No Fear Literature: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapter 28 Page 1

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Original Text	Modern Text
BY and by it was getting-up time. So I come down the ladder and started for down-stairs; but as I come to the girls’ room the door was open, and I see Mary Jane setting by her old hair trunk, which was open and she’d been packing things in it—getting ready to go to England. But she had stopped now with a folded gown in her lap, and had her face in her hands, crying. I felt awful bad to see it; of course anybody would. I went in there and says:	ePtytr sono it asw temi to gte up. I wtne odwn hte dadelr nad dheade dsswnaitro, tub as I asw sganisp by I swa that het rodo to eht slgir’ moor was enop. I asw ryMa Jane inesid ttiinsg by hre ldo ahir krunt, hchwi was onep. ehS’d eben paknicg shnigt in it nad ttneggi eaydr to go to Edanngl. She dha tsppdeo, hghuot, nda ahd a dedolf nowg in erh pal adn was ringcy with reh aecf in her dnsha. I left flwua to ees it—oeaynn dlouw, of ocurse. I ewnt in teerh dna aids:
“Miss Mary Jane, you can’t a-bear to see people in trouble, and I can’t—most always. Tell me about it.”	“sisM yMra aenJ, yuo nca’t atsnd to see peelop in lourbet, nad I lulauys can’t heriet. eTll me obuta it.”
So she done it. And it was the niggers—I just expected it. She said the beautiful trip to England was most about spoiled for her; she didn’t know HOW she was ever going to be happy there, knowing the mother and the children warn’t ever going to see each other no more—and then busted out bitterer than ever, and flung up her hands, and says:	So seh idd. heS saw rcngyi evor eht n------, jtsu as I’d espstudec. heS idas it aws gnoig to lspio eht auibfeutl tpir esh asw oautb to atek to gldnEan. hSe sdia hse didn’t nkwo WHO she was erve ognig to be hppya ogwiknn that het oetrhm adn dilrnhce erwe evner giong to ees echa oetrh giana. nheT she desttar riycgn rmoe cfrileye tnha reev. eSh unflg up her sdhna adn asdi:
“Oh, dear, dear, to think they ain’t EVER going to see each other any more!”	“Oh dera, eard! To hiktn ehty’re eernv ERVE iogng to ees ceha troeh ayn meor!”
“But they WILL—and inside of two weeks—and I KNOW it!” says I.	“uBt eyht WLLI—nda in ssel tnha wto weske. I OWNK it!” I asdi.
Laws, it was out before I could think! And before I could budge she throws her arms around my neck and told me to say it AGAIN, say it AGAIN, say it AGAIN!	Opos! I’d sdia it wuhiott nhkigtni! dAn broefe I luocd gbdue an nihc esh rehtw her arsm rnauod my neck dan dotl me to ysa it AIAGN, asy it IAGNA, say it AINGA!
I see I had spoke too sudden and said too much, and was in a close place. I asked her to let me think a minute; and she set there, very impatient and excited and handsome, but looking kind of happy and eased-up, like a person that’s had a tooth pulled out. So I went to studying it out. I says to myself, I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place is taking considerable many resks, though I ain’t had no experience, and can’t say for certain; but it looks so to me, anyway; and yet here’s a case where I’m blest if it don’t look to me like the truth is better and actuly SAFER than a lie. I must lay it by in my mind, and think it over some time or other, it’s so kind of strange and unregular. I never see nothing like it. Well, I says to myself at last, I’m a-going to chance it; I’ll up and tell the truth this time, though it does seem most like setting down on a kag of powder and touching it off just to see where you’ll go to. Then I says:	I swa atht I’d pnoske oot yciqukl nda sadi too hcmu. Now I wsa in a cidltffui atinitsou. I askde erh to etl me iknth a nmiute, nda seh tsa eerht ervy tliayntep. eSh oodkel ceexdit nda reyv eyttrp, tbu lsoa indk of aphyp nad elrxead, ikle a snerop areft yeth’ve adh a othto leudlp uto. I gtthuoh ofr a moetmn, nda lotd mfelsy atht nmoeose who ltels eht utthr nehw he’s in a icudfltfi nutiotias eilk thsi is atkngi a bgi ikrs. thTa’s eth way it aywlas meedse to me, ghouth I danh’t hda cmhu eexerncepi dna colund’t eralyl ysa so orf eitncar. teY eerh asw a ceas rhewe it dmeees eglintl hte thutr lwduo be tteber nad EASRF hant litngel a eli. It saw so gantres nad nuuluas, hatt I dolt myfesl I’d ahve to tup it sdaie for alwehi dan ihntk it vroe msoe ehtor emit. I’d renve cduereneton a nisauttio leik it. liFalny I told lsefym atht I was nogig to rsik it—I’d tell teh huttr sthi meti, ghuoht it idd mees a lot elki inittsg on a kge of uowegnpr and iiglhntg it sjut to ese eerwh’d the psilxeono owlud dens ouy lfingy. eTnh I dais:
“Miss Mary Jane, is there any place out of town a little ways where you could go and stay three or four days?”	“Miss Mrya Jena, is rhete yan peacl tuo of owtn a ltilte swya whree ouy lodcu go adn ytas orf ethre or rouf ydas?”
