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El hombre que corrompió a Hadleyburg
"Why, you simple creatures, the weakest of all weak things is a virtue which has not been tested in the fire."
Written on hotel stationary while in Europe on the run from American creditors, soon after the death of a daughter, The Man That Corrupted Handleyburg is often cited as a work of bitter cynicism—a statement on America, to some, on the Dreyfus Case, to others—created by a weary author at the end of his career.
Another appreciation, however, is that it is, simply, Mark Twain at his best. The story of a mysterious stranger who orchestrates a fraud embarrassing the hypocritical citizens of "incorruptible" Hadleyburg. The novella is an exceptionally crafted work intertwining a devious and suspenseful plot with some of the wittiest dialogue Twain ever wrote. And like the most masterful literature, it subverts any notion of easy is Hadleyburg ruined, or liberated? Is the mysterious stranger Satan, or a hero? Is this a book of revenge, or redemption? One thing is This brilliant novella is a complex and compassionate consideration of the human character by a master at the height of his form.
The Art of The Novella Series
Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.
Written on hotel stationary while in Europe on the run from American creditors, soon after the death of a daughter, The Man That Corrupted Handleyburg is often cited as a work of bitter cynicism—a statement on America, to some, on the Dreyfus Case, to others—created by a weary author at the end of his career.
Another appreciation, however, is that it is, simply, Mark Twain at his best. The story of a mysterious stranger who orchestrates a fraud embarrassing the hypocritical citizens of "incorruptible" Hadleyburg. The novella is an exceptionally crafted work intertwining a devious and suspenseful plot with some of the wittiest dialogue Twain ever wrote. And like the most masterful literature, it subverts any notion of easy is Hadleyburg ruined, or liberated? Is the mysterious stranger Satan, or a hero? Is this a book of revenge, or redemption? One thing is This brilliant novella is a complex and compassionate consideration of the human character by a master at the height of his form.
The Art of The Novella Series
Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1898
70 people are currently reading
2161 people want to read
About the author
Mark Twain
8,872 books18.7k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.
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January 9, 2024
- القصة الأولى التي اقرأها لمارك توين وتكون ترجمتها ممتازة (د. أحمد خالد توفيق، رحمه الله)، أسلوب ولغة ممتازة.
- القصة سلسة، تتصاعد الأحداث فيها بشكل تدريجي ابتداءً من الوصف (قرية جيدة السمعة، قاطنوها امناء: لا يكذبون لا يغشون، لا يسرقون) وغريب يتعرض لإهانة فيها فيقرر الإنتقام من القرية بأكملها مراهناً على زيف المظهر او على قدرة المال في إفساد النفوس. يتصاعد هذا النسق ويصل الى ئروته في القاعة العامة (من اجل تسليم الحقيبة واعطاء الجائزة لصاحبها) وهنا تكون المفاجأة (سأتركها للقراء).
- الثيمات الغالبة: ثيمة الشر او الدناءة الكامنة في النفوس بالإضافة الى ثيمة الإنتقام، وكل ذلك بأسلوب ساخر ولاذع من المبدع توين.
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"a sin takes on new and real terrors when there seems a chance that it is going to be found out."
- القصة سلسة، تتصاعد الأحداث فيها بشكل تدريجي ابتداءً من الوصف (قرية جيدة السمعة، قاطنوها امناء: لا يكذبون لا يغشون، لا يسرقون) وغريب يتعرض لإهانة فيها فيقرر الإنتقام من القرية بأكملها مراهناً على زيف المظهر او على قدرة المال في إفساد النفوس. يتصاعد هذا النسق ويصل الى ئروته في القاعة العامة (من اجل تسليم الحقيبة واعطاء الجائزة لصاحبها) وهنا تكون المفاجأة (سأتركها للقراء).
- الثيمات الغالبة: ثيمة الشر او الدناءة الكامنة في النفوس بالإضافة الى ثيمة الإنتقام، وكل ذلك بأسلوب ساخر ولاذع من المبدع توين.
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"a sin takes on new and real terrors when there seems a chance that it is going to be found out."
July 12, 2021
While well-written, it's quite a malicious tale, full of mean spirited action and spite. Not necessarily very pleasant to read,
November 3, 2025
Eu queria ferir todos os homens desse lugar, e todas as mulheres... não no seu corpo ou nos seus haveres, mas na sua vaidade - o sítio onde gente fraca e néscia é mais vulnerável.
Depois de ter lido a adaptação gráfica, quis ler a novela que lhe deu origem e foi ainda melhor do que a bd. Muito mais estruturada e com pormenores que, é natural, não consigam ser tão bem passados para o mundo dos quadradinhos.
Conseguimos sentir muito mais o desespero e ganância dos incorruptíveis, e a forma como o autor narra os devaneios das pessoas que contam com o ovo na cloaca da galinha deu-me vontade de rir por já saber o que os esperava. Se eles soubessem...
