第1章(4/7)
ThespiritandthelanguageoftheFiresideConversationwererooteddeepinMarkTwain’snatureandinhislife，asC。E。S。Wood，whoprinted1601atWestPoint，haspertinentlyobserved，\"IfImadeaguessastotheintellectualfermentoutofwhich1601roseIwouldsaythatMark’sintellectualstructureandsubconsciousgrainingwasfromAnglo—SaxonsasprimitiveasthecommonmanoftheTudorperiod。
HecamefromthebanksoftheMississippi——fromtheflatboatmen，pilots，roustabouts，farmersandvillagefolkofarude，primitivepeople——asLincolndid。
\"HewasfinishedintheminingcampsoftheWestamongstagedrivers，gamblersandthemenof’49。Thesimpleroughnessofafrontierpeoplewasinhisbloodandbrain。
\"Wordsvulgarandoffensivetootherearswereacommonlanguagetohim。
AnyonewhoeverknewMarkheardhimusethemfreely，forcibly，picturesquelyinhisunrestrainedconversation。Suchlanguageisforcibleasallprimitivewordsare。Refinementseemstomakeforweakness——orletussayacuttingedge——buttheoldvulgarmonosyllabicwordsbitliketheblowofapioneer’sax——andMarkwaslikethat。ThenIthink1601cameoutofMark’sinstinctivehumor，satireandhatredofpuritanism。Butthereismorethanthis；withallitshumorthereisasenseofrealdelightinwhatmaybecalledobscenityforitsownsake。
WhitmanandtheBiblearenomoreobscenethanNatureherself——nomoreobscenethanamanurepile，outofwhichcomerosesandcherries。Everywordusedin1601wasusedbyourownrudepioneersasapartoftheirvocabulary——andnowordwaseverinventedbymanwithobsceneintent，butonlyaslanguagetoexpresshismeaning。Noactofnatureisobsceneinitself——butwhensuchwordsandactsaredraggedinforanulteriorpurposetheybecomeoffensive，aseverythingoutofplaceisoffensive。
Ithinkhedelighted，too，inshocking——givingresoundingslapsonwhatChaucerwouldquitesimplycall’thebareerse。’\"
QuiteasidefromthisChaucerian\"erse\"slapping，Clemenshadalsoasemi—seriouspurpose，thatofreproducingapasttimeashesawitinShakespeare，Dekker，Jonson，andotherwritersoftheElizabethanera。
FiresideConversationwasanexerciseinscholarshipilluminedbyakeensenseofcharacter。Itwasmadeespeciallyeffectivebytheartisticarrangementofwidely—gatheredmaterialintoacompressedpictureofaphaseofthemannersandeventhemindsofthemenandwomen\"inthespacioustimesofgreatElizabeth。\"
MarkTwainmadeof1601averysmartandfascinatingperformance，carriedoveralmosttogrotesquenessjusttoshowitwasnotdoneformeredelightinthefranknaturalismofthefunctionswithwhichitdeals。
ThatMarkTwainhadmadeconsiderablestudyofthisfranknessisapparentfromchapterfourof’AYankeeAtKingArthur’sCourt，’wherehereferstotheconversationatthefamousRoundTablethus：
\"Manyofthetermsusedinthemostmatter—of—factwaybythisgreatassemblageofthefirstladiesandgentlemenofthelandwouldhavemadeaComancheblush。Indelicacyistoomildatermtoconveytheidea。
However，IhadreadTomJonesandRoderickRandomandotherbooksofthatkindandknewthatthehighestandfirstladiesandgentlemeninEnglandhadremainedlittleornocleanerintheirtalk，andinthemoralsandconductwhichsuchtalkimplies，clearuptoonehundredyearsago；infactclearintoourownnineteenthcentury——inwhichcentury，broadlyspeaking，theearliestsamplesoftherealladyandtherealgentlemandiscoverableinEnglishhistory，——orinEuropeanhistory，forthatmatter——maybesaidtohavemadetheirappearance。SupposeSirWalter[Scott]insteadofputtingtheconversationintothemouthsofhischaracters，hadallowedthecharacterstospeakforthemselves？WeshouldhavehadtalkfromRebeccaandIvanhoeandthesoftladyRowenawhichwouldembarrassatrampinourday。However，totheunconsciouslyindelicateallthingsaredelicate。\"
