Tom Sawyer And The Fence
Story by Mark Twain
Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young, the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom, and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above, it was green with vegetation, and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.
Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence and all gladness left him, a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did again; compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of un-white-washed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged. Jim came skipping out at the gate with a tin pail, and singing “Buffalo Gals.” Bringing water from the town pump had always been hateful work in Tom’s eyes before, but now it did not strike him so. He remembered that there was company at the pump. White, mulatto, and Negro boys and girls were always there waiting their turns, resting, trading playthings, quarrelling, fighting, skylarking. And he remembered that although the pump was only a hundred and fifty yards off, Jim never got back with a bucket under an hour - and even then somebody generally had to go after him. Tom said:
“Say, Jim, I’ll fetch the water if you’ll whitewash some.”
Jim shook his head and said:
“Can’t, Mars Tom. Ole missis, she tole me I got to go an’ git dis water an’ not stop foolin’ roun’ wid anybody. She says she spec’ Mars Tom gwine to ax me to whitewash, an’ so she tole me to go ’long an ‘tend to my own business - she ‘lowed she’d ‘tend to de whitewashin’.”
“Oh, never you mind she said, Jim. That’s the way she always talks. Gimme the bucket - I won't be gone only a minute. She won’t every know.”
“Oh, I dasn’t, Mars Tom. Ole missis she’d take an’ tar de head off’n me. ‘Deed she would.”
“She! She never licks anybody - whacks ‘em over the head with her thimble - and who cares for that, I’d like to know. She talks awful, but talk don’t hurt - anyways, it don’t if she don’t cry. Jim, I’ll give you a marvel. I’ll give you a white alley!”
Jim began to waver.
“White alley, Jim! And it’s a bully taw.”
“My! Dat’s a mighty gay marvel. I tell you! But Mars Tom, I’s powerful ‘fraid ole missis -”
“And besides, if you will I’ll show you my sore toe.”
Jim was only human - this attraction was too much for him. He put down his pail, took the white alley, and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage was being unwound. In another moment he was flying down the street with his pail and a tingling rear, Tom was whitewashing with vigour, and Aunt Polly was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eye.
But Tom’s energy did not last. He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day, and his sorrows multiplied. Soon the free boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him having to work - the very thought of it burned him like fire. He got out his worldly wealth and examined it - bits of toys, marbles, and trash; enough to buy an exchange of work, maybe, but not enough to buy so much as half an hour of pure freedom. So he returned his straightened means to his poke, and gave up the idea of trying to buy the boys. At this dark and hopeless moment an inspiration burst upon him! Nothing less than a great, magnificent inspiration.
He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work. Ben Rogers hove in sight presently - the very boy, of all boys, whose ridicule he had been dreading. Ben’s gait was the hop-skip-and-jump - proof enough that his heart was light and his anticipations were high. He was eating an apple, and giving a long melodious whoop, at intervals followed by a deep-toned ding-dong, ding-dong, for he was personating a steam-boat. As he drew near, he slackened speed, took the middle of the street, leaned far over to starboard and rounded-to ponderously and with laborious pomp and circumstance - for he was personating the Big Missouri, and considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water. He was boat and captain and engine bells combined, so he had to imagine himself standing on his own hurricane-deck giving the orders and executing them:
“Stop her, sir! Ting-a-ling-ling!” The headway ran almost out, and he drew up slowly toward the sidewalk.
“Ship up to back! Ting-a-ling-ling!” His arms straightened and stiffened down his sides.
“Set her back on the stabboard! Ting-a-ling-ling! Chow-ch-chow-ow!” His right hand, meantime, describing stately circles - for it was representing a forty-foot wheel.
“Let her go back on the labboard! Ting-a-ling-ling! Chow-ch-chow-ow!” The left hand began to describe circles.
“Stop the stabborad! Ting-a-ling-ling! Stop the labboard! Come ahead on the stabboard! Stop her! Let your outside turn over slow! Ting-a-ling-ling! Chow-ch-chow-ow! Get out that head line. Lively now! Come - out with the spring-line - what’re you about there? Take a turn around that stump with the bight of it! Stand by that stage, now - let her go! Done with the engines, sir! Ting-a-ling-ling! Sht! Sht! Sht!”
Tom went on whitewashing - paid no attention to the steam-boat. Ben stared a moment and then said:
“Hi-yi! You're up a stump, ain’t you?”