É impressionante, e muito verdadeiro, o que a tentação de um punhado de dinheiro pode fazer pelas pessoas tidas como muito honestas. Não é nada que não saibamos, mas a forma como vão sendo desmascarados os podres de cada um, e o remorso que pode trazer um prémio imerecido à consciência dos ganhadores, dão sempre que pensar.
É uma cidade ignóbil, uma cidade dura, mesquinha, e não tem uma única virtude, a não ser esta honestidade por que é tão aclamada e de que tanto presume; e que Ele me ajude, pois creio que se alguma vez chegar o dia em que essa honestidade estiver sujeita a grande tentação, a sua enorme reputação cairá como um castelo de cartas.
Depois de ter lido a adaptação gráfica, quis ler a novela que lhe deu origem e foi ainda melhor do que a bd. Muito mais estruturada e com pormenores que, é natural, não consigam ser tão bem passados para o mundo dos quadradinhos.
Conseguimos sentir muito mais o desespero e ganância dos incorruptíveis, e a forma como o autor narra os devaneios das pessoas que contam com o ovo na cloaca da galinha deu-me vontade de rir por já saber o que os esperava. Se eles soubessem...
É impressionante, e muito verdadeiro, o que a tentação de um punhado de dinheiro pode fazer pelas pessoas tidas como muito honestas. Não é nada que não saibamos, mas a forma como vão sendo desmascarados os podres de cada um, e o remorso que pode trazer um prémio imerecido à consciência dos ganhadores, dão sempre que pensar.
É uma cidade ignóbil, uma cidade dura, mesquinha, e não tem uma única virtude, a não ser esta honestidade por que é tão aclamada e de que tanto presume; e que Ele me ajude, pois creio que se alguma vez chegar o dia em que essa honestidade estiver sujeita a grande tentação, a sua enorme reputação cairá como um castelo de cartas.
July 28, 2022
انسانهای نادان و سست عنصر مهمترین دارایی شان غرورشان است.
هدف غریبهای انتقامجو بر ملا کردن ذات پلید مردم هادلبرگ پشت پاکدامنی ظاهریست.
مردی که هادلبرگ را به تباهی کشاند
مترجم بهرام سروری نژاد
با اجرای عالی مسعود سیمایی
۲ ساعت و ۳۰ دقیقه
هدف غریبهای انتقامجو بر ملا کردن ذات پلید مردم هادلبرگ پشت پاکدامنی ظاهریست.
مردی که هادلبرگ را به تباهی کشاند
مترجم بهرام سروری نژاد
با اجرای عالی مسعود سیمایی
۲ ساعت و ۳۰ دقیقه
December 1, 2016
"I am hoping to eternally and everlastingly squelch your vanity."
See why studying literature is so great? You get to read a number of beautiful, beautiful things, things that probably you would have anyway read by yourself or that you have wanted to read for ages. And that counts as studying. Like, you don't even have to feel guilty.
As to The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, I particularly liked it. It provided a lot of potential starting points for an essay Ishould already be writing have to write and much inspiration. Plus, it is fun, and it leaves room for the reader's mind to speculate and try to fill the gaps -this short-story is so dense with symbolism you'll have no lack of opportunities to let your imagination run wild, I promise.
Highly recommended.
See why studying literature is so great? You get to read a number of beautiful, beautiful things, things that probably you would have anyway read by yourself or that you have wanted to read for ages. And that counts as studying. Like, you don't even have to feel guilty.
As to The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, I particularly liked it. It provided a lot of potential starting points for an essay I
Highly recommended.
July 28, 2022
Hadleyburg was a peaceful city that boasted the title of incorruptible and most honest and honourable town in the region.
However, a fact changed the life of the city: a stranger, poorly received by the town, decided to devise a plan of revenge: a bag of gold have given to one of the nineteen noble families in the city. Gold was a gift to a supposedly unidentified foreman, who had helped him through a difficult time. When the case alarmed, the hunt for the excellent factor began, identified by a phrase said to the outsider and sealed inside the bag will be opened only in an assembly. False letters with the identifying word arrive in the hands of the nineteen citizens, making them believe they were the gold owners. The community is a disaster since the case never happened, and the outsider created everything. The false incorruptibility of the city is put to the test, giving way to the face of ambition and dishonesty.
However, a fact changed the life of the city: a stranger, poorly received by the town, decided to devise a plan of revenge: a bag of gold have given to one of the nineteen noble families in the city. Gold was a gift to a supposedly unidentified foreman, who had helped him through a difficult time. When the case alarmed, the hunt for the excellent factor began, identified by a phrase said to the outsider and sealed inside the bag will be opened only in an assembly. False letters with the identifying word arrive in the hands of the nineteen citizens, making them believe they were the gold owners. The community is a disaster since the case never happened, and the outsider created everything. The false incorruptibility of the city is put to the test, giving way to the face of ambition and dishonesty.
