Pocs minuts després Tom es trobava a l'aigua de l'alfac, passant el qual cap a la ribera de l'Illinois. Abans que l'aigua li arribés a la cintura havia fet cosa de mig camí: el corrent ja no permetia més gual aleshores: així és que es llançà a nedar confiadament per la resta de cent yardes. Nedava quartejant per amunt el corrent, però tanmateix ell el menà cap avall més de pressa que no havia esperat. Tot i això, arribà finalment a la ribera i anà derivant fins a trobar una banda baixa, i aleshores sortí de l'aigua. Posà la mà a la butxaca del gec, trobà sana i bona la seva peça d'escorça, i en acabat prengué embranzida a través dels boscos, seguint la ribera amb els vestits regalimant. Poc abans de les deu arribà a un lloc obert davant el poble, i veié el vaporet que estava a l'ombra dels arbres i de l'alta vorera. Tot era quietud sota el parpelleig dels estels. S'arrossegà per la ribera, espiant amb els ulls ben badats; lliscà dins l'aigua, féu tres o quatre braçades, i s'enfilà dins el bot que estava fermat a la popa del vaporet. S'ajagué sota el banc de remaires, i esperà tot panteixant.
A few minutes later Tom was in the shoal water of the bar, wading toward the Illinois shore. Before the depth reached his middle he was halfway over; the current would permit no more wading, now, so he struck out confidently to swim the remaining hundred yards. He swam quartering upstream, but still was swept downward rather faster than he had expected. However, he reached the shore finally, and drifted along till he found a low place and drew himself out. He put his hand on his jacket pocket, found his piece of bark safe, and then struck through the woods, following the shore, with streaming garments. Shortly before ten o'clock he came out into an open place opposite the village, and saw the ferryboat lying in the shadow of the trees and the high bank. Everything was quiet under the blinking stars. He crept down the bank, watching with all his eyes, slipped into the water, swam three or four strokes and climbed into the skiff that did "yawl" duty at the boat's stern. He laid himself down under the thwarts and waited, panting.
Al cap de poca estona se sentí el toc de la campana esquerdada, i una veu donà l'orde d'amollar. Al cap d'un minut o dos la proa del bot anava enlairant-se contra el ventre del vapor, i el viatge començà. Tom se sentí joiós del seu èxit, perquè comprengué que era el darrer viatge del vapor, per aquella nit. Al cap de dotze o quinze minuts interminables les rodes pararen, i Tom lliscà per damunt la coberta i nedà cap a la ribera dins la fosca, desembarcant a cinquanta yardes, riu avall, fora del perill de possibles rodamons.
Presently the cracked bell tapped and a voice gave the order to "cast off." A minute or two later the skiff's head was standing high up, against the boat's swell, and the voyage was begun. Tom felt happy in his success, for he knew it was the boat's last trip for the night. At the end of a long twelve or fifteen minutes the wheels stopped, and Tom slipped overboard and swam ashore in the dusk, landing fifty yards downstream, out of danger of possible stragglers.
Apretà a córrer per camins deserts, i aviat es trobà al darrera del clos de la seva tia. Saltà per damunt, s'acostà a la golfa, i mirà a l'interior de la casa per la finestra de la saleta, perquè hi havia llum. Allí seien la tia Polly, Sid, Mary i la mare de Joe Harper, acoblats i enraonant. Estaven vora el llit, i el llit era entre ells i la porta. Tom anà cap a la porta i començà a aixecar dolçament la balda; després empenyé suaument, i la porta petà; continuà empenyent amb cautela, i esgarrifant-se cada vegada que petava, fins que judicà que podia passar-hi, tot i estret, damunt sos genolls: així és que va ficar el cap i començà el moviment estratègic.
He flew along unfrequented alleys, and shortly found himself at his aunt's back fence. He climbed over, approached the "ell," and looked in at the sitting-room window, for a light was burning there. There sat Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, and Joe Harper's mother, grouped together, talking. They were by the bed, and the bed was between them and the door. Tom went to the door and began to softly lift the latch; then he pressed gently and the door yielded a crack; he continued pushing cautiously, and quaking every time it creaked, till he judged he might squeeze through on his knees; so he put his head through and began, warily.
-Com és que el flam de la candela es mou així?- digué la tia Polly. Tom s'acuità. -Oh! La porta és oberta, em sembla. Oi, oi, que ho és. No s'acabaran en tot avui les coses estranyes. Aneu i tanqueu-la, Sid.
"What makes the candle blow so?" said Aunt Polly. Tom hurried up. "Why, that door's open, I believe. Why, of course it is. No end of strange things now. Go 'long and shut it, Sid."