MarkTwain’sinterestinhistoryandinthedepictionofhistoricalperiodsandcharactersisrevealedthroughhisfondnessforhistoricalreadinginpreferencetofiction，andthroughhisotherhistoricalwritings。Eveninthehilarious，youthfuldaysinSanFrancisco，Painereportsthat\"Clemens，however，wasneverquitereadyforsleep。Then，asever，hewouldprophimselfupinbed，lighthispipe，andlosehimselfinEnglishorFrenchhistoryuntilhissleepconquered。\"Painetellsus，too，thatLecky’s’EuropeanMorals’wasanoldfavorite。
Thenotesto’ThePrinceandthePauper’showagainhowcarefullyClemensexaminedhishistoricalbackground，andhisinterestinthesematerials。
Someofthemoreimportantsourcesarenoted：Hume’s’HistoryofEngland’，Timbs’’CuriositiesofLondon’，J。HammondTrumbull’s’BlueLaws，TrueandFalse’。ApparentlyMarkTwainrelishedit，forasBernardDeVotopointsout，\"ThebookisalwaysMarkTwain。ItsparodiesofTudorspeechlapsesometimesintoacallowsatisfactioninthatidiom——Markhugelyenjoyshisnathlessesandbeshrewsandmarrys。\"Thewritingof1601foreshadowshisfondnessforthistreatment。
\"DoyousupposethelibertiesandtheBrawnofTheseStateshavetodoonlywithdelicatelady—words？withglovedgentlemanwords\"
WaltWhitman，’AnAmericanPrimer’。
Although1601wasnotmatchedbyanysimilarsketchinhispublishedworks，itwasrepresentativeofMarkTwaintheman。Hewasnoemaciatedliterarytea—tosser。BronzedandweatherbeatensonoftheWest，Markwasaman’sman，andthatsignificantfactisemphasizedbytheseveralphasesofMark’srichlifeassteamboatpilot，printer，miner，andfrontierjournalist。
OntheVirginiaCityEnterpriseMarklearnedfromeditorR。M。Daggettthat\"whenitwasnecessarytocallamannames，therewerenoexpletivestoolongortooexpressivetobehurledinrapidsuccessiontoemphasizetheutterwantofcharacterofthemanassailed……ThereweretypesetterstherewhocouldhurlanathemasatbadcopywhichwouldhavefrightenedaBengaltiger。Thenewseditorcoulddamnamutilateddispatchintwenty—fourlanguages。\"
InSanFranciscointhesizzlingsixtieswecatchaglimpseofMarkTwainandhisbuddy，SteveGillis，pausingindoorwaystosing\"TheDolefulBalladoftheNeglectedLover，\"anoldpieceofuncollectederotica。
HecamefromthebanksoftheMississippi——fromtheflatboatmen，pilots，roustabouts，farmersandvillagefolkofarude，primitivepeople——asLincolndid。
\"HewasfinishedintheminingcampsoftheWestamongstagedrivers，gamblersandthemenof’49。Thesimpleroughnessofafrontierpeoplewasinhisbloodandbrain。
\"Wordsvulgarandoffensivetootherearswereacommonlanguagetohim。
AnyonewhoeverknewMarkheardhimusethemfreely，forcibly，picturesquelyinhisunrestrainedconversation。Suchlanguageisforcibleasallprimitivewordsare。Refinementseemstomakeforweakness——orletussayacuttingedge——buttheoldvulgarmonosyllabicwordsbitliketheblowofapioneer’sax——andMarkwaslikethat。ThenIthink1601cameoutofMark’sinstinctivehumor，satireandhatredofpuritanism。Butthereismorethanthis；withallitshumorthereisasenseofrealdelightinwhatmaybecalledobscenityforitsownsake。
WhitmanandtheBiblearenomoreobscenethanNatureherself——nomoreobscenethanamanurepile，outofwhichcomerosesandcherries。Everywordusedin1601wasusedbyourownrudepioneersasapartoftheirvocabulary——andnowordwaseverinventedbymanwithobsceneintent，butonlyaslanguagetoexpresshismeaning。Noactofnatureisobsceneinitself——butwhensuchwordsandactsaredraggedinforanulteriorpurposetheybecomeoffensive，aseverythingoutofplaceisoffensive。
Ithinkhedelighted，too，inshocking——givingresoundingslapsonwhatChaucerwouldquitesimplycall’thebareerse。’\"
QuiteasidefromthisChaucerian\"erse\"slapping，Clemenshadalsoasemi—seriouspurpose，thatofreproducingapasttimeashesawitinShakespeare，Dekker，Jonson，andotherwritersoftheElizabethanera。
