Tom tells his prophetic dream. Chapter Eighteen - Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Chapter 18

Audio story of the famous American writer Mark Twain "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", chapter 18 - Tom's prophetic dream and the courtship of Emmy Lawrence.
“On Monday morning at breakfast, both Aunt Polly and Mary were extremely kind to Tom and lovingly fulfilled all his wishes. There was a lot of conversation at the table - much more than usual...” Aunt Polly reproached Tom in an extremely mild manner the fact that it is cruel not to inform relatives that they were not killed, but alive. Tom justified himself as best he could and said that he remembered his beloved aunt constantly and even saw them all in his dreams. Next, he told in the form of a dream everything that he heard at their home, sitting under the bed. Aunt Polly immediately went to Mrs. Harper to tell her Tom's amazingly prophetic dream. The children went to school. Tom wanted to see Becky more than anything. "...And here she is. Tom pretended not to notice her..." Becky ran after the girls close to Tom, but neither of them spoke to each other. Tom began talking to Amy Lawrence. Becky loudly invited her friend to her place for a picnic. The other guys also asked permission to come to Becky's for a picnic. All the children were invited except Tom and Emmy. Becky looked at pictures of Alfred, the newcomer from Saint-Louis. Tom and Becky were indignant at each other, and the offended Alfred secretly poured ink on Tom's textbook.

- Afraid to say! Well, that’s right, the witch cast a spell! That's what I knew.

He knew well that it was difficult to deal with witches, it was not worth even trying, and he gave up on the matter. However, he thought that perhaps it would be worthwhile to find the ball he had thrown, and patiently began the search. But I couldn’t find the ball. Then he returned to the hiding place, stood in the same place from which he threw the ball, took a second ball from his pocket and threw it in the same direction, saying:

- Brother, go look for your brother!

He noticed where the ball fell, ran there and began to look. The ball must have fallen too close or too far. Tom did the same thing two more times. The last test was a success: the balls lay two steps away from each other.

Just at that moment, under the green arches of the forest, the faint sound of a tin toy pipe was heard. Tom took off his jacket and pants, made a belt out of suspenders, raked brushwood behind a fallen tree and found there a homemade bow and arrows, a wooden sword and a tin pipe; in an instant he picked up all these things and started running, barefoot, with his shirt flowing.

Soon he stopped under a tall elm tree, sounded a response signal, and then, rising on tiptoe, began to carefully look out for something from behind the tree. He said warningly to his imaginary comrades:

- Stop, well done! Don't show yourself from the ambush until I sound the trumpet!

Joe Harper came out of the forest, dressed in the same airy attire and as richly armed as Tom. Tom called out to him:

- Stop! Who dares go to Sherwood Forest without my permission?

- Guy Gisborne does not need anyone's permission. Who are you, what... what...

-...dare you make such a speech? - Tom suggested: they spoke “from the book” by heart.

-Who are you that you dare to make such a speech?

- Who am I? “Robin Hood, and your despicable corpse will soon know it.”

- So you really are this glorious robber? Well, I will be glad to fight with you - we will decide who will be the master of the roads in this cheerful forest. Attack!

They grabbed wooden swords, threw the rest of their armor to the ground, took a defensive position, foot to foot, and began a serious, deliberate duel, according to all the rules of the art: two blows up, two down. Suddenly Tom said:

- Now, if you understand what the problem is, get out of here!

And they began to “roll around” with such zeal that they were completely out of breath and sweaty.

Finally Tom shouted:

- Fall! Come on, fall! Why don't you fall?

- Don't want! Why don't you fall yourself? You got it more.

- Well, it doesn’t mean anything. I can’t fall when it’s not in the book. The book says: “And then with one powerful blow to the back he struck down the ill-fated Guy of Gisborne.” You have to turn around and then I'll hit you on the back.

“Now,” Joe said, getting up, “let me kill you.” Otherwise it will not be honorable.

- No, that won't do; This is not in the book.

- Well, you know, it’s just disgusting, nothing more.

