My name's Huck... Huck Finn, and this story's about me and a slave named Jim.
It's mainly the truth. Oh, sure, there's a few stretchers here and there,
but I never met anybody who didn't lie a little when the situation suited him.
So kick off your shoes, if you're wearin' 'em,
and get ready for a spit-lickin'good time.
Come on, Finn!
Hit me! Come on!
Come on, Finn! Come on!
Come on, Finn! Come on! Let's go!
Hit me! Hit me! Come on!
- Hit me! Afraid of me? - That all you got?
Come on...
Knock him into Tuesday, Huck!
- Ahhh! Ahhh! - Oooh!
Ahhhhhh!
- Go for the glory, Huck! - Yeah, go for the glory!
Personally I can't see no glory in punching an ignorant lard ass.
But... I gots to.
- Pap. - Come on! What're you doin', Huck?
I whooped him! I whooped him good!
- Hey, Louise! Is Jim home? - Hello, Huckleberry.
- Hey. Thanks. - My husband's in the cabin.
Ohhh! I'm startin'to lose the vision. I'm startin'to lose...
It's goin' and it's goin'!
Ahhh, now it's comin' back. It's comin' back now.
- Aaah! - Hey, everybody.
Hey, Sam. Hey, Otis.
Hey, Huck.
- Sorry for bustin' in, Jim. - That's all right.
- But I need some advice on my futures. - What kinda advice you need?
Pap's back.
Are you sure? 'Cause he ain't been seen for more than a year now.
I saw his boot print, the cross made with nails.
To ward off the devil. Yeah, that's your pap, all right.
- I need to know what he's gonna do and how long he's gonna stay. - Now hold on.
I ain't never done this for no white folks before.
I-I-I don't even know if it's gonna work.
Give you some marbles.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try.
Thanks, Jim.
- What in hell's bells is that? - Hair ball... from a ox!
Puked it up just the other day.
- That'll tell me my future? - Shhh!
Spirit lives on the inside of it.
Yeah. Uh-huh.
Uh-huh. Ya don't say?
No! Not to my good friend Mr. Finn here!
No!
Your old Pap got two spirits hoverin' around him.
A sweet one with wings and a mean one with horns.
Sometime he listen to the good one, and sometime he listen to the bad one.
The good spirit tell 'im to leave you alone,
but the bad one tells him to come and get ya!
Now, the hair ball don't know...
which spirit gonna be the most convincin'.
It says that your future...
is driftin' like...
the river.
When your Pap's around...
he always beatin' on you, ain't he?
Yeah...
when he can catch me.
Well, the hair ball thinks that maybe you ought to skedaddle for a while.
At least until after your Pap goes away again.
Come tomorrow morning, they'll be talkin' about me in the past tense.
Jim was owned by Miss Watson, and about a year ago...
Miss Watson and her sister, the Widow Douglas, took me in.
They wanted to civilize me, which most people thought was a right nice idea.
But seein'as how I'm so ignorant and kinda low-down and ornery...
- Huckleberry! - You come in here!
- it wasn't workin'out real well. - You missed dinner.
- You'll go to bed hungry. - So if ya starve to death by mornin'...
- we'll lay your carcass out for the birds to eat. - Oh, my land!
- What happened to your eye? - How'd ya get that shiner?
I saw a blind man walkin'down the street...
when all of a sudden a gang of thieves jumped out and grabbed him.
Well, I tried to stop 'em, but bein'so little and all,
they just walloped me in the eye and ran off.
That the same gang of thieves who stole your school books last week?
Yep, same gang.
You told us you whopped 'em so bad they was never comin' back!
I-I did. But this time they brung reinforcements.
Hey, where is your fancy school clothes, Huckleberry! What are these rags?
You played hooky, didn't ya?
No, ma'am. I went to school.
And on my way home, I ran into a poor mother with her ten poor children.
Last week that poor mother only had eight children.
- Well, now she's got two more. - Uh-huh.
- Anyways, I gave 'em my fancy clothes to help 'em stay warm. - Hmm!
You sweet child!
I knew we could change him. I just knew it.
- Why, he's downright chivalrous. - Why, he's downright nauseous.
And for being so chivalrous, I'm going to clean you up and dress you up...
and give you something to eat before evening prayers.
Meow!