October 23, 2019
“’[…] It is a mean town, a hard, stingy town, and hasn’t a virtue in the world but this honesty it is so celebrated for and so conceited about […]’”
Who is this mysterious stranger that plots to ruin the little town of Hadleyburg, whose inhabitants are so proud of their honesty that they take the moral high ground over all other communities around them? All we know is that when he passed through Hadleyburg on his travels, he felt deeply insulted by the citizens of that town – for whatever reason – and that from that moment on the desire of taking revenge rankled in his heart. His injury must have been very gross, or his sense of injury must have been very keen for it is his intention to let not one citizen of the town go unscathed but to ruin the reputation of the entire town, and so he bides his time and concocts a devilish plan to fulfil his aim. His plan is based on the assumption that a virtue that is never put to a real test is a weak sham, and that’s why he confronts the town, i.e. its nineteen leading citizens with an opportunity they can hardly resist to ignore, i.e. the opportunity to come into the possession of 40,000 dollars. He has studied the town well and knows how to bait his hooks so cleverly as to induce his fish to bite, and when they bite, he is certainly going to be there.
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg shows Twain at his darkest, most misanthropic, but while he deftly satirizes the mealy-mouthed philistines and the hypocritical and greedy dignitaries of a narrow-minded town, he also shows how the need to make ends meet, to live with modest means if not exactly in poverty, may cause people, like the old couple Richardson, to succumb to the whisperings of covetousness. All in all, Twain’s idea of human nature presents itself as utterly disillusioned and bleak in this story, as can also be seen from a short but very remarkable phrase like this,
Man as a rich and inexhaustible pasture for microbes … instead of a “piece of work […] noble in reason […], infinite in faculty, […] the beauty of the world […]”, as even the sullen Prince of Denmark had to concede. That is surely strong meat, and as such difficult both to chew and to digest. But nevertheless, the outlook is not entirely bleak in that there is still the reverend Burgess, whose conduct is characterized by gratefulness and even the vengeful stranger is not above, or beneath, giving an honest man his due (although this act of kindness will have disastrous consequences since it is based on the misinterpretation of its object). Apart from that, the story does not deny the existence of virtue and decency in human beings but is rather to be taken as a cautionary tale against people’s tendency to preen themselves on their goodness and their moral superiority over those outside their own group. The hypocrisy and fatuousness which serve as a thin layer of varnish covering vanity, egocentrism and complacency can be laughed at as long as we see them in the Hadleyburgers, but I think they still come in many forms, even nowadays. Some people might blame me for saying this, but I could not help thinking of our present brazen jeunesse dorée who indulge in How dare you hysterics, accusing others of stealing their future when it is in fact globalization and technology that have enabled them to enjoy the lifestyle they unthinkingly regard themselves as being entitled to or at least show no convincing inclination to emancipate themselves from. I am not talking of all young people here, but simply of those who prefer the feeling of moral superiority they derive from voicing claims whose realization would mean the end of civilization as we know it and destroy livelihoods all over the globe, and then comfortably partake of the everyday amenities and luxuries of a lifestyle their parents could not even have dreamt of when they were their age. Hadleyburg is by far larger than presented it that tale by Mark Twain, and there are lots of people around whose moral pretensions have never really been put to the test.
Who is this mysterious stranger that plots to ruin the little town of Hadleyburg, whose inhabitants are so proud of their honesty that they take the moral high ground over all other communities around them? All we know is that when he passed through Hadleyburg on his travels, he felt deeply insulted by the citizens of that town – for whatever reason – and that from that moment on the desire of taking revenge rankled in his heart. His injury must have been very gross, or his sense of injury must have been very keen for it is his intention to let not one citizen of the town go unscathed but to ruin the reputation of the entire town, and so he bides his time and concocts a devilish plan to fulfil his aim. His plan is based on the assumption that a virtue that is never put to a real test is a weak sham, and that’s why he confronts the town, i.e. its nineteen leading citizens with an opportunity they can hardly resist to ignore, i.e. the opportunity to come into the possession of 40,000 dollars. He has studied the town well and knows how to bait his hooks so cleverly as to induce his fish to bite, and when they bite, he is certainly going to be there.
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg shows Twain at his darkest, most misanthropic, but while he deftly satirizes the mealy-mouthed philistines and the hypocritical and greedy dignitaries of a narrow-minded town, he also shows how the need to make ends meet, to live with modest means if not exactly in poverty, may cause people, like the old couple Richardson, to succumb to the whisperings of covetousness. All in all, Twain’s idea of human nature presents itself as utterly disillusioned and bleak in this story, as can also be seen from a short but very remarkable phrase like this,
”[…] he could hear his microbes gnaw, the place was so still.”
