心前面那些礁石！”

有一瞬间，他们能看见他们将要永远离开的村庄。汤姆很高兴离开它和那些自己曾经熟识的每一个人。他想起了他的姨妈和贝基，他希望她们能看见他现在是如此勇敢。

几个小时后，他们在小岛的岸边下了船。他们做的第一件事就是藏好他们的船并寻找一个储藏食物以防动物偷吃的好地方。他们决定不为自己修建住所，因为他们喜欢露宿这个主意，就像真正的海盗一样。

那天晚上的晚些时候，吃过晚饭，他们围在火旁休息，哈克认为这是个千载难逢的吸烟的机会，于是，他拿出他的烟草开始卷烟吸。另外两个海盗注视着他，希望自己也知道怎样抽烟，那样他们就真的像海盗了。

哈克向后靠着，开始抽烟。几分钟的沉寂之后他问道：“那么，海盗到底做些什么呢？”

汤姆第一个作了回答：“嗯，哈克，他们从轮船上偷财宝并杀死海员，女人除外，他们不杀女人。如果她们漂亮，他们就把她们和那些珠宝一起掳过来。”

“而且他们穿着世界各地的漂亮衣服，”乔说道。

哈克看了看自己的衣服。“我的衣服不太漂亮，”他说。“我能从哪儿弄到好点的衣服呢？”

“别担心，哈克。一旦我们开始旅行，我们将有很多机会找到新衣服。”

很快他们都困了，但真正睡着的只有哈克贝利一个人。其余的两名海盗因为偷肉、偷船和偷木材而感到有点愧疚。他们商定今后决不再拿别人的东西。

（晓 倩 选译）