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The Californian’s tale This is a summary of a story by Mark Twain
The Californian’s tale By Mark Twain
http://www.fishtrips.net/ “The Stanislau” is a beautiful part of the state of California. A lot of people used to travel to this city to find gold. The Stanislau had green hills and a forest with a lot of trees that were constantly touched by the wind. In this part of the country, many men had built a town with sidewalks and stores, banks and schools. They had also built houses for their families. At first there was a lot of gold in the Stanislau hills but after a few years, the gold disappeared. It is a very had life for people that try to find gold. By the time I reached the Stanislau the town was empty, as the people have gone to find gold in other parts of the state. After going around town, I found out that I wasn’t alone. Someone was looking at me from one of the little houses around town. This was the only house that
wasn’t covered with wild plants and roses. There was a nice garden in front of the house with beautiful, colorful flowers. Curtains floated from the house. The man opened the door of his house. I went inside and saw that the house was beautiful. I was living in very bad conditions for a long time, by looking for gold I had to sleep on the ground and spend my time in very difficult conditions. It was obvious that a woman was part of the decoration of this house. The man told me that it was his wife the one who decorated the room. I looked around the room and found a picture of her. This was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She was sweet and soft. He told me that they got married when she was nineteen. When I asked him for his wife he told me that she went away to visit her parents. They lived forty or fifty miles from his home. She was gone for two weeks that time. I asked him when she would be back and he told me that on Saturday in the evening. I was very sorry because I wasn’t going to be there by then. He told me that she loved to have people over and that she would be very sorry because I wasn’t going to be there. But I was in a hurry and I had to leave by then. After looking at the picture for a second time, I changed my mind and decided to stay. He told me that his name was Henry and we talked a lot about his wife. Thursday evening someone came to visit. He was Tom, a miner. He came to ask Henry when his wife was coming home. Tom took a letter from his pocket and told Henry that he has got a letter from his wife and if he would like to hear it. Tom read the letter that was a loving message to him and to her friends and neighbors. Tom told Henry that he cried because he was hoping to see her that night and that he was sad because she wasn’t coming. The next day, Friday, another miner came to see Henry and to hear the letter. He cried with the message too and told Henry that everyone missed her very much.
When Saturday finally came, I was looking at my watch very often. I was really expecting her. Then, Tom and Joe came down the road with guitars, flowers, and a bottle of whiskey. They put the flowers in vases and began to sing with their guitars. Henry’s friends gave him a lot of whiskey, and made them drink it. When I tried to grab a glass of whiskey, one of his friends told me to grab the other one. When the clock strike midnight Henry told us that he was feeling sick and went to sleep. His friends had to carry him into the bedroom and closed the door. When they came back they were ready to leave. I asked them to stay since I was hoping to meet her and I will be a stranger to her. They looked at each other and told me that Henry’s wife has been dead for nineteen years. She went to see her parents six months after she got married. When she was coming back, the Indians captured her. No one saw her again and Henry lost his mind. He thinks she is still alive. He always waits for her to come back. On the night that she was supposed to come back, his friends always come to visit him and put a sleeping pill in his drink so he would fall sleep and be all right for one more year.
The Californian’s tale This is a summary of a story by Mark Twain.
The Californian’s tale By Mark Twain