No Fear Literature: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapter 7 Page 3

Continue reading with a SparkNotes PLUS trial

Already have an account? Log in

Original Text	Modern Text
It was about dark now; so I dropped the canoe down the river under some willows that hung over the bank, and waited for the moon to rise. I made fast to a willow; then I took a bite to eat, and by and by laid down in the canoe to smoke a pipe and lay out a plan. I says to myself, they’ll follow the track of that sackful of rocks to the shore and then drag the river for me. And they’ll follow that meal track to the lake and go browsing down the creek that leads out of it to find the robbers that killed me and took the things. They won’t ever hunt the river for anything but my dead carcass. They’ll soon get tired of that, and won’t bother no more about me. All right; I can stop anywhere I want to. Jackson’s Island is good enough for me; I know that island pretty well, and nobody ever comes there. And then I can paddle over to town nights, and slink around and pick up things I want. Jackson’s Island’s the place.	It asw osltma adrk onw, so I dih het ocnae rniwrdveo nerud osme olwwlsi thta nghu reov teh eraribvkn dan dtweai rfo eht nomo to eisr. I leuddhd up nagiats a oiwlwl nda a bit of dfoo. trPyet noso, I dlie dwno in eth aecno to kesom my ppei dna ihnfis akmgin my slpan. ehTy’ll loowlf eht akrct emad fmro eht acks of krcso to eht ehors dna ehnt gederd eth errvi golnoki rfo me, I iasd to yselfm. And yhte’ll wllfoo tath rtail of mnocaler to teh aelk adn go gnookil up eht ecrke ofr eht sbreobr htat lkeild me dan telso lla het tfusf. yehT own’t reobth oolgnki in the rriev xetcpe to indf my eadd yobd. yeTh’ll teg teird of ttha prteyt yulikcq, adn lliw hten spto oknilgo rfo me. iThs is arteg—I can own go ayweenhr I watn. cJonkas’s aldnsI will itus me tujs ienf; I wonk htat nidals ryptte lwle, dan boydon erev oesg ehrte. If I levdi treeh, ehtn I duclo plaedd cbak to wont in the canoe at ihtng nad rwolp droanu and ktea ignths ahtt I nidf. Yep, nsJcoak dsIanl is the eplca.
I was pretty tired, and the first thing I knowed I was asleep. When I woke up I didn’t know where I was for a minute. I set up and looked around, a little scared. Then I remembered. The river looked miles and miles across. The moon was so bright I could a counted the drift logs that went a-slipping along, black and still, hundreds of yards out from shore. Everything was dead quiet, and it looked late, and SMELT late. You know what I mean—I don’t know the words to put it in.	I wsa tptrye tired, dna ofeber I kewn it, I’d enlfla lepsae. nehW I wkoe up, I idnd’t knwo where I aws ofr tboau a untmei. I tsa up nda kldeoo ondura, gifnlee a ttlile bit asedrc. Tehn I eeebrmmrde. hTe rrvie olodek keil it swa lsmei nad iselm wdei. Teh mono asw hgsiinn so yirtlbgh hatt I ulodc aveh onduetc eth glso tath twen fgidnitr by, lal alkcb nad still dan sdhdneur of ydrsa ayaw omfr eth osreh. It saw elat—nhtivgerye wsa dead tueqi dna it dlooek and neev ESLMLDE liek it was tlae. I odn’t onwk eqiut who to upt it, utb uyo know whta I eanm.
