The novel begins with Huck Finn introducing himself and referencing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. “You don’t know about me,” Huck narrates, “without you have read a book by the name of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” but that ain’t no matter.” He tells readers that, for the most part, Twain told the truth in Tom Sawyer but that everyone tells some lies, even people like Aunt Polly and the Widow Douglas.
Huck gives a brief summary of how he and Tom got six thousand dollars each at the end of Tom Sawyer. Judge Thatcher has taken Huck’s money and invested it with a dollar of interest coming in each day, and Huck now lives with the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. The sisters are, as Huck puts it, trying to “sivilize” him, and his frustration at living in a clean house and minding his manners starts to grow. Miss Watson tells Huck he will go to “the bad place” if he does not behave, and Huck thinks that will be okay as long as Miss Watson is not there.
During the evening, Huck accidentally kills a spider that was on his shoulder and worries that bad luck will follow. When the town clock strikes twelve midnight, Huck hears a noise outside his window and climbs out to find Tom Sawyer waiting for him.
