Monday, November 14, 2005

the classical humour of Mark Twain


the other day I was reading this Adventures of Hucklebery Finn by Mark Twain
after a long long time and couldn't but help appreciate his subtle humour.
Here's a piece of conversation between Huck and the pig headed, good hearted
nigger - Jim ....

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"Well, I don't know. Some of them gets on the police, and some of them learns people how to talk French."
"Why, Huck, doan' de French people talk de same way we does?"
"NO, Jim; you couldn't understand a word they said -- not a single word."
"Well, now, I be ding-busted! How do dat come?"
"I don't know; but it's so. I got some of their jabber out of a book. S'pose a man was to come to you and say Polly-voo-franzy -- what would you think?"
"I wouldn' think nuff'n; I'd take en bust him over de head -- dat is, if he warn't white. I wouldn't 'low no nigger to call me dat."
"Shucks, it ain't calling you anything. It's only saying, do you know how to talk French?"
"Well, den, why couldn't he SAY it?"
"Why, he IS a-saying it. That's a Frenchman's WAY of saying it."
"Well, it's a blame ridicklous way, en I doan' want to hear no mo' 'bout it. Dey ain' no sense in it."
"Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?"
"No, a cat don't."
"Well, does a cow?"
"No, a cow don't, nuther."
"Does a cat talk like a cow, or a cow talk like a cat?"
"No, dey don't."
"It's natural and right for 'em to talk different from each other, ain't it?"
"Course."
"And ain't it natural and right for a cat and a cow to talk different from us?"
"Why, mos' sholy it is."
"Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a FRENCHMAN to talk different from us? You answer me that."
"Is a cat a man, Huck?"
"No."
"Well, den, dey ain't no sense in a cat talkin' like a man. Is a cow a man? -- er is a cow a cat?"
"No, she ain't either of them."
"Well, den, she ain't got no business to talk like either one er the yuther of 'em. Is a Frenchman a man?"
"Yes."
"WELL, den ... Dad blame it, why doan' he TALK like a man? You answer me DAT!"

I see it warn't no use wasting words -- you can't learn a nigger to argue. So I quit.
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This is the sort of humour that makes u feel pleasent about life and its mundane subtleities.
You wouldn't be rolling on your bed catching your stomach and laughing out loud .. but it
makes your mind smile .. as one of my friends put it to me some years back.



2 Comments:

At 14 November, 2005 21:25, Blogger Prakash Venkat said...

Making mind smile ..... ya subtle humour indeed makes mind smile ... I havent read mark twain much except when I was fored to read as past of ciriculum but i like subtle humour od RK narayanan in his works ... Nice to see a non technical post dude .. keep going

 
At 14 November, 2005 22:32, Blogger RP said...

Man it was a good one. Yep. As u had put it, I did not roll on the ground with laughter but my mind did smile. Nice to see a non-technical post.

 

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