Man as a rich and inexhaustible pasture for microbes … instead of a “piece of work […] noble in reason […], infinite in faculty, […] the beauty of the world […]”, as even the sullen Prince of Denmark had to concede. That is surely strong meat, and as such difficult both to chew and to digest. But nevertheless, the outlook is not entirely bleak in that there is still the reverend Burgess, whose conduct is characterized by gratefulness and even the vengeful stranger is not above, or beneath, giving an honest man his due (although this act of kindness will have disastrous consequences since it is based on the misinterpretation of its object). Apart from that, the story does not deny the existence of virtue and decency in human beings but is rather to be taken as a cautionary tale against people’s tendency to preen themselves on their goodness and their moral superiority over those outside their own group. The hypocrisy and fatuousness which serve as a thin layer of varnish covering vanity, egocentrism and complacency can be laughed at as long as we see them in the Hadleyburgers, but I think they still come in many forms, even nowadays. Some people might blame me for saying this, but I could not help thinking of our present brazen jeunesse dorée who indulge in How dare you hysterics, accusing others of stealing their future when it is in fact globalization and technology that have enabled them to enjoy the lifestyle they unthinkingly regard themselves as being entitled to or at least show no convincing inclination to emancipate themselves from. I am not talking of all young people here, but simply of those who prefer the feeling of moral superiority they derive from voicing claims whose realization would mean the end of civilization as we know it and destroy livelihoods all over the globe, and then comfortably partake of the everyday amenities and luxuries of a lifestyle their parents could not even have dreamt of when they were their age. Hadleyburg is by far larger than presented it that tale by Mark Twain, and there are lots of people around whose moral pretensions have never really been put to the test.
April 4, 2025
Edward and Mary Richards, peerless paragons of prudence and probity in Hadleyburg (or Anytown, USA) - a village distinguished hither and yon for its unimpeachable honesty - have received a mysterious mail sack in the mail.
Opening it, Mary spills out a sum totalling several million dollars in large denomination bills, at today's value!!!
And there is a letter.
The deceased benefactor thinks them the most impeccably honest of his past acquaintances for a simple act of kindness towards him.
The money is theirs to keep!
***
A flood of questions now clog the reader's brain:
Is this benefactor for real?
OR:
Is the devil behind this? Is his aim to corrupt all honesty in Hadleyburg?
OR:
Is it a modern man seeking to liberate them from their sober minded mediocrity? Like, jazz it up, Friends!?
***
Now, I don't know - being half way through this - any better than you do, but my bet is that the agnostic and elderly Mark Twain has been convicted by the meaningless void of postmodern life just like us...
And I love every word of this long story!!
Five Full Advance Stars.
Opening it, Mary spills out a sum totalling several million dollars in large denomination bills, at today's value!!!
And there is a letter.
The deceased benefactor thinks them the most impeccably honest of his past acquaintances for a simple act of kindness towards him.
The money is theirs to keep!
***
A flood of questions now clog the reader's brain:
Is this benefactor for real?
OR:
Is the devil behind this? Is his aim to corrupt all honesty in Hadleyburg?
OR:
Is it a modern man seeking to liberate them from their sober minded mediocrity? Like, jazz it up, Friends!?
***
Now, I don't know - being half way through this - any better than you do, but my bet is that the agnostic and elderly Mark Twain has been convicted by the meaningless void of postmodern life just like us...
And I love every word of this long story!!
Five Full Advance Stars.
June 9, 2020
《إن أكثر الأشياء ضعفًا فضيلة لم تُختبر في النار》
القراءة الثانية... عبقرية وساخرة لأقصى حد!
جذبني الكتاب بسبب اسم المدينة في عنوانه الذي قرأته بطريقة خاطئة وقتها ودون الالتفات لاسم المؤلف (مع أنه مكتوب بخط أكبر من العنوان خخخ)... لكن يا محاسن الصدف. تمنيت كثيرًا من قبل أن اقرأ لمارك توين ثم وقعت على كتاب له بالخطأ.
تبدأ القصة مع داهية حقود يضمر نية الانتقام للإساءة التي تعرض لها في هادليبرغ، المدينة التي ليس لها ما تفخر به سوى استقامتها وسمعتها الشريفة. فيسعى لتطبيق خطته المجنونة كي يختبر الفضيلة والأمانة الظاهرة والمنشودة في سكان هادليبرغ، محاولًا تعريتها من سمعتها أمام إغواء كبير جدًا. ومع سير الأحداث يستعرض مارك توين جوانب غريبة وطريفة من سكان هادليبرغ تمثّل السعي المسعور للبشر.
يبدو أن هذه الرواية القصيرة الساخرة كانت انتقام توين لما جرى له أثناء زيارة إلى مستوطنة دينية لإلقاء محاضرة قصصية حيث قابلها الجمهور بتزمّت. وكما قال المحرر، "وفقًا لهذه الملاحظة، يضيف الحكّائين إلى قول المتنبي:
ومكايدُ السُّفهاءِ واقِعةٌ بِهم
وعداوةُ الشعراءِ بِئسَ المُقتنى"
ترجمة جورج نبيل ممتازة... وتشوبها بعض الأخطاء الإملائية الطفيفة.
ستبقى حكاية هادليبرغ طويلًا في ذاكرتي.
