[美国]马克·吐温/Mark Twain
马克·吐温（1835-1910），美国杰出的小说家，美国文学史上最重要的作家之一，也是美国文学史上第一个用口语进行写作的作家，开创了一代文风，被福克纳称为“美国文学之父”。马克·吐温幼年家境贫寒，被迫放弃学业外出谋生。丰富的生活经历对他后期的创作影响很大。19世纪70年代到90年代是他创作的鼎盛时期，其代表作有《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》和它的姊妹篇《汤姆·素亚历险记》等。
When the landlord learned that I and my agents were artists, our party rose perceptibly in his esteem;we rose still higher when he learned that we were making a pedestrian tour of Europe.
He told us all about the Heidelberg road, and which were the best places to avoid and which the best ones to tarry at;he charged me less than cost for the things I broke in the night;he put up a fine luncheon for us and added to it a quantity of great light-green plums, the pleasantest fruit in Germany;he was so anxious to do us honor that he would not allow us to walk out of Heilbronn, but called up Gotz von Berlichingen's horse and cab and made us ride.
I made a sketch of the turnout. It is not a Work, it is only what artists call a“study”-a thing to make a finished picture from. This sketch has several blemishes in it;for instance, the wagon is not traveling as fast as the horse is. This is wrong. Again, the person trying to get out of the way is too small, he is out of perspective, as we say. The two upper lines are not the horse's back, they are the reins;there seems to be a wheel missing-this would be corrected in a finished Work, of course. That thing flying out behind is not a flag, it is a curtain. That other thing up there is the sun, but I didn't get enough distance on it. I do not remember, now, what that thing is that is in front of the man who is running, but I think it is a haystack or a woman. This study was exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1879，but did not take any medal;they do not give medals for studies.