Chapter 10 Chapter 8 Bravely Be a Pirate, Preview the Green Forest

Tom dodged through a few alleys, left the students' way back to school, and then walked slowly and sullenly.He crossed a small stream two or three times, because of the general superstition among children that if you cross the water you will not be able to catch up.Half an hour later he was disappearing behind the big Douglas house on Cardiff Hill, with the school just dimly visible in the valley behind him.He walked into a dense forest, overcame the thorns and thorns, broke through a road, came to the depths of the forest, and sat down on the mossy ground under a lush oak tree.The woods were motionless, the midday heat was so suffocating that even the birds in the trees had stopped singing.The ground was lethargic, only the occasional sound of a woodpecker pecking wood in the distance, which made the originally silent forest even more silent, and Tom felt even more lonely and helpless.He was disheartened, and his mood was in tune with the circumstances here.For a long time he sat there with his chin in his hands, and his elbows on his knees, in thought.In his view, to live is at best to suffer.Thinking of this, he envied the recently deceased Jimmy Hedges even more.He thought that accompanied by the rustling woods and the swaying flowers and plants on the grave, it would be very pleasant if one could lie there carefree and never wake up, dreaming endlessly.At this moment he really wished he had been innocent in Sunday-school.In that case, he can go away without any worries this time, and die all at once.As for the girl, what had he done?Nothing was done.He meant it well, but she treated him like a dog—literally treated him like a dog.One day she will regret it.At that time, it was too late for her to regret it.It would be great if he could die for a while!

Young people are naturally lighthearted and cheerful, and it is impossible to suppress it for long.Before long Tom was unconsciously concerned with the reality before him.If he turned around and disappeared without anyone noticing, what would be the consequences?What if he went overseas where no one knew, and never came back?And what did she think?The idea of ​​being a clown flashed through his mind again, and it made him miserable.Just imagine that in Tom's subconscious mind, he has vaguely come to the sacred and romantic kingdom, which can't accommodate the clown's gags, colorful tights and other things.Come on, he would rather be a soldier and return home when he is scarred and famous.This is no good, it is better to join the Indians, hunt bison with them, and fight on the high mountains and the deserted plains of the west.Come back when you become chief in the future.At that time, with feathers on your head and scary patterns on your body, find another summer morning, when everyone is drowsy, strutting into Sunday school and making creepy shouts , so that the companions couldn't hold back their envy and stared blankly.Isn't that not enough, there is something more arrogant than this, he is going to be a pirate!Yes, that's it!Now, the future is here and shining brightly.Behold, he shall be famous all over the world, and those who hear it shall tremble.How majestic it would be for him to ride the long black speedboat "Storm God" with a frightening banner on the prow, and sail through the waves in his cape and chop the waves!When he is famous, then, just watch him come back!He would suddenly appear at the country house and strut into the church.He had a dark complexion and a weather-beaten look.I saw him wearing a black flannel tights on his upper body, a pair of wide shorts on his lower body, wide boots on his feet, and a red shoulder strap on his back. A carbine was hung on his belt, and a worn out dagger was pinned to his side.Feathers fluttered from the drooping hat, and a black banner with crossed skulls and bones fluttered in the wind.Hearing someone else whispering: "This is the pirate Tom Sawyer-the black-robed bandit on the Spanish sea!" Tom's heart burst into ecstasy.

Yes, that's it, he decided to do it: run away from home, live this life, and plan to start the next morning.So he must start preparing now.He will bring all his belongings.He walked to a nearby rotten tree trunk and began digging at one end with his Barlow knife.After a while, the sound of empty wood came.He put his hand there, and muttered an incantation in an unforgettable way: Those who haven't come, come quickly! Those who are here, stay! Then he scraped away the dirt, revealing a pine shingle underneath.He took it away, revealing a small treasure chest with a bottom and sides of pine tiles.The small treasure chest is very delicate, and there is a marble in it.Tom was amazed!He scratched his head in bewilderment and said:

