The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tom checked his whistle. A stranger was before him—a boy a shade larger than himself. A new-comer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy was well dressed, too—well dressed on a week-day. This was simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes on—and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom’s vitals. The more Tom stared at the splendid marvel, the higher he turned up his nose at his finery and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed to him to grow. Neither boy spoke. If one moved, the other moved—but only sidewise, in a circle; they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time. Finally Tom said: “I can lick you!” “I’d like to see you try it.” “Well, I can do it.” “No you can’t, either.” “
夏天的傍晚很长，到现在天还没黑。汤姆蓦地止住口哨，只见一个陌生人站在他面前——一个块头略大于他的孩子。在圣彼得堡这个贫困潦倒的小村里，任何初来乍到者，无论年龄大小，是男是女，都会引起人们的关注和好奇。这个男孩衣着讲究，明明不是周末，却如此精心打扮，实在过于出格，简直令人不可思议。他头上的帽子很别致，蓝布短上衣扣得严严实实，簇新、整洁而又漂亮，裤子也是如此。他脚上还穿着鞋子——今天才不过是星期五。他甚至还打了一个领结，那是一根鲜艳的丝带。他那俨然一城里人的派头，深深刺痛了汤姆的自尊心。汤姆越是看这个不知从何而来的衣冠楚楚的家伙，越是对他的时髦装束嗤之以鼻，就越发觉得自己的这身打扮显得寒碜。两个孩子都没吭声，谁挪动一步，另一个也跟着挪动——但只是横着身子转圈儿，他们始终脸对脸、眼瞅眼地转着圈儿。汤姆终于开了腔： “我能揍你一顿。” “我倒乐意陪你试试。” “好，试试就试试。” “得了吧，谅你没那个胆。” “谁说的，我敢。” “你不行，你不敢。”
欣赏：当乡下孩子遇到城里孩子，可能会产生羡慕嫉妒恨，甚至导致打架！（还是要搞好关系，和睦相处的！）