Frescoes from the Past by Mark Twain. Short summary

5 seconds

A short story in the Huckleberry Finn series of novels. Together with Jim, a black man, they float on a raft on the Mississippi. Huck sneaks onto the big raft and listens to the fables of the rafters. They detect him, but let him go.

1 minute

The author begins by describing the Mississippi River. From its discovery until the advent of steamboats, life here flowed slowly, and almost nothing changed. But when the steamboats came, they completely changed life on the river, established trade, and its shores were inhabited by sailors and carpenters.

To describe the life of the latter, the author cites part of the story of Huckleberry Finn. One day with his companion, the black slave Jim, he decided to escape. Jim dreamed of going to the «free states.» They were sailing on a small raft on the Mississippi, but they missed the town of Cairo in the fog.

Then Jim advised Geck to sneak onto the big raft and listen to the talk of the rafters. Maybe he could find out where Cairo was and how to get there. Geck did so.

He went into hiding and watched the rafters. At first he witnessed a showdown and a fight. Then he listened to a fable about a barrel with a murdered baby chasing a raft where the murderer was. But Huck gave himself away, he was caught, and then released.