OPEN A BOOK,OPEN THE WORLD
《傻瓜威爾遜》
本書以奴隸制度的社會問題為背景，向讀者展開一連串精彩的情節轉折。奴隸羅克西主要的職責是照顧主人的小兒子湯姆，而他也有一個同齡的兒子錢伯斯。在宅邸中其他奴隸因為被抓到偷竊而差點被賣到南方後，羅克西非常擔憂自己與兒子的處境，掙扎之下，他做了一個大膽的決定——他將主人與自己的兒子從嬰兒床上對調，企望兒子能從此過上優越與特權的生活。
二十年後，湯姆（前身為錢伯斯）從小在貴族生活下長大，成為一個驕縱而自私的年輕人。當羅克西此時遭逢意外，辛苦工作得來的積蓄全數消失，不得已下他回到了宅邸向湯姆請求經濟援助時，此時的湯姆卻是以嘲笑來回應他的求助。在一次糾紛中湯姆殺害並搶劫了一名貴族，並試圖嫁禍給另一名義大利人，卻在法庭上透過指紋等證據使湯姆不但確立為兇手，更被揭發這名宅邸的繼承人根本就是冒牌貨。真正的湯姆在經過二十年後終於奪回屬於他的權利，但他卻並沒有因此而幸福：以奴隸身份長大的他難以融入白人貴族生活；同時，他也被排除在黑人的社群之外。而錢伯斯則是被當作莊園財產的一部分，為了賠償損失而被賣到南方去。
Switched at birth by a young slave woman attempting to protect her son from the horrors of slavery, a light-skinned infant changes places with the master's white son. This simple premise is the basis of Pudd'nhead Wilson, a compelling drama that contains all the elements of a classic 19th-century mystery: reversed identities, a ghastly crime, an eccentric detective, and a tense courtroom scene.
First published in 1894, Twain's novel bristles with suspense. David "Pudd’nhead" Wilson, a wise but unorthodox lawyer who collects fingerprints as a hobby, wins back the respect of his townspeople when he solves a local murder in which two foreigners are falsely accused. Witty and absorbing, this novel features a literary first — the use of fingerprinting to solve a crime. This gem was Twain's last novel about the antebellum South; and despite its frequent injections of humor, it offers a fierce condemnation of racial prejudice and a society that condoned slavery.
