Huck Finn by Mark Twain. Chapter 2

 

CHAPTER 2

A MAN ABOUT FIFTY YEARS OLD WAS SITTING ON HUCK'S BED. He had long, dirty hair, and his clothes were old and very dirty. This was Huck's father, Pap Finn.  

"What are you doing here, Pap?" asked Huck. "How did you come in?"

 

"I climbed in through the window," answered Pap. "It wasn't difficult."

 

Pap looked around Huck's room. "A bed, a blanket, a mirror, a rug on the floor! You're important now, aren't you? But your own father sleeps in the mud!" He saw one of Huck's school books on

the table. "Can you read, too?"

 

"Yes " said Huck. "I learnt at school." Pap grabbed the book and threw it at him, but Huck jumped away. "I can't read," said Pap. "Before she died, your mother couldn't read. Why is it OK

for you to read?"

 

"The widow decided it," replied Huck.

 

"The widow should stay out of it," said Pap. "Tell me now. You're rich, I hear. How did you get rich?"

    

Now Huck knew. His father was there because of the treasure.        

"They're lying," he said. "The widow adopted me because I was living on the street."

 

"Oh, no," replied Pap. " You are lying. Look here, Huck, I want that money. You're my son and it belongs to me. I have to have it. Don't ever go to that school again! Do you hear?" he said to Huck and he climbed out of the window.

 

Huck used to be afraid of his father. But he wasn't anymore. 'Pap doesn't want me to go to school,' he thought. 'But I will. He's wrong and I'm right.' At breakfast, however, he learned something else that worried him. It was about Jim. A man from New Orleans wanted to buy Jim from the widow for eight hundred dollars. In the Southern States white people could buy and sell black people, just like horses or furniture.

 

They were the slaves of their white owners and had to obey their masters at all times. The widow didn't really want to sell Jim, but eight hundred dollars was a lot of money, and she was thinking about it.

 

Huck didn't want the widow to sell Jim. He thought about it as he walked to school. 'Jim has a wife and children,' he thought. 'If she sells him to this man, Jim will never see them again. Its not right. And I will lose my friend.' Suddenly, someone grabbed Huck from behind, and knocked him down. Huck tried to fight back, but the person dragged him away. It was Pap again.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 2

Comprehension

1) Answer the following questions.

1.      What was the surprise Huck had in his bedroom?

2.      Why did Pap go to Huck's room?

3.      Who wanted to buy Jim for eight hundred dollars?

4.      Who attacked and knocked down Huck?

          2) Match the two halves of the sentences below.

1. Pap looked                           a. want to sell Jim.

2.  Huck didn't tell his father    b. wife and two children.

3.  Huck used to be                   c. around Huck's room.

4.  The widow didn't really       d. about the treasure.

5.  Jim had a                              e. afraid of his father.

 

Vocabulary

  3)  Choose a, b or c to complete the following sentences.

1. Maria has bought a red______ for her bed.

 

a. blanket        b. mud         c. mirror

 

2.  'James, don't________ ice cream at your brother'.

 

a. grab             b. throw       c. drag

 

3.  My grandmother has been a(n)_____ since my

grandfather died five years ago.

 

a. master          b. widow       c. owner

 

  4. It is against the law to have a   _________ nowadays.

     a. slave       b. rug   c. wife

5. 'I didn't break the window,' said the boy but he _Was __________ .

 

a. adopting      b. replying     c. lying

 

4.  Complete the crossword with words from Chapter 2

1.     Something to sleep in

2.To go up a tree

3. The opposite of new

4. To try to see something

5.You can see yourself in it

6. Having a lot of money

7.To listen to a sound

8. A small carpet

Follow-up activities

Discuss.

1. Do you think Huck should give the money to his father?

Why? / Why not?

 

2. Huck’s parents didn’t go to school. Why do people need to go to school?

 

3. Jim was a slave. Slavery was not an unusual situation in the past. Why is it wrong for people to have other people as slaves?

 

4. At the end of the chapter, Pap knocks down Huck and drags him away. What do you think Pap is going to do to Huck? Is he right to treat him like that?

 

 

6. Imagine that you are Huckleberry Finn and you have a diary. Write about Pap's visit to your room and the way it made you feel. (60-80 words)