馬克.吐溫 Mark Twain
By Mark Twain
(Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
這本小說裡的冒險故事確曾發生過。其中，有一兩件是我自己的親身經歷，另外一些都是我少年時的同學們的。湯姆和哈克·費恩這兩個人物形象都取材于生活，所不同的是： 湯姆是我認識的三個孩子的化身，是多個人物的混合體。
Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual--he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.
書中述及的一些迷信，稀奇古怪。三四十年前，在西部的孩子們和奴隷們當中，它們甚為流行。
The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story--that is to say, thirty or forty years ago.
我寫這本小說主要是為了娛樂孩子們，但我也希望大人們不要因為這是本兒童讀的書就將它束之高閣。 此外，我還試圖想讓那些成年人從書中想起當年的他們，那時的情感、思想、言談以及一些令人不可思議的作法。
Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.
是為序。
THE AUTHOR.
１８７６年作者于哈特福德
HARTFORD, 1876.