Tom amb prou feines tingué el temps necessari a desaparèixer sota el llit. S'aturà i respirà una estona, i després s'arrossegà a un indret on podia gairebé tocar el peu de la seva tia.
Tom disappeared under the bed just in time. He lay and "breathed" himself for a time, and then crept to where he could almost touch his aunt's foot.
-Però, com estava dient- digué la tia Polly, -no era un noi dolent (val a dir-ho), sinó entremaliat. No passava d'atarentat i tabalot; sabeu? Mai no tingué més mala pruïja que la que pugui tenir un cavallet. Mai no tenia intenció de fer mal, i era el minyó de més bon cor que mai s'hagi vist.- I començà de plorar.
"But as I was saying," said Aunt Polly, "he warn't bad, so to say--only mischeevous. Only just giddy, and harum-scarum, you know. He warn't any more responsible than a colt. He never meant any harm, and he was the best-hearted boy that ever was"--and she began to cry.
-Igual passava amb el meu Joe: sempre ple d'endiastrament, i a punt de fer qualsevol entremaliadura; però era recte i generós i bo, com més no es pugui ser. I (Déu em beneeixi!) pensar que vaig fuetejar-lo per haver-se begut la llet, sense que mai se m'acudís que jo mateixa l'havia llençada perquè era agra! I no haver de tornar-lo a veure mai més en aquest món, mai més, mai més, mai més, pobre noi malmenat!- I la senyora Harper sanglotà com si se li partís el cor.
"It was just so with my Joe--always full of his devilment, and up to every kind of mischief, but he was just as unselfish and kind as he could be--and laws bless me, to think I went and whipped him for taking that cream, never once recollecting that I throwed it out myself because it was sour, and I never to see him again in this world, never, never, never, poor abused boy!" And Mrs. Harper sobbed as if her heart would break.
-Espero que Tom està força millor allà on es troba- digué Sid: -i si s'hagués portat millor en algunes coses...
"I hope Tom's better off where he is," said Sid, "but if he'd been better in some ways--"
-Sid!- Tom sentí la llambregada de la vella senyora, baldament no la pogués veure. -Ni una paraula contra el meu Tom, ara que ha passat d'aquesta vida! Déu en tindrà esment: no us en heu d'encaparrar, vós. O senyora Harper! No sé còm renunciar-hi! no sé còm renunciar-hi! Era un reconfort tan gran per a mi, baldament m'hagués aturmentat el cor en tanta de manera!
"Sid!" Tom felt the glare of the old lady's eye, though he could not see it. "Not a word against my Tom, now that he's gone! God'll take care of him--never you trouble yourself, sir! Oh, Mrs. Harper, I don't know how to give him up! I don't know how to give him up! He was such a comfort to me, although he tormented my old heart out of me, 'most."
-El Senyor va dar-lo i el Senyor l'ha pres. Beneït sigui el nom del Senyor! Però és tan dur, oh!, és tan dur! El dissabte passat, ahir, com aquell qui diu, Joe m'engegà una piula sota el nas, i vaig apallissar-lo, atuït a terra. Poc pensava aleshores que tan aviat... Oh! Si calgués tornar-hi, l'abraçaria i el beneiria per la seva feta.
"The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away--Blessed be the name of the Lord! But it's so hard--Oh, it's so hard! Only last Saturday my Joe busted a firecracker right under my nose and I knocked him sprawling. Little did I know then, how soon--Oh, if it was to do over again I'd hug him and bless him for it."
-Sí, sí, sí: comprenc els seus sentiments, senyora Harper; comprenc ben bé els seus sentiments. Ahir mateix, al migdia, el meu Tom va omplir el gat de mata-xacres, ben curull, i em vaig pensar que la bèstia enfonsaria la casa. I (Déu me perdoni!) vaig tustar-li el cap, a Tom, amb el meu didal; pobre minyó, pobre minyó, que ja no existeix! Però ara ja ha sortit de totes les seves trifulgues. I les darreres paraules que li hagi sentit han estat per a fer-me retret...
"Yes, yes, yes, I know just how you feel, Mrs. Harper, I know just exactly how you feel. No longer ago than yesterday noon, my Tom took and filled the cat full of Pain-killer, and I did think the cretur would tear the house down. And God forgive me, I cracked Tom's head with my thimble, poor boy, poor dead boy. But he's out of all his troubles now. And the last words I ever heard him say was to reproach--"
Però aquell record era massa feixuc per a la vella senyora, i romangué absolutament cor-batuda. Tom començava de somicar per pietat de sí mateix. Pogué sentir com Mary plorava i de tant en tant introduïa una paraula amistosa envers ell. Començà de tenir de sí mateix una opinió més noble que no hagués tingut mai. Amb tot, estava prou commogut del dol de la seva tia per a desitjar de precipitar-se enfora del llit i aclaparar-la de joia: i la sumptuositat teatral de l'escena era d'una forta atracció per al seu tarannà, aiximateix; però va contenir-se i romangué sense moure's.
