Time January 13, 2022

Platform Himalayas

Country America

Genre Novels

Author Mark Twain

Summary of the story

The King of Thailand wanted to present a white elephant to the Queen of England as a sign of friendship. The Queen of England commissioned Indian colonial officials to escort the white elephant to England. Something happened to the ship transporting the white elephant to New York Harbor in the United States, and the white elephant was stolen. The protagonist goes to the New York Inspector General to report the crime, and a farce begins in search of a stolen white elephant.

The chief detective sent his police officers to search for clues in all directions. Sure enough, traces of white elephants appeared in all directions. Police officers scattered in various places kept sending back telegrams reporting clues such as the white elephant's footprints, white elephant injuries, and white elephant destruction. The suspects, who had been working for two years, wrote a letter asking to negotiate with them and redeem the white elephant. Three weeks later, the protagonist of the novel spent a total of 142,000 pounds on so-called bonuses and redemption fees, and became a penniless pauper. However, the money fell into the pockets of the chief inspector and the police officers. .

Finally, the body of the white elephant was found in the basement of the building where the police officers were playing. It shows that the chief detective has already discovered the white elephant, and even the white elephant was stolen by the police. It is a bluff to send police officers to search for clues, and the purpose is to drain the money of the reporter.

My Insights

This novel is humorous and deeply satirical. It satirizes the hypocrisy, deceit, greed and inhumanity of the police in American society. Newspapers were severely criticized for adapting to the prevailing situation, being irresponsible, and reporting inaccurately and making random speculations.

Highlights

1. He is a man of medium height and strong physique; whenever he is deep in thought, he always habitually frowns, ponders and gently uses one finger to Knocking him on the forehead, these performances immediately leave you with the impression that you are standing in the presence of an extraordinary person. His image alone boosted my confidence and gave me hope.

2. I explained my purpose. These words moved him in no way; they had no more noticeable effect on his steely composure than if I were saying that someone had stolen one of my dogs.

3. Several clerks were working at the other end of the room. For the next six or seven minutes, the only sound of their pens scratching on paper was heard. Meanwhile, the Chief Inspector sat, lost in thought.

4. "This is not an ordinary case. Every step you take must be done with caution; every time you take the next step, you must feel confident about the previous step, and it must be kept confidential. - It must be kept strictly confidential. Do not mention it to anyone - not even to reporters. I will deal with them; I will make sure that they only find out what I want them to know. "

5. "We have to use this one - since we don't have anything better; it's a pity that it has its nose rolled up and stuffed in its mouth. It’s deliberately trying to make people make wrong judgments, because it usually doesn’t put its nose there.”

6. We usually look at the way he commits the crime and what he wants to steal. size to obtain subtle and ingenious clues as to who we are hunting. We're not dealing with a pickpocket now, or a thief who's just hanging around, look, you gotta admit it.

7. "This, ask what it eats - it eats anything. It can eat people, it can eat Bibles - it can eat both people and Bibles. Anything in between.”

8. “I think it doesn’t care about illustrations; that is to say, I don’t think it values ??illustrations more than text alone. precious.

”

9. “It will leave the Bible and eat bricks; it will leave bricks and eat bottles; it will leave bottles and eat clothes; it will leave clothes and eat cats.” ; Will leave the cat for oysters; Will leave oysters for ham; Will leave ham for sugar; Will leave sugar for pie; Will leave pie for potatoes; Will leave ham for sugar It leaves potatoes and eats wheat bran; it leaves wheat bran and eats hay; it leaves hay and eats oats; it leaves oats and eats rice, because it is fed with rice. There's nothing he won't eat, except European butter, but he'll eat it if he's willing to taste it. ”

10. “Drink all liquids. Milk, water, whiskey, molasses, castor oil, turpentine, carbolic acid... I can't go into detail here; no matter what liquid it is, just write down whatever comes to mind. It will drink anything liquid, except European coffee. ”

11. “Daffy and McFadden are the toughest villains in their profession; the Chief Inspector has reason to believe that the stove was stolen from the Detective Headquarters on a cold night last winter. It was them - it turned out that before the next morning, the chief inspector and all the detectives went to the doctor for treatment. Some had frozen feet, and others had frozen fingers, ears and other parts of the body. . ”

12. “Our duty is not to prevent crime, but to punish crime. But we cannot punish crimes in advance; we must wait until someone has already committed a crime. ”

13. “Oh my God! "The chief inspector said, "Does it even have to pay for the gas bill? ”

14. Barnum [7] is willing to pay four thousand dollars a year to obtain the patent right to use elephants for mobile advertising. From now on, until the agents find the elephant. Prepare to The elephant has a circus poster on it.

15. The white elephant is at ease! It is killing people all the way. The terrified villagers have escaped! It is white terror that leads the way, followed by death. And destruction! And behind it all, the barns were washed away, the factories were completely destroyed, the crops were eaten up, the mass gatherings were scattered, and all this happened at the same time. Described massacre!

16. “Let them laugh; whoever laughs last laughs best. ”

17. My admiration for this man has turned into a kind of worship. I am inseparable from him. His office has become an embarrassing place for me, and now it is getting worse every day. But , since he can endure it, I will endure it too; at least I will persist until I am no longer capable.

18. “The agent is so great! In searching for a tchotchke like a lost elephant, he was perhaps a little slow--even though he chased it all day long, and slept with its rotting carcass all night for three weeks, he finally found it. It's true - in fact, as long as he can find the person who put the elephant there by mistake and point him to the place! ”

19. I am a person who has lost everything and is a homeless person in the world - but, to this day, my admiration for that gentleman has never become indifferent, and it will never become indifferent. Will become indifferent, I always believe that he is the greatest agent the world has ever seen (20220113)