The adventures of Tom Sawyer.Mark Twain. Biography
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Mark Twain. Biography

   Samuel Clemens was born on November 30‚ 1835 in Florida‚ Missouri‚ the sixth of seven children.  When Sam was 11‚ his father died. Shortly thereafter he left school to work as a printer’s apprentice for a local newspaper. At 18‚ Sam headed east to New York City and Philadelphia‚ where he worked on several different newspapers and found some success at writing articles. By 1857‚ he had returned home to embark on a new career as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River.

Later he began to travel   from Missouri to Nevada. The  events along his trip  would find a way into his short stories and books. Then Sam began writing for the Territorial Enterprise‚ a Virginia City‚ Nevada newspaper where he used‚ for the first time‚ his pen name‚ Mark Twain.

 In 1869 he had a steamship tour of Europe. It was also on this trip that Clemens met his  brother-in-law‚ Charles Langdon. Langdon reportedly showed Sam a picture of his sister‚ Olivia‚ and Sam fell in love at first sight. After courting for two years‚ Sam Clemens and Olivia (Livy) Langdon were married in 1870. For the next 17 years (1874-1891)‚ Sam‚ Livy, and their three daughters  lived in the Hartford home. During those years he completed some of his most famous books.  Novels such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Life on the Mississippi (1883) captured both his Missouri memories and depictions of the American scene. The Prince and the Pauper (1881) explored class relations, as does A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889), which‚ going a step further‚ criticized oppression in general while examining the period’s explosion of new technologies. He wrote   Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884.  In this book  he attacked the institution of slavery.

Like any good journalist‚ Sam Clemens‚ a.k.a. Mark Twain‚ spent his life observing and reporting on his surroundings. In his writings he provided images of the romantic‚ the real‚ the strengths and weaknesses of a rapidly changing world. By examining his life and his works‚ we can read into the past – piecing together various events of his time.

On April 21‚ 1910‚ Sam Clemens died at age 74.

                                   The adventures of Tom Sawyer

Characters:  

Narator1, Narrator 2,Narrator3, Narrator 4, Tom, Huckleberry, Teacher, Becky

Narrator 1. We are going to speak about a very smart  and  funny boy. His name is Thomas Sawyer. He’s   the main character of the book, which was written by American writer Mark Twain in the 19th century. The title of the book is The adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Scene one

 On the way to school on Monday morning Tom Sawyer stopped to talk to Huckleberry Finn, the son of the town drunkard. The boy was hated  by  all  the  mothers of the town, because he was vulgar and bad. They feared he would be bad influence on their children. All the children admired him and wished to be like him. Tom was like the rest of the good boys in that, he  wanted  to  be free as Huckleberry. Aunt Polly ordered not to play with him. So he played with him every time he got  chance.

Narrator 2.Hucklebery was always dressed in rugs. His hat was very old. He had got a coat hung nearly to his feet  and  his  trousers were too long for him and covered in dirt. Huckleberry came and went, at his own free will. He slept on doorsteps, he didn’t have to go to school or to church, he could go fishing or swimming when and where he liked. He never had to wash and put on clean clothes, in a word, everything that goes to make life wonderful that boy had -so thought every respectable boy in the town.

Tom. Hello, Huckleberry! What’s that you have?

Huckleberry.  Hello, Tom. See how you like it? It’s a dead cat.  

Tom . Wha-a-t? Let me see it, Huck. What are going to do with it?

Huckleberry.  Don’t you know? Cure warts.

 Tom. Is that so? How do you cure them with dead cats?

Huckleberry. Well, you take your cat and go to the graveyard, at night, where somebody bad was buried. At midnight the devil will  come , but of  course you won’t see him. And when he’s taking that bad dead man away, you say:”The dead man follows the devil, the cat follows the dead man, my warts follow the cat.” And that will take all warts off  you .

Tom. Sounds right .Have you ever tried it, Huck?