But this memory was too much for the old lady, and she broke entirely down. Tom was snuffling, now, himself--and more in pity of himself than anybody else. He could hear Mary crying, and putting in a kindly word for him from time to time. He began to have a nobler opinion of himself than ever before. Still, he was sufficiently touched by his aunt's grief to long to rush out from under the bed and overwhelm her with joy--and the theatrical gorgeousness of the thing appealed strongly to his nature, too, but he resisted and lay still.
Continuà escoltant, i conjuminà, pels caps de la conversa, que hom pensava a la primeria que els minyons s'havien ofegat mentre nedaven; després hom reparà la pèrdua del rai; després certs minyons digueren que els vailets desapareguts havien promès que el poblet «sabria quelcom» ben aviat; la gent de seny havien relacionat l'una cosa i l'altra, i havien decidit que els minyons havien fet una eixida amb el rai, i que deurien dar un tomb cap al poblet de més avall, a no tardar; però cap a migdia hom havia trobat el rai, plantat contra la ribera del Missuri, a unes cinc o sis milles més avall del poblet, i aleshores l'esperança s'esvaí. Devien haver-se ofegat: altrament, la fam els hauria tornat a casa en caure la nit, si no més aviat. Hom cregué que la recerca dels cossos només havia estat infructuosa perquè l'ofegada devia haver-se esdevingut al mig del corrent, ja que els minyons, essent bons nadadors, haurien fugit, altrament, cap a la platja. Aquella nit era la del dimecres. Si els cossos continuaven introbables fins a diumenge, tota esperança fora abandonada, i aquell matí tindríen lloc les cerimònies de l'enterrament. Tom s'esgarrifà de cap a peus.
He went on listening, and gathered by odds and ends that it was conjectured at first that the boys had got drowned while taking a swim; then the small raft had been missed; next, certain boys said the missing lads had promised that the village should "hear something" soon; the wise-heads had "put this and that together" and decided that the lads had gone off on that raft and would turn up at the next town below, presently; but toward noon the raft had been found, lodged against the Missouri shore some five or six miles below the village--and then hope perished; they must be drowned, else hunger would have driven them home by nightfall if not sooner. It was believed that the search for the bodies had been a fruitless effort merely because the drowning must have occurred in mid-channel, since the boys, being good swimmers, would otherwise have escaped to shore. This was Wednesday night. If the bodies continued missing until Sunday, all hope would be given over, and the funerals would be preached on that morning. Tom shuddered.
La senyora Harper donà la bona nit entre sanglots i es girà per anar-se'n. Aleshores, per un impuls comú, les dues dònes desemparades caigueren cadascuna en braços de l'altra i trencaren un bon plor aconhortador, i després se separaren. La tia Polly fou molt més tendra del que solia en donar la bona nit a Sid i Mary. Sid somicà una mica, i Mary se n'anà plorant de tot cor.
Mrs. Harper gave a sobbing goodnight and turned to go. Then with a mutual impulse the two bereaved women flung themselves into each other's arms and had a good, consoling cry, and then parted. Aunt Polly was tender far beyond her wont, in her goodnight to Sid and Mary. Sid snuffled a bit and Mary went off crying with all her heart.
La tia Polly s'agenollà i pregà per Tom d'una manera tan colpidora, tan dalerosa, i amb una amor tan immensa en les seves paraules i en la seva caduca veu tremolenca, que ell va negar-se en llàgrimes altra vegada, ben abans que ella hagués acabat.
Aunt Polly knelt down and prayed for Tom so touchingly, so appealingly, and with such measureless love in her words and her old trembling voice, that he was weltering in tears again, long before she was through.
Hagué de romandre quiet, molt després d'haver-se ella ficat al llit, perquè ella anà fent cortrencades exclamacions de tant en tant, remenant-se i girant-se, tota neguitosa. Però a la fi romangué quieta, gemegant només una mica en el son. Aleshores el noi lliscà enfora, s'alçà gradualment vora el costat del llit, arrecerà la flama de la candela amb la seva mà, i s'aturà a mirar-la. Son cor era rublert de pietat envers ella. Es tragué el seu rotllo de sicomor i el posà vora la candela. Però alguna cosa se li acudí, i es detingué a meditar. Son rostre s'il·luminà amb una feliça solució del seu pensament; es ficà a cuita-corrents l'escorça a la butxaca, i després es decantà i besà els llavis esblaimats, i sortí llisquívol, de dret, passant la balda a la porta, al seu darrera.
