Tom Sawyer – Part Fifty-eight

Before you read the text, read the following comprehension questions.

1. What was Tom’s ‘great secret’?

2. How long were Tom and his friends away from the village for?

3. Which night was it that Tom said he had his ‘dream’ about Aunt Polly??

4. What did Joe scare Mrs. Harper with?

5. Why do you think Tom knew so many details about that night?

Now read the text and answer the questions.

Aunt Polly, Mary, and the Harpers threw themselves on Tom and Joe and covered them with kisses, thanking God and just about everything else for their safe return. Poor Huck was uncomfortable. He didn’t know exactly what to do or where to hide from so many unwelcoming eyes. He started to quietly move away, but Tom held him and said, "Aunt Polly, it’s not fair. Somebody's got to be happy to see Huck."

"And so they shall. I'm glad to see him, poor motherless thing!" And the loving attentions Aunt Polly gave him were the one thing capable of making him more uncomfortable than he was before.

Suddenly the minister shouted at the top of his voice: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow - SING! - with all your heart!"

And they did. Everyone sang as loudly as they could. Tom Sawyer
the Pirate looked around and thought in his heart that this was the
proudest moment of his life.

Tom got more hugs and kisses that day, according to Aunt Polly, than he had got before in a year.

That was Tom's great secret, to return home with his brother pirates and attend their own funerals. They had paddled over to the river bank on a log, at sunset on Saturday, landing eight or nine kilometres below the village.

They had slept in the forest outside the town until nearly daylight, and had then crept through back lanes and alleys and finished their sleep in the church on benches.

At breakfast on Monday morning, Aunt Polly and Mary were very loving to Tom and gave him everything he asked for. There was a lot of talk at the breakfast table.

Aunt Polly said, "Well, it was a fine joke, Tom, to keep everybody suffering almost a week so that you boys could have a good time, but it is a pity you were so hard-hearted as to let me suffer so much.

If you were able to come over the river on a log to go to your funeral, you could have come over to let me know that you weren’t dead."

"Yes, you could have done that, Tom," said Mary; "and I believe you would if you had thought of it."

"Would you, Tom?" said Aunt Polly. "Be honest, would you, if you'd thought of it?"

"I…..well, I don't know. It would have spoiled everything."

"Tom, I thought you loved me more than that," said Aunt Polly, sadly.

"At least you could have thought about it, even if you didn't do it."

"It’s not so bad, auntie," said Mary. "That’s just the way Tom is. He’s always in such a rush that he never thinks of anything."

"It’s a pity. Sid would have thought of it. And Sid would have come and done it, too. Tom, you'll look back, some day, when it's too late, and wish you'd cared a little more for me when it would have cost you so little."

"Now, auntie, you know I do care for you," said Tom.Diccionario online

"I'd be sure if you acted more like it."

"Now I wish I'd thought about it," said Tom, "but I dreamt about you. That's something, isn’t it?"

"It’s not much. A cat does that. But it's better than nothing. What did you dream about?"

"Wednesday night I dreamt that you were sitting over there by the bed, and Sid was sitting by the wooden box with Mary next to him."

"Well, we were sitting there. We always do. I'm glad your dreams could take even that much trouble about us."

"And I dreamt that Joe Harper's mother was here."

"Yes, she was here! Did you dream anything else?"

"Oh, lots. But I can’t really remember, now."

"Well, please try to remember."

"Somehow it seems to me that the wind….the wind blew the…..the……"

"Try harder, Tom! The wind blew something. What? Come on!"

Tom pressed his fingers on his head for a minute, and then said, "I've got it now! I've got it now! It blew the candle!"

"Good God! Go on, Tom. Go on!"

"And I think you said, 'Why, I believe that that door……'"

"Yes. Go on, Tom!"

"Just let me think for a moment. Just a moment. Oh, yes. You said you believed the door was open."

"Yes! I did! Didn't I, Mary! Go on!"

"And then….and then….well I’m not sure, but I think you made Sid go and….and….."

"Well? Well? What did I make him do, Tom? What did I make him do?"

"You made him…..you……Oh, you made him shut the door."

"Well, for heaven’s sake! I’ve never heard anything like this in all my life! Don't tell me there’s no meaning in dreams, anymore. I’m going to tell Sereny Harper about this immediately. I'd like to see her explain this with her doubts about superstition. Go on, Tom!"

"Oh, I can see it clearly, now. Next you said I wasn’t really bad, only mischievous and not any more responsible than….than….I think it was a young horse, or something."

"And so it was! Well, goodness gracious! Go on, Tom!"

"And then you began to cry."

"Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Not for the first time. And then?"

"Then Mrs. Harper began to cry, and said Joe was just the same, and she wished she hadn't hit him for taking cream when she had thrown it out herself."

"Tom! The spirit was with you! You were prophesizing, that’s what you were doing! My God! Go on,Tom!"

"Then Sid said……he said…."
"I don't think I said anything," said Sid.

"Yes, you did, Sid," said Mary.

"Shut your mouth and let Tom go on! What did he say, Tom?"

"He said….well, I think he said he hoped I was better off where I had gone to, but if I'd been better sometimes…."

"Did you hear that! It’s exactly what he said!"

"And you told him to shut up."

"I did! There must have been an angel there. There was an angel there, somewhere!"

"And Mrs. Harper talked about Joe scaring her with a firecracker, and you talked about Peter and the painkiller."

"That’s true!"

"And then there was a whole lot of talk about searching for us in the river, and about having the funeral on Sunday, and then you and old Miss Harper hugged and cried, and she went."