Huckleberry. No, but old Mother Hopkins told me.

Tom. Well, I think it’s so, then .When are you going to try the cat?

Huckleberry.   Tonight. I think the devil will come after old  greedy Williams tonight.

Tom.   But his relatives buried him on Saturday. Didn’t the devil get him on Saturday night?

Huckleberry.  Think! How could devils work before midnight? And then it was Sunday. Devils don’t work on Sunday, do they?

Tom. I never thought of that. Let me go  with you.

Huckleberry. Of course - if you are not afraid.

Tom.  Afraid?  Not  at all. See you tomorrow. I’m late for school.

Scene two

Narrator.3 When Tom came into the classroom, he was half an hour late.

Teacher. Thomas Sawyer! Why are you late again, as usual?

Narrator 3. Tom was going  to  tell  a lie when he saw a new   beautiful girl  and an open seat next to her.

Tom. I stopped to talk with Huckleberry Finn. He is my friend.

Teacher. You did what? Thomas Sawyer, this is the most unusual confession I have ever heard. Take off you jacket and prepare for punishment.

Narrator 3. The teacher whipped Tom.

Teacher. Now, go and sit with the girls. And let this be a lesson to you.

Tom.  What’s your  name?

 Becky.   Becky. What’s yours? Oh, I know. It’s Thomas Sawyer.

Tom. I’m Tom when I’m good. You call me Tom, will you? You are very beautiful…

Narrator3.    Tom began to write something, hiding the words from Becky and the girl wanted to read the words.

Becky.(is reading)  I love you. Oh,  is it a funny joke?

Tom. No, no it’s not a joke, it’s truth. 

Teacher. Thomas Sawyer I’ll punish you again and take you to the headmaster! What a naughty boy!

Narrator 3. At this moment the teacher seized Tom by the ear and dragged him back to the boys’ side of the room.

Scene three.     

 Narrator 3.After the lesson Tom met Becky.

Tom. Get to the corner and then come back to school the other way. I’ll do the same.

Narrator 3. They left school with two different groups of children and some minutes later they returned to school, sat together in the classroom and began to talk.

Tom. Becky, have you ever been engaged? Engaged to be married?

Becky. No, what’ s that? What is it like?

Tom.  Well, it is easy. You just tell a boy you won’t  ever have anybody but him, ever, ever, ever and then you kiss him, that’s all. Anybody can do it.

Becky. Kiss? What do you kiss for?

Tom.  You see, everybody  that’s  in love with each other do that. Do you remember what I wrote? So, Becky  whisper it to me- just the same.

Becky.  I-love-you.

Tom.  Now , Becky, it’s all done - all over but the kiss. Don’t be afraid of that. Please, Becky.(Tom kissed Becky)  now you’ll never love anybody but me, will you?

Becky.  No, I’ll never love anybody but you, Tom and I’ll never marry anybody but you.  And you’ll never love and marry anybody but me.

Tom. Of course. You’ll walk with me, you choose me and I choose you at parties, because that’s the way you do when you’re engaged.

Becky. It so nice, I’ve never heard of it before.

Tom.  Oh, it’s much fun! When me and Amy Lorence…

Becky. Oh, Tom! Then I’m not the first you’ve been engaged to!(she began to cry). Amy Lorence-she is our classmate…You love her!

Tom.  My dear Becky, don’t cry. I don’t love her anymore.

Becky. I don’t believe you. You love Amy.

Tom.  I don’t love anybody but you. Becky, won’t you say something? This is my main treasure, look, a brass doorknob .Please, Becky, won’t you take it?

(she struck it to the floor)

Narrator 4. Then Tom went out of the house and over the hills and far away.   Some minutes later Becky   began to suspect something. She ran to the door.

Becky.   Tom, Tom! Come back, Tom!

Narrator4. She listened and there was no answer. So she sat down to cry  until the other children began to gather again. But Tom- he didn’t return to school that day.