He had to keep still long after she went to bed, for she kept making broken-hearted ejaculations from time to time, tossing unrestfully, and turning over. But at last she was still, only moaning a little in her sleep. Now the boy stole out, rose gradually by the bedside, shaded the candle-light with his hand, and stood regarding her. His heart was full of pity for her. He took out his sycamore scroll and placed it by the candle. But something occurred to him, and he lingered considering. His face lighted with a happy solution of his thought; he put the bark hastily in his pocket. Then he bent over and kissed the faded lips, and straightway made his stealthy exit, latching the door behind him.
Féu son camí de retorn cap a l'embarcador del vaporet. No trobà ningú al llarg per aquells indrets, i avançà coratjosament cap a dins del vapor, perquè sabia que estava deshabitat, deixant de banda el vigilant, que sempre dava el tomb cap a dins i dormia com una escultura. Desfermà el bot a popa, lliscà dins ell, i aviat anà remant cautelosament, corrent amunt. En haver vogat una milla per damunt el poblet, començà de fer camí travesser, quartejant, esmerçant moltísima de braó en la seva tasca. Tocà amb llestesa el lloc de desembarc de l'altra banda, perquè aquesta era una tasca que li era familiar. Tenia ganes de capturar el bot, argüint que podia ser considerat com un vaixell, legítima presa, per tant, d'un pirata; però comprengué que hom el recercaria per tots cantons, i que això podia acabar descobrint-lo. Així és que saltà a la platja i entrà dins el bosc.
He threaded his way back to the ferry landing, found nobody at large there, and walked boldly on board the boat, for he knew she was tenantless except that there was a watchman, who always turned in and slept like a graven image. He untied the skiff at the stern, slipped into it, and was soon rowing cautiously upstream. When he had pulled a mile above the village, he started quartering across and bent himself stoutly to his work. He hit the landing on the other side neatly, for this was a familiar bit of work to him. He was moved to capture the skiff, arguing that it might be considered a ship and therefore legitimate prey for a pirate, but he knew a thorough search would be made for it and that might end in revelations. So he stepped ashore and entered the woods.
S'assegué i es donà un llarg repòs, torturant-se al mateix temps per romandre despert, i després començà fadigosament la caminada que havia de dur-lo al cap on eren els seus. La nit ja era ben exhaurida. Fou ple dia abans que pogués trobar-se davant mateix de l'alfac. Reposà de bell nou fins que el sol va ser ben en l'aire i llaurava el gran riu amb la seva resplendor; i aleshores es capbussà en el corrent.
Una mica després s'aturava, tot regalant, damunt el llindar del campament, i sentí Joe com deia:
He sat down and took a long rest, torturing himself meanwhile to keep awake, and then started warily down the home-stretch. The night was far spent. It was broad daylight before he found himself fairly abreast the island bar. He rested again until the sun was well up and gilding the great river with its splendor, and then he plunged into the stream. A little later he paused, dripping, upon the threshold of the camp, and heard Joe say:
-No: Tom és d'allò més fidel, Huck, i tornarà. No serà un desertor. Sap que això fóra una taca per a un pirata, i Tom és massa altívol per a una cosa així. Una cosa o altra l'enfeina. Ara, que jo voldria saber quína cosa és.
"No, Tom's true-blue, Huck, and he'll come back. He won't desert. He knows that would be a disgrace to a pirate, and Tom's too proud for that sort of thing. He's up to something or other. Now I wonder what?"
-Bé, els fòtils són nostres, ara: oi?
"Well, the things is ours, anyway, ain't they?"
-Gairebé, però no encara, Huck. L'escrit diu que ho seran si ell no és de retorn a l'hora del desdejuni.
"Pretty near, but not yet, Huck. The writing says they are if he ain't back here to breakfast."
-I ja n'és!- exclamà Tom, en un bell efecte dramàtic, entrant amb grandiositat al campament.
"Which he is!" exclaimed Tom, with fine dramatic effect, stepping grandly into camp.
Un sumptuós desdejuni de porc i de peix fou endegat en poca estona; i, mentre els minyons s'esmerçaven en ajustar-lo. Tom recontà (i adornà) les seves aventures. S'havien convertit en una vana i ufanosa companyia d'herois en acabar-se la història. Aleshores Tom s'amagà dins un recó ombrejat, per a dormir fins a migdia, i els altres pirates es disposaren a la pesca i l'exploració.
A sumptuous breakfast of bacon and fish was shortly provided, and as the boys set to work upon it, Tom recounted (and adorned) his adventures. They were a vain and boastful company of heroes when the tale was done. Then Tom hid himself away in a shady nook to sleep till noon, and the other pirates got ready to fish and explore.