A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

by Mark Twain

PREFACE

THE ungentle laws and customs touched upon in this tale are historical,
and the episodes which are used to illustrate them are also historical. It
is not pretended that these laws and customs existed in England in the
sixth century; no, it is only pretended that inasmuch as they existed in
the English and other civilizations of far later times, it is safe to
consider that it is no libel upon the sixth century to suppose them to have
been in practice in that day also. One is quite justified in inferring that
whatever one of these laws or customs was lacking in that remote time, its
place was competently filled by a worse one.

The question as to whether there is such a thing as divine right of
kings is not settled in this book. It was found too difficult. That the
executive head of a nation should be a person of lofty character and
extraordinary ability, was manifest and indisputable; that none but the
Deity could select that head unerringly, was also manifest and
indisputable; that the Deity ought to make that selection, then, was
likewise manifest and indisputable; consequently, that He does make it, as claimed,
was an unavoidable deduction. I mean, until the author of this book
encountered the Pompadour, and Lady Castlemaine, and some other executive
heads of that kind; these were found so difficult to work into the scheme,
that it was judged better to take the other tack in this book (which must
be issued this fall), and then go into training and settle the question in
another book. It is, of course, a thing which ought to be settled, and I am
not going to have anything particular to do next winter anyway.

Mark Twain.

A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. A WORD OF EXPLANATION


IT was in Warwick Castle that I came across the curious stranger whom I
am going to talk about. He attracted me by three things: his candid
simplicity, his marvelous familiarity with ancient armor, and the
restfulness of his company -- mdash; for he did all the talking. We fell
together, as modest people will, in the tail of the herd that was being
shown through, and he at once began to say things which interested me. As
he talked along, softly, pleasantly, flowingly, he seemed to drift away
imperceptibly out of this world and time, and into some remote era and old
forgotten country; and so he gradually wove such a spell about me that I
seemed to move among the specters and shadows and dust and mold of a gray
antiquity, holding speech with a relic of it! Exactly as I would speak of
my nearest personal friends or enemies, or my most familiar neighbors, he
spoke of Sir Bedivere, Sir Bors de Ganis, Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir
Galahad, and all the other great names of the Table Round -- mdash; and how
old, old, unspeakably old and faded
and dry and musty and ancient he came to look as he went on! Presently he
turned to me and said, just as one might speak of the weather, or any other
common matter -- mdash;

"You know about transmigration of souls; do you know about transposition
of epochs -- mdash; and bodies?"

I said I had not heard of it. He was so little interested -- mdash; just
as when people speak of the weather -- mdash; that he did not notice
whether I made him any answer or not. There was half a moment of silence,
immediately interrupted by the droning voice of the salaried cicerone:

"Ancient hauberk, date of the sixth century, time of King Arthur and the
Round Table; said to have belonged to the knight Sir Sagramor le Desirous;
observe the round hole through the chain-mail in the left breast; can't be
accounted for; supposed to have been done with a bullet since invention of
firearms -- mdash; perhaps maliciously by Cromwell's soldiers."

My acquaintance smiled -- mdash; not a modern smile, but one that must
have gone out of general use many, many centuries ago -- mdash; and
muttered apparently to himself:

"Wit ye well, I saw it done." Then, after a pause, added: "I did it
myself."

By the time I had recovered from the electric surprise of this remark,
he was gone.

OR

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6. A Burlesque Autobiography
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45. WHAT IS MAN? AND OTHER ESSAYS OF MARK TWAIN

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