《ما من شيء في العالم يشبه خطبة مقنعة تربك العقل وتزعزع الثوابت وتفسد عواطف جمهور غير خبير بخدع وأوهام الخطابة》
القراءة الثانية... عبقرية وساخرة لأقصى حد!
جذبني الكتاب بسبب اسم المدينة في عنوانه الذي قرأته بطريقة خاطئة وقتها ودون الالتفات لاسم المؤلف (مع أنه مكتوب بخط أكبر من العنوان خخخ)... لكن يا محاسن الصدف. تمنيت كثيرًا من قبل أن اقرأ لمارك توين ثم وقعت على كتاب له بالخطأ.
تبدأ القصة مع داهية حقود يضمر نية الانتقام للإساءة التي تعرض لها في هادليبرغ، المدينة التي ليس لها ما تفخر به سوى استقامتها وسمعتها الشريفة. فيسعى لتطبيق خطته المجنونة كي يختبر الفضيلة والأمانة الظاهرة والمنشودة في سكان هادليبرغ، محاولًا تعريتها من سمعتها أمام إغواء كبير جدًا. ومع سير الأحداث يستعرض مارك توين جوانب غريبة وطريفة من سكان هادليبرغ تمثّل السعي المسعور للبشر.
يبدو أن هذه الرواية القصيرة الساخرة كانت انتقام توين لما جرى له أثناء زيارة إلى مستوطنة دينية لإلقاء محاضرة قصصية حيث قابلها الجمهور بتزمّت. وكما قال المحرر، "وفقًا لهذه الملاحظة، يضيف الحكّائين إلى قول المتنبي:
ومكايدُ السُّفهاءِ واقِعةٌ بِهم
وعداوةُ الشعراءِ بِئسَ المُقتنى"
ترجمة جورج نبيل ممتازة... وتشوبها بعض الأخطاء الإملائية الطفيفة.
ستبقى حكاية هادليبرغ طويلًا في ذاكرتي.
《ما من شيء في العالم يشبه خطبة مقنعة تربك العقل وتزعزع الثوابت وتفسد عواطف جمهور غير خبير بخدع وأوهام الخطابة》
September 29, 2019
مارك توين كاتب ساخر من العيار الثقيل حقا، في حين لم تخل هذه النوفيللا من الدراما لم ينقصها الذكاء ولا الفكاهة .... الكل مثالي حتى يُختبر
كانت الترجمة حلوة وسلسة فعلا ولكنني قرأت في إحدى المراجعات أن العزيز الراحل د. أحمد خالد توفيق قام بترجمتها أيضا
نوفيللا ممتعة من مؤلف قدير
كانت الترجمة حلوة وسلسة فعلا ولكنني قرأت في إحدى المراجعات أن العزيز الراحل د. أحمد خالد توفيق قام بترجمتها أيضا
نوفيللا ممتعة من مؤلف قدير
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June 27, 2022عام بهش ۲.۵میدم شایدم ۳
راستش کتاب صوتیش رو گوشدادم درون مایه داستان خوب بود ولی خب ازونجایی ک داستان کوتاه بوده و من صوتی گوش دادمش نمیدونم چرا دائم ذهنم از داستان پرت میشد با اینکه ب غیر از این بازم کتاب صوتی گوش دادم ولی اصن داستانش پرتم میکرد تو خیالات خودم:) و خب اینجوری شد ک چن بار ی اپیزود رو گوش کردم
ب هرحال ازونجایی ک نصف داستان پرش افکار داشتم نمیتونم قضاوت خاصی درموردش کنم🌱💚
راستش کتاب صوتیش رو گوشدادم درون مایه داستان خوب بود ولی خب ازونجایی ک داستان کوتاه بوده و من صوتی گوش دادمش نمیدونم چرا دائم ذهنم از داستان پرت میشد با اینکه ب غیر از این بازم کتاب صوتی گوش دادم ولی اصن داستانش پرتم میکرد تو خیالات خودم:) و خب اینجوری شد ک چن بار ی اپیزود رو گوش کردم
ب هرحال ازونجایی ک نصف داستان پرش افکار داشتم نمیتونم قضاوت خاصی درموردش کنم🌱💚
February 21, 2021
داستان کوتاه، روان، زیبا و جذابی از مارک تواین بزرگ. مردی اسرارآمیز که به دلیل کینه از شهری که به صداقت معروف بود، با یک نقشه زیرکانه آن را به تباهی کشید. داستانی از وسوسه و ذات خودخواهانه بشری.
چندی پیش صحبتی در خصوص دلایل وضعیت نابسامان کشور بین جمعی مطرح شده بود، همان ماجرای همیشگی که اشکال از مردم است یا از حکومت. این داستان زیبای مارک تواین کفه را به سمت حکومت و قانون سنگین میکند. انسانها اگر در چارچوب قانون و سیستمی که به طور صحیح طراحی شده قرار نگیرند، هیچگونه موعظه و معنویتی نمیتواند عموم جامعه را از وسوسه ها و تباهی هایی که ریشه در ذات خودخواهانه انسان دارد برهاند.