No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist; then he gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result, as before. Ben ranged up alongside him. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he stuck to his work. Ben said:
“Hello, old chap, you got to work, hey?”
Tom wheeled suddenly and said:
“Why, it’s you, Ben! I warn’t noticing.”
“Say - I’m going in a -swimming, I am. Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d druther work - wouldn’t you? Course you would!”
Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said:
“What do you call work?”
“Why, ain’t that work?”
Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly:
“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Oh, come now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?”
The brush continued to move.
“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth - stepped back to note the effect - added a touch here and there - criticized the effect again - Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said:
“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom Considered, was about to consent; but he altered his mind:
“No-no-I reckon it wouldn’t hardly do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly’s awful particular about this fence - right here on the street, you know - but if it was the back fence, I wouldn’t mind, and she wouldn’t. Yes, she’s awful particular about this fence; it’s got to be done very careful; I recon there ain’t one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it the way it’s got to be done.”
“No-is that so? Oh, come now - lemme try. Only just a little - I’d let you, if you was me, Tom.”
“Ben, I’d like to, honest injun; but Aunt Polly - well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn’t let him; Sid wanted to do it, and she wouldn’t let Sid. Now, don’t you see how I’ fixed? If you was to tackle this fence and anything was to happen to it --”
“Oh, shucks, I’ll be just as careful. Now lemme try. Say - I’ll give you the core of my apple.”
“Well, here - No, Ben, no you don’t. I’m afeared --”
“I’ll give you all of it!”
Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangled his legs munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents. There was no lack of material; boys happened along every little while; they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was fagged out, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy fisher for a kite in good repair; and when he played out, Johnny Miller bought in for a dead rat and a string to sing it with - and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling wealth. He had, besides the things before mentioned, twelve marbles, part of a jew’s-harp, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a spoon cannon, a key that wouldn’t unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, a kitten with only one eye, a brass door-knob, a dog-collar-but no dog - the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange-peel, and a dilapidated window-sash.
He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while - plenty of company - and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, he would have bankrupted every boy in the village.
© Copyright, 2010 Main Street Magazine/Rain Enterprises
As seen in the October Issue of Main Street Magazine.
Printed in Canada, ISSN: 1920-4299 by Rain Enterprises
To find out how to receive your free copy of MSM check out
www.mainstreetmagazine.net
Karma-Vore
Thanksgiving dinner, with its traditional turkey as the main course, can be difficult for vegetarians. Here are some ideas for your vegetarian Thanksgiving menu, from appetizers to dessert.
Enjoy!
Appetizers
Autumn Salad
Or fall salad, if you prefer. A colourful and flavourful salad to enjoy when the weather changes and the leaves begin to fall.
Yield | 6 servings |
Time | 45 minutes |
Tools |
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Ingredients |
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Directions | Combine fennel, pomegranate, and oranges in bowl. Whisk the juice, vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper in the other bowl, pour over fruit, toss, and let marinate on the counter for 30 minutes. Strain through colander into the original dressing bowl. Add watercress to the dressing, toss, arrange on platter, top with fruit/fennel, and serve. |
Notes | Adapted from Myra Kornfeld's The Voluptuous Vegan, in which this is called Fennel, |
Wild Rice and Cranberry Soup
An elegant soup made of wild rice and cranberries laced with sherry.
Yield | 4-6 servings |
Time | 1½ hours |
Tools |
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Ingredients |
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Directions | Rinse the wild rice, then place in heavy pan with water and salt over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 45-50 minutes, until slightly chewy. Drain and set aside. In the Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter, then add carrot, celery, and onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes, until carrot is tender. Stir in flour, then gradually add stock, whisking constantly. Increase heat to medium-high and continue whisking for about 5 minutes, until thickened. Add rice and cranberries, lower heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes, until cranberries are Add milk and sherry and heat through, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, and serve hot, topped with parsley. |
Notes | You can replace the entire first step with 1½ c of leftover wild rice. Adapted from A Beautiful Bowl of Soup: The best vegetarian recipes, by Paulette Mitchell. Wild Rice-Cranberry Soup is featured on the cover to the left. |
Bread
Dinner Rolls
I find that the nicest meals are always nicer with some bread in my hand, preferably warm from the oven. We don't have a nice bakery nearby, so I have to make my own rolls, and this is the simplest recipe I've found.