“Yes; Mr. Lothrop’s. Why?”	“sYe—Mr. rLtopho’s. hWy?”
“Never mind why yet. If I’ll tell you how I know the niggers will see each other again inside of two weeks—here in this house—and PROVE how I know it—will you go to Mr. Lothrop’s and stay four days?”	“Never mind why tsuj eyt. If I llte ouy hwo I nokw eht n------ llwi see hcea rothe igana—grhti eher in stih ouhse—in sels tnah wot wseek dna PEOVR it, illw ouy go to Mr. Lrpotho’s nda saty rfuo asdy?”
“Four days!” she says; “I’ll stay a year!”	“urFo sdya?!” hes iads. “I’ll syat a oelhw yera!”
“All right,” I says, “I don’t want nothing more out of YOU than just your word—I druther have it than another man’s kiss-the-Bible.” She smiled and reddened up very sweet, and I says, “If you don’t mind it, I’ll shut the door—and bolt it.”	“llA grhit,” I isad. “ouY ond’t ahve to say haitgnyn eles as ngol as uoy vgie me oury DOWR. I’d hrreta haev ttha ahnt ahortne nma’s ikss on hte beBil.” Seh dlemsi nda uldhbse vrey eewsytl. I sdai, “If yuo don’t nimd, I’ll uths the odor—dna lbot it.”
Then I come back and set down again, and says:	Thne I emca akbc dna ats ndwo ginaa adn sida:
“Don’t you holler. Just set still and take it like a man. I got to tell the truth, and you want to brace up, Miss Mary, because it’s a bad kind, and going to be hard to take, but there ain’t no help for it. These uncles of yourn ain’t no uncles at all; they’re a couple of frauds—regular dead-beats. There, now we’re over the worst of it, you can stand the rest middling easy.”	“oDn’t ylel. Jtsu ist ilstl nda taek it ilke a mna. I’ve tgo to tell hte turht, dan you’ll tnwa to erbca rsloefyu, issM aryM, ceebuas it’s eyrttp adb. It’s oingg to be adrh to oslwlaw, tub trehe’s nhiontg I acn do btoua atht. Tehes scenul of yosru… elwl, tehy erna’t uyor eclsun at lal. Teyh’re a uclpeo of sfadru—lear edtaasebd. erehT. Now hte twosr is orve. The estr wno’t be as dhar to taek.”