چندی پیش صحبتی در خصوص دلایل وضعیت نابسامان کشور بین جمعی مطرح شده بود، همان ماجرای همیشگی که اشکال از مردم است یا از حکومت. این داستان زیبای مارک تواین کفه را به سمت حکومت و قانون سنگین میکند. انسانها اگر در چارچوب قانون و سیستمی که به طور صحیح طراحی شده قرار نگیرند، هیچگونه موعظه و معنویتی نمیتواند عموم جامعه را از وسوسه ها و تباهی هایی که ریشه در ذات خودخواهانه انسان دارد برهاند.
December 24, 2016
Twain did a fantastic job in describing the least favorable attributes of human emotions and actions such as greed, envy and vengeance. A Greek comedy at it`s best and a fine satire.
July 31, 2024
Back in the 1990s (my bohemian decade) I worked at an amazing used bookstore, Riverrun, that payed me in book credit. That’s how I acquired a complete set of the 1922 printing of The Complete Works of Mark Twain. I graduated from being a casual reader of the author (Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, a couple of short story collections) to being a true, Mark Twain aficionado.
The title story of this volume, The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg wasn’t new to me; it was in the first paperback collection of Twain’s short stories that I read in high school. But rereading Twain is always a pleasure, and the collection of material in this volume, some that I read here for the first time, was excellent.
Hadleyburg, a tale of a hard, self-righteous town getting its comeuppance through a devious prank exposing its hypocrisy, is one of Mark Twain’s most grim and cynical tales. But here it is collected together with The £1,000,000 Bank-Note, an absolutely charming, feel good story of a penniless young American in London who must win a bet by surviving for a month in a strange town without going to jail while carrying this impossible to cash, ridiculously huge bank-note.
But both of those stories make it into a lot of Mark Twain story collections. This volume contains rarer gems. In My Debut as a Literary Person the author relates in detail his first big success as a writer — his scoop on the burning of the clipper ship Hornet in 1866. In My First Lie and How I Got Out of It he explores a subject that fascinated him his whole career — lying’s ubiquity, and the absolute human hypocrisy surrounding it. Also included in this collection is a rare Mark Twain tale — A Double-Barreled Detective Story, in which the famed Sherlock Holmes visits an American mining camp and is bested, humbled, and humiliated, by home-grown American talent.
Mark Twain stands as a giant of American literature. You can prove this just from reading his best known material. But if that’s not enough to satisfy you, don’t fret — his back catalog is deep and rewarding.
The title story of this volume, The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg wasn’t new to me; it was in the first paperback collection of Twain’s short stories that I read in high school. But rereading Twain is always a pleasure, and the collection of material in this volume, some that I read here for the first time, was excellent.
Hadleyburg, a tale of a hard, self-righteous town getting its comeuppance through a devious prank exposing its hypocrisy, is one of Mark Twain’s most grim and cynical tales. But here it is collected together with The £1,000,000 Bank-Note, an absolutely charming, feel good story of a penniless young American in London who must win a bet by surviving for a month in a strange town without going to jail while carrying this impossible to cash, ridiculously huge bank-note.
But both of those stories make it into a lot of Mark Twain story collections. This volume contains rarer gems. In My Debut as a Literary Person the author relates in detail his first big success as a writer — his scoop on the burning of the clipper ship Hornet in 1866. In My First Lie and How I Got Out of It he explores a subject that fascinated him his whole career — lying’s ubiquity, and the absolute human hypocrisy surrounding it. Also included in this collection is a rare Mark Twain tale — A Double-Barreled Detective Story, in which the famed Sherlock Holmes visits an American mining camp and is bested, humbled, and humiliated, by home-grown American talent.
Mark Twain stands as a giant of American literature. You can prove this just from reading his best known material. But if that’s not enough to satisfy you, don’t fret — his back catalog is deep and rewarding.
December 9, 2021
תענוג של ספר מאת מארק טוויין החכם והשנון.
טבע האדם אינו משתנה וטוויין חושף אותו במלא מערומיו תוך שהוא מעביר ביקורת, גם בין השורות, על הטבע האנושי והצביעות שפושה בכל פינה.
מה שהיה נכון לתקופתו של טוויין, נכון שבעתיים לתקופתנו ובמובן הזה מדובר בספר על זמני.
טבע האדם אינו משתנה וטוויין חושף אותו במלא מערומיו תוך שהוא מעביר ביקורת, גם בין השורות, על הטבע האנושי והצביעות שפושה בכל פינה.
מה שהיה נכון לתקופתו של טוויין, נכון שבעתיים לתקופתנו ובמובן הזה מדובר בספר על זמני.
March 19, 2024
Ya bende bir sorun vardı ya da kitap çok kısa olduğu için hiçbir şey anlayamadım tam olarak. Evet para yozlaştırır ama ne bileyim bir karakter derinliği sezmezdiğim pek etkilenmedim.
