Summary Prince and the Pauper
Mark Twain
Prince and beggar
London, mid-16th century. On the same day, two boys are born – Tom, the son of the thief John Kenti, huddling in the stinking cul-de-sac Yard Courtyard, and Edward, heir to King Henry the Eighth. Edward is waiting for all of England, Tom does not really need even his own family, where only the father-thief and mother-beggar have something like a bed; to the services of the rest – the spiteful grandmother and twin sisters – only a few piles of straw and scraps of two or three blankets.
In the same slum there is an old priest among all the rabbits who teach Tom Kenti to reading and writing and even the beginnings of Latin, but the oldest legends about wizards and kings are the most delightful. Tom beggars are not very diligent, and laws against beggars are extremely harsh. Beaten for neglecting the father and grandmother, hungry (except that the intimidated mother secretly put a hard cake), lying on the straw, he paints
Meanwhile, the palace alarm: the prince went mad, he still remembers the English letter, but he does not even recognize the king, a terrible tyrant, but a tender father. Henry with
He is taught to hide his illness, but misunderstandings are huddled, at dinner he tries to drink water for washing hands and does not know whether he has the right to scrub his nose without the help of servants. Meanwhile, Norfolk’s execution is postponed due to the disappearance of the large state seal that was handed over to the Prince of Wales. But Tom, of course, can not remember, even how it looks, which, however, does not prevent him from becoming the central figure of a splendid festival on the river.
At the unfortunate prince, the enraged John Kenti waved a club; The intervening old priest falls under his blow dead. Tom’s mother sobs at the sight of the distraught son, but then arranges a test: he wakes him up suddenly, holding a candle before his eyes, but the prince does not cover his eyes with the palm of his hand, as Tom always did. Mother does not know what to think. John Kenti learns of the death of the priest and runs with the whole family. In the turmoil of the above-mentioned festival, the prince is hiding. And he understands that London honors the impostor. His indignant protests cause new mockery. But Miles Gendon beats him with a sword in his hand, a stout warrior in dandy, but shabby clothes.
To Tom, the messenger bursts into the banquet: “The King is dead!” – and the whole hall bursts out with cliques: “Long live the king!” And the new ruler of England orders to pardon Norfolk – the realm of blood is over! And Edward, mourning his father, proudly begins to call himself no longer a prince, but a king. In a poor tavern, Miles Gendon serves the king, although he is not even allowed to sit down. From the story of Miles, the young king learns that, after many years of adventure, he returns to his home, where he has a rich old father who is under the influence of his treacherous pet, the youngest son of Guy, another brother Arthur, and the beloved (and loving) cousin Edith. In Hendon Hall there will be a shelter and a king. Miles asks one – the right to him and his descendants to sit in front of the king.
John Canty stealthily takes the king from under the wing of Miles, and the king gets into a thieves’ gang. He manages to escape, and he finds himself in the hut of a mad hermit who almost kills him because his father ruined the monasteries by introducing Protestantism in England. This time, Edward is rescued by John Kent. As long as the imaginary king creates the court, surprising the nobles with his common folk note, the true king among thieves and scoundrels meets also honest people who were victims of English laws. The boldness of the king eventually helps him to win respect even among the tramps.
The young swindler Hugo, whom the king has beaten with a stick by all the rules of fencing art, throws him a stolen pig, so that the king almost hits the gallows, but is saved thanks to the ingenuity of Miles Gendon, who appeared as always. But in Gendon Hall they are waited with a blow: Arthur’s father and brother died, and on the basis of a forged letter about the death of Miles, he took possession of the inheritance and married Edith. Guy declares Miles an impostor, Edith, too, renounces him, terrified by the threat of Gyu otherwise to kill Miles. Guy is so influential that no one in the district decides to identify a legitimate heir,
Miles and the king go to jail, where the king again sees the action of fierce English laws. In the end, Miles, sitting in the pads at the pillory, takes on more and the whips, which brings with his audacity the king. Then Miles and the king go to London for the truth. And in London during the coronation procession, Tom Kenti’s mother recognizes him by a characteristic gesture, but he pretends that he does not know her. Out of shame, the triumph fades for him, The moment the Archbishop of Canterbury is ready to lay his crown on his head, is the true king. With the generous help of Tom, he proves his royal origin, remembering where he hid the vanished state seal. Stunned Miles Gendon, who had difficulty in getting to the reception with the King, demonstratively sits in his presence to make sure that his vision does not change him. Miles receives in return a large fortune and the title of peer of England, along with the title of Count of Kent. The disgraced Gyuu dies in a foreign land, and Miles marries Edith. Tom Kenti lives to a very old age, using special honor for “sitting on the throne.”
And King Edward Six leaves his memory with a reign extremely rare for those cruel times of the day. When some gilded dignitary rebuked him in excessive softness, the king answered with a voice full of compassion: “What do you know about oppression and torment? I know this, my people know, but not you.”
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