CHAPTER II. — SAM'S EARLY LIFE.

 Three years before the meeting described in the previous chapter Sam Barker became an orphan¹, by the death of his father. The father was an intemperate² man, and no one grieved much for his death. Sam felt rather relieved than otherwise. He had received many a beating from his father, in his fits of drunken fury, and had been obliged to forage³ for himself for the most part, getting a meal from one neighbor, a basket of provision from another, and so managed to eke⁴ out a precarious⁵ subsistence in the tumble-down shanty⁶ which he and his father occupied.

 

Mr. Barker left no will, for the good and sufficient reason that he had no property to dispose of. So, on the day after the funeral, Sam found himself a candidate for the poorhouse. He was a stout⁷ boy of twelve, strong and sturdy in spite of insufficient⁸ food, and certainly had suffered nothing from luxurious⁹ living.

 

It was a country town in Connecticut, near the Rhode Island border. We will call it Dudley. The selectmen deliberated what should be done with Sam.

 

"There isn't much for a lad like him to do at the poorhouse," said Major Stebbins. "He'd ought to be set to work. Why don't you take him, Deacon Hopkins?"

 

"I do need a boy," said the deacon, "but I'm most afeard to take Sam. He's a dreadful mischievous¹⁰ boy, I've heerd."

 

"He's had a bad example in his father," said the major. "You could train him up the way he'd ought to go."

 

"Mebbe I could," said the deacon, flattered by this tribute, and reflecting, moreover, that he could get a good deal of work out of Sam without being obliged to pay him wages.

 

"You could train him up to be a respectable man," said the major. "They wouldn't know what to do with him at the poorhouse."

 

So the deacon was prevailed upon to take Sam to bring up.

 

"You're goin to live with me, Samuel," said the deacon, calling the boy to his side.

 

"Am I?" asked Sam, surveying the old man attentively¹¹.

 

"Yes; I shall try to make a man of you."

 

"I'll get to be a man anyway, if I live long enough," said Sam.

 

"I mean I will make a man of you in a moral sense," explained the deacon.

 

This, however, was above Sam's comprehension.

 

"What would you like to do when you're a man?" asked the deacon.

 

"Smoke a pipe," answered Sam, after some reflection.

 

The deacon held up his hands in horror.

 

"What a misguided youth!" he exclaimed. "Can you think of nothing better than to smoke a pipe?"

 

"Dad liked it," said Sam; "but I guess he liked rum better."

 

"Your father was a misguided man," said the deacon. "He wasted his substance in riotous¹² living."

 

"You'd ought to have seen him when he was tight," said Sam, confidentially¹³. "Didn't he tear round then? He'd fling sticks of wood at my head. O jolly! Didn't I run? I used to hide under the bed when I couldn't run out of doors."

 

"Your father's dead and gone. I don't want to talk against him, but I hope you'll grow up a very different man. Do you think you will like to live with me?"

 

"I guess so," said Sam. "You live in a good house, where the rain don't leak through the roof on your head. You'll give me lots to eat, too; won't you?"

 

"You shall have enough," said the deacon, cautiously, "but it is bad to over-eat. Boys ought to be moderate."

 

"I didn't over-eat to home," said Sam. "I went one day without eatin' a crumb¹⁴."

 

"You shall have enough to eat at my house, but you must render a return."

 

"What's that?"

 

"You must pay me for it."

 

"I can't; I aint got a cent."

 

"You shall pay me in work. He that does not work shall not eat."

 

"Have I got to work very hard?" asked Sam, anxiously.

 

"I will not task you beyond your strength, but I shall expect you to work faithfully. I work myself. Everybody works in my house."

 

Sam was occupied for a brief space in considering the great problem that connects labor¹⁵ and eating. Somehow it didn't seem quite satisfactory.

 

"I wish I was a pig!" he burst out, rather unexpectedly.

 

"Why?" demanded the deacon, amazed.

 

"Pigs have a better time than men and boys. They have all they can eat, and don't have to work for it nuther."

 

"I'm surprised at you," said the deacon, shocked. "Pigs are only brute¹⁶ animals. They have no souls. Would you be willing to give up your immortal¹⁷ soul for the sake of bein' idle, and doin' no work?"

 

"I don't know anything bout¹⁸ my immortal soul. What good does it do me?" inquired Sam.

 

"I declare! the boy's actilly gropin' in heathen darkness," said the deacon, beginning to think he had undertaken a tough job.

 

"What's that?" asked Sam, mystified.

 

"I haven't time to tell you now, but I must have a long talk with you some day. You aint had no sort of bringing up. Do you ever read the Bible?"

 

"No, but I've read the life of Cap'n Kidd. He was a smart man, though."