November 15, 2017
خیلی دوستش داشتم
روایت جالب و سرراستي داشت
سرگرم کننده بود
و فکر میکنم میشه به هر گروه سنی و هر نوع سلیقه ای معرفی کرد. :)
روایت جالب و سرراستي داشت
سرگرم کننده بود
و فکر میکنم میشه به هر گروه سنی و هر نوع سلیقه ای معرفی کرد. :)
December 30, 2025
"الفضيلة حين يتم اختبارها .. تفاجأنا النتائج كثيراً"
نسأل الله الوقاية من فتن الدنيا.
نسأل الله الوقاية من فتن الدنيا.
August 9, 2011
Ugh.
I consider a story good when I have a strong physical reaction to it, and The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg tied my stomach up in knots. Mark Twain nailed human greed. He nailed it, and he hit upon some sort of larger unconscious truth that I can reach at but cannot grasp.
Hadleyburg is a town noted for its incorruptible honesty and its exceeding morality. Twain informs us that the town of Hadleyburg once offended a traveler passing through but neglects to indulge any further detail. We only know that this person seeks revenge and seeks it greatly, and decides to strike at the the thing most dear to Hadleyburg: its moral image. Through an ingenious prank involving a sack of gold coins and a reformed gambler, the stranger manages to expose the nineteen elite head families of Hadleyburg as the greedy liars they are.
One need look no further than your current newspaper to see how relevant this story remains: hypocrite moralists involved in sex scandals, Enrons, and what have you, etc. etc.
The genius of the story is that Twain works to implicate you and me, the readers, as hypocritical lying scoundrels as well.
Jolly good, then, Twain. I see things haven't changed very much.
I consider a story good when I have a strong physical reaction to it, and The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg tied my stomach up in knots. Mark Twain nailed human greed. He nailed it, and he hit upon some sort of larger unconscious truth that I can reach at but cannot grasp.
Hadleyburg is a town noted for its incorruptible honesty and its exceeding morality. Twain informs us that the town of Hadleyburg once offended a traveler passing through but neglects to indulge any further detail. We only know that this person seeks revenge and seeks it greatly, and decides to strike at the the thing most dear to Hadleyburg: its moral image. Through an ingenious prank involving a sack of gold coins and a reformed gambler, the stranger manages to expose the nineteen elite head families of Hadleyburg as the greedy liars they are.
One need look no further than your current newspaper to see how relevant this story remains: hypocrite moralists involved in sex scandals, Enrons, and what have you, etc. etc.
The genius of the story is that Twain works to implicate you and me, the readers, as hypocritical lying scoundrels as well.
Jolly good, then, Twain. I see things haven't changed very much.
October 29, 2018
جالب بود.
هنوز به کتاب صوتی عادت نکرده ام (این دومین تجربه ام بود) و به همین خاطر یک حسی دارم که مثلا با تسامح میشود گفت شبیه وقتهاییست که حس میکنم کتابی را با دقت نخوانده ام. شاید یک بار دیگر گوش کنم.
در هر صورت راوی خیلی خوب بود و به جز یک مورد جزئی متوجه اشتباهی نشدم. به علاوه این که صدای متفاوت؛ و درعین حال طبیعی، نه توی ذوق زننده؛ برای شخصیتهای مختلف ساخته بود.
هنوز به کتاب صوتی عادت نکرده ام (این دومین تجربه ام بود) و به همین خاطر یک حسی دارم که مثلا با تسامح میشود گفت شبیه وقتهاییست که حس میکنم کتابی را با دقت نخوانده ام. شاید یک بار دیگر گوش کنم.
در هر صورت راوی خیلی خوب بود و به جز یک مورد جزئی متوجه اشتباهی نشدم. به علاوه این که صدای متفاوت؛ و درعین حال طبیعی، نه توی ذوق زننده؛ برای شخصیتهای مختلف ساخته بود.
November 2, 2016
A short story published here as a Penguin 60s Classic.
This is a morality tale, about a town in which the people consider themselves better than their neighbouring town, and are proud of their incorruptible reputation. A stranger is offended in a way we do not learn, but is offended enough to set into play a scheme to ruin the town and their reputation.
Cleverly written, with pace and structure to a simple enough story, but with a complexity around the multiple characters and their subsequent unmasking of their lack of truth. A somewhat timeless story, exploring self interest and greed.
Four stars from five for me.
This is a morality tale, about a town in which the people consider themselves better than their neighbouring town, and are proud of their incorruptible reputation. A stranger is offended in a way we do not learn, but is offended enough to set into play a scheme to ruin the town and their reputation.
Cleverly written, with pace and structure to a simple enough story, but with a complexity around the multiple characters and their subsequent unmasking of their lack of truth. A somewhat timeless story, exploring self interest and greed.
Four stars from five for me.
October 18, 2021
The central scheme of the story revolves round the appearance of a stranger in Hadleyburg. The village is mocked at as “the most honest and upright town in all the region round about.”
