The Epilogue to Tom Sawyer and The Talisman

I happen to find this ending brilliant and as I could not find it anywhere online when I was looking for it, I am transcribing it here.  It should be in the public domain since Mark Twain has been dead hella long.

So endeth this chronicle.  It being strictly the history of a boy, it must stop here; the story could not go much further without becoming the history of a man.  When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to stop — that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can.

Most of the characters who perform in this book still live, and are prosperous and happy.  Some day it may seem worthwhile to take up the story again and see what … they turned out to be; therefore, it will be wisest not to reveal any of that part of their lives at present.

—- Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer

~ by chrismcdevitt on July 11, 2012.