 

"Captain Kidd, the pirate?" asked the deacon, horrified¹⁹.

 

"Yes. Wa'n't he a great man?"

 

"He calls a pirate a great man!" groaned²⁰ the deacon.

 

"I think I'd like to be a pirate," said Sam, admiringly.

 

"Then you'd die on the gallus!" exclaimed the deacon with energy.

 

"No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't let 'em catch me," said Sam, confidently.

 

"I never heerd a boy talk so," said the deacon. "He's as bad as a—a Hottentot."

 

Deacon Hopkins had no very clear ideas as to the moral or physical condition of Hottentots, or where they lived, but had a general notion that they were in a benighted²¹ state, and the comparison seemed to him a good one. Not so to Sam.

 

"You're calling me names," he said, discontentedly. "You called me a Hottentot."

 

"I fear you are very much like those poor, benighted creatures, Samuel," said his new guardian²²; "but it isn't wholly your fault. You have never had any religious or moral instruction. This must be rectified²³. I shall buy you a catechism this very day."

 

"Will you?" asked Sam, eagerly, who, it must be explained, had an idea that a catechism was something good to eat.

 

"Yes, I'll stop at the store and get one."

 

They went into Pendleton's store,—a general country variety store, in which the most dissimilar articles were kept for sale.

 

"Have you got a catechism?" asked the deacon, entering with Sam at his side.

 

"We've got just one left."

 

"How much is it?"

 

"Ten cents."

 

"I'll take it."

 

Sam looked on with interest till the clerk produced the article; then his countenance²⁴ underwent a change.

 

"Why, it's a book," he said.

 

"Of course it is. It is a very good book, from which you will learn all about your duty, and your religious obligations."

 

"You needn't buy it. I don't want it," said Sam.

 

"Don't want the catechism!" said the deacon, not without anger.

 

"No, it aint any good."

 

"My boy, I know better what is good for you than you do. I shall buy you the catechism."

 

"I'd rather you'd get me that book," said Sam, pointing to a thin pamphlet copy of "Jack²⁵, the Giant-Killer."

 

But Deacon Hopkins persisted in making the purchase proposed.

 

"Are there any pictures in it?" asked Sam.

 

"No."

 

"Then I shan't like it."

 

"You don't know what is for your good. I hope you will be wiser in time. But here we are at the house. Come right in, and mind you wipe your feet."

 

This was Sam's first introduction into the Hopkins' household. He proved a disturbing element, as we shall presently see.

 

1 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

2 intemperate   

adj.无节制的，放纵的

参考例句：

• Many people felt threatened by Arther's forceful,sometimes intemperate style.很多人都觉得阿瑟的强硬的、有时过激的作风咄咄逼人。
• The style was hurried,the tone intemperate.匆促的笔调，放纵的语气。

3 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

4 eke   

v.勉强度日，节约使用

参考例句：

• They had to eke out a livinga tiny income.他们不得不靠微薄收入勉强度日。
• We must try to eke out our water supply.我们必须尽量节约用水。

5 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

6 shanty   

n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子

参考例句：

• His childhood was spent in a shanty.他的童年是在一个简陋小屋里度过的。
• I want to quit this shanty.我想离开这烂房子。

8 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

9 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

10 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

11 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 riotous   

adj.骚乱的；狂欢的

参考例句：

• Summer is in riotous profusion.盛夏的大地热闹纷繁。
• We spent a riotous night at Christmas.我们度过了一个狂欢之夜。

13 confidentially   

ad.秘密地，悄悄地

参考例句：

• She was leaning confidentially across the table. 她神神秘秘地从桌子上靠过来。
• Kao Sung-nien and Wang Ch'u-hou talked confidentially in low tones. 高松年汪处厚两人低声密谈。

14 crumb   

n.饼屑，面包屑，小量

参考例句：

• It was the only crumb of comfort he could salvage from the ordeal.这是他从这场磨难里能找到的唯一的少许安慰。
• Ruth nearly choked on the last crumb of her pastry.鲁斯几乎被糕点的最后一块碎屑所噎住。

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

16 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

17 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

18 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

19 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

20 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 benighted   

adj.蒙昧的

参考例句：

• Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened,heed only one side and you will be benighted.兼听则明，偏信则暗。
• Famine hit that benighted country once more.饥荒再次席卷了那个蒙昧的国家。

22 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

23 rectified   

[医]矫正的，调整的

参考例句：

• I am hopeful this misunderstanding will be rectified very quickly. 我相信这个误会将很快得到纠正。
• That mistake could have been rectified within 28 days. 那个错误原本可以在28天内得以纠正。

24 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

25 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。