The stranger leaves a sack which is supposed to be filled with gold to be given to a man who might prove that he met a stranger a year or two before. All people of the town start showing curiosity and try to prove their friendship with that stranger.
The village becomes a laughing stock and petitions for a change in its name.
It is an overpowering satire on human gluttony which can become boundless and distort a man howsoever good he might be.
The stranger leaves a sack which is supposed to be filled with gold to be given to a man who might prove that he met a stranger a year or two before. All people of the town start showing curiosity and try to prove their friendship with that stranger.
The village becomes a laughing stock and petitions for a change in its name.
It is an overpowering satire on human gluttony which can become boundless and distort a man howsoever good he might be.
March 30, 2017
SIX WORD REVIEW: Money will reveal a town's colors.
September 29, 2017
مارك تواين يك نابغه ى واقعيه!
October 7, 2009
My uber-favorite Mark Twain short story as a stand-alone book. Nobody does the devil like Twain. Oh, maybe Ambrose Bierce, but there's a richer quality to the Twain, less bitterness as the topnote.
September 18, 2017
A short, intriguing tale about the hypocrites among us. The premise was interesting, but the execution seemed a bit artificial. 3.5*
December 26, 2018
He leído más relatos de Twain que me han parecido estupendos, algunos cargados de ironía y humor pero este no me ha gustado tanto. No quiero decir que no sea bueno, la historia está muy bien planteada y deja claro que todo el mundo tiene un precio. La forma de plantear la historia me ha parecido un poco liosa pero la historia en sí es muy interesante.
February 7, 2024
داستان جالبی داشت😂
October 20, 2015
“The weakest of all weak things is a virtue which has not been tested in the fire.
Hadleyburg is famed for its reputation for honesty even teaching its children about it. However, when Hadleyburg offends a passing stranger he resolves to revenge himself on the town, rather than any individuals, by exposing its artificial virtue. He leaves a sack supposedly containing forty thousand dollars in gold with Mary and Edward Richards, asking them to find an unknown benefactor. This person had given him twenty dollars and advice. Whoever correctly repeats that advice can claim the money.
Two central themes to this tale are appearance versus reality and more importantly human vanity. The stranger deliberately sets out to expose the town’s lies. Hadleyburg prides itself on its honesty, but all its leading citizens are willing to lie for the gold. There is no real virtue in Hadleyburg, only show.
This book is more of an extended essay than a even novella really only running to roughly 60 pages and is reported to have been originally written on hotel stationary during a stopover. It is beautifully crafted and the language succinct that its depth of meaning far out weighs its number of pages. This is so a charming tale that left me if not laughing out loud at least with a permanent smile on my face as it cruelly exposed such basic human failings as self-interest and greed. It was a joy to read and I would thoroughly recommend reading it.
Hadleyburg is famed for its reputation for honesty even teaching its children about it. However, when Hadleyburg offends a passing stranger he resolves to revenge himself on the town, rather than any individuals, by exposing its artificial virtue. He leaves a sack supposedly containing forty thousand dollars in gold with Mary and Edward Richards, asking them to find an unknown benefactor. This person had given him twenty dollars and advice. Whoever correctly repeats that advice can claim the money.
Two central themes to this tale are appearance versus reality and more importantly human vanity. The stranger deliberately sets out to expose the town’s lies. Hadleyburg prides itself on its honesty, but all its leading citizens are willing to lie for the gold. There is no real virtue in Hadleyburg, only show.
This book is more of an extended essay than a even novella really only running to roughly 60 pages and is reported to have been originally written on hotel stationary during a stopover. It is beautifully crafted and the language succinct that its depth of meaning far out weighs its number of pages. This is so a charming tale that left me if not laughing out loud at least with a permanent smile on my face as it cruelly exposed such basic human failings as self-interest and greed. It was a joy to read and I would thoroughly recommend reading it.
July 7, 2019
2.5/5
It was an ok story.
The translation was not good and it took sone of its beauty away.
I think If I had read it when I was a kid I would have liked much more.
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الترجمة ليست بالافضل ،،ترجمة جورج نبيل.
قللت من جمال الرواية واضافت إليها سذاجه نوعا ما.
ربما كانت ستعجبني أكثر لو قرأتها في سن مبكره.
.
.
عندي قناعة إن القصص القصيرة ماتناسبني ابدا ،، ولا اقدر احبها ،، ولا اقدر اقدرها ،، ماعدا كتب الزاهيم نصر الله ،، الى الان
It was an ok story.
The translation was not good and it took sone of its beauty away.
I think If I had read it when I was a kid I would have liked much more.
.
.
الترجمة ليست بالافضل ،،ترجمة جورج نبيل.
قللت من جمال الرواية واضافت إليها سذاجه نوعا ما.
ربما كانت ستعجبني أكثر لو قرأتها في سن مبكره.
.
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عندي قناعة إن القصص القصيرة ماتناسبني ابدا ،، ولا اقدر احبها ،، ولا اقدر اقدرها ،، ماعدا كتب الزاهيم نصر الله ،، الى الان
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