★ This collection carefully selects twenty-two mark Twain novellas, such as "Million Pound Sterling", "The Famous Jumping Frog in Galli vilas County", "Running for Governor", "The Man Who Corrupted Fort Hedley", etc., each of which is a representative work that can concentrate on the writer's writing style and language characteristics.
★ World Literature Masterpiece Series, aesthetic design, exquisite printing.
【Introduction】
A destitute clerk, American lad Henry Adams, had an adventure in London. Two rich brothers in London made a bet to lend Henry an impenetrable million dollar bill to see how he would end up in a month. When the one-month deadline came, Henry not only did not starve or be arrested, but became a rich man and won the heart of a beautiful lady. With its slightly exaggerated artistic techniques, the article shows irony and humor, exposes the money-worshiping ideas of British society in the early 20th century, and is an important work that cannot be ignored in mark Twain's selection, and is a quite classic short story.
【About the Author】
Mark Twain
American writer and orator, whose real name is Samuel Rand Hen clement. Born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, he lost his father at a young age, had to abandon school to earn a living due to poverty, and worked as an apprentice in a printing house, a newspaper boy, a typesetter, a sailor, a steamship driver, and a newspaper reporter. In 1865, under the pseudonym "Mark Twain", he published the famous work "The Infamous Jumping Frog of Galivilla County", and he devoted his life to writing novels such as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", "The Prince and the Poor Child", as well as the short stories "Million Pounds", "Running for Governor", "The Man Who Corrupted Fort Hadley", etc. He was one of the earliest writers in the history of American literature to write in purely spoken American language, pioneered a generation of literary styles, and was called "the father of American literature" by the American novelist Faulkner, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the famous poet Thomas Eliot called "Lincoln in American literature".
【Content Appreciation】
Galivilla County famous jumping frog
A friend wrote to me from the east and asked me to visit the kind and talkative Old Mr. Simon Wheeler to hear from my friend's friend Reunion. I followed his instructions to visit, and the story written below is the result of this visit. There is still a mystery in my heart, and I always feel that the so-called Reunion Smiley is a mr. Ulrich, and that my friend does not know such a figure at all; probably he guesses that if I ask Mr. Wheeler about him, it will remind him of his boring Jim Smiley, and he will open the conversation box and bring out some infuriating memories of the man, long and annoying, of no benefit to me, and in vain annoy me to death. If my friend's ruse is like this, it turns out to be a success.
When I went to visit Simon Wheeler, I found him napping comfortably by the fire in the bar room of a collapsing hotel in the declining town of an Amquil, and I saw that he was a fat and bald man, with an amiable gentle and simple expression on his idle countenance. He woke up and said hello to me. I told him that a friend of mine had entrusted me to visit a dear companion of his youth named Reunion Smiley, Pastor Reunion Smerley, a young pastor of the Evangelical Order, and that my friend had heard that he had lived in the town of the Anchir mining district for a time. I also said that Mr. Wheeler would be grateful if he could tell me a little bit about the Reverend Reunion.
Simon Wheeler forced me into a corner, stopped me in his chair, and sat down, chattering about the monotonous story that followed. He never smiled, did not frown, did not even change his voice, and always maintained the tone of the thin water he used to begin to speak, and never showed the slightest vigor; but in his narration of this lengthy story, from beginning to end, there was always a touching seriousness and sincerity, which made me clearly realize that although he did not think that there was anything ridiculous or funny about his story, he regarded it as an important matter, and admired the two protagonists there. Think they are wizards of wit. I let him talk casually and didn't bother him once.