Meow.
- Shhh! - Come on down, Huck.
Aw, hell.
I should've known better.
I should've finished packing and ran away right then. But no,
I had to go sneak out and play with my friends one last time.
Little did I know... that that one mistake was gonna change my life forever.
- Goin' somewhere? - Maybe I am, and maybe I ain't.
Don't you give me none of your lip!
I don't wanna wake anybody up just yet.
But you move, and I'll wail ya good.
Well, looks like you put on considerable many frills since I've been away.
I hear ya can read and write.
Who told you to meddle in such highfalutin foolishness anyhow?
The widow told me.
- I'll wail you good for meddlin' in something like that!
Pretty soon you'll be taking up religion like your ma did.
Would you leave Ma out of this? She's dead and you better...
Don't you sass me, or you'll be joinin' her!
Well, ain't you the sweet-scented dandy!
With your polished clothes and your nice bed.
I never seen such a son as you!
Well, I'm not gonna stand for it.
Leave me alone! Let me go! - You're comin' with me!
- Let me go! - Oh!
No!
- Let me go! Let me go! - Pap Finn, you devil in disguise!
Outta my way, you old maid! This here is what's mine, and I'm takin' it!
- Put that sweet boy down! Ohh! - Leave them alone! Leave them alone!
Say good-bye, boy, 'cause you ain't never gonna see...
these two old biddies again.
I knew I was in trouble, and it were only gonna get worse...
once Pap started drinkin'.
I was up the river with some acquaintances of mine,
and we were doin'some... jobs, and I got the news.
So when I found out your ma left you $600,
I figured I'd come and get my due.
I mean, don't I deserve it...
after all the trouble and expense I went through to raise you proper?
But no.
judge Thatcher says that money's gotta stay
in the bank 'til you get yourself to legal age!
Legal age. I can't be waitin'that long!
What'd I do with that bottle?
But I'm...
I'm your next of kin.
And you're my little angel.
I-I ain't no angel, Pap. You can ask Miss Watson.
Aaah!
Damn it!
No, Pap! No!
No! No!
No, Pap!
- Yes! - Pap!
What're you doin' with my gun?
Uh... I thought I heard somebody tryin' to break in,
- and I was waitin'for 'em, Pap! - Well, why didn't ya rouse me?
I tried, but I couldn't.
Hey, what're you doin' here anyway?
You brought me here, Pap.
Did I? Why?
- 'Cause you said you missed me so. - Don't you lie to me.
That couldn't be the reason.
Oh, yeah, that money your ma left you. Damned Judge Thatcher!
Have to think of another way. Look at this place.
- What'd you do to my house? - I didn't do anything, Pap.
I'm goin' to town. You clean up around here.
Yes, Pap.
Mmmm. "Yes, Pap."
Little runt.
I knew if I stuck around I'd be dead.
But dead was the only way Pap would ever leave me alone.
Wild boars are mighty good eatin'. And this one were gonna save my life as well.
What the...
Now that I was dead, I could do what I wanted...
and go where I wanted, and neither Pap nor Miss Watson would ever try and follow me.
And right now, I figured I'd go to Jackson's Island.
No one lives there nor hardly visits,
and the fishin's awful good too.
- Aaah! - Aaah!
- Huck? - Hell's bells, Jim! I almost puked up my livers.
- I thought you was dead. - I ain't dead.
But your Pap came into town this mornin'...
screamin' about how some robbers had cut you into a million pieces.
Faked it all, Jim. I'm as alive as you.
- Nope. You ain't dead. - Funny, Jim!
- Your Pap look like he done seen the devil himself. - Scared him, did I?
Scared him? You scared the whole town. They's
out huntin' down your murderer right now.
- That's mighty nice of'em. - The widow wants you to have a proper burial,
so she got all the womenfolk fleecin' the woods lookin' for your carcass.
- Wish 'em luck, Jim. They ain't gonna find my remainders. - No, they're not.
You know, I kinda like bein' dead.
Come on!
Whoo!
Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Say, Jim! Shouldn't ya be gettin' back before Miss Watson misses ya?
Well, Huck...
You promise not to tell on me if I tell you somethin'?
Damned if I would, Jim.
Honest Injun.
Well, I believe you, so I'm gonna tell you.