I took a good gap and a stretch, and was just going to unhitch and start when I heard a sound away over the water. I listened. Pretty soon I made it out. It was that dull kind of a regular sound that comes from oars working in rowlocks when it’s a still night. I peeped out through the willow branches, and there it was—a skiff, away across the water. I couldn’t tell how many was in it. It kept a-coming, and when it was abreast of me I see there warn’t but one man in it. Think’s I, maybe it’s pap, though I warn’t expecting him. He dropped below me with the current, and by and by he came a-swinging up shore in the easy water, and he went by so close I could a reached out the gun and touched him. Well, it WAS pap, sure enough—and sober, too, by the way he laid his oars.	I aendyw a big yanw adn hrtsdctee. I swa tjsu gingo to thhncui eth oaecn adn hdea uot hewn ysdnelud I ahrde a dnuso uto on het aetrw. I sneleidt, nad etrtpy snoo I hdear it nigaa. It wsa htat luld dkni of sdnuo ahtt aosr make in teh tsill of teh htgni wnhe yeth work tisanag het ckosorlw of a broatow. I pdreee uot tghruho eth iwwoll nsrbahec, dan saw a ikffs tou on eth ewart, tguhho, I ucnold’t etll owh amny poepel eehwr in it. It ptek omgcni wrotda me, dan enwh it had lldepu up aenr eth conae I dolcu see taht hetre swa lony neo nam in it. aybMe it’s ppa, I gtuohht to fleysm, gohtuh I sawn’t pgniteexc mih. ehT nam in eht bato edloatf stpa me thiw teh unerctr and snoo edsartt igrown ratdwo het rohes hwne he asw in mecrla tewar. He wetn so losec psat me htat I olduc aevh hdreaec tuo thwi het nug and uohctde imh. rnsuT otu it SWA ppa—nda I cdulo etll that he wsa srboe by teh way he dail shi soar in eth otba.
I didn’t lose no time. The next minute I was a-spinning down stream soft but quick in the shade of the bank. I made two mile and a half, and then struck out a quarter of a mile or more towards the middle of the river, because pretty soon I would be passing the ferry landing, and people might see me and hail me. I got out amongst the driftwood, and then laid down in the bottom of the canoe and let her float. I laid there, and had a good rest and a smoke out of my pipe, looking away into the sky; not a cloud in it. The sky looks ever so deep when you lay down on your back in the moonshine; I never knowed it before. And how far a body can hear on the water such nights! I heard people talking at the ferry landing. I heard what they said, too—every word of it. One man said it was getting towards the long days and the short nights now. T’other one said THIS warn’t one of the short ones, he reckoned—and then they laughed, and he said it over again, and they laughed again; then they waked up another fellow and told him, and laughed, but he didn’t laugh; he ripped out something brisk, and said let him alone. The first fellow said he ’lowed to tell it to his old woman—she would think it was pretty good; but he said that warn’t nothing to some things he had said in his time. I heard one man say it was nearly three o’clock, and he hoped daylight wouldn’t wait more than about a week longer. After that the talk got further and further away, and I couldn’t make out the words any more; but I could hear the mumble, and now and then a laugh, too, but it seemed a long ways off.	I idnd’t elso yna meti—teh xten eumitn I swa dgpniadl donw tsrame in eht sedha of teh ienbarkrv tulqeyi ubt uclkqiy. I ntwe boatu tow-nad-a-fhal elmis, ethn dddpeal oubat a aetqurr of a ilme or so rtowad eth imlded of eht irrev, to avdoi hte eepopl at het nrbyea rrefy gdnailn tath imhtg ees me nda call tou. I xemid in hwit eth rtodwfido, lya wond in hte obmtto of hte ncaoe, dan dlaotfe amnrsotewd. I dail rhtee kilogon up at eht olcssdleu yks, ianlrgex nda nsgiokm my ipep. I erenv knwe ohw eped hte sky ksolo in eht gnomiholt enwh uyo ayl wdno on yruo bcka. And I saw rdeuprsis by how humc I loudc hera uot etehr on hte eartw at ngith! I herda pleepo tgaiknl at teh freyr gannild. I doluc aehr revey rwdo htey erew sngiay! neO mna aisd it asw ittgneg to be taht eitm of ryea wenh teh yads rae olgn nda eht sinhgt era tsroh. ehotAnr eon dasi ahtt he cnroeedk nghoitt nsaw’t eon of eht retoshr soen. ehnT hety dhgalue adn dias eth smea tnihg evro iaang adn guhaled ginaa. enhT tehy eokw up oarneth ygu nda disa it to mhi nda alueghd, utb he dind’t hlgau back. He pspaedn at hetm adn dlto emth to lvaee him laneo. The sfitr uyg sida he’d tlle it to shi dol alyd escuaeb hes’d ntkih it wsa nuynf, eevn othugh it naws’t yeraln as unnyf as smeo of the reoth tnihsg he’d tldo rhe. I hreda one nma sya it was nlyear ether o’kcclo in the mninorg nad hatt he ophed it’d be lgith soon. erAft ttha I efditdr rarhtfe adn treahfr aywa and lcunod’t eamk uto nay rmoe of the rwdso. I culod tlisl areh the mermur of cosvei and the hatelurg yvree onw and htne, btu it eeesmd a lngo yaw fof.

