The image of your father's enjoyment of this story is one that will stay with me 
for a long time, Kent.  


It's one of those stories that gets funnier every time I read it -- 
Shakespearean, almost, with its tale within a tail within a tale within a tale.  
And the disturbing bit acts as a hook to take you deeper.  That gives me an 
idea, actually.  I was trying to decide which Twain story I wanted to use in my 
next blog for _Humor in America_, on how exploring the context of a joke makes 
it funnier.  This could be a fun choice.

Anyway, I'm delighted to have been a little help -- and am looking forward to 
the book when it comes out.   And no -- I wouldn't know Pitman shorthand if it 
bit me.  Or if it pulled my tale.

Cheers,
Sharon




________________________________
From: =?windows-1252?Q?Kent_Rasmussen?= <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, December 16, 2011 4:56:20 PM
Subject: Re: Query about quote

The passage you found is better than a "best guess," Sharon. I regard it =
as
a dead cert that it's the very passage Mark Twain's correspondent was
thinking of. His wording is a little different, but it contains all the k=
ey
elements of the TRAMP ABROAD passage. Moreover, I can appreciate why he
singled it out as a favorite: When read in its entirety, the anecdote abo=
ut
uncertain identities is very funny. It was one of my father's favorite Ma=
rk
Twain passages; he would laugh till tears came to his eyes when he told
others about it. I'm getting old enough myself to appreciate it more ever=
y
year. These days I often meet people who seem already to know me but whom=
I
can't quite place.

Thanks very much, Sharon. You've saved me the embarrassment of sending my=

book to press with a simple research question unanswered.

You don't happen to read Pitman shorthand, do you?

Kent