This mornin' in all the confusion caused by your murder...
- I ran off! -Jim!
- You promised not to tell! - I know I did! I know.
And my word's my word, and I'll keep my word.
But Jim... you're a runaway slave!
I could get tarred for not turnin' you in.
I could get lynched.
Why'd ya do it, Jim?
A slave trader come by the other day and offered Miss Watson $800 for me.
Her and the widow felt so bad they pert near cried.
But times is tough. It was just too much money to resist.
I couldn't let myself get sold all the way down New Orleans.
- I'd never see my wife and my children again! - But Jim!
Now ya ain't never gonna get to see 'em.
My only chance is to go downriver to Cairo.
- Go south? A runaway slave go south? - I know, I know!
But I got me a canoe, Huck, and this.
A map to freedom. Now, here's me.
If I can get myself all the way down here to Cairo,
where the Ohio River comes into the Mississippi,
I can take it all the way up to the free states.
You know how hard that'd be, Jim? It's a million miles to Cairo!
And a slave on the river by himself?
- Ya won't get five miles. - I know.
But if I could do it, if I could...
I'd get the chance to earn money to buy my family.
Ah, hell!
We'll do it together.
I'll help you get to Cairo.
Aw, shut up, Jim!
- Now, don't be long, and don't forget the eggs. - All right. All right.
- And the flour. - All right.
And the candles, matches, tobacco...
Hell's bells, Jim! Whatever ain't nailed down is what I'll get!
And don't let nobody recognize you.
- Well, hello, ma'am. - Hello, child. My lands!
- What happened to your eye? - A cow kicked me.
Gracious! Well, what can I do for you?
Well, I was comin' from Hookville to visit my cousin...
- when my horse went lame. - Oh, dear me! Well, come in, come in.
My, that's a pretty bonnet!
- A little girl across the lane has one just like it. - It's a popular style.
Well, it looks so much cuter on you. So, what's your name?
Sarah. Sarah Williams.
Well, she got to talking about this and about that...
and blah-di-blah-di-blah until I wanted to wring her scrawny little neck.
So I decided to take advantage of the situation.
But by and by, she got to talking about the murder.
That's where my husband is right now,
out with some of the other men trying to hunt up the murderer.
And when they find him, they's gonna shoot him.
That's good! 'Cause I heard Huck Finn was such a sweet boy.
That ain't what I heard.
So who do they think killed him?
At first, everyone figured that old Pap Finn done it himself.
- Is that so? - They almost lynched him, too.
But then he up and vanished with some of his rapscallion friends.
It ain't no matter. 'Cause now everyone judges
that the man who murdered poor Huck Finn...
were a runaway slave named Jim.
Jim!
Jim?
Missus, where's my jacket?
- Howdy, little one. - Hello, good sir.
- What're you fetchin' off for? - I think we found that murderin' runaway slave.
- Huh! - Now, we been lookin' everywhere, and some old codger just now...
said that he saw smoke out on Jackson Island.
Ain't nobody lives there and hardly anyone visits, so it's gotta be him!
Hey, hey!
- Now, you watch yourself there, little precious. - You be careful!
Oh, don't worry, I will. That slave is worth $400, dead or alive.
I best be goin' now.
Oh, not until you've had some vittles.
- What was your name again? - Mary... Williams.
I thought you said it was Sarah.
Yessim, I did. Sarah Mary Williams.
Somes calls me Sarah; somes calls me Mary.
My goodness!
- You think you could hit that rat for me? - Be happy to.
- Got 'im! - Good arm you got there.
Ohhh, I keep it in shape with lots of knittin'.
- You is a boy! - Oh, how you do tease a poor girl so.
You may fool some, but not me!
If you was a girl, you'd have missed that rat by six or seven feet.
Now fess up! Who is ya?
You fess up, you little thing! You tell me, who is ya? You tell me, who is ya?
Oh! Oh!
Come back here!
-Jim! Jim, wake up! Wake up! - Huh?
- Oh, man! - Look at you, Huck. If you ain't the prettiest...
They's after us, Jim, and there ain't a minute to lose. Come on!
- Come on. - Hurry up!
- Come on, come on! Them dogs sound hungry! - Then get a move on.
Hey!
We was off, headin'down the mighty Mississippi...
on the journey to Cairo to set Jim free.
