Mississippi wisdom

I’m listening to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as an audio book.  I think this is a story that is extraordinarily entertaining “told” rather than “read.”

I’m not reading critically, trying to understand the satire, etc. but I am entertained by Huck’s wisdom.

For example: (from Google books)

“She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it.  But it warn’t so.  I tried it.  Once I got a fish-line but no hooks.  It warn’t any good to me without hooks.  I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn’t make it work….  [Miss Watson] told me what she meant  – I must help other people, and do everything I could for other people, and look out for them all the time, and never think about myself.  This was including Miss Watson, as I took it.  I went out in the woods a long time, but I couldn’t see no advantage about it – except for the other people; so at last I reckoned I wouldn’t worry about it any more, but just let it go.”

Huck is a pretty practical guy.