《汤姆·索亚历险记》（The Adventures of Tom Sawyer）是美国小说家马克·吐温1876年发表的长篇小说。
小说的故事发生在19世纪上半世纪美国密西西比河畔的一个普通小镇上。主人公汤姆·索亚天真活泼、敢于探险、追求自由，不堪忍受束缚个性、枯燥乏味的生活，幻想干一番英雄事业。
小说的时代在南北战争前，写的虽是圣彼得堡小镇，但该镇某种程度上可以说是当时美国社会的缩影。小说通过主人公的冒险经历，对美国虚伪庸俗的社会习俗、伪善的宗教仪式和刻板陈腐的学校教育进行了讽刺和批判，以欢快的笔调描写了少年儿童自由活泼的心灵。
第六章 汤姆识蓓姬，耳痛心欢喜
汤姆想利用牙疼逃学，姨妈把牙拔了下来，他没有借口逃学了。在路上，汤姆遇到了野孩子哈克，结果汤姆迟到了。老师罚他和蓓姬同桌，汤姆在石板上写了我爱你，汤姆磨蹭了一会才让她看，蓓姬说，你这坏蛋，心里却乐呵呵的。
CHAPTER SIX
A Conversation about Spirits
Tom hated Mondays. Monday always meant the beginning of a new school week. This made him hate weekends too, because they were so enjoyable that they made the weekdays even more boring. He thought that if he had to sit through school today it might kill him. Then he had the idea that he could stay home if he were ill. But he didn't really feel ill. He tried to concentrate on different parts of his body to see if they felt bad, but no matter how hard he thought about it, he seemed to feel perfectly fine. Then he remembered his foot and this gave him the idea to start crying in pain. He cried loudly, but his brother Sid didn't seem to hear him, he just continued sleeping.
Tom cried louder and louder. He cried so much that he actually started to believe that his foot really hurt, but still, Sid didn't seem to notice.
"Ohhh! Ohhhh! Sid! Help me, Sid!" Tom cried. Sid still didn't move, so Tom picked up a book and threw it at him. Sid sat up saying, "Hey, what's wrong?"
Now Tom pretended not to hear him. Sid started to push Tom, to get him to answer.
Tom said, "Oh, don't do that, Sid. It hurts."
"I'll go and get Aunt Polly."
"No, Sid. Don't do that!" Tom said as he pretended to cry. "I want you to know that, when I'm dead, I won't be angry with you for all those times you got me into trouble with Aunt Polly."
"You mean you're dying, Tom?"
"I'm leaving everything valuable I have to that new girl. Be sure that she gets all of it, Sid."
But Sid didn't hear Tom now, for he had run to his aunt yelling, "Tom's dying! Tom's dying!"
Aunt Polly came running into Tom's room, her face looking very frightened. She touched his head and cried to him, "Tell me what's wrong, Tom! Tell your aunt where it hurts!"
"It's my foot, Auntie. I think the doctor will have to cut it off."
Aunt Polly suddenly stopped crying and just stared at Tom for a moment. Then she fell back into a chair and started laughing and crying at the same time. Once she had gotten control of herself again, she said, "Tom, you get out of bed and get ready for school."
This helped Tom to remember that he wasn't really in pain, and he jumped out of bed and ran to get dressed.
On his way to school, Tom saw his friend Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry had a bad family. His father always drank too much. And his parents were always fighting with each other. So, Huckleberry had run away from home, and for this reason, many of the adults in the village thought he was a bad child. But the children thought of him differently. They liked him, and they wished that they could be like him, and be as free as he was to do anything he wanted; for he didn't go to school or church. Instead, he would just play or go swimming or fishing.
Because he didn't live with his parents any more, Huckleberry's clothing was often in very poor condition. They were always dirty, and either too big or too small for him. He was always the first to wear no shoes in the summer and the last to put them on in the winter. And Huckleberry almost never washed himself.
Tom liked "Huck" a lot, and because the adults disliked Huckleberry so much, Tom played with him as often as he could.
"Hello there, Huckleberry," said Tom.
"Yea, yea, hello," replied Huckleberry.
"What do you have there in that bag?"
"It's a dead cat."
"Wow, Huck! Will you let me see him? Where did you get it?"
"A boy gave it to me."
