The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain (readict books .TXT) đ
- Author: Mark Twain
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Toward daylight of the same morning, Tom Canty stirred out of a heavy sleep and opened his eyes in the dark. He lay silent a few moments, trying to analyze his confused thoughts and impressions, and get some sort of meaning out of them; then suddenly he burst out in a rapturous but guarded voiceâ â
âI see it all, I see it all! Now God be thanked, I am indeed awake at last! Come, joy! vanish, sorrow! Ho, Nan! Bet! kick off your straw and hie ye hither to my side, till I do pour into your unbelieving ears the wildest madcap dream that ever the spirits of night did conjure up to astonish the soul of man withal!â ââ ⊠Ho, Nan, I say! Bet!â
A dim form appeared at his side, and a voice saidâ â
âWilt deign to deliver thy commands?â
âCommands?â ââ ⊠O, woe is me, I know thy voice! Speak thouâ âwho am I?â
âThou? In sooth, yesternight wert thou the Prince of Wales; today art thou my most gracious liege, Edward, King of England.â
Tom buried his head among his pillows, murmuring plaintivelyâ â
âAlack, it was no dream! Go to thy rest, sweet sirâ âleave me to my sorrows.â
Tom slept again, and after a time he had this pleasant dream. He thought it was summer, and he was playing, all alone, in the fair meadow called Goodmanâs Fields, when a dwarf only a foot high, with long red whiskers and a humped back, appeared to him suddenly and said, âDig by that stump.â He did so, and found twelve bright new penniesâ âwonderful riches! Yet this was not the best of it; for the dwarf saidâ â
âI know thee. Thou art a good lad, and a deserving; thy distresses shall end, for the day of thy reward is come. Dig here every seventh day, and thou shalt find always the same treasure, twelve bright new pennies. Tell noneâ âkeep the secret.â
Then the dwarf vanished, and Tom flew to Offal Court with his prize, saying to himself, âEvery night will I give my father a penny; he will think I begged it, it will glad his heart, and I shall no more be beaten. One penny every week the good priest that teacheth me shall have; mother, Nan, and Bet the other four. We be done with hunger and rags, now, done with fears and frets and savage usage.â
In his dream he reached his sordid home all out of breath, but with eyes dancing with grateful enthusiasm; cast four of his pennies into his motherâs lap and cried outâ â
âThey are for thee!â âall of them, every one!â âfor thee and Nan and Betâ âand honestly come by, not begged nor stolen!â
The happy and astonished mother strained him to her breast and exclaimedâ â
âIt waxeth lateâ âmay it please your Majesty to rise?â
Ah! that was not the answer he was expecting. The dream had snapped asunderâ âhe was awake.
He opened his eyesâ âthe richly clad First Lord of the Bedchamber was kneeling by his couch. The gladness of the lying dream faded awayâ âthe poor boy recognized that he was still a captive and a king. The room was filled with courtiers clothed in purple mantlesâ âthe mourning colorâ âand with noble servants of the monarch. Tom sat up in bed and gazed out from the heavy silken curtains upon this fine company.
The weighty business of dressing began, and one courtier after another knelt and paid his court and offered to the little king his condolences upon his heavy loss, whilst the dressing proceeded. In the beginning, a shirt was taken up by the Chief Equerry in Waiting, who passed it to the First Lord of the Buckhounds, who passed it to the Second Gentleman of the Bedchamber, who passed it to the Head Ranger of Windsor Forest, who passed it to the Third Groom of the Stole, who passed it to the Chancellor Royal of the Duchy of Lancaster, who passed it to the Master of the Wardrobe, who passed it to Norroy King-at-Arms, who passed it to the Constable of the Tower, who passed it to the Chief Steward of the Household, who passed it to the Hereditary Grand Diaperer, who passed it to the Lord High Admiral of England, who passed it to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who passed it to the First Lord of the Bedchamber, who took what was left of it and put it on Tom. Poor little wondering chap, it reminded him of passing buckets at a fire.
Each garment in its turn had to go through this slow and solemn process; consequently Tom grew very weary of the ceremony; so weary that he felt an almost gushing gratefulness when he at last saw his long silken hose begin the journey down the line and knew that the end of the matter was drawing near. But he exulted too soon. The First Lord of the Bedchamber received the hose and was about to encase Tomâs legs in them, when a sudden flush invaded his face and he hurriedly hustled the things back into the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury with an astounded look and a whispered, âSee, my lord!â pointing to a something connected with the hose. The Archbishop paled, then flushed, and passed the hose to the Lord High Admiral, whispering, âSee, my lord!â The Admiral passed the hose to the Hereditary Grand Diaperer, and had hardly breath enough in his body to ejaculate, âSee, my lord!â The hose drifted backward along the line, to the Chief Steward of the Household, the Constable of the Tower, Norroy King-at-Arms, the Master of the Wardrobe, the Chancellor Royal of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Third Groom of the Stole, the Head
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