“Okay, Joe, you will be Friar Tack or the miller’s son and beat me with a club; or I will be the Sheriff of Nottingham, and you will become Robin Hood and kill me.

Both were satisfied with this decision, and all these feats were accomplished. After which Tom became Robin Hood again, and the traitorous nun did not bandage his wound so that he would bleed to death. And finally Joe, pretending to be a whole gang of orphaned robbers and sobbing bitterly, dragged him away, put the bow and arrows in his weakening hands, and Tom said: “Where this arrow falls, there bury poor Robin Hood under the green tree.” Then he shot an arrow, fell back and would have died if he had not landed in a nettle, after which he jumped to his feet quite quickly for a dead man.

The boys got dressed, hid their weapons and went home, lamenting that there were no more robbers in the world, and wondering how modern civilization could reward them for such a loss. They told each other that they would sooner agree to become highwaymen in Sherwood Forest for one year than to become Presidents of the United States for life.

Chapter IX

That evening, as always, Tom and Sid were sent to bed at half past nine. They said their prayers for the night, and Sid soon fell asleep. Tom lay with his eyes open and waited for the signal, trembling with anticipation. Just when it began to seem to him that dawn was about to break, he heard the clock strike ten! Woe, and that’s all! He could not toss and turn as he wanted, for fear of waking Sid. And he lay quietly, staring into the darkness. An oppressive silence surrounded him. Little by little, the most insignificant, barely noticeable sounds began to stand out from this silence. The ticking of a clock could be heard. The old beams began to crackle mysteriously. The stairs creaked a little. It must have been spirits wandering around. Steady, quiet snoring came from Aunt Polly's room. And then a cricket began to chirp annoyingly, and you wouldn’t know where it was sitting, even if you were smart enough. Then he was startled by the ominous ticking of a gravedigger beetle in the wall, next to the head of the bed, which meant that someone in the house was about to die. Then the night wind carried the howl of a dog from somewhere in the distance, and it was answered with a barely audible howl by another somewhere even further away. Tom was exhausted with impatience. He was firmly convinced that time had stopped and eternity had begun, and he involuntarily began to doze off; the clock struck eleven, but he did not hear it. And then, when he began to dream about something, a mournful meow was mixed with his dreams. There was a knock on the window in the neighboring house, and this woke up Tom. Shout: “Scram, damn you!” - and the sound of an empty bottle breaking against the wall of the barn drove away his last dream; in one minute he got dressed, climbed out the window and crawled along the roof of the outbuilding on all fours. He meowed carefully once or twice as he crawled; then he jumped onto the roof of the barn, and from there to the ground. Huckleberry Finn was already here with the dead cat. The boys set off and disappeared into the darkness. Half an hour later they were already walking knee-deep in the grass behind the cemetery fence.

That evening Tom and Huck prepared for anything. They hung around the tavern until nine o'clock in the evening: one of them, standing at a distance, guarded the alley, and the other guarded the door of the tavern. No one entered or exited the alley; and no one who looked like a Spaniard came into the tavern. The night promised to be bright, and Tom went home, having agreed that if it was very dark, Huck would come running and meow, and then he would climb out the window and try to pick up the keys. But it was still light, and Huck, having stood guard until twelve, went to sleep in an empty sugar barrel.

The boys were unlucky again on Tuesday. On Wednesday too. But on Thursday night it was dark. Tom climbed out the window in advance, grabbing his aunt's tin lantern and a wide towel to block the light. He hid the lantern in the sugar barrel where Huck spent the night and stood guard. An hour before midnight, the inn closed and all the lights in it went out, and there were no others nearby. The Spaniard never showed up. No one entered or exited the alley. Everything seemed to be going well. The darkness was impenetrable, and the complete silence was broken only by the occasional rumble of distant thunder.

