He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while -- plenty of company -- and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he hadn't run out of whitewash he would have bankrupted every boy in the village.
　　Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it -- namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on a tread-mill is work, while rolling ten-pins or climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement. There are wealthy gentlemen in England who drive four-horse passenger- coaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line, in the summer, because the privilege costs them considerable money; but if they were offered wages for the service, that would turn it into work and then they would resign.
　　The boy mused awhile over the substantial change which had taken place in his worldly circumstances, and then wended toward headquarters to report.
　　Notes:
　　1.melancholy 忧郁; 悲哀或情绪低落；郁闷( sadness or depression of the spirits; gloom)
　　2.gal 少女，女孩(=girl)
　　3.mulatto 黑白混血儿，父母分别为黑人和白人的人(A person having one white and one black parent)
　　4.Can't, Mars Tom. Ole missis, she tole me I got to go an' git dis water an' not stop foolin' roun' wid anybody. She say she spec' Mars Tom gwine to ax me to whitewash, an' so she tole me go 'long an' 'tend to my own business -- she 'lowed SHE'D 'tend to de whitewashin'.
　　这是不符合语法规则，发音也不规范的儿童语言。相当于：I can’t, Master Tom. Old mistress, she told me I have got to go and get this water and not stop fooling round with anybody. She says she expects Master Tom is going to ask me to whitewash, and so she told me to go along and attend to my own business—— she allowed she would attend to do whitewashing.
　　5.Gimme = Give me
　　6.Oh, I dasn't, Mars Tom. Ole missis she'd take an' tar de head off'n me. 'Deed she would.
　　= Oh, I dare not, Master Tom. Old mistress she’d take the head off in me. Indeed she would.
　　7.My! Dat's a mighty gay marvel, I tell you! But Mars Tom I's powerful 'fraid ole missis --
　　= My! That’s a mighty say marvel, I tell you1 But Master Tom I am powerfully afraid of old mistress---
　　8.a world of fun 极大的，级多的
　　9.hop-skip-and-jump 这3个词都表示跳的意思，但有细微的区别：hop常指“单脚跳(To jump on one foot.)”；skip常指“两只脚轮流跳(To move by hopping on one foot and then the other)”；jump通常指“跳离地面或其它基底(To spring off the ground or other base by a muscular effort of the legs and feet)。
　　10.ain't (1) = am not, is not；(2) = are not, has not, have not
　　11.druther (副词) 宁可,宁愿
　　12.That put the thing in a new light. = That makes the thing take on a new look; that makes the thing fairly new. 这倒是个新鲜事。
　　13.lemme = let me
　　14.honest injun = honestly enjoy
　　15.fag out 筋疲力尽 (= exhausted, rather tired)