Yield | 12 rolls |
Time | 3 hours (including 2+ hours rising time) |
Tools |
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Ingredients |
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Directions | Combine yeast with water and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in milk, 4 T butter, sugar, egg, and salt. Slowly add 2 c flour and beat for 1 minute. Gradually add another 1½ c flour or more, until dough is still moist but no longer sticky. Turn out onto floured counter and knead 10 minutes, until smooth and stretchy. Form into a ball. Oil the other bowl, place dough ball in it, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap, place in warm spot, and let rise until doubled in size - at least 1 hour. Knead for one minute, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 36 equal pieces and roll into small balls.* Using a bit of the remaining 2 T butter to grease the muffin tin and enough plastic wrap to cover it. Place three dough balls in each muffin cup, cover loosely, and let rise until doubled, at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375. Melt the rest of the butter and brush the rolls. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. |
Notes | *At this point you can freeze the dough. When you're ready to use it, let defrost, then follow above directions to let rise the second time, etc. Adapted from Jay Weinstein's The Everything Vegetarian Cookbook, in which they are called "Simple Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls." |
Main Course
Ratatouille
The perfect recipe to enjoy fresh summer vegetables and herbs; it can be served half a dozen different ways.
Yield | 6 servings |
Time | 1¼ hours |
Tools |
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Ingredients |
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Directions | Slice the eggplant, sprinkle both sides of each piece generously with salt, and lay out on platters or plates. After 45 minutes,* rinse off the salt, pat dry, and cube. Heat olive oil over medium heat, add garlic and onion, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add eggplant and herbs, stir well, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until eggplant is tender. Stir in zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, and black pepper. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes, until zucchini and peppers are cooked. |
Notes | * Salting eggplant removes the bitter flavour, but you have to be careful. If you leave the salt on for too long, it will permeate the eggplant and - unless you're wild about salt - ruin the ratatouille. The general rule of thumb is that smaller eggplants are less bitter, so very small ones only need 30 minutes or so of salting, while very large ones may take up to an hour. The eggplant is ready when several tablespoons of tan-colored liquid have oozed out of each slice. This recipe is quite versatile. It can be served hot, warm, or cold. It can stand alone as a stew; cover pasta, rice, polenta, mashed potatoes, or toast; or fill a crepe or sandwich. I once tried it with some leftover pesto - delicious! The ingredients are also pretty flexible - just be sure that they are fresh! |
Side
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Make the most of the sweet potatoes available in winter - these stuffed sweet potatoes are sweet and buttery.
Yield | 8 servings |
Time | at least 1 hour |
Tools |
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Ingredients |
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Directions | Preheat oven to 450. Clean sweet potatoes, dry, and place on baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes to an hour, until soft. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat, add onions, and sauté until clear - 8 to 10 minutes. Cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise, then scoop out most of the flesh, leaving at least ¼ inch along the entire skin. Combine sweet potato flesh with onion, ginger, raisins, prunes, salt, and pepper. Spoon into sweet potato skins* and bake until very hot, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately. |
Notes | *If you want to make the sweet potatoes ahead of time, you can cover and refrigerate them at this point and then bake for 30 minutes. Adapted from The Moosewood Collective's Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates: Festive meals for holidays and special occasions. It's part of the vegetarian Christmas menu and called "Stuffed Yams" despite a note about actually using sweet potatoes rather than yams |
Dessert
Cranberry-Nut Bread
A sweet-tart bread that is equally good for dessert, tea, or breakfast.
Yield | 1 loaf or 18 muffins |
Time | 1½ hours |
Tools |
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Ingredients |
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Directions | Preheat oven to 375° and butter/flour the bread pan or muffin tin. Combine cranberries, white sugar, orange zest, and orange juice in saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the berries have burst and the sugar has dissolved. Cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy, beat in one egg at a time until smooth, then add the buttermilk. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients except nuts. Stir half of the dry mixture into the sugar/egg mixture, add the cranberries, stir in remaining dry mixture, then fold in nuts. Don't over mix. Transfer batter to bread pan or muffin tins and bake about 70 minutes, until brown on top and dry in the middle. Cool slightly and serve. |
Notes | Adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. |
© Copyright,
As seen in the October Issue of Main Street Magazine.
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