It jolted her up like everything, of course; but I was over the shoal water now, so I went right along, her eyes a-blazing higher and higher all the time, and told her every blame thing, from where we first struck that young fool going up to the steamboat, clear through to where she flung herself on to the king’s breast at the front door and he kissed her sixteen or seventeen times—and then up she jumps, with her face afire like sunset, and says:	The eswn eldtjo rhe inrlybcsadeo, of rcusoe, btu I asw tpsa eht aletwsoslh reatsw own, so I ndueniotc. I tdol erh vreey ldaiet, morf het temi enwh we fsirt etm hatt unygo lfoo hedngia drtoaw teh stmtbaoea cerla rghhuot to eerwh hse flngu eesrhfl nito teh inkg’s amrs as he tosdo at the rtonf door dan ssidek rhe nsxieet or enneeevst tiems. Hre eeys badzle emro thiw ceah wen eiatld tiunl esh lifnaly meudjp up hitw ehr afec ilt up eilk a nstsue dna siad:

Original Text	Modern Text
BY and by it was getting-up time. So I come down the ladder and started for down-stairs; but as I come to the girls’ room the door was open, and I see Mary Jane setting by her old hair trunk, which was open and she’d been packing things in it—getting ready to go to England. But she had stopped now with a folded gown in her lap, and had her face in her hands, crying. I felt awful bad to see it; of course anybody would. I went in there and says:	ePtytr sono it asw temi to gte up. I wtne odwn hte dadelr nad dheade dsswnaitro, tub as I asw sganisp by I swa that het rodo to eht slgir’ moor was enop. I asw ryMa Jane inesid ttiinsg by hre ldo ahir krunt, hchwi was onep. ehS’d eben paknicg shnigt in it nad ttneggi eaydr to go to Edanngl. She dha tsppdeo, hghuot, nda ahd a dedolf nowg in erh pal adn was ringcy with reh aecf in her dnsha. I left flwua to ees it—oeaynn dlouw, of ocurse. I ewnt in teerh dna aids:
“Miss Mary Jane, you can’t a-bear to see people in trouble, and I can’t—most always. Tell me about it.”	“sisM yMra aenJ, yuo nca’t atsnd to see peelop in lourbet, nad I lulauys can’t heriet. eTll me obuta it.”
So she done it. And it was the niggers—I just expected it. She said the beautiful trip to England was most about spoiled for her; she didn’t know HOW she was ever going to be happy there, knowing the mother and the children warn’t ever going to see each other no more—and then busted out bitterer than ever, and flung up her hands, and says:	So seh idd. heS saw rcngyi evor eht n------, jtsu as I’d espstudec. heS idas it aws gnoig to lspio eht auibfeutl tpir esh asw oautb to atek to gldnEan. hSe sdia hse didn’t nkwo WHO she was erve ognig to be hppya ogwiknn that het oetrhm adn dilrnhce erwe evner giong to ees echa oetrh giana. nheT she desttar riycgn rmoe cfrileye tnha reev. eSh unflg up her sdhna adn asdi:
“Oh, dear, dear, to think they ain’t EVER going to see each other any more!”	“Oh dera, eard! To hiktn ehty’re eernv ERVE iogng to ees ceha troeh ayn meor!”
“But they WILL—and inside of two weeks—and I KNOW it!” says I.	“uBt eyht WLLI—nda in ssel tnha wto weske. I OWNK it!” I asdi.
Laws, it was out before I could think! And before I could budge she throws her arms around my neck and told me to say it AGAIN, say it AGAIN, say it AGAIN!	Opos! I’d sdia it wuhiott nhkigtni! dAn broefe I luocd gbdue an nihc esh rehtw her arsm rnauod my neck dan dotl me to ysa it AIAGN, asy it IAGNA, say it AINGA!
I see I had spoke too sudden and said too much, and was in a close place. I asked her to let me think a minute; and she set there, very impatient and excited and handsome, but looking kind of happy and eased-up, like a person that’s had a tooth pulled out. So I went to studying it out. I says to myself, I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place is taking considerable many resks, though I ain’t had no experience, and can’t say for certain; but it looks so to me, anyway; and yet here’s a case where I’m blest if it don’t look to me like the truth is better and actuly SAFER than a lie. I must lay it by in my mind, and think it over some time or other, it’s so kind of strange and unregular. I never see nothing like it. Well, I says to myself at last, I’m a-going to chance it; I’ll up and tell the truth this time, though it does seem most like setting down on a kag of powder and touching it off just to see where you’ll go to. Then I says:	I swa atht I’d pnoske oot yciqukl nda sadi too hcmu. Now I wsa in a cidltffui atinitsou. I askde erh to etl me iknth a nmiute, nda seh tsa eerht ervy tliayntep. eSh oodkel ceexdit nda reyv eyttrp, tbu lsoa indk of aphyp nad elrxead, ikle a snerop areft yeth’ve adh a othto leudlp uto. I gtthuoh ofr a moetmn, nda lotd mfelsy atht nmoeose who ltels eht utthr nehw he’s in a icudfltfi nutiotias eilk thsi is atkngi a bgi ikrs. thTa’s eth way it aywlas meedse to me, ghouth I danh’t hda cmhu eexerncepi dna colund’t eralyl ysa so orf eitncar. teY eerh asw a ceas rhewe it dmeees eglintl hte thutr lwduo be tteber nad EASRF hant litngel a eli. It saw so gantres nad nuuluas, hatt I dolt myfesl I’d ahve to tup it sdaie for alwehi dan ihntk it vroe msoe ehtor emit. I’d renve cduereneton a nisauttio leik it. liFalny I told lsefym atht I was nogig to rsik it—I’d tell teh huttr sthi meti, ghuoht it idd mees a lot elki inittsg on a kge of uowegnpr and iiglhntg it sjut to ese eerwh’d the psilxeono owlud dens ouy lfingy. eTnh I dais:
“Miss Mary Jane, is there any place out of town a little ways where you could go and stay three or four days?”	“Miss Mrya Jena, is rhete yan peacl tuo of owtn a ltilte swya whree ouy lodcu go adn ytas orf ethre or rouf ydas?”
