Rafting Down the Neckar
馬克·吐溫/ Mark Twain
馬克·吐溫（1835—1910），美國傑出的小說家，美國文學史上最重要的作家之一，也是美國文學史上第一個用口語進行寫作的作家，開創了一代文風，被福克納稱為“美國文學之父”。馬克·吐溫幼年家境貧寒，被迫放棄學業外出謀生。豐富的生活經曆對他後期的創作影響很大。19世紀70年代到90年代是他創作的鼎盛時期，其代表作有《哈克貝裏·費恩曆險記》和它的姊妹篇《湯姆·索亞曆險記》等。
Ace in the Hole
Understand these new words before you read this article.
1. raft [rɑ:ft, r?ft] n. 筏
2. smash [sm??] v. 粉碎
3. feverish ['fi:v?ri?] adj. 發熱的；極度興奮的
4. splendor ['splend?] n. 光彩；壯麗
When the landlord learned that I and my agents were artists, our party rose perceptibly in his esteem; we rose still higher when he learned that we were making a pedestrian tour of Europe.
He told us all about the Heidelberg road, and which were the best places to avoid and which the best ones to tarry at; he charged me less than cost for the things I broke in the night; he put up a fine luncheon for us and added to it a quantity of great light-green plums, the pleasantest fruit in Germany; he was so anxious to do us honor that he would not allow us to walk out of Heilbronn, but called up Gotz von Berlichingen' s horse and cab and made us ride.
I made a sketch of the turnout. It is not a Work, it is only what artists call a“study”—a thing to make a finished picture from. This sketch has several blemishes in it; for instance, the wagon is not traveling as fast as the horse is. This is wrong. Again, the person trying to get out of the way is too small, he is out of perspective, as we say. The two upper lines are not the horse’s back, they are the reins; there seems to be a wheel missing—this would be corrected in a finished Work, of course. That thing flying out behind is not a flag, it is a curtain. That other thing up there is the sun, but I didn’t get enough distance on it. I do not remember, now, what that thing is that is in front of the man who is running, but I think it is a haystack or a woman. This study was exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1879, but did not take any medal; they do not give medals for studies.