"What do you plan to do with a dead cat, Huck?"
"I'm going to use it to take off these warts." Huckleberry showed Tom the ugly spots on his hands.
"But how can a dead cat remove warts?"
"After someone dies and their body is put in the ground, you take your cat to that person's grave just before 12 o'clock midnight. After 12 o'clock you will start to hear a low sound, something like the wind, or you might even hear someone talking very softly. These are terrible spirits that have come to carry the dead man away. You won't be able to see them, but you can hear them, and when they start to leave with the body, you throw the cat at them and say 'Spirits follow body, cat follows spirits, warts follow cat.' I promise you that will take away anyone's warts."
"Have you ever done it before?"
"Not yet, but you remember that old Hoss Williams just died, right?"
"Yes, I remember, Huck. But they put him in the ground on Saturday. The spirits have already taken his body."
"Now, think for a minute. If he was buried on Saturday ... the spirits couldn't have taken him away at 12 o'clock, because it would be Sunday at that time. Bad spirits don't dare do anything on Sunday ... that's God's day! So I'm thinking they'll come tonight."
"You know, you're right. So, can I come with you?"
"Are you sure you won't be too frightened?"
"Of course not! Come and get me at my house tonight. Make a sound like a cat and I'll come out to meet you."
"Yes. But you answer this time, because the last time I did that you never answered and one of your neighbors started throwing rocks at me."
"I'm sorry, Huck. My aunt was keeping her eye on me that night. There was nothing I could do. But tonight I promise there won't be a problem."
Tom was excited about this evening. Now he had something to think about during his boring class. As soon as he walked into the classroom the teacher yelled out his name: "Thomas Sawyer!" He knew he was in trouble whenever someone called him by his full name. He didn't look at the teacher, but walked directly to his desk and took a seat.
"Thomas Sawyer, what's your excuse for being late this time?"
Before he answered, Tom saw the new girl sitting with the other girls. He noticed that the chair next to hers was empty. Seeing this, he got an idea and shouted out so everyone could hear it clearly:
"I met Huckleberry Finn on my way to school, and we had a nice long talk!"
This was a good way to get into trouble, because like all the other adults, Tom's teacher didn't like Huckleberry Finn. None of the students could understand why Tom had admitted this. Any excuse would be better than this one.
"I've told you a hundred times never to speak with that boy! I'll have to make sure you remember it next time. Come here and take off your coat!" Tom knew what was going to happen. The teacher collected sticks that he found useful for hitting his students with as punishment for their bad behavior. Most of his supply had been used to beat Tom. After he'd finished beating him the teacher said, "Maybe that will help you to remember. Now, go and sit with the girls!"
Happily, Tom went over and sat next to the new girl. She tried not to look at him and turned to talk to a girl behind her. When she turned back around to face the front of the room, she found an apple sitting on her desk. She pushed it away, but Tom moved it back toward her, and when she tried to push it away again, he didn't let her. Then Tom took out a piece of paper and started to write something on it. He covered it with his hands so she couldn't see what he was doing.
"What are you doing there?" asked the girl.
Tom finished and showed her that he'd drawn a house. It was a terrible drawing, but the girl seemed to like it anyway: "Great! Now draw a man for me."
Tom did what he was told, but he also drew a woman next to the man.
"It's wonderful!" said the girl, "I wish I could draw like that."
"OK, I'll teach you how to draw during lunch, or are you going back home?" asked Tom.
"I'll stay if you'll really teach me."
"OK. But what's your name?"
"Becky. Becky Thatcher. What's yo ... oh, of course I know your name. You're Tom Sawyer."
"You can just call me Tom." As he said this, he took out another piece of paper and started to write something, but again, he didn't let Becky see.
"Now what are you doing?"
"Nothing, really."
"Oh please let me see it."
"If I show, do you promise not to tell the teacher?"
"I promise."
Becky quickly took the paper from Tom and read the words: "I love you."
"Oh, you're such a bad boy!" she said hitting him gently on the head, but she was smiling a very big smile. Tom smiled back, but suddenly he felt someone take hold of his ear and pull him up from his chair.
"You should go sit with the boys now, young man!" said the teacher as he moved Tom back toward his other seat. And even though the whole class laughed at Tom, he felt nothing but happiness in his heart.