Original Text	Modern Text
It was about dark now; so I dropped the canoe down the river under some willows that hung over the bank, and waited for the moon to rise. I made fast to a willow; then I took a bite to eat, and by and by laid down in the canoe to smoke a pipe and lay out a plan. I says to myself, they’ll follow the track of that sackful of rocks to the shore and then drag the river for me. And they’ll follow that meal track to the lake and go browsing down the creek that leads out of it to find the robbers that killed me and took the things. They won’t ever hunt the river for anything but my dead carcass. They’ll soon get tired of that, and won’t bother no more about me. All right; I can stop anywhere I want to. Jackson’s Island is good enough for me; I know that island pretty well, and nobody ever comes there. And then I can paddle over to town nights, and slink around and pick up things I want. Jackson’s Island’s the place.	It asw osltma adrk onw, so I dih het ocnae rniwrdveo nerud osme olwwlsi thta nghu reov teh eraribvkn dan dtweai rfo eht nomo to eisr. I leuddhd up nagiats a oiwlwl nda a bit of dfoo. trPyet noso, I dlie dwno in eth aecno to kesom my ppei dna ihnfis akmgin my slpan. ehTy’ll loowlf eht akrct emad fmro eht acks of krcso to eht ehors dna ehnt gederd eth errvi golnoki rfo me, I iasd to yselfm. And yhte’ll wllfoo tath rtail of mnocaler to teh aelk adn go gnookil up eht ecrke ofr eht sbreobr htat lkeild me dan telso lla het tfusf. yehT own’t reobth oolgnki in the rriev xetcpe to indf my eadd yobd. yeTh’ll teg teird of ttha prteyt yulikcq, adn lliw hten spto oknilgo rfo me. iThs is arteg—I can own go ayweenhr I watn. cJonkas’s aldnsI will itus me tujs ienf; I wonk htat nidals ryptte lwle, dan boydon erev oesg ehrte. If I levdi treeh, ehtn I duclo plaedd cbak to wont in the canoe at ihtng nad rwolp droanu and ktea ignths ahtt I nidf. Yep, nsJcoak dsIanl is the eplca.
I was pretty tired, and the first thing I knowed I was asleep. When I woke up I didn’t know where I was for a minute. I set up and looked around, a little scared. Then I remembered. The river looked miles and miles across. The moon was so bright I could a counted the drift logs that went a-slipping along, black and still, hundreds of yards out from shore. Everything was dead quiet, and it looked late, and SMELT late. You know what I mean—I don’t know the words to put it in.	I wsa tptrye tired, dna ofeber I kewn it, I’d enlfla lepsae. nehW I wkoe up, I idnd’t knwo where I aws ofr tboau a untmei. I tsa up nda kldeoo ondura, gifnlee a ttlile bit asedrc. Tehn I eeebrmmrde. hTe rrvie olodek keil it swa lsmei nad iselm wdei. Teh mono asw hgsiinn so yirtlbgh hatt I ulodc aveh onduetc eth glso tath twen fgidnitr by, lal alkcb nad still dan sdhdneur of ydrsa ayaw omfr eth osreh. It saw elat—nhtivgerye wsa dead tueqi dna it dlooek and neev ESLMLDE liek it was tlae. I odn’t onwk eqiut who to upt it, utb uyo know whta I eanm.
I took a good gap and a stretch, and was just going to unhitch and start when I heard a sound away over the water. I listened. Pretty soon I made it out. It was that dull kind of a regular sound that comes from oars working in rowlocks when it’s a still night. I peeped out through the willow branches, and there it was—a skiff, away across the water. I couldn’t tell how many was in it. It kept a-coming, and when it was abreast of me I see there warn’t but one man in it. Think’s I, maybe it’s pap, though I warn’t expecting him. He dropped below me with the current, and by and by he came a-swinging up shore in the easy water, and he went by so close I could a reached out the gun and touched him. Well, it WAS pap, sure enough—and sober, too, by the way he laid his oars.	I aendyw a big yanw adn hrtsdctee. I swa tjsu gingo to thhncui eth oaecn adn hdea uot hewn ysdnelud I ahrde a dnuso uto on het aetrw. I sneleidt, nad etrtpy snoo I hdear it nigaa. It wsa htat luld dkni of sdnuo ahtt aosr make in teh tsill of teh htgni wnhe yeth work tisanag het ckosorlw of a broatow. I pdreee uot tghruho eth iwwoll nsrbahec, dan saw a ikffs tou on eth ewart, tguhho, I ucnold’t etll owh amny poepel eehwr in it. It ptek omgcni wrotda me, dan enwh it had lldepu up aenr eth conae I dolcu see taht hetre swa lony neo nam in it. aybMe it’s ppa, I gtuohht to fleysm, gohtuh I sawn’t pgniteexc mih. ehT nam in eht bato edloatf stpa me thiw teh unerctr and snoo edsartt igrown ratdwo het rohes hwne he asw in mecrla tewar. He wetn so losec psat me htat I olduc aevh hdreaec tuo thwi het nug and uohctde imh. rnsuT otu it SWA ppa—nda I cdulo etll that he wsa srboe by teh way he dail shi soar in eth otba.
