The Prince and the Pauper
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘When I am king, they shall not have bread and shelter only, but also teachings out of books; for a full belly is little worth where the mind is starved, and the heart.’Set in 16th-Century England and following the lives of two young boys, The Prince and the Pauper is a classic and timeless tale. Tom Canty, the lowly pauper is almost identical in appearance to Edward Tudor, a prince. Unbeknownst to those around them, the boys strike up an unlikely friendship and soon realise that with their similar looks they could easily pass for one another.When the Prince’s father dies, some of the more underhand court officials persuade the pauper to act as the Prince in order to reap the benefits of the ‘mistake’ and there follows a tale of friendship and growing up in one of Mark Twain’s most infamous works.
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THE PRINCE
AND THE PAUPER
Mark Twain
Harper Press
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
This edition published 2011
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library
Life & Times section by Gerard Cheshire
Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from Collins English Dictionary
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Source ISBN: 9780008156152
Ebook edition © MAY 2012 ISBN 9780007477470 Version: 2015-12-22
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Birth of the Prince and the Pauper
Chapter 3 Tomâs Meeting with the Prince
Chapter 4 The Princeâs Troubles Begin
Chapter 6 Tom Receives Instructions
Chapter 7 Tomâs First Royal Dinner
Chapter 8 The Question of the Seal
Chapter 10 The Prince in the Toils
Chapter 12 The Prince and His Deliverer
Chapter 13 The Disappearance of the Prince
Chapter 14 âLe Roi Est MortâVive Le Roiâ
Chapter 18 The Prince with the Tramps
Chapter 19 The Prince with the Peasants
Chapter 20 The Prince and the Hermit
Chapter 21 Hendon to the Rescue
Chapter 22 A Victim of Treachery
Chapter 23 The Prince a Prisoner
Chapter 31 The Recognition Procession
Chapter 34 Conclusion: Justice and Retribution
Classic Literature: Words and Phrases Adapted from the Collins English Dictionary
In the ancient city of London, on a certain autumn day in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, a boy was born to a poor family of the name of Canty, who did not want him. On the same day another English child was born to a rich family of the name of Tudor, who did want him. All England wanted him too. England had so longed for him, and hoped for him, and prayed God for him, that now that he was really come, the people went nearly mad for joy. Mere acquaintances hugged and kissed each other and cried. Everybody took a holiday, and high and low, rich and poor, feasted and danced and sang, and got very mellow; and they kept this up for days and nights together. By day, London was a sight to see, with gay banners waving from every balcony and housetop, and splendid pageants marching along. By night, it was again a sight to see, with its great bonfires at every corner, and its troops of revelers making merry around them. There was no talk in all England but of the new baby, Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales, who lay lapped in silks and satins, unconscious of all this fuss, and not knowing that great lords and ladies were tending him and watching over himâand not caring, either. But there was no talk about the other baby, Tom Canty, lapped in his poor rags, except among the family of paupers whom he had just come to trouble with his presence.
Let us skip a number of years.
London was fifteen hundred years old, and was a great townâfor that day. It had a hundred thousand inhabitantsâsome think double as many. The streets were very narrow, and crooked, and dirty, especially in the part where Tom Canty lived, which was not far from London Bridge. The houses were of wood, with the second story projecting over the first, and the third sticking its elbows out beyond the second. The higher the houses grew, the broader they grew. They were skeletons of strong crisscross beams, with solid material between, coated with plaster. The beams were painted red or blue or black, according to the ownerâs taste, and this gave the houses a very picturesque look. The windows were small, glazed with little diamond-shaped panes, and they opened outward, on hinges, like doors.
The house which Tomâs father lived in was up a foul little pocket called Offal Court, out of Pudding Lane. It was small, decayed, and rickety, but it was packed full of wretchedly poor families. Cantyâs tribe occupied a room on the third floor. The mother and father had a sort of bedstead in the corner; but Tom, his grandmother, and his two sisters, Bet and Nan, were not restrictedâthey had all the floor to themselves, and might sleep where they chose. There were the remains of a blanket or two, and some bundles of ancient and dirty straw, but these could not rightly be called beds, for they were not organized; they were kicked into a general pile mornings, and selections made from the mass at night, for service.
