On page 3 of the current (October-December 1999) _Mark Twain Circular_, some lines were inadvertently omitted from scene 61 of Ralph Wiley's script, "Spike Lee's Huckleberry Finn." The fault is entirely my own and I apologize to Mark Twain Circle members. A corrected version of scene 61 with the omitted lines restored is pasted into this email. I will try to arrange for a properly-formatted corrected version of scene 61 to be included in the next issue of the Circular. Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. All best, Shelley Fisher Fishkin ~~~~~~~~~ (corrected version) From "Spike Lee's Huckleberry Finn" by Ralph Wiley copyright 1997 Ralph Wiley, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Printed with permission of the author. May be reproduced for classroom use only. WGA-E Registered #107314-00 61. EXT. RIVER RAFT. NIGHT. -- Jim is "sitting there with his head down between his knees, asleep, with his right arm hanging over the steering oar. The other oar was smashed off. The raft was littered with leaves and branches and dirt. So she'd had a rough time." Huck paddles up silently, quietly, makes the canoe fast, boards the raft, lies down under Jim's nose, "and begun to gap, and stretched my fists out against Jim and says:" HUCK Hello, Jim, have I been asleep? Why didn't you stir me up? JIM Huck? En you ain' dead-you ain' drowned? Lemme look at you, lemme seeŠ Jim touches Huck's shoulders and arms. Near tears with relief. JIM Ano, you'se back, d'same ole Huck--thanks to goodness. HUCK What's the matter with you, Jim. You been a-drinking? JIM Has I had a chance to be drinkin'? HUCK Well then, what makes you talk so wild? JIM How does I talk wild? JIM How? Talkin' about me coming back and all that stuff, as if I'd been gone away? JIM Huck. Huck Finn. You look me in d'eye; look me in d'eye; Ain't you been gone away? HUCK Gone away? I hain't been gone anywheres. Where would I go to? (Jim pauses for a few seconds; decides to string along, affects a slightly stronger dialect.) JIM WellŠlooky here, boss, dey's sumf'n wrong, dey is. Is I me, or who is I? Is I heah, or whah is I? HUCK Well, you're here plain enough, but I think you're a tangle-headed old fool, Jim. JIM (unamused) I is, is I? Didn't you tote out d'line in d'canoe fer to make fast to d'tow-head? HUCK Tow-head? What tow-head? I hain't seen no tow-head. JIM Didn' d' line pull loose, en de raf' go hummin' down d' river, en leave you en d'canoe behind in d'fog? HUCK What fog? JIM De fog. En didn' you whoop, en didn't I whoop? En didn' I bus' up agin a lot er dem islands en have a turrible time en mos' get drowned? Ain't dat so-boss? HUCK It's too many for me, Jim. I hain't seen no fog, nor no islands, nor no troubles, nor nothing. Yo u been dreaming. (Jim "didn't say nothing for about five minutes, but he set there studying it over. Then he says:") JIM Well, denŠreck'n I did dream it, HuckŠnever had no dream b'fo' dat's tired me like dis one. HUCK That's all right, because a dream does tire a body like everything, sometimes. Tell me about it, Jim, about your dream. (Jim purses his lips, knits his brow, then eases his features and speaks: ) JIM well, d'fust tow-head mus' stan' for a man who gon' try t'do us some good; den d'curren's is 'nother man dat'll get us 'way from d' good man. D'whoops is warnin's dat gon' come t'us ever now en den, 'long d'way. D'tow-heads is troubles en all kine o'mean folk, but ef we mine's our bidness, don' talk back en aggravates 'em, we'll pull thoo en gits to d'big clear river, d'O-hi-o. (Huck's face clouds up, tiring of Jim's facility with the lie. Huck himself had started, and not wanting to think about losing his companion at the Ohio. Huck's face then becomes smug.) HUCK Oh, well, that's all ''terpreted well enough, as far as it goes, Jim. (points to dirt on raft) But what does these things stand for? (Jim looks at the detritus, then at Huck, levelly, emotionlessly, then back to the sticks, leaves and dirt; one side of his face-the side away from Huck-lifts in a fatalistic half-smile. He turns back to Huck looking at him steadily, without smiling, and says): JIM What do dey stan' for? I's gon' tell you When I got all wore out wid work, en wid callin' for you, my heart was most broke because you was los' en I didn' k'yer no mo' what become er me en d'raf'. En when I wake up en fine you back agin, all safe en soun'Šen all you wuz thinkin' 'bout wuz how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie. (points to detritus on the raft, speaks calmly, clearly). Dat truck dah is trash; en trash is what people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren's en makes 'em ashamed. (Jim slowly rises and enters the wigwam. Huck watches him, then looks out over the river, as if he is too proud to care. But then, he looks down.) 61a. INT. WIGWAM. NIGHT. -- (Jim sits, pensively. It seems Huck is no different from the "witches and devils" that have ridden him in his days of bondage. Huck enters wigwam. Jim recoils, but holds it in. Huck gets on his haunches, looks at Jim, looks down. Looks up.) HUCK Jim, (inhales, exhales deeply) I'm sorry, Jim. (And with that, a crack in Jim's soul is patched. Huck looks down again as Jim regards him with slightly knitted brows. His face softens. He reaches out with the flat palm of his hand-hesitates, then rubs the boy's bowed head. Huck looks up, so thankfully, his eyes shining wet.)