Tom took out a lantern, lit it in a barrel, wrapped it well in a towel, and both adventurers crept into the darkness to the inn. Huck took up a guard post, and Tom groped his way into the alley. Then an anxious expectation stretched out, crushing Huck like a mountain. He wanted the light of a lantern to flash in front of him; he would, of course, be scared, but at least he would know that Tom was still alive. It seemed like hours had passed since Tom disappeared into the darkness. He's probably lying unconscious, or maybe he's dead. Or maybe his heart broke from fear and excitement? Alarmed Huck, unnoticed by himself, was getting closer and closer to the alley; He imagined all sorts of horrors, and every minute he waited: something was about to happen that would knock the spirit out of him. Let’s say he was already barely breathing, and his heart was skipping a beat every minute, and just like that, it would stop completely. Suddenly a light flashed, and Tom rushed past like an arrow.

- Run! - he shouted. - Run if life is dear to you!

There was no need to repeat this; once was enough. Huck started running at full speed, without waiting for a repeat. The boys didn't stop until they reached the shed near the old slaughterhouse on the other side of town. As soon as they flew under the canopy, a thunderstorm broke out and torrential rain poured down. Tom, barely catching his breath, said:

- Huck, that was scary! I began to try the keys, quietly, as quietly as possible; I tried two, but it made such noise that I couldn’t even breathe, I was so scared. But in the castle they still did not turn around. I didn’t even know what I was doing, I pulled the handle, and the door opened! It wasn't even locked! I snuck there, took the towel off the lantern and...

- So what? What did you see, Tom?

“Huck, I almost stepped on Injun Joe’s hand!”

- It can not be!

- Yes! He lies on the floor and sleeps like the dead, with his arms outstretched and still with the same bandage on his eye.

- God! What have you done? He woke up?

- No, he didn’t even move. Drunk, probably. I grabbed a towel and ran.

- Well, I would have forgotten about the towel.

- Yes, no matter how it is! Aunt Polly will give me a hard time if I lose him.

- Listen, Tom, did you see the chest?

- Huck, I didn’t even look. I didn’t see the chest, and I didn’t see the cross. I saw nothing but a bottle and a tin cup on the floor next to Injun Joe; and I also saw two barrels and many bottles in the room. So do you see now why it’s unclean there?

- But why?

“But they’re holding whiskey, that means it’s unclean!” Maybe in all the taverns of the Temperance Society there are rooms where they keep whiskey, what do you think?

- Perhaps so. Well, who would have thought? You know, Tom, now is a good time to steal the chest if Injun Joe is lying around drunk!

- Yes, of course! Try it!

Huck shuddered.

- Oh no, then don’t.

– And I also think it’s not necessary. One bottle next to Injun Joe is not enough. If it were three, then it would be a different matter, I would try.

They were silent and thinking for a long time, and finally Tom said:

“Listen, Huck, let’s not try again until we know for sure that Injun Joe is gone.” It's very scary. And if we watch every night, then, of course, someday we will see him leaving, and we will instantly snatch the chest.

- Well. I will guard you tonight and every night thereafter I will guard you if you do the rest.

- Well done. All you have to do is run one block down Gooper Street and meow, and if I'm sleeping, throw a handful of sand out the window and I'll wake up.

- Okay, I’ll do that!

“Well, that’s it, Huck, the storm has passed, I’m going home.” In two hours it will begin to get light. And you go there, keep watch for now.

“I said that I would guard it, so I will.” I’ll spend at least a whole year on the street. I will sleep during the day and guard at night.

- That's okay. Where will you sleep?

- In Ben Rogers' hayloft. He lets me in, and so does Uncle Jack, the Negro who works for them. I carry water when he needs it, and he gives me something to eat when I ask, if there is an extra piece. He's a very good black man. And he loves me because I don’t pull my nose in front of blacks. Sometimes I even have lunch with him. Just don't tell anyone. You never know what you can do when you're hungry, when at any other time you wouldn't even want to think about it.

- Well, if I don’t need you during the day, sleep well. I won't wake you up in vain. And if you notice something like that at night, run straight to me and meow.

At that time, hydrotherapy was just coming into fashion, and Tom’s dejected state came at just the right time. His aunt got him out of bed at first light, took him to the woodshed, doused him with a whole shower of cold water and rubbed him with a towel as hard as a comb; then she wrapped him in a wet sheet and covered him with blankets to bring him into a sweat, and the unfortunate man sweated so much that, in his own expression, “all the yellow spots of his soul came out through his pores.”