'Course, first we had to stop along the way and borrow a few things.
Say, Huck, I been feelin'...
mighty guiltful 'bout all this borrowin' we've been doin'.
- Ah, you'll get over it. - That ain't the point.
That ain't who I think it is, is it?
It's you, all right, Jim.
" Four hundred dollar reward.
- Runaway slave." - And what's that say?
Uh... handsome and well-mannered.
Oh... Now come on, Huck, what's it really say?
Nothin'. Just that you're wanted for murder.
Murder! I...
Ohhh, I see.
I'm wanted for your murder.
Well, we best travel only at night.
Is that what I really look like?
- 'Fraid so, Jim. - Damn!
- Oh, did you see that? - Let's go for it!
- What if there's people on it? - No way!
A body'd have to be crazy to be on that wreck! She's bound to break up any second.
Oh, fine! Then let's just get right aboard!
Looks like she ain't been here long.
Yeah. Might be some good loot around. Let's split up and see what she's got.
Hold on, hold on! Dead bodies is what she's got, so let's be careful.
Right!
- I'll go this way. - I'll go below.
- Oh! - Oh!
Please don't kill me, boys. Please don't kill me!
You're a lyin'thief, joe Turner, and now you're gonna pay for it with your life!
Wait, listen! You can keep my share, I won't tell nobody!
It's too late for that now!
Ohh! Ohh!
This thing's sinkin' quicker than we figured!
Yeah, let's get the booty and get outta here!
- You can't just leave me here. You can't leave me! - You killed your own partner.
He deserved the bullet I gave him!
Uhhh!
Aaah!
Damn! One more like that and she's had it!
You can't just leave me here, boys. You can't just leave me!
- Ah, shut up! - Uhh!
- Hey, get over here! - Aaah!
- Who are you? - Nobody.
- What're you doin' here? - Nothin'.
Grab the silver!
Oh, my God! We're goin' down!
Aaah!
- We best be goin',Jim! There's pirates on board! - I know, I know!
The canoe!
Damn!
- They must have a boat on the other side! Come on! - Let's get it!
There it is!
Move it, move it!
- Come on! Help me, Jim! - I'm comin', I'm comin'!
I feel sort of bad for them murderers dyin'like that.
I might end up bein' murderer myself someday,
and how would I like it, drownin'on some barge?
- Huck? - Yeah, Jim.
If you was to hear that your Pap wasn't ever gonna return to St. Petersburg,
like, if he up and died or some such, would
you still help me to get to Cairo and be free?
Or would you go on back home?
I'd go back, most likely, just to see the look on people's faces.
We'd both go back, Jim, bein' the right thing and all.
Yeah. Sure, bein' the right thing and all.
Don't you worry. I'll make sure Miss Watson takes you back.
Smell that, Huck? Smells like freedom.
If that's Cairo, I'm a free man!
And when I'm free, I'm gonna work hard...
and save every penny and buy my wife and my children.
And if they won't sell 'em, I'll steal 'em!
You wouldn't.
Only if they won't sell 'em, Huck.
They're my wife and my children. It ain't right that they be bought and sold.
Someone gonna do it. Ought to be me.
Listen to yourself. Ya hear what you're sayin'?
Sellin' people and usin' 'em for slaves ain't right, Huck.
- Somehow... - That's the way it is, and that's the way it's always been.
But it ain't right, Huck.
Don't ya see that to be true?
Slavery ain't right. All men should be free.
I've never heard such talk in my life.
Right then I knew what I was doin' was wicked.
And I could feel the hand of God about to take a swing at me.
Then suddenly I knew what I had to do. I had to turn Jim in.
Say, uh...Jim?
- Yeah, Huck. - All these towns lookin'the same,
how're we gonna know which one's Cairo?
- We'll see the Ohio River comin' in, won't we? - We might miss it.
I'll tell you what. Next time we see someone I'll grab a log,
- paddle ashore and ask 'em. - Don't worry, Huck. We'll see the Ohio River comin'in.
But we might miss it!
Best make sure.
Yeah.
Sure, Huck.
- Find anything, boys? -Nothin' over here!
I know we're close, Huck. We're safe!
You really don't have to do this!
Cairo could be anywhere.
I'll be right back.
