The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Retelling for Curious Readers

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The opening of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Retelling for Curious Readers, free to read.

1. 

   The Glorious Whitewasher

   “Tom!” No answer. “TOM!” No answer. In the dark closet, Tom licked jam off his fingers and kept still. But Aunt Polly found him, and up went her switch, a thin stick for spanking. “My! Look behind you, aunt!” cried Tom. She spun around, and Tom had vanished over the fence. She laughed in spite of herself. “Hang the boy, can’t I never learn anything?”

2. 

   Tom lived with Aunt Polly, his half-brother Sid, and his cousin Mary in St. Petersburg, a little town on the Mississippi River. Because he had skipped school to go swimming, Aunt Polly made him whitewash the fence on Saturday. Whitewash is a runny white paint, and the fence was thirty yards long and taller than a man. Tom sighed. Then his eyes twinkled. He painted slowly and proudly, as if it were the finest job in the world.

3. 

   Tom heard Ben Rogers before he saw him. “Ting-a-ling-ling!” Ben was a steamboat today, arms churning like paddle wheels, apple in hand. Tom kept painting. “Hello, old chap,” said Ben. “I’m going swimming. But of course you’d rather work.” Tom stared. “What do you call work?” “Why, ain’t that work?”

4. 

   Tom went on painting. “Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer.” One more careful stroke, and Ben forgot about swimming. “Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.” Tom shook his head. Aunt Polly was awful particular about this fence, he said. “I’ll give you the core of my apple,” Ben begged. “No, I’ll give you all of it!” At last Tom gave up the brush, looking unwilling but feeling glad.