Despite all this, the boy grew pale and frail, and he looked very sad. The aunt added hot baths, sitz baths, showers and douses to the previous treatment. But the boy remained as sad as a funeral ditch. To help the water, the aunt began to feed him liquid oatmeal and covered him with blister plasters. In addition, she filled it every day, like a jug, with all kinds of charlatan drugs.

Little by little Tom became completely indifferent to all the torture. This indifference filled the old woman’s heart with anxiety. It was necessary at all costs to bring Tom out of such insensibility. It was at this time that she first heard about a new medicine, a “painkiller,” and immediately prescribed this medicine in huge quantities. I tasted it and was delighted: it was real fire in liquid form. She gave up hydrotherapy, refused all medications and placed all her hopes on a new drug. She gave Tom a full teaspoon to drink and waited with bated breath for the results. Her anxiety instantly passed and her soul calmed down, for Tom’s “indifference” undoubtedly disappeared in one second. If she had set him on hot coals, he could not have become more animated and ardent.

Tom felt that it was time to actually wake up from hibernation. Such a life was quite consistent with his sad mood, but there was too much variety and too little food for the soul. He began to think of all sorts of ways to get rid of this disaster and finally came up with the idea of ​​​​pretending that he liked the “painkiller”: he began to ask for a new portion of the drug so often that his aunt got tired of it, and she told him to take it himself when took his fancy, but left her alone. If it had been Sid, her joy would not have been mingled with any anxiety, but since it concerned Tom, she began to quietly watch the bottle. The medicine was indeed becoming less and less, but it never occurred to her that Tom was treating himself, and the gap in the floor of the living room.

One day, when he was treating a gap in this way, his aunt’s red cat came up to him, purred and, eagerly looking at the teaspoon, asked to be given a taste.

Oh, Peter, don't ask if you don't want to!

Peter made it clear what he wanted.

Make sure you don't make a mistake... you will regret it...

Peter expressed confidence that there was no mistake here.

Well, if you ask, I’ll give it, I’m not greedy, but just look: if you don’t like it, blame yourself.

Peter agreed to these terms. Tom opened his mouth and poured a spoonful of “painkiller” into it. Peter jumped two yards into the air, then gave a war cry and ran around the room in circles, bumping into furniture, knocking over flower pots and causing a terrible mess. Then he stood up on his hind legs and danced on the floor in a fit of insane joy, throwing back his head and screaming to the whole house about his serene bliss. Then he rushed around the room again, bringing destruction and chaos in his path. Aunt Polly came in just at the moment when he, having somersaulted several times in the air, performed his final number: he shouted “Hurray” at the top of his lungs and jumped out the window, taking the rest of the pots with him. The old lady was petrified with amazement, looking around the room over her glasses, and Tom was rolling on the floor, exhausted from laughter.

What's wrong with our cat?

“I don’t know, aunt,” Tom could barely stammer.

I have never seen such miracles in my life! Why is he so crazy?

Really, I don’t know, Aunt Polly. Cats always tumble when they are happy.

Yes, "m. That is, I think so.

You think so?

The old lady bent down. Tom watched her movements with interest and anxiety, but realized too late what she was driving at. There was evidence sticking out from under the bed canopy - a teaspoon. Aunt Polly pulled it out and shook it over his head. Tom shuddered and lowered his eyes. Aunt Polly lifted him off the floor by the usual handle - by the ear - and hit him painfully on the head with a thimble.

Well, sir, would you please explain why you are torturing the dumb creature so much?

I gave him the medicine out of pity... because he doesn't have an aunt.

No aunt! What nonsense are you talking about, you fool! What does auntie have to do with it?

How - what does it have to do with it! If he had an aunt, she would have burned out all his entrails, roasted all his intestines without mercy... She wouldn’t have noticed that he was a cat and not a boy!..

Aunt Polly felt remorse. Her treatment appeared to her in a new light: what was cruelty to a cat could also be cruelty to a child. Her heart began to soften, and she became ashamed. Tears came to her eyes, and, placing her hand on Tom's head, she said softly:

I tried for your own good, Tom. And it benefited you.