I'd come mighty close to helpin'set Jim free and goin'to hell for it.
But now I was gonna do what's right,
and I was startin' to feel real good.
There he goes... true blue Huck Finn.
The only white gentleman ever kept his promise to old Jim.
Huck Finn, a man of his word.
A man who sticks by his friends come hell or high water.
I'm mighty proud to know him.
Ah, shut up, Jim.
Never forget ya, Huck.
Best friend I ever had.
I felt just sick, but I says to myself,
"Self, you's got to tell on 'im. It's the only right thing to do. "
- You boy! That a raft out there yonder? - Yes, sir, it is.
- Is it yours? - Yes, sir.
Any men on it?
just one, sir.
We're lookin'for five slaves that ran away last night.
The man on the raft, is he white or black?
He's white.
And maybe you're one of them abolitionist boys that likes to help runaway slaves?
- I believe we'd better look for ourselves. - Oh, I wish you would.
'Cause it's my Pap out there, and he's awful
sick. And so is my mom, my sister, my brother...
You said there was one man on that raft.
I saw your guns and just got scared, I guess.
Need a tow over, if ya don't mind.
We do mind, boy. We're in a hurry.
- Oh, come on, get on board. - Thank ya.
People usually just run away when I tell 'em my whole family is sick as dogs.
- What's wrong with 'em? - Well...
my sister's pukin' everywhere, my ma's smellin' real bad,
- my brother's skin's kinda rottin' off his body. - Oh!
Pa... Oh, it's disgusting!
Your whole family's got the pox, boy! You wanna spread it around?
But I've asked everybody, and nobody'll help me.
Downstream about 20 miles is another town. You go ask them!
- Would that be Cairo? - No, Cairo ain't for another hundred miles.
Listen, boy!
Next time, don't tell people what ya got. Just lie your little face off. Now, get!
Uhhh! I can't believe you're not gonna help us.
The smell on that raft's just killin' me.
You see any runaway slaves, boy, you get some
help and nab 'em. You can make some money.
You bet, sir. I won't let no runaway slaves get by me.
True blue Huck Finn.
It's always so damn troublesome doin'right and so damn easy doin' wrong.
But I decided from now on, I'm just gonna do whatever come handiest.
- You mean French people don't talk the same as us? - Why, no, Jim.
You couldn't understand a single word they said.
- Oh, I suppose you could. - You suppose right.
I was taught some of their jabber out of books.
- Oooh, you know some of their jabber, huh? - Yeah, I do.
What would you think if a man came up to you and said, " Pallee-voo Franzee?"
- I wouldn't think nothin'. I'd just bust him over the head.
He ain't sayin' nothin' bad! He just asked you if you talk French.
- Well, why didn't he just say it? - He did just say it.
No, he didn't! He said, " Pallee-voo Francine!"
Well, that's a Frenchman's way of askin' if you talk French.
It's a stupid way of askin' it!
- It ain't stupid! - Well, it is! It's ridiculous!
- It ain't ridiculous. We just talk different.
- Lookit here, Jim! Does a cat talk like we do? - No, a cat don't.
- Does a cow? - No, a cow don't neither.
Does a cat talk like a cow or a cow like a cat?
All right, all right. No, they don't. They talk different.
Right! And French people talk different than us! Ya see?
I rest my case!
All right, Mr. Finn.
- Is a cow a cat? - No.
- Is a cat a cow? - No.
- Is a cow a man? - No, Jim.
- Is a cat a man? - No.
- Is a Frenchman a man? - Yeah.
Then we don't he talk like a man?
Poke.
You see? I rest my case.
You know... you've got a point there, Jim.
And the point is...
just because you're taught somethin's right,
and everybody believes it's right,
it don't make it right.
You get my meaning?
Yeah, I do.
-Jim! Let's get! - Huh!
Jump, Huck! Jump!
-Jump! - Aaah!
-Jim! Jim! - Jim! Jim!
-Jim! -Jim!
Jim.
Make a move, and I'll blast you in half!
That's far enough now. See if there's anybody else out there.
Why, Pa! He's no Shepherdson!
- Hush, Sophie. - No, he isn't. Put those guns down!
There's nothin' Shepherdson about him at all.
- Look at that face. - Well, then, what is your name, son?
I-I-It's George Jackson, sir.