"Hey, why doesn't it work!" So he dropped the marble in a fit of anger, and stood there brooding.It turned out that his superstition didn't work.He and all his companions had always thought it was infallible, but this time it wasn't.When you bury a marble, if you say a few incantations about it, and after a fortnight, use the spell that Tom just said, and dig up the marble, you will find that all the marbles that were lost and scattered all over the place are gathered here.But now, it has literally failed.Tom's entire confidence was shaken to its foundations.What he has heard many times before are all successful examples, and he has never heard of any ineffective ones.He couldn't figure it out, and finally decided that a monster had stepped in and broken the spell.He felt that explaining it this way would comfort him.So he found a small sand pile around it, with a funnel-shaped depression in the middle of the sand pile.He threw himself on the ground, pressed his mouth into the hollow, and cried:

"Little beetle, little beetle, tell me what's going on! Little beetle, little beetle, please tell me what's going on!" The sand began to move, and a small black beetle came out quickly, but as soon as it appeared, it shrank back in fright. "It doesn't say it! I know, there must be a demon playing tricks." He knew very well that it was no good to fight the witch, so he was dejected and had to give in.But he suddenly remembered the pebble he had just thrown away, why not get it back?So he searched patiently while walking.But he couldn't find it.He went back to his little treasure chest and stood where he had just thrown the marbles.Then he took another marble from his pocket, threw it in the same direction, and said:

"Dude, go find your brother!" After the marble fell to the ground, he walked over to look for it.But the marble might have been thrown either too close or too far, so he tried two more times.The last time it worked.The two marbles were less than a foot apart. At this moment, a tin toy trumpet sounded faintly from the green avenue in the woods.Tom quickly took off his coat and trousers, changed the suspenders into a belt, and pushed aside the bushes behind the rotten wood to find a crude bow and arrow, a wooden sword, and a tin trumpet.In a moment, he grabbed these things, and jumped out with bare feet and open arms.He stopped shortly under a big elm tree, blew his horn in return, and tiptoeing alertly around, he said discreetly—to his imaginary companion:

"Hold on, good men! Listen to the trumpet and act." At this time, Joe Harper appeared.Like Tom, he is well equipped and travels lightly. Tom yelled: "Stop! Who is it that dares to enter Sherwood Forest with permission?" "I am the best friend of Godsborne, the royal guard, and I have traveled all over the world, and I have never been hindered. Who are you, how dare—how dare..." "How dare you speak wild words," said Tom.He was reminding Harper, because they were reciting the words from memory. "Who are you, how dare you speak wild words?"

"Me? I'm Robin Hood, you'll know how powerful I am right now." "So, are you really that well-known green forest hero? I just want to compete with you to see who owns this forest musician. Accept!" Each of them held a wooden sword and threw all the extra things on the ground. They stood foot to foot in a confrontational state, and started a fierce battle of "two up and two down". Tom says: "Listen, if you know how to use swordsmanship, let's have a hearty competition!" So they "compared with each other happily", and it turned out that the two of them were panting and sweating profusely.Then Tom yelled:

"Fall! Fall! Why don't you fall?" "I won't do it! Why don't you fall down yourself? You can't stand it anymore." "It doesn't matter if I fall or not. But the book says I can't fall, and the book says 'Then with a backhand he stabbed poor Godsborne's best friend to death.' You should turn around , let me stab your back with a sword." Joe couldn't help it, but turned around, got stabbed hard, and fell to the ground. "Listen," said Joe, getting up from the ground, "you'll have to let me kill you, and that's only fair."

"Hey, how can that work? It doesn't say that in the book." "Come on, you're so damn mean--get it down." "Well, I say Jo, you can play Brother Duck, or March the Miller's son, and beat me up with a stick of iron, or I'll be the Sheriff of Nottingham, and you'll be Robin Hood for a while, and I can kill it." The idea was satisfactory, so they did it.Later Tom played the original role of Robin Hood, and he got killed by the treacherous nun.With his wounds not being tended to, he lost a lot of blood and was exhausted.At last Joe played the part of a gang of green men, dragging him mournfully, weeping, and put his bow into his feeble hands, and Tom said:

"The place where the arrow fell was lined with green trees. Poor Robin Hood was buried there." After he shot the arrow, he leaned back and was about to fall to the ground to die, but it happened to fall on the thorny grass.He jumped up so alive that it seemed he was playing dead. The two children dressed and hid their clothes and went away, sad that there were no more green men, and wondering what modern civilization could do to make up for it.They said they would rather spend a year in the Sherwood Forest than be the President of the United States for a lifetime.