Preface<br >Mark Twain disa~ed readers approaching The<br >ddwntures of Huckleberry Finn by warning them<br >against any effort to discover motive， moral， or plot<br >in his book. What he hoped for， perhaps， was that his<br >readers might lose themselves in the life of his hook，<br >surrender to the language， the humor， the charm of<br >Huck and Jim. Most certainly that has been the experi-<br >ence of thousands of readers， who have been caught up<br >and carried along by the vitality of this masterpiece. A<br >masterpiece it unquestionably is. And as such it de-<br >~rv~ and even demands our close attention and c~e-<br >fnl reading.<br > Mak Twain would probably have taken equally<br >great pleasure in threaterfing to ban， or prosecute--<br >even to shootm reader who looked at but did not see<br >what he had to say. A humorist whose barbs provoke<br >only laughter cannot be satisfied that he has hit his<br >target， And a humorist who also posse~es geiti.s and<br >