- You see! - Put your hand down. - Hey, what's goin' on?
- Here, let me dry you off. - Ain't there no Shepherdsons around?
You know, we might've been shot, you bein' so slow in comin', Billy.
Where did you come from, George?
I fell off a steamboat, sir.
- Whoa, fell off a steamboat! - Oh, you poor boy! Falls off a steamboat,
and then you go and scare him to death!
They was real nice once they decided not to kill me.
They told me they was the Grangerfords, and asked me a million questions.
I decided it'd be best to leave out the truth, so I slung 'em a story.
And after my pa got killed in that stampede,
my ma ran off with a circus clown.
Never saw her again.
- Well, you can stay here with us. - As long as you like.
Thanks.
You see what I'm talkin' about?
Hey, George! Here's a present for bein'my new friend.
This is the nicest thing anybody's ever given me.
- Thanks, Billy. - Billy!
Everything's been real quiet between the Shepherdsons and us lately,
so don't you go stirring things up.
Oh, Sophie, leave me alone. Come on, George.
Say, Billy, let's slide on down to the river.
I wanna see if any of my... belongings washed up on shore.
Well, first we gotta take care of something.
Seems a lot of things have been washing up lately.
A steamer hit his raft last night and killed his master.
So he's ours. We had to chain him.
Hey! Get up! Come on, get up!
Looks a little rough. Me and you gotta break him in a little bit.
- Huck! So good to see you. - Huck? Who you callin' Huck?
Why, my name's... Bet ya can't spell my name?
I'll bet ya that dare. It's G-O-R-G J-X-O-N.
You done it, all right. I'm George Jackson.
Pleased to meet ya, sir.
Say, Billy...
why is everybody carryin' all them guns and lookin' so itchy to use 'em?
Well, we got us a feud goin' on.
Feud! What's a feud?
You don't know what a feud is?
It's like this. A man has a fight with another man and kills him.
Then his brother kills him. Goes on and on with everybody's brother...
tryin'to kill everybody else's brother, until everybody's killed off.
Our feud's been goin' on for 30 years.
30 years! Well, how'd it start?
- I don't know. - You mean, you don't know why y'all killin' each other?
Yes, sir! Yes, sir!
Hey, Boggs! You know Pa don't want you doin' that any more.
- Get to work now. Come on! - Yes, master.
Your child got three days work before he can move on.
- Hello, boys. - Hey, Pop.
Huck!
On that river, I had a taste of freedom.
And now bein' a slave again... Well, it feels so...
so very bad.
Let's get on to Cairo, Huck. Please.
- Let's get on outta here. - All you think about is yourself, Jim.
Well, what about me? Don't I deserve somethin'?
I ain't had it so good in all my life.
Come on, George, we're goin' fishin'!
And I ain't in no hurry to leave.
Hey, Boggs, this one's all yours.
All right, come on, get down outta there.
Come on, over here.
Now, my daddy was fishin' on that other bank,
not payin' any attention to all the rain.
And all of a sudden the bank gave way, and into the river he went.
Yeah, that's my boy.
All you think about is yourself, Jim. Well, what about me?
Come on, George, it's supper time!
I'll be right there.
Jim!
Jim.
It weren't my fault.
If you think I feel bad,
well, you're wrong!
If you think I'm gonna apologize to a slave,
a runaway slave at that, well, hah.
I didn't mean for this to happen, Jim.
It were the worst thing I ever done in my life.
I'm real sorry, Jim.
Honest, I am.
You're still my best and only friend.
Huck Finn.
Okay, all right. Enough of this slop.
-Jim? - Hmm?
'Bout time for us to be leavin'.
- Huck? - Shut up, Jim.
Sorry I'm late.
Cyrus! What's goin' on?
Miss Sophie went off to marry a Shepherdson.
- Well, where'd everybody go? - The women went to raise the relations.
Billy and the menfolk, they gonna try and kill that Shepherdson boy...
before he crosses the river with Miss Sophie.
Thanks.
Lots of people gonna die today.
They're right up ahead, boy!
Oh, let's go!
- Hey, Billy! - Hey, Billy.
I-It's me, it's me! Huck... I mean, George! What's goin' on?
George, they ambushed us! They killed my pa and all my brothers!
Hell, they pert near killed us all!