Tom looked seriously into her face. Only the corners of his mouth twitched with a barely noticeable smile.

I know, Aunt, that you wished well for me, and I for Peter too. It benefited him. I have never seen him dance so wildly...

Well, it will be, it will be, Tom, don't annoy me again. Be good, be smart... and you won't get any more medicine.

Tom came to school before the lesson started. Everyone has noticed that such extraordinary cases have been repeated every day lately. And today, as always these days, instead of playing with his friends, the boy was hanging out in the school yard, at the gate. Refusing to play, he explained that he was not feeling well, and he really looked very sick. He pretended to look around, but in reality he kept his eyes on the road. As soon as Jeff Thacher appeared in the distance, Tom beamed, but a minute later his face became sad again. When Jeff entered the gate, Tom ran up to him, trying in every possible way to get him to talk about Becky, but he was stupid and did not understand his hints. Tom waited and waited, filled with hope every time a fluttering dress appeared in the distance, and with all his heart he hated whoever it belonged to as soon as he was convinced that she was not Becky. Finally the dresses stopped showing, and Tom became completely depressed. Sad and thoughtful, he entered the empty classroom and sat down in his place - to suffer. At this time, another dress flashed at the gate, and Tom’s heart skipped a beat. A moment - and he was already in the yard, furious like an Indian: he screamed, laughed, chased the boys, jumped over the fence in danger of his life, somersaulted, walked on his head - in a word, he performed all sorts of heroic deeds, all the while looking at Becky's side - is she looking? But she seemed not to pay any attention to all this and never looked in his direction. Doesn't she notice him? He began to perform his exploits closer to her. He ran around her with war cries, tore off someone's cap and threw it onto the roof, crashed into a crowd of boys, scattered them in different directions, sprawled on the ground right in front of Becky and almost knocked her off her feet. She turned away, turned up her nose and said:

Pfft! Some people imagine that they are the most interesting... and are always cocky...

Tom's cheeks flushed. He rose from the ground and, dejected and crushed, slowly walked away.

Tom made a firm, irrevocable decision. There was a darkness of hopelessness in his soul. He told himself that he was lonely, abandoned by everyone, that no one in the world loved him. Then, when people find out what they brought him to, maybe they will repent and regret him. He tried to be good and do good, but they didn’t want to help him. If they absolutely must get rid of him, well, he will leave, and let them scold him as much as they want. Do me a favor and scold! Does a lonely, abandoned boy have any right to grumble? He didn't want to, but he has to. They themselves forced him to take the path of crime. He has no other choice.

This was Tom's great secret - he planned to return home with his pirate brothers and attend his own funeral. On Saturday, when it was already getting dark, they crossed on a log to the Missouri coast, got out on land five or six miles below the town, spent the night in the forest, and before dawn made their way to the church by a roundabout route along the side streets and lay down to sleep in the choir among the chaos of broken benches.

On Monday morning, at breakfast, both Aunt Polly and Mary were very affectionate with Tom and vying with each other to look after him. There was no end to the conversations. In the middle of the conversation, Aunt Polly said:

“Okay, Tom, I understand that you had fun torturing everyone for almost a whole week; but how did you have the cruelty of a joke to torture me too? If you managed to sail on a log to your own funeral, then, probably, you could somehow at least hint to me that you did not die, but only ran away from home.

“Yes, you could have done that, Tom,” said Mary, “I think you just forgot about it, otherwise you would have done it.”

– Is it true, Tom? - asked Aunt Polly, and her face lit up with hope. - Tell me, would you have done this if you had not forgotten?

“I... really, I don’t know.” It would ruin everything.

“Tom, I hoped that you loved me at least a little,” said Aunt Polly in such an upset voice that Tom was confused. “At least he thought about me, it’s still better than nothing.”

- Well, auntie, what's wrong with that? – Mary interceded. “He’s just being absent-minded; he is always in a hurry and therefore does not remember anything.