Reverend Reunion, well, Reverend Reunion—well, there was a guy here before, called Jim Smiley, and it was in the winter of 1849—maybe spring of 1850—somehow I don't remember exactly, but the reason I think it was always those two years anyway was because I remembered that when he first came to this town, the big water sink had not yet been built. But in any case, you can't find a stranger here than him, and no matter what happens to him, if he finds someone to bet on the other person, he will make a bet with the other person; if he can't find it, he will change to the other side. He gambles as much as others like — as long as he can make a bet with others, he's satisfied. But despite this, he was still lucky, and it was simply too good to be true. It's almost always time for him to win the bet. He's always single-mindedly looking for opportunities; whatever happens, whenever someone mentions it, the guy makes a bet with anyone you choose, as I just said. If there is a horse race, you will find that he wins a big victory or a gamble empty-handed; if someone fights a dog, he also gambles; if someone fights a cat, he also gambles; if someone fights a, he also gambles; well, even if two birds fall on the fence, he will bet with you which one will fly first; if there is a wild preaching meeting, he must be present on time, and bet on Pastor Walker, who according to him is a good preacher in this area, and he is indeed a good man. Even if he sees a shell lang going somewhere, he will have to bet with you how long it will take to get where it is going, and if you promise to bet with him, he will follow the shell all the way to Mexico, and find out where it is and how long it will take on the road. There are many lads here who have seen that Smiley and can tell you about him. Well, whatever it was, it was the same for him — he could bet on anything — and that was the most interesting character. Once Reverend Walker's wife was seriously ill, sick for a long time, as if she had not been saved; but one morning when he walked in, Smiley immediately ran over to ask his wife how she was, and he said that she was much better - thanks to God's infinite mercy - to see that the situation had improved greatly, and with God's blessing, she could still recover her health; but Smiley did not even think about it, and rushed out and said: "Well, I dare to bet you two and a half dollars, and I promise that she will never be good." ”
This Smiley bought a mare—the lads called it the fifteen-minute old horse, but that was just a joke, you know, because it certainly ran faster than that—and he used to win money on that horse, though it ran very slowly, and it was plagued by asthma, or distemper, or tuberculosis, or something like that. They always let it run two or three hundred yards first, and then they threw it over; but every time it reached the end of the race, it got up, it was almost desperate, jumping and jumping and striding up, it flicked its legs briskly, throwing it into the air, throwing it aside, kicking it to the fence, lifting more and more dust, and its coughing, sneezing, and snorting became louder and louder--and-as a result, every time it rushed to the referee's table, it just rushed over a neck so far that you could figure it out.
He also has a small fighting dog, you look at it like that, you will think that it is worthless, just sit there idle, looking strange, just waiting for an opportunity to steal something to eat. But as soon as a bet was placed on it, it was immediately different: its lower half of its mouth protruded, like a sailor's cabin in front of a ship, and its teeth were exposed, shining like a furnace. Although other dogs grabbed it, bullied it, bit it, and threw it over their shoulders one after another, Andrew Jackson — which is the name of the puppy — Andreus Jackson always pretended not to be dissatisfied, as if he was willing to be bullied — then everyone kept betting on the side of his opponent, doubling up and doubling up, and bet all the money; then it suddenly bit the other dog's hind leg, and did not chew, you understand, the light only bites and does not let go, Until people concede defeat, even if it drags on for a year, it doesn't care. Smiley bet on the puppy, always winning, until later it killed a dog without hind legs, because its legs let the circular saw off, and when the fight was over, the bet was all bet, Jackson went to bite where it loved to bite, and it immediately saw that it had been deceived, knowing that the other dog had told it to pounce. It can be said that it seems to be taken aback, and now it is a little discouraged, and it no longer intends to win the fight, so it has suffered a big loss. It glanced at Smiley as if to say that it was heartbroken, and thought it was his fault that it should not have gotten a dog without hind legs to call it to fight, because it fought by biting the man's hind legs, and then it limped to the side and lay dead on the ground. It was a very good little dog, andrew Jackson, and if he were alive, he must be famous, because he had a set of skills, and he was very clever—I know, because he couldn't say that there was anything to take advantage of, and if he wasn't smart, he could still fight against those powerful opponents. When I think about the fight after it, my heart is very uncomfortable.