FiresideConversationwasanexerciseinscholarshipilluminedbyakeensenseofcharacter。Itwasmadeespeciallyeffectivebytheartisticarrangementofwidely—gatheredmaterialintoacompressedpictureofaphaseofthemannersandeventhemindsofthemenandwomen\"inthespacioustimesofgreatElizabeth。\"
MarkTwainmadeof1601averysmartandfascinatingperformance，carriedoveralmosttogrotesquenessjusttoshowitwasnotdoneformeredelightinthefranknaturalismofthefunctionswithwhichitdeals。
ThatMarkTwainhadmadeconsiderablestudyofthisfranknessisapparentfromchapterfourof’AYankeeAtKingArthur’sCourt，’wherehereferstotheconversationatthefamousRoundTablethus：
\"Manyofthetermsusedinthemostmatter—of—factwaybythisgreatassemblageofthefirstladiesandgentlemenofthelandwouldhavemadeaComancheblush。Indelicacyistoomildatermtoconveytheidea。
However，IhadreadTomJonesandRoderickRandomandotherbooksofthatkindandknewthatthehighestandfirstladiesandgentlemeninEnglandhadremainedlittleornocleanerintheirtalk，andinthemoralsandconductwhichsuchtalkimplies，clearuptoonehundredyearsago；infactclearintoourownnineteenthcentury——inwhichcentury，broadlyspeaking，theearliestsamplesoftherealladyandtherealgentlemandiscoverableinEnglishhistory，——orinEuropeanhistory，forthatmatter——maybesaidtohavemadetheirappearance。SupposeSirWalter[Scott]insteadofputtingtheconversationintothemouthsofhischaracters，hadallowedthecharacterstospeakforthemselves？WeshouldhavehadtalkfromRebeccaandIvanhoeandthesoftladyRowenawhichwouldembarrassatrampinourday。However，totheunconsciouslyindelicateallthingsaredelicate。\"
MarkTwain’sinterestinhistoryandinthedepictionofhistoricalperiodsandcharactersisrevealedthroughhisfondnessforhistoricalreadinginpreferencetofiction，andthroughhisotherhistoricalwritings。Eveninthehilarious，youthfuldaysinSanFrancisco，Painereportsthat\"Clemens，however，wasneverquitereadyforsleep。Then，asever，hewouldprophimselfupinbed，lighthispipe，andlosehimselfinEnglishorFrenchhistoryuntilhissleepconquered。\"Painetellsus，too，thatLecky’s’EuropeanMorals’wasanoldfavorite。
Thenotesto’ThePrinceandthePauper’showagainhowcarefullyClemensexaminedhishistoricalbackground，andhisinterestinthesematerials。
Someofthemoreimportantsourcesarenoted：Hume’s’HistoryofEngland’，Timbs’’CuriositiesofLondon’，J。HammondTrumbull’s’BlueLaws，TrueandFalse’。ApparentlyMarkTwainrelishedit，forasBernardDeVotopointsout，\"ThebookisalwaysMarkTwain。ItsparodiesofTudorspeechlapsesometimesintoacallowsatisfactioninthatidiom——Markhugelyenjoyshisnathlessesandbeshrewsandmarrys。\"Thewritingof1601foreshadowshisfondnessforthistreatment。
\"DoyousupposethelibertiesandtheBrawnofTheseStateshavetodoonlywithdelicatelady—words？withglovedgentlemanwords\"
WaltWhitman，’AnAmericanPrimer’。
Although1601wasnotmatchedbyanysimilarsketchinhispublishedworks，itwasrepresentativeofMarkTwaintheman。Hewasnoemaciatedliterarytea—tosser。BronzedandweatherbeatensonoftheWest，Markwasaman’sman，andthatsignificantfactisemphasizedbytheseveralphasesofMark’srichlifeassteamboatpilot，printer，miner，andfrontierjournalist。
OntheVirginiaCityEnterpriseMarklearnedfromeditorR。M。Daggettthat\"whenitwasnecessarytocallamannames，therewerenoexpletivestoolongortooexpressivetobehurledinrapidsuccessiontoemphasizetheutterwantofcharacterofthemanassailed……ThereweretypesetterstherewhocouldhurlanathemasatbadcopywhichwouldhavefrightenedaBengaltiger。Thenewseditorcoulddamnamutilateddispatchintwenty—fourlanguages。\"
InSanFranciscointhesizzlingsixtieswecatchaglimpseofMarkTwainandhisbuddy，SteveGillis，pausingindoorwaystosing\"TheDolefulBalladoftheNeglectedLover，\"anoldpieceofuncollectederotica。