Tom Sawyer discovered the great laws of human behavior by painting walls

That is, in order to make an adult or a child want to do something, just try to make it difficult

to achieve it.

Saturday morning has arrived, and the summer world is full of vitality and sunshine, with fresh air. There is a song in everyone's heart, and some young people can't help but sing this song. Everyone's face is filled with joy, and everyone's steps are so light. The acacia trees are in bloom, and the air is filled with the fragrant fragrance of flowers. The tall Cardiff Mountain outside the village is covered with green vegetation. This mountain is not far or near from the village. It is like a "promised land", quiet and peaceful, full of dreams, and

People yearn for it.

Tom appeared on the sidewalk, carrying a bucket of mortar in one hand and a long-handled brush in the other. He looked around at the fence. All his happiness immediately disappeared and his heart was filled with melancholy. The fence was thirty yards long and nine feet high. Life

To him, life is too boring and empty, and living is just a burden. He sighed, dipped a brush in mortar, and began to paint along the top layer of wood. Then he brushed again, and then twice. Looking at the inconspicuous piece that had just been painted, and comparing it with the far-fetched fence, Tom sat down on a wooden box in frustration. At this time, Jim ran out of the gate with a tin bucket in his hand and singing "Buffalo Girls" in his mouth. In Tom's eyes, going to town to fetch water from the water pump had always been a tiresome chore, but he no longer saw it that way. He remembered having a lot of company there. There were white children, black children, and mixed-race children. Men and women were waiting in line to get water. Everyone rested there, exchanged their own

things, made noises, fought and played. And he still remembered that although their home was only about 150 yards away from the water carrying place, Jim never carried a bucket of water back within an hour - sometimes he even had to be rushed by others. OK. Tom said:

"Hey, Jim, if you come and paint some walls, I will fetch water."

Jim shook his head and said:

" No, Master Tom. The old lady asked me to carry water and not to stop and play with others on the road. She said she guessed that you would ask me to paint the wall, Master Tom, so she ordered I just do my own work and don't meddle in other people's business - she said she would come in person to see you painting the wall."

"Well, Jim, don't worry about her. That's what she always said.

Give me the bucket - I'll be right back."

"Oh, no. , I don’t dare, Master Tom. The old lady will twist my head off, she really can!”

“She has never beaten anyone - she has never beaten anyone. Just hit her on the head with a thimble - who cares about that?

I want to ask you. She is just talking harshly, but talking can't hurt you - as long as she It's okay if you don't yell. Jim, I'll give you a good thing, a white stone!" Jim began to waver.

"White stone, Jim! This is a real fun stone."

"Hey, to be honest, that's a pretty good thing. But Master Tom, I'm afraid

Old lady..."

"Also, Jim, as long as you agree, I will show you my toe, the swollen and painful toe. "

Jim is a mortal after all, not a god - this temptation is too great for him. He put down the bucket and took the white stones.

He also bent over and watched with interest as Tom untied the cloth strap around his foot and looked at the swollen and sore toe.

However, after a while

Jim's buttocks hurt and he ran away quickly along the street with a bucket; Tom continued to paint the wall hard because Aunt Polly

At this time, he came back from working in the fields. She was holding a slipper in her hand, with a look of satisfaction in her eyes.

However, Tom's enthusiasm did not last long. He began to think of some of the play arrangements he had made for this rest day, and the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt. After a while, those free children will run over and play all kinds of happy and fun games. When they see that he has to work painting the wall, they will laugh and ridicule him. ——When he thought of this, Tom felt as if his heart was on fire. He took out all his treasures and looked at them carefully for a while - there were incomplete toys, some stones, and some useless things. These gadgets are enough to exchange for other children to work for you.

However, it may not be enough to exchange for half an hour of absolute freedom. So he put these poor treasures into his pockets again, and gave up the idea of ??using them to bribe those boys. At this moment of despair, he suddenly had an idea and came up with a plan. This idea is really clever and wonderful.

He picked up the brush and started working silently. After a while, Ben Rogers appeared - of all the children, it was this boy named Tom who was the most afraid. Tom was most afraid of his sarcasm. Ben walked as if he were doing a triple jump - this proved that

he was in a relaxed and happy mood at this time, and he was also planning to do something happy and happy. He was eating an apple, and from time to time he made long and pleasant "woo--" sounds, and after a while he imitated the sound of bells by "ding-dong-dang, ding-dong-dang". He was acting A

steam ship. He was getting closer, so he slowed down, walked to the center of the street, leaned to starboard, and turned the bow of the ship laboriously and artificially to stop the ship against the wind - he was playing the "Big Missouri" ” and seemed to have drafted nine feet of water. He is not only a ship, but also a

captain and also an engine bell. So he imagined himself standing on the top deck of the ship giving orders and executing them at the same time.

"Stop the boat, man! Ding-aah!" The boat almost stopped, and then he slowly moved closer to the sidewalk.

"Turn the ship around! Ding--ah, bell--bell!" He straightened his arms and hung them to both sides with all his strength.

"Back to starboard, ding-a-ring-a-ring! Chao-a-a-a-a-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Then draw a large circle - this represents a forty-foot wheel.