Well, this Smiley also has a puppy, a small and a male cat, and other such things, and it's almost like a gamble, no matter what you bet with him, he is allowed to be your opponent. One day he caught a frog and brought it home, saying he intended to teach it. So he didn't do anything for three months, and he taught the frog to jump in the backyard. Sure enough, he really taught it. He pushed it in the back, and immediately you saw the frog swirling in the air, like a fried dough roll—seeing it flip a tendon, and if it was right, maybe it could turn over twice, and then fall down well, steady, like a cat. He taught it to catch flies, often calling it to practice, and later he was able to catch the flies every time, no matter how far away, as long as it could see. Smiley said that the frog can do almost anything if he teaches it— and I'm sure he's right. Hey, I've seen him put Daniel Webster on the floor here —the frog's name is Daniel Webster—and shout, "Fly, Daniel, fly!" "Before you can blink your eyes, it jumps up, catches a fly from that counter, and it falls to the ground like a lump of mud, and then it grabs its hind legs next to its head, as if it didn't think it was bigger than any other frog." It's so clever, but you can't find a frog as humble and cheerful as it is. If it jumps up from the flat ground in a regular manner, it will jump up with a single force, and it will jump higher than any animal you have ever seen of its kind. Jumping up from the flat ground is its masterpiece, you understand? When this race began, Smiley was desperately betting on his side, even the last money, Smiley was almost proud of him as a frog, no wonder, because those who ran around the docks and seen the world said that it was better than any frog they had ever seen.
Well, Smiley puts this little guy in a little cage and sometimes takes it into town to make bets with people. One day a man came—he had come to this town for the first time—and he came across Smiley holding the little cage, and he said:
"What's in your little cage?"
Smiley said indifferently: "It may be a parrot, maybe a canary, it is difficult to say, but it is not -- this is a frog." ”
The old man took the little cage, looked at it carefully, turned it around, and said, "Well, that's the way it is, what's the use of it?" ”
"Oh," said Smiley, "it has a remarkable skill, as far as I can see—it can jump higher than any frog in Galliva County." ”
The guy took the little cage again, looked at it carefully for a while, and then handed it back to Smiley, and said calmly, "Hmm," he said, "I don't see anything remarkable about this frog, not like any other frog." ”
"Maybe you can't see it," said Smiley, "maybe you're an expert in frogs, maybe you're a layman; maybe you're experienced, maybe you're just a cameo, to put it bluntly." But in any case, I have my opinion, and I dare to bet you forty dollars to make sure that it is higher than any frog in Galivilla County. ”
The man thought about it for a while, and then he looked a little embarrassed, and he said, "Hey, I'm a stranger here, I don't have a frog; if I had a frog, then I'd be willing to bet with you." ”
So Smiley said, "It doesn't matter—that doesn't matter—if you can hold this little cage for me for a while, I'll go get you a frog." So the old man took the little cage, took out forty dollars and put it with Smiley's, sat down and waited.
He sat there for a long time, his mind racing over and over, and then he took the frog out, pried open its mouth, took a teaspoon and poured it with a bullet for a quail—almost filling its chin there—and put it on the ground. Smiley ran to the mud pond, searched for a while in the mud, and finally caught a frog, took it in, and handed it to the man, and he said:
"Well, if you're ready, put it side by side with Daniel, make it on the same front foot as Daniel's, and I'll give the password." So he said, "One-two-three-jump!" He and the man both nudged their frog gently from behind, and the newly caught frog jumped with great vigor, but Daniel plucked up and shrugged his shoulders—like this—like a Frenchman, but to no avail—it couldn't even move. It squatted there steadily, like a church, and it could no longer move, like a ship dropping anchor. Smiley was inexplicable, and he felt very nervous, but of course he didn't understand what was going on.
The man picked up the money and left, and as he walked out the door he held out his thumb from his shoulder—like this—and swung it toward Daniel, and said it calmly, "Well, I don't see anything remarkable about this frog, not like any other frog." ”
Smiley stood scratching his head and looked at Daniel on the ground for a long time, and then he said, "I really don't understand why this frog is deflated this time—maybe something is wrong with it—it seems to have a very big belly." So he grabbed Daniel by the neck, picked it up and weighed it up, and said, "Well, it doesn't matter if it doesn't weigh five pounds!" He lifted it upside down, and it grunted and spat out two marbles. Only then did he understand what was going on, and he was mad—he put the frog down and ran out to chase the villain, but he never chased it. afterward......
When Simon Wheeler said this, he heard someone in the front yard calling his name, and he got up to see if there was something out there looking for him. As he walked outside, he turned his face and said to me, "Just sit there and don't move, sir, please don't worry—I'll be back soon." ”
But I'm sorry, I don't think he can tell me much about Pastor Reunion Smiley if he tells the story of the gambling rogue Jim Smiley, so I just walked away.
……
![The "million pounds" that can't be spent for a penny have extraordinary magic[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)