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TOM joined the new order of Cadets of Temperance, being attracted by the showy character of their "regalia." He promised to abstain1 from smoking, chewing, and profanity as long as he remained a member. Now he found out a new thing -- namely, that to promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing. Tom soon found himself tormented2 with a desire to drink and swear; the desire grew to be so intense that nothing but the hope of a chance to display himself in his red sash kept him from withdrawing from the order. Fourth of July was coming; but he soon gave that up -- gave it up before he had worn his shackles3 over forty-eight hours -- and fixed4 his hopes upon old Judge Frazer, justice of the peace, who was apparently5 on his deathbed and would have a big public funeral, since he was so high an official. During three days Tom was deeply concerned about the Judge's condition and hungry for news of it. Sometimes his hopes ran high -- so high that he would venture to get out his regalia and practise before the lookingglass. But the Judge had a most discouraging way of fluctuating. At last he was pronounced upon the mend -- and then convalescent. Tom was disgusted; and felt a sense of injury, too. He handed in his resignation at once -- and that night the Judge suffered a relapse and died. Tom resolved that he would never trust a man like that again. The funeral was a fine thing. The Cadets paraded in a style calculated to kill the late member with envy. Tom was a free boy again, however -- there was something in that. He could drink and swear, now -- but found to his surprise that he did not want to. The simple fact that he could, took the desire away, and the charm of it. Tom presently wondered to find that his coveted6 vacation was beginning to hang a little heavily on his hands. He attempted a diary -- but nothing happened during three days, and so he abandoned it. The first of all the negro minstrel shows came to town, and made a sensation. Tom and Joe Harper got up a band of performers and were happy for two days. Even the Glorious Fourth was in some sense a failure, for it rained hard, there was no procession in consequence, and the greatest man in the world (as Tom supposed), Mr. Benton, an actual United States Senator, proved an overwhelming disappointment – for he was not twenty-five feet high, nor even anywhere in the neighborhood of it. A circus came. The boys played circus for three days afterward7 in tents made of rag carpeting -- admission, three pins for boys, two for girls -- and then circusing was abandoned. A phrenologist and a mesmerizer8 came -- and went again and left the village duller and drearier9 than ever. There were some boys-and-girls' parties, but they were so few and so delightful10 that they only made the aching voids between ache the harder. Becky Thatcher11 was gone to her Constantinople home to stay with her parents during vacation -- so there was no bright side to life anywhere. The dreadful secret of the murder was a chronic12 misery13. It was a very cancer for permanency and pain. During two long weeks Tom lay a prisoner, dead to the world and its happenings. He was very ill, he was interested in nothing. When he got upon his feet at last and moved feebly down-town, a melancholy15 change had come over everything and every creature. There had been a "revival," and everybody had "got religion," not only the adults, but even the boys and girls. Tom went about, hoping against hope for the sight of one blessed sinful face, but disappointment crossed him everywhere. He found Joe Harper studying a Testament16, and turned sadly away from the depressing spectacle. He sought Ben Rogers, and found him visiting the poor with a basket of tracts17. He hunted up Jim Hollis, who called his