"That’s exactly how it happened. Tom, you couldn't have been more accurate if you’d actually been there! And then what? Go on, Tom!"

"Then I thought you prayed for me, and I could see you and hear every word you said. And you went to bed, and I was so sorry that I wrote on a piece of a tree, 'We’re not dead, we’re only away being pirates,' and put it on the table by the candle. You looked so good, laying there asleep, that I thought I went and leaned over and kissed you on the lips."

"Did you, Tom, did you! I just forgave you everything for that!" And she hugged Tom so hard that it made him feel very guilty.

... to be continued!

* The text has been adapted from the Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain


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*Consulta un PDF con la información y resumen de 100 libros en inglés
que puedes descargar en 1 único archivo.

 

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Tom Sawyer – Part Fifty-nine

Before you read the text, read the following comprehension questions.
 

1. Why did Sid not believe Tom’s dream?

2. How did boys of Tom’s age feel about Tom?

3. What was Tom’s first reaction when he saw Becky?

4. Who did Tom pay attention to instead of Becky?

5. What event did Becky invent to try and attract Tom’s attention?
   

Now read the text and answer the questions.
 
"It was very kind, even though it was only a dream," Sid said, very softly.

"Shut up, Sid! A body does just the same in a dream as if he was awake.

Here's a big apple I've been saving for you, Tom, if you were ever found again. Now go to school. I'm so thankful to God I've got you back. Do you see what happens when you believe in God? I don’t deserve to be treated so kindly, but if only the worthy ones got His blessings and had His hand to help them during bad times, not many people would be happy here sleep well at night.

Go on Sid, Mary, Tom. Do away. You've distracted me long enough."

The children left for school, and the old lady went to visit Mrs. Harper to tell her about Tom's marvellous dream.

Sid knew better than to say what he was thinking as he left the
house. He thought: "Difficult to believe such a long dream with no mistakes in it!"

What a hero Tom was, now! He did not go laughing and jumping about, but moved in a dignified way, like a pirate who felt that the public eye was on him. And it was. He tried not to notice the looks or hear what people said as he walked along, but he loved what he saw and heard.

Small boys walked behind him, proud to be seen with him, and tolerated by him, as if he had been the drummer at the head of a procession or the elephant leading a circus into town.

Boys of his own size pretended not to know he had been away at all, but they were very jealous, nevertheless. They would have given anything to have his suntanned skin, and his fame. Tom would never have given these things up for anything.

At school the children gave him and Joe so much admiration that the two heroes soon became insufferably "stuck-up." They began to tell their adventures to enthusiastic listeners. They started with the truth, but soon their stories expanded with their imaginations. And finally, when they got out their pipes and started smoking, they reached the summit of glory.

Tom decided that he could be independent of Becky Thatcher now. Glory was enough. He would live for glory. Now that he was distinguished, maybe she would want to "make up." Well, let her. She should see that he could be as indifferent as some other people.

She soon arrived. Tom pretended not to see her. He moved away and joined a group of boys and girls and began to talk. Soon he observed that she was walking quickly up and down with a red face and dancing eyes, pretending to be busy chasing schoolmates, and screaming with laughter when she caught them.

But he noticed that she always caught her friends near him, and that she seemed to look at him when she did, too.

Her behaviour made him even more vane than before. Instead of showing that he’d noticed her, he ignored her and became more distant.

She soon stopped playing around and moved about, sighing once or twice and looking shyly toward Tom. Then she saw that Tom was now talking more to Amy Lawrence than to anyone else.

She made her feel disturbed and uncomfortable. She tried to go away, but her feet wouldn’t let her and took her to the group instead. She said to a girl who was standing next to Tom:

"Hey, Mary Austin! you bad girl, why didn't you come to Sunday school?"Diccionario online

"I did come. Didn't you see me?"

"No! Did you? Where did you sit?"

"I was in Miss Peter’s class, where I always go. I saw you."

"Did you? Well, that’s strange I didn't see you. I wanted to tell you about the picnic."

"Oh, that sounds nice. Who's going to have it?"

"My mum's going to let me have one."

"Oh, great; I hope she'll let me come."

"Of course, she will. The picnic’s for me. She'll let anybody come that I want, and I want you."

"That's ever so nice. When is it going to be?"

"Very soon. Maybe during the holiday."

"Oh, it’ll be fun! Are going to invite all the girls and boys?"

"Yes, every one that's a friend to me, or wants to be". And she looked quickly at Tom, but he carried on talking to Amy Lawrence about the terrible storm on the island, and how the lightning tore down the huge tree while he was "standing within a metre of it."

"Oh, can I come?" said Grace Miller.

"Yes."

"And me?" said Sally Rogers.

"Yes."

"And me, too?" said Susy Harper. "And Joe?"

"Yes."

And so on, with all the children clapping their hands together happily until all the group had asked for invitations except Tom and Amy.

Then Tom turned coolly away, still talking, and took Amy with him. Becky's lips trembled and the tears came to her eyes. she hid these signs with a false smile and went on chatting, but the life had gone out of the picnic, now, and out of everything else.

She got away as soon as she could and hid herself and had "a good cry."
She sat by herself, with wounded pride, until the bell rang.

She picked herself up with determination and shook her hair. She knew what she’d do.

... to be continued!

* The text has been adapted from the Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain


  Download the original book for free
 

*Consulta un PDF con la información y resumen de 100 libros en inglés
que puedes descargar en 1 único archivo.

 

  Haz click para comprobar las soluciones

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