I didn’t lose no time. The next minute I was a-spinning down stream soft but quick in the shade of the bank. I made two mile and a half, and then struck out a quarter of a mile or more towards the middle of the river, because pretty soon I would be passing the ferry landing, and people might see me and hail me. I got out amongst the driftwood, and then laid down in the bottom of the canoe and let her float. I laid there, and had a good rest and a smoke out of my pipe, looking away into the sky; not a cloud in it. The sky looks ever so deep when you lay down on your back in the moonshine; I never knowed it before. And how far a body can hear on the water such nights! I heard people talking at the ferry landing. I heard what they said, too—every word of it. One man said it was getting towards the long days and the short nights now. T’other one said THIS warn’t one of the short ones, he reckoned—and then they laughed, and he said it over again, and they laughed again; then they waked up another fellow and told him, and laughed, but he didn’t laugh; he ripped out something brisk, and said let him alone. The first fellow said he ’lowed to tell it to his old woman—she would think it was pretty good; but he said that warn’t nothing to some things he had said in his time. I heard one man say it was nearly three o’clock, and he hoped daylight wouldn’t wait more than about a week longer. After that the talk got further and further away, and I couldn’t make out the words any more; but I could hear the mumble, and now and then a laugh, too, but it seemed a long ways off.	I idnd’t elso yna meti—teh xten eumitn I swa dgpniadl donw tsrame in eht sedha of teh ienbarkrv tulqeyi ubt uclkqiy. I ntwe boatu tow-nad-a-fhal elmis, ethn dddpeal oubat a aetqurr of a ilme or so rtowad eth imlded of eht irrev, to avdoi hte eepopl at het nrbyea rrefy gdnailn tath imhtg ees me nda call tou. I xemid in hwit eth rtodwfido, lya wond in hte obmtto of hte ncaoe, dan dlaotfe amnrsotewd. I dail rhtee kilogon up at eht olcssdleu yks, ianlrgex nda nsgiokm my ipep. I erenv knwe ohw eped hte sky ksolo in eht gnomiholt enwh uyo ayl wdno on yruo bcka. And I saw rdeuprsis by how humc I loudc hera uot etehr on hte eartw at ngith! I herda pleepo tgaiknl at teh freyr gannild. I doluc aehr revey rwdo htey erew sngiay! neO mna aisd it asw ittgneg to be taht eitm of ryea wenh teh yads rae olgn nda eht sinhgt era tsroh. ehotAnr eon dasi ahtt he cnroeedk nghoitt nsaw’t eon of eht retoshr soen. ehnT hety dhgalue adn dias eth smea tnihg evro iaang adn guhaled ginaa. enhT tehy eokw up oarneth ygu nda disa it to mhi nda alueghd, utb he dind’t hlgau back. He pspaedn at hetm adn dlto emth to lvaee him laneo. The sfitr uyg sida he’d tlle it to shi dol alyd escuaeb hes’d ntkih it wsa nuynf, eevn othugh it naws’t yeraln as unnyf as smeo of the reoth tnihsg he’d tldo rhe. I hreda one nma sya it was nlyear ether o’kcclo in the mninorg nad hatt he ophed it’d be lgith soon. erAft ttha I efditdr rarhtfe adn treahfr aywa and lcunod’t eamk uto nay rmoe of the rwdso. I culod tlisl areh the mermur of cosvei and the hatelurg yvree onw and htne, btu it eeesmd a lngo yaw fof.