– It’s a shame if that’s the case. But Sid would remember. He would have crossed over here and told me. Look, Tom, you’ll remember someday and regret that you didn’t think much about me when it didn’t cost you anything, but it’ll be too late.

- Auntie, you know that I love you.

“Maybe I would have known if you had at least proven it in some way.”

“Now I regret that I didn’t think about it,” said Tom with remorse in his voice, “but I saw you in a dream.” Still, at least something, right?

“God knows what—even a cat can see dreams—but it’s still better than nothing.” What did you dream about?

“Well, on Wednesday night I dreamed that you were sitting here, next to the bed, and Sid was near the firewood box, and Mary was next to him.

- That's right, that's how we sat. We always sit like this. I’m very glad that you even thought about us in your dreams.

“And it’s as if Joe Harper’s mother is also with you.”

- That's right, and she was here! What else did you dream about?

- Yes, a lot of different things. Only now everything is somehow confused.

- Well, try to remember - can’t you?

- As if the wind... As if the wind blew... blew...

- Well, think, Tom! The wind blew something! Well!

Tom put his finger to his forehead in anxious thought and a minute later said:

- Now I remember! I remembered! The wind blew out the candle!

- And as if you said: “Something seems to me like the door...”

- Let me think for a minute, one minute... Oh yes! You said it felt like the door had opened.

– It’s as true as the fact that I’m sitting here now! Is it true, Mary, that I said that? Further!

- And then... and then... I probably don’t remember, but it’s as if you sent Sid and ordered...

- Well? Well? What did I tell him, Tom? What did I tell him?

- They told him... Oh, yes! You told him to close the door.

“Well, by God, I’ve never heard anything like this in my life.” So after this you say that dreams don’t mean anything. We need to tell Sirini Harper about this right now. Let her say what she wants about prejudices, now she can’t get away with it. Next up, Tom!

“Well, now I remember everything down to the last bit.” Then you said that I’m not that bad at all, but just mischievous and absent-minded, and asking me to ask something like... I don’t remember, a foal or something.

-And then you cried.

- Yes Yes. I started crying. And not for the first time. And then…

“Then Mrs. Harper began to cry too and said that Joe was like that too and that she now regretted that she had whipped him for the cream when she had splashed it out herself...”

- Volume! The Holy Spirit has descended on you! You saw a prophetic dream, this is what happened to you! Well, what's next, Tom?

“And then Sid said... he said...

“I don’t think I said anything,” Sid remarked.

“No, you did, Sid,” said Mary.

- Shut up, let Tom speak! So what did he say, Tom?

- He said... I think he said that I was much better there than here, but still, if I had behaved differently...

- Well, do you hear? These are the very words he said!

– And you told him to shut up.

- Well, yes, I did! That's right, God's angel was in the room with us! There was an angel around here somewhere!

- And Mrs. Harper told how Joe scared her with a pistol, and you told about the cat and the medicine...

- The true truth!

“And then there was a lot of talk about how they wanted to look for us in the river and that the funeral would be on Sunday, and then you and Mrs. Harper hugged and cried, and then she left.”

- That’s how it was! That's how it was! And it’s as true as the fact that I’m sitting here. Tom, you couldn't have said it better even if you had seen it with your own eyes! And what's next? And uh, Tom?

“Then you began to pray for me - I saw how you prayed and heard every word.” And then you went to bed, and I felt sorry for you, and I wrote on a piece of bark: “We did not drown - we only became pirates,” and put the bark on the table near the candle; and then you seemed to fall asleep, and your face was so kind in your sleep that I seemed to come up, lean over and kiss you on the lips.

- What are you talking about, Tom, really! I would forgive you everything for this! - And she grabbed and hugged the boy tightly, making him feel like the last of the scoundrels.

“Very good of him, although it was just a dream,” Sid said to himself, but quite audibly.

- Shut up, Sid! In a dream, a person behaves exactly the same as he would in reality. Here's the biggest apple for you, Tom, I was saving it just in case you were ever found; now go to school. Glory to the Lord God, our heavenly father, for returning you to me, for his long-suffering and mercy to all who believe in him and keep his commandments, and to me too, even though I am unworthy: but if only the worthy would use by his mercies and help in difficult times, then few would know what joy on earth and eternal peace in heaven are. Now get out of here, Sid, Mary, Tom, and quickly. I'm tired of you!

The children went to school, and Aunt Polly went to visit Mrs. Harper in order to overcome her disbelief with Tom's amazing dream. When leaving home, Sid, however, was careful not to express out loud the thought that was on his mind. This is what he thought: “Something is very wonderful - I remembered such a long dream and never made a mistake in anything! “What a hero Tom felt! He did not gallop or jump, but acted slowly and with dignity, as befits a pirate who knows that the eyes of the whole society are fixed on him. And indeed, everyone was looking at him. He tried to pretend that he did not notice the glances turned to him and did not hear what they said about him as he passed by, but to himself he reveled in it. The kids ran after him and were proud that they were seen with him, and he did not drive them away from him: for them he was something like a drummer at the head of a procession or an elephant at the head of a menagerie entering the city. His peers pretended that he had never run away, and yet they were tormented by envy. They would give everything in the world for such a dark tan and for such great fame, and Tom would not part with either one or the other, even if he was offered in return to become the owner of the circus.

At school, all the children were running around with him and Joe Harper and looking at them with such enthusiastic eyes that both heroes soon became unbearably self-important. They began to tell their adventures to the audience, burning with curiosity, but only just began: it was not the kind of thing that would end soon, when an inexhaustible imagination gave them more and more new material. And when, at last, Tom and Joe took out their pipes and began to puff calmly, their fame rose to unattainable heights.

Tom decided that now he could not pay any attention to Becky Thatcher and do without her. Fame alone is enough for him. He will live for glory. Now that he's done so well, Becky might want to make peace with him. Well, let her see that he also knows how to be indifferent, like some others. Becky soon arrived. Tom pretended not to see her. He walked up to a group of boys and girls and started talking to them. He noticed that Becky, all flushed, with sparkling eyes, ran merrily back and forth, pretending to be chasing her friends, and screaming with joy when she caught someone: however, he noticed that if she caught someone, she always next to him, and having caught him, he will certainly glance at him furtively. This greatly flattered his vanity, and Tom became even more stubborn, instead of giving up. He decided not to give in to anything, understanding what Becky wanted. Now she stopped running and walked hesitantly nearby, sneaking sad glances at Tom, and even sighed twice. Then she noticed that Tom talked more to Amy Lawrence than to others. Her heart ached, she became alarmed, and she felt uneasy. She wanted to move further away, but instead her unruly legs carried her closer and closer to the group where Tom was. She spoke to one girl who was standing next to Tom:

- Oh, Mary Austin! Ugly girl, why weren't you in Sunday school?

- I was there, how come you didn’t see me?

- Were you there? Where were you sitting?

- In Miss Peter's class; in the same place as always. I saw you.

- Really? It's strange how I didn't notice you. I wanted to talk to you about the picnic.

- That's good! And who suits him?

- My mom.

- How cute it is! Will she invite me?

- Of course, he will invite you. After all, the picnic is for me. She will call everyone I want, and I definitely want to call you.

- I am so glad. When will this be?

- Very soon. Maybe during the holidays.

- This will be fun! Will you invite all the boys and girls?

- Yes, all my friends... or those who want to be friends with me. - And she looked furtively at Tom, but at that moment he was telling Amy Lawrence about the thunderstorm on the island and about how lightning smashed a large plane tree “into small splinters” when he stood “just three steps away”...

- Can I come? – asked Gracie Miller.

- What about me? asked Sally Rogers.

- Can I do it too? asked Susie Harper. - And Joe?

And everyone except Tom and Amy, one after another, happily clapping their hands, asked for an invitation. Then Tom calmly turned his back to Becky and, continuing to talk, took Amy Lawrence with him. Becky's lips trembled and tears welled up in her eyes; she tried to hide it, pretending to be cheerful, and continued to chat as before, but the picnic lost all its charm for her, like everything else in the world; she tried to leave as quickly as possible and hid to cry to her heart's content, as they say among the fair sex. She sat alone until the bell rang, not wanting to show how wounded her pride was. Then she stood up, shook her long braids and, with her eyes flashing vindictively, told herself that she now knew what to do.