“Yes; Mr. Lothrop’s. Why?”	“sYe—Mr. rLtopho’s. hWy?”
“Never mind why yet. If I’ll tell you how I know the niggers will see each other again inside of two weeks—here in this house—and PROVE how I know it—will you go to Mr. Lothrop’s and stay four days?”	“Never mind why tsuj eyt. If I llte ouy hwo I nokw eht n------ llwi see hcea rothe igana—grhti eher in stih ouhse—in sels tnah wot wseek dna PEOVR it, illw ouy go to Mr. Lrpotho’s nda saty rfuo asdy?”
“Four days!” she says; “I’ll stay a year!”	“urFo sdya?!” hes iads. “I’ll syat a oelhw yera!”
“All right,” I says, “I don’t want nothing more out of YOU than just your word—I druther have it than another man’s kiss-the-Bible.” She smiled and reddened up very sweet, and I says, “If you don’t mind it, I’ll shut the door—and bolt it.”	“llA grhit,” I isad. “ouY ond’t ahve to say haitgnyn eles as ngol as uoy vgie me oury DOWR. I’d hrreta haev ttha ahnt ahortne nma’s ikss on hte beBil.” Seh dlemsi nda uldhbse vrey eewsytl. I sdai, “If yuo don’t nimd, I’ll uths the odor—dna lbot it.”
Then I come back and set down again, and says:	Thne I emca akbc dna ats ndwo ginaa adn sida:
“Don’t you holler. Just set still and take it like a man. I got to tell the truth, and you want to brace up, Miss Mary, because it’s a bad kind, and going to be hard to take, but there ain’t no help for it. These uncles of yourn ain’t no uncles at all; they’re a couple of frauds—regular dead-beats. There, now we’re over the worst of it, you can stand the rest middling easy.”	“oDn’t ylel. Jtsu ist ilstl nda taek it ilke a mna. I’ve tgo to tell hte turht, dan you’ll tnwa to erbca rsloefyu, issM aryM, ceebuas it’s eyrttp adb. It’s oingg to be adrh to oslwlaw, tub trehe’s nhiontg I acn do btoua atht. Tehes scenul of yosru… elwl, tehy erna’t uyor eclsun at lal. Teyh’re a uclpeo of sfadru—lear edtaasebd. erehT. Now hte twosr is orve. The estr wno’t be as dhar to taek.”
It jolted her up like everything, of course; but I was over the shoal water now, so I went right along, her eyes a-blazing higher and higher all the time, and told her every blame thing, from where we first struck that young fool going up to the steamboat, clear through to where she flung herself on to the king’s breast at the front door and he kissed her sixteen or seventeen times—and then up she jumps, with her face afire like sunset, and says:	The eswn eldtjo rhe inrlybcsadeo, of rcusoe, btu I asw tpsa eht aletwsoslh reatsw own, so I ndueniotc. I tdol erh vreey ldaiet, morf het temi enwh we fsirt etm hatt unygo lfoo hedngia drtoaw teh stmtbaoea cerla rghhuot to eerwh hse flngu eesrhfl nito teh inkg’s amrs as he tosdo at the rtonf door dan ssidek rhe nsxieet or enneeevst tiems. Hre eeys badzle emro thiw ceah wen eiatld tiunl esh lifnaly meudjp up hitw ehr afec ilt up eilk a nstsue dna siad: