小说的故事发生在19世纪上半世纪美国密西西比河畔的一个普通小镇上。主人公汤姆·索亚天真活泼、敢于探险、追求自由，不堪忍受束缚个性、枯燥乏味的生活，幻想干一番英雄事业。小说的时代在南北战争前，写的虽是圣彼得堡小镇，但该镇某种程度上可以说是当时美国社会的缩影。小说通过主人公的冒险经历，对美国虚伪庸俗的社会习俗、伪善的宗教仪式和刻板陈腐的学校教育进行了讽刺和批判，以欢快的笔调描写了少年儿童自由活泼的心灵。
汤姆·索亚历险记》（The Adventures of Tom Sawyer）是美国小说家马克·吐温1876年发表的长篇小说。
小说的故事发生在19世纪上半世纪美国密西西比河畔的一个普通小镇上。主人公汤姆·索亚天真活泼、敢于探险、追求自由，不堪忍受束缚个性、枯燥乏味的生活，幻想干一番英雄事业。
小说的时代在南北战争前，写的虽是圣彼得堡小镇，但该镇某种程度上可以说是当时美国社会的缩影。小说通过主人公的冒险经历，对美国虚伪庸俗的社会习俗、伪善的宗教仪式和刻板陈腐的学校教育进行了讽刺和批判，以欢快的笔调描写了少年儿童自由活泼的心灵。
第二十三章 波特无罪，乔逃亡在外 】
法庭上已经开始审问坟地里发生的那起谋杀案，沫夫波得就要被绞刑处死了，这时汤姆跑到了法庭上去作证人，说出了这件事情的真相，而印第安人乔祖却迅速的逃跑了，沫夫波特因为获得了清白而宣布被无罪释放。
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Tom and Huck Hunt for Treasure
Every boy, at some time in his life, feels the desire to look for hidden treasure. Hidden treasure that once belonged to pirates. Tom now had this desire. When he looked for his friends, none of them seemed to be around; they were somewhere playing or fishing. But then Tom found Huckleberry and even though he'd been angry with Tom, the thought of finding a lot of money made him very happy. So he agreed to help Tom.
"So, we'll have to look for the money on islands or under trees, or maybe even under the floors of old houses where spirits of people who used to live are."
"Why would the money be there?" asked Huckleberry.
"Because that's where thieves usually put their money. Sometimes they forget about it or they die, and the money just sits there. I know a house that would be good to look in. And there are lots of old trees around it."
"How will we know which tree to look under?"
"We'll just look under them all."
After gathering some gardening tools, they walked out of the village to the house Tom had mentioned. Before beginning their work, they sat under a tree and relaxed for a while, because it was a hot day, and Huck wanted to smoke.
Tom looked at Huck and said, "What do you plan to do with the money?"
"I plan to spend it before my father takes it from me and spends it on drinks. What about you?"
"I'm going to marry someone."
"You're crazy to want to get married! Married people fight all the time."
"Not my wife. She'll be very sweet."
"No, women are all the same, Tom. Who is this girl you want to marry?"
"I can't tell you."
"Well, I don't want you to get married. I won't have anyone to play with."
"Why don't you just move in with my wife and me, Huck?"
Then they started to work. And when, after one hour, they'd found nothing, Huck said:
"Are you sure this is right? Do you think they'd put it so far under the ground?"
"This may not be the right place."
They started working under a different tree, but after a while Huck got tired again.
"This doesn't seem right either. Can we try another place, Tom?"
"We could try that old house behind Mrs Douglas' home up on Cardiff Hill."
"Yes, but won't she take the money from us?"
"If we find the money, it's ours. She couldn't take it from us."
"Well, let's work a bit more and see if we find anything, first."
After working a while longer, Tom stopped and said:
"I just remembered something, Huck! We must look for the shadow of an old tree in the moonlight! The money will be under the ground in that place!"
So, the boys went home for a while and met again later that evening. They started working again once they'd found the shadow of the tree. They worked hard and dug deep into the ground, but they found only rocks. Finally, Tom said:
"Huck, we're wrong again."
"But we're digging where the shadow was!"
"Maybe we started at the wrong time."
"We should give up," Huck said. "We can't just keep guessing about the right time and place, and I don't like digging out here at night. It frightens me."
"I'm frightened too, Huck. The thieves almost always put a spirit with the treasure to protect it."
"Really?"
"Sure, they do."
"Tom, I don't like dead people. And they probably don't like us. Let's get out of here."
"I agree. Let's go to that house I mentioned to you before."
"Where?"
"Near Mrs Douglas' home."
"But Tom, we just agreed not to work where dead people were!"
"Right! So, we'll go there in the daytime. The spirits sleep during the daytime."
"Oh ... OK, we can go if you want to, but I don't like the idea."