During the break, Tom continued to look after Amy, cheerful and very pleased with himself. However, he always tried to find Becky and strike her in the heart with his behavior. Finally he saw her, and his mood immediately dropped. She sat in a cozy corner behind the school house on the same bench with Alfred Temple and looked at the pictures in the book with him, bending over the page head to head. Both of them were so engrossed in this activity that they seemed not to notice at all what was going on in the world. Jealousy ran through Tom's veins like fire. He was angry with himself for missing the chance to make peace with Becky when she approached him first. He cursed himself for being a fool and with all the swear words that came into his head. He almost cried with frustration. Amy chatted incessantly, overwhelmed with joy, and Tom’s tongue seemed to be stuck to his larynx. He didn't hear what Amy was saying to him, and when she looked at him, waiting for an answer, he muttered God knows what, often even out of place. He was drawn to the school house, although this outrageous picture poisoned his soul. He couldn't help himself. And he was simply infuriated that Becky, as it seemed to him, did not even notice his existence. However, she saw everything, understood perfectly well that victory was on her side, and was very glad that he was now suffering the same way she had suffered before.

Amy's cheerful chatter became unbearable for him. Tom hinted that he had important business and that he needed to hurry. But it was all in vain - the girl was still chattering. Tom thought: “Oh my God, can’t you get rid of her?” Finally, he directly said that he had to leave on business, and she innocently replied that she would wait for him “somewhere around here” after school. And he quickly ran away, almost hating her for it.

“Anyone, but not this boy! - Tom thought, grinding his teeth. - Anyone in town, but not this dandy from St. Louis. There, he imagines that he is an aristocrat, because he is dressed like a needle! Well, just wait, my dear, I beat you on the first day and I’ll beat you again! Just let me get there! That’s how I’ll take it... “And Tom began to beat the imaginary enemy - he hit the air with his fists, swung and kicked. “Oh, how are you? Beg for mercy now! Well, that serves you right, let's go science! “And the imaginary massacre ended to his complete satisfaction.

Tom ran home at big break. His conscience did not allow him to look at Amy's simple-minded joy anymore, and his jealousy became unbearable. Becky again sat down to look at the pictures with Alfred, but time passed, Tom no longer appeared and there was no one to torment, and therefore her triumph faded and lost all interest for the day; absent-mindedness, boredom, and then melancholy appeared; two or three times she became wary, listening to someone’s steps, but it was a false hope - Tom still did not come. Finally she became completely despondent and began to regret that she had taken the matter so far. Poor Alfred, who saw that she was bored with him, although he did not understand why, still did not calm down:

- Look, what a picture! And this one is even better!

Finally Becky couldn't stand it anymore:

- Oh, leave me alone, please! I don't need your pictures! “She burst into tears, jumped up and ran away from him.

Alfred trudged after her and was about to pester her with consolations, but she said:

- Go away, leave me alone! I can't stand you!

And the boy stopped in confusion, not understanding what he had done, when she herself said that she would watch pictures with him throughout the whole break, and now she ran away from him crying. Alfred, not knowing what to think, wandered back to the empty school. He became angry and offended. It was not difficult to get to the truth: Becky simply used him to annoy Tom Sawyer. When he realized this, he hated Tom even more. He wanted to somehow annoy Tom without putting himself at risk. Tom's textbook caught his eye. The opportunity was convenient. He happily opened the book to the page where the assigned lesson was and filled it with ink.

Becky looked out the window at that moment and saw what he was doing, but walked past without saying a word to Alfred. She went home: she wanted to find Tom and tell him everything. Tom, of course, will be grateful to her, and they will make peace with him. However, halfway there Becky changed her mind. She remembered how Tom had treated her when she was talking about the picnic, and the resentment burned her like fire. She decided not to help Tom, and in addition, to hate him forever. Let him be punished for ruining his textbook.