attention to the precious blessing18 of his late measles as a warning. Every boy he encountered added another ton to his depression; and when, in desperation, he flew for refuge at last to the bosom19 of Huckleberry Finn and was received with a Scriptural quotation20, his heart broke and he crept home and to bed realizing that he alone of all the town was lost, forever and forever. And that night there came on a terrific storm, with driving rain, awful claps of thunder and blinding sheets of lightning. He covered his head with the bedclothes and waited in a horror of suspense21 for his doom22; for he had not the shadow of a doubt that all this hubbub23 was about him. He believed he had taxed the forbearance of the powers above to the extremity24 of endurance and that this was the result. It might have seemed to him a waste of pomp and ammunition25 to kill a bug26 with a battery of artillery27, but there seemed nothing incongruous about the getting up such an expensive thunderstorm as this to knock the turf from under an insect like himself. By and by the tempest spent itself and died without accomplishing its object. The boy's first impulse was to be grateful, and reform. His second was to wait -- for there might not be any more storms. The next day the doctors were back; Tom had relapsed. The three weeks he spent on his back this time seemed an entire age. When he got abroad at last he was hardly grateful that he had been spared, remembering how lonely was his estate, how companionless and forlorn he was. He drifted listlessly down the street and found Jim Hollis acting28 as judge in a juvenile29 court that was trying a cat for murder, in the presence of her victim, a bird. He found Joe Harper and Huck Finn up an alley30 eating a stolen melon. Poor lads! they -- like Tom -- had suffered a relapse 汤姆被少年节制会的漂亮“绶带”吸引住了，就加入了该新组织。他保证入会期间，不 抽烟，不嚼烟，不渎神。之后他有了个新发现——那就是，嘴上保证的越漂亮，而实际上干 的正好相反。汤姆不久就发觉自己被一种强烈的欲望所折磨，即想抽烟，想破口大骂。这种 欲望如此强烈，他真想从节制会退出来，念及自己能有机会佩戴红肩带好好露把脸，他才打 消了退会的念头。七月四号快要到了（美国独立纪念日），但不久他就放弃了这个愿望—— 戴上”枷锁”还不到四十八个小时，他就放弃了这种愿望——又把希望寄托在治安法官弗雷 塞老头身上。此人显然行将就木，既然他身居要职，死后一定会有一个盛大的丧礼。三天以 来，汤姆深切关注着法官的病情，如饥似渴等着消息。有时，他的希望似乎触手可及——他 甚至大胆地拿出他的绶带，对着镜子自我演示一番。但法官病情的进展不尽汤姆的人意。后 来，他竟生机重现——接着便慢慢康复了。汤姆对此大光其火；他简直觉得自己受了伤害。 于是他马上申请退会——但就在当晚，法官旧病复发，一命呜呼。汤姆发誓以后再也不相信 这种人了。 丧礼搞得颇为隆重。少年节制会的会员们神气十足地列队游行，让那位退会的会员忌妒 得要死。但不管怎么说，汤姆又恢复自由这很有意义。他又可以喝酒，可以咒娘了——可是 他惊奇地发现自己对这些事兴趣索然。道理很简单，他现在自由了，这些做法反而失去了魅 力，他可以摆脱欲望了。 汤姆不久就感到，让他梦寐以求的暑假渐渐变得沉闷冗长起来。 他试图写写日记——但三天以来，没有什么稀罕事儿发生，于是他又放弃了这个想法。 一流的黑人演奏队来到了这个小镇，引起了轰动。汤姆和哈帕组织了一队演奏员，尽情 地疯了两天。 就连光荣的七月四日从某种意义上说，也没那么热闹了。因为那天下了场大雨，所以没 有队伍游行，而世界上最伟大的人物（在汤姆看来），一个真正的美国参议员本顿先生，令 人失望——因为事实上他身高并没有二十五英尺，甚至远远挨不上这个边儿。 马戏团来了。从那以后，孩子们用破毯子搭起一个帐篷，一连玩了三天的马戏——入场 券是：男孩子要三根别针，女孩子要两根——不久，马戏也不玩了。 后来，又来了一个骨相家和一个催眠师——他们也走了，这个镇子较之以往更加沉闷、 更加乏味。 有人举办过男孩子和女孩子的联欢会，但次数有限，况且联欢会又那么有趣，所以在没 有联欢会的日子里，空虚的、苦恼的气味更浓了。 贝基·撒切尔去康士坦丁堡镇的家里，和她父母一起度暑假去了——所以，无论怎样 过，生活皆无乐趣可言。 那次可怕的谋杀案的秘密不断折磨着汤姆，简直像一颗永不甘休的毒瘤。 接着，汤姆又患上了麻疹。 在漫长的两周里，汤姆像个犯人似地在家躺着，与世隔绝。他病得很厉害，对什么都不 感兴趣。当他终于能起身下床，虚弱无力地在镇子里走动的时候，他发现周围的人和事都发 生了变化，变得压抑了。镇上有过一次“信仰复兴会”，所有的人都“信主”了，不仅是大 人，男孩和女孩也不例外。汤姆到处走走，在绝望之中希望能看见哪怕一个被上帝放过的邪 恶的面孔，结果处处使他失望。他发现乔·哈帕正在啃《圣经》，便难过地避开了这一扫兴 场景。接着他找到了本·罗杰斯，发现他正手提一篮布道的小册子去看望穷人们。他又找到 了吉姆·荷利斯，后者提醒他要从最近得的麻疹中汲取宝贵的教训。每遇到一个孩子，他的 沉闷就多添一分。最后，百无聊赖之际，他去知交哈克贝利·费恩那儿寻求安慰，想不到他 也引用《圣经》上的一段话来迎接他。汤姆沮丧透顶，悄悄溜回家里，躺在床上，意识到全 镇人中，唯有他永远、永远地成了一只“迷途的羔羊”。 就在当夜，刮来了一场可怕的暴风，大雨滂沱，电闪雷呜，令人耳聩目弦。汤姆用床单 蒙着头，心惊胆寒地等待着自己的末日来临。因为他一点也不怀疑，所有这一切狂风骤雨都 是冲着他来的。他深信是他惹翻了上帝，使他怒不可遏，瞧，现在报应来了！在他看来，像 这般用一排大炮来歼灭一只小虫，似乎有点小题大作，而且也未免太浪费弹药。但要彻底铲 除像他这样的一条害虫，又似乎怎么都不为过。 后来，暴风雨精疲力尽，未达目的即告休兵。这孩子的第一个冲动就是谢天谢地，准备 脱胎换骨，走向新岸。第二个冲动是等待——因为兴许今后不会再有暴风雨了呢。 第二天，医生们又来了；汤姆的病又犯了。这一次，他在床上躺了三周，在他看来，仿 佛是整整一个世纪。当他从病床上起来的时候，回想起自身多么地凄苦，无助而寂寞，他竟 然觉得未遭雷击算不上什么可喜可贺的事。他茫然地走上街头，碰到了吉姆·荷利斯在扮演 法官，正在一个儿童法庭上审理一件猫儿咬死小鸟的谋杀案，被害者也在场。他还发现 乔·哈帕和哈克·费恩正在一条巷子里吃偷来的甜瓜。可怜的孩子！他们——也像汤姆一样 ——老毛病又犯了 点击  收听单词发音
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