"Back to the port side! Ding--ah, bell--ring! Cha-woo----------------" The left hand began to draw a circle.

"Starboard stop! Ding-ah bell-bell! Port side stop! Starboard forward! Stop! Turn around slowly outside! Ding-ah bell

-bell! Huh - Wu - Wu! Bring the rope from the bow! Come on - hand over the rope from the side of the boat - what are you doing? Hook it up, just hold it tight—let it go! Ding—ring—ring! Hit—hit—hit! (Sound of steam valve exhaust)

Tom continued to wash the fence, ignoring the steamer. Ben stared at it for a while and said:

"Oops. "You're having a better time, aren't you?" Tom didn't answer. Just looking at the last piece he painted with an artist's eye, then brushing it lightly. Again

looked at the fence as before. Ben came over and stood beside him. Seeing the apple, Tom drooled with greed, but he continued to paint his wall.

Ben said:

"Hey, old man, you still have to work, eh?"

Tom turned around suddenly and said: "Ahem! It's you, Ben "I haven't noticed you yet."

"Ha, tell you, I'm going to swim. Don't you want to go? Of course, you'd rather work here, right

Of course you do!"

Tom looked at the boy and said:

"What do you call this?"

"This is not called work, what is it called doing?"

Tom started painting the wall again and said casually: "This may be work, maybe it is not. I only know this pair of soup

It’s quite satisfying for M Sawyer”

“Oh, come on! Do you mean you like doing this?”

The brush keeps brushing.

"Like to do it? Hey, I really don't understand why I don't like to do it. Which boy can have the opportunity to paint the wall every day?"

This is something new. So Ben stopped chewing the apple. Tom moved the brush deftly back and forth--pausing now and then to step back and see the effect--a touch here, a touch there--and then look at the effect again-- - Ben watched Tom's every move carefully. The more he watched, the more interested he became. The more he watched, the more attracted he became. Later he said:

"Hey, Tom, let me do some brushing and take a look."

Tom thought for a moment and was about to agree to him; but he immediately changed his mind :

"No - no, Ben - I don't think this is possible. You know, Aunt Polly is very particular about this wall - this is the street. One side - but if you paint the back, it doesn't matter. Auntie won't care. Yes, she is very particular about painting this wall. . I don’t think I can find one among a thousand, maybe two thousand children who can paint this wall as Aunt Polly asks.” “Oh, really?” Just let me give it a try. I'll just give it a try - Tom, if I were you, I'd let you try it."

"Ben, I'd rather do it, to be honest. But, Aunt Polly - well, Jim wants to do it, but she won't let him do it, and Sid also wants to do it, and she won't let him do it now. , do you know how embarrassed I would be? If you come to play with this wall, what if something goes wrong..."

"Ah, it's okay, I will be careful. . Let me try. Hey - I'll give you the apple core."

"Oh, no, Ben, forget it." /p>

"I'll give you all this apple!"

Tom gave the brush to Ben, showing reluctance on his face, but he was happy in his heart.

While the "Big Missouri" was working in the sun and sweating profusely, the retired artist

was working in the shade nearby. , sitting on a wooden barrel, crossing his legs, eating apples with big mouthfuls, and secretly thinking about how to kill more fools. There are many such little fools. Every once in a while, some boys would pass by; at first they wanted to come and joke, but in the end they were all left to paint the wall. When Ben was exhausted, Tom had already made a deal with Billy Fisher. Billy trades a well-repaired kite for the chance to succeed Ben. By the time Billy was done with the game, Jenny Miller bought the privilege with a dead mouse and a small rope tied to it - one stupid thing after another.

The boy was deceived and fell into the trap without stopping for several hours.

About half way through the afternoon, Tom, who had been a poor boy in the morning, suddenly became a wealthy man with huge pockets. In addition to the gadgets mentioned above, there are also

twelve stones; a broken harmonica; a piece of blue glass that can see through; a cannon made of spools; and a lock of some kind

p>

A key that cannot be opened; a piece of chalk; a large wine bottle stopper; a tin soldier; a pair of tadpoles; six firecrackers; a one-eyed kitten

A brass doorknob; a dog collar—but no dog—a knife handle; four orange peels; and an old window frame.

He had been living comfortably and leisurely - with many companions - and the walls had been painted three times. If he hadn't run out of

mortar, he would have left every kid in the village out of pocket and bankrupt.

Tom said to himself, this world is not so empty and boring after all. He had unknowingly discovered one of the great laws of human behavior - that in order to make an adult or a child want to do something, he only had to make it difficult

Just get it. If he is a great and wise philosopher, like the author of this book, he will understand that "work" is what a person is forced to do, and "play" is Something a person is not obligated to do. This truth helped him

understand why making artificial flowers and pedaling wheels were considered work, while playing ten-pin games and climbing Mount Blanc were considered entertainment. Rich British gentlemen drove four-wheel horse-drawn coaches along the same route for twenty or thirty miles every day in the summer, and they spent a lot of money for this privilege.

Much money. But if you pay them for it, it turns it into a job and they will quit.

Tom thought for a while about the substantial changes that happened around him that day, and then went to the headquarters to report.