A handy place to find his observations on several holidays is the calendar
entries at the head of the chapters in PUDD'NHEAD WILSON. See also
"Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar"--the chapter headings of FOLLOWING THE
EQUATOR.
My favorite, in its blend of late-Twainian harshness and common-sense humor,
heads the concluding chapter of PUDD'NHEAD WILSON:
"October 12, the Discovery. It was wonderful to find America, but it would
have been more wonderful to miss it."
I assume that the line (at the close of a far harsher book on the idiocy of
slavery than HUCKLEBERY FINN) reflects Clemens' rejection of the whole
notion that America is some magical, God-favored place. But surely he's
also saying, 'How could Columbus or anyone else sail west from Europe and
possibly NOT bump into America?'
Mark Coburn