RaftgDowntheNeckar
马克·吐温/MarkTwa
WhenthendlordlearhatIandyagentswereartists，ourpartyroseperceptiblyhisestee；werosestillhigherwhenhelearhatwewereakgapedestriantourofEurope.
HetoldallabouttheHeidelbergroad，andwhichwerethebestpcestoavoidandwhichthebestootarryat；hechargedlessthanstforthethgsIbrokethenight；heputupaf？enforandaddedtoitaquantityofgreatlight-greenps，thepleasafruitGerany；hewassoanxiotodohonorthathewouldnotallowtowalkoutofHeilbronn，butcalledupGotzVonBerli’shorseandcabandaderide.
Iadeasketchoftheturnout.ItisnotaWork.Itisonlywhatartistscalla“study”—athgtoakeaf？ishedpicturefro.Thissketchhasseveralbleishesit；forstahewagonisnottravelgasfastasthehorseis.Thisiswrong.Aga，theperstogetoutofthewayistoosall.Heisoutofperspective，aswesay.Theoupperlesarenotthehorse’sback，theyaretheres；thereseestobeawheelissg—thiswouldberrectedaf？ishedwork，ofurse.Thatthgf？lygoutbehdisnotaf？g，itisacurta.Thatupthereisthesun，butIdidn’tgetenoughdistanit.Idonotreber，now，whatthatthgisthatisfrontoftheanwhoisrunng，butIthkitisahaystackorawoan.ThisstudywasexhibitedtheParisSalonof1879，butdidnottakeanydal；theydonotgivedalsforstudies.
Wedischargedthecarriageatthebridge.Theriverwasfulloflogs—long，slender，barklesspelogs—andweleanedontherailsofthebridge，andwatchedthenputthetogethertorafts.TheseraftswereofashapeandnstrutosuitthecrookednessarenarrownessoftheNeckar.Theywerefrof？iftytoonehundredyardslong，andtheygraduallytaperedfroane-logbreadthattheirsterns，toathree-logbreadthattheirbow-ends.Theapartofthesteergisdothebow，withapole；thethree-logbreadththerefurnishesrooforonlythesteersan，fortheselittlelogsareneraroundthatanaverageyoungdy’swaist.Theionsoftheseveralsesoftheraftaresdpliant，sothattheraftaybereadilybenttoanysortofcurverequiredbytheshapeoftheriver.
TheNeckarisanypcessonarrowthatapersonthrowadogacrossit，ifhehasone；whenitisalsosharplycurvedsuchpces，theraftsanhastodosoprettyniugpilotgtoaketheturns.Theriverisnotalwaysallowedtospreadoveritswholebed—whichisasuchasthirty，andsotisfortyyardswide—butissplittothreeequalbodiesofwater，bystonedikeswhichthrowtheavo，depth，andcurrenttothetralone.Inlowwaterthesenarrow-edgeddikesprojectfourorf？ivechesabovethesurface，likethebofasubrgedroof，buthighwatertheyareoverf？lowed.AhatfulofraakeshighwatertheNeckar，andabasketfulproducesanoverf？low.
TherearedikesabreasttheSchlossHotel，andthecurrentisviolentlyswiftatthatpot.Iedtositforhoursygsscage，watchgthelong，narrowraftsslipalongthroughthetralel，grazgtheright-bankdikeandaigcarefullyfortheiddlearchofthestonebridgebelow；Iwatchedthethisway，andlostallthistihopgtoseeoneofthehitthebridge-pierandwreckitselfsotiorother，butwasalwaysdisappoted.Onewassashedthereone，butIhadjtsteppedtoyrooaonttolightapipe，soIlostit.
WhileIwaslookgdownupontheraftsthatHeilbronn，thedaredevilspiritofadventurecasuddenlyupon，andIsaidtoyrades：
“IagogtoHeidelbergonaraft.Willyouveh？”
Theirfacespaledalittle，buttheyassentedwithasgoodagraceastheyuld.Harriswaocablehisother—thoughtithisdutytodothat，ashewasallshehadthisworld—so，whileheatteothis，Iwentdowntotheloandf？estraftandhailedthecaptawithahearty“Ahoy，shipate！”whichputuponpleasanttersatonce，aereduponbess.IsaidwewereonapedestriantourtoHeidelberg，andwouldliketotakepassagewithhi.IsaidthispartlythroughyoungZ，whospokeGeranverywell，andpartlythroughMr.Xwhospokeitpeculiarly.IuandGeranaswellastheaniacthatve，butItalkitbestthroughanterpreter.
Thecaptahitarrypassengers，andthereforewasafraidthewwouldbeafterhicasetheattergotnoisedaboutoranyaidenthappened.SoIcharteredtheraftandthecrewandtookalltheresponsibilitiesonyself.
Witharattlgsongthestarboardwatchbenttotheirworkandhovethecableshort，thengottheanchorho，andourbarkovedoffwithastatelystride，andsoonwasbowlgalongataboutoknotsanhour.