Question
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
by Mark Twain
THE STRANGER’S HISTORY
I am an American. I was born and reared in Hartford, in the State of Connecticut. My father was a blacksmith, my uncle was a horse doctor, and I was both, along at first. Then I went over to the great arms factory and learned my real trade; learned all there was to it; learned to make everything: all sorts of labor-saving machinery. Why, I could make anything anybody wanted—anything in the world, it didn’t make any difference what. And if there wasn’t any quick new-fangled way to make a thing, I could invent one—and do it easy. I became head superintendent at the factory; had a couple of thousand men under me.
Well, a man like me is a man that is full of fight. With a couple of thousand rough men under you, one has plenty of amusement. I had, anyway. At last I met my match, and I paid my dues. It was during a misunderstanding with a fellow we used to call Hercules. He laid me out with a hit alongside the head that made everything crack. Then the world went out in darkness.
When I came to again, I was sitting under an oak tree, on the grass, with a whole beautiful and broad country landscape all to myself—nearly. Not entirely; for there was a fellow on a horse, looking down at me—a fellow fresh out of a picture-book. He was in old-time iron armor from head to heel, with a helmet on his head with slits in it; and he had a shield, and a sword, and spear. His horse had armor on, too, and a steel horn projecting from his forehead, and gorgeous red and green silk trappings that hung down all around him like a bedquilt, nearly to the ground.
“Fair sir, will ye just?” said this fellow.
“Will I what?”
“Will ye try a passage of arms for land or lady or for—”
“What are you saying to me?” I said. “Get along back to the circus.”
Now what does this man do but fall back a couple of hundred yards and then come rushing at me as hard as he could, with his helmet bent down nearly to his horse’s neck and his long spear pointed straight ahead. I saw he meant business, so I was up the tree when he arrived.
He told me I was his captive. He had a spear—so I judged it best to humor him. We fixed up an agreement whereby I was to go with him and he was not to hurt me. I came down, and we started away, I walking by the side of his horse. We marched comfortably along, through glades and over brooks which I could not remember to have seen before—which puzzled me and made me wonder—and yet we did not come to any circus or sign of a circus.
I asked him how far we were from Hartford. He said he had never heard of the place.
___
Adapted from Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain, Public domain.
Questions
Read the following sentence: “We marched comfortably along, through glades and over brooks which I could not remember to have seen before—which puzzled me and made me wonder—and yet we did not come to any circus or sign of a circus.”
What does this quote reveal about the narrator’s thoughts regarding his situation?
The narrator is starting to wonder if something strange is going on and if he is in a new place.
The narrator realizes that he is no longer in Hartford and that he has been transported to the past.
The narrator recognizes that the man with the spear is a knight from King Arthur’s court.
The narrator has no clue that anything strange is going on and believes he is still going to the circus.
by Mark Twain
THE STRANGER’S HISTORY
I am an American. I was born and reared in Hartford, in the State of Connecticut. My father was a blacksmith, my uncle was a horse doctor, and I was both, along at first. Then I went over to the great arms factory and learned my real trade; learned all there was to it; learned to make everything: all sorts of labor-saving machinery. Why, I could make anything anybody wanted—anything in the world, it didn’t make any difference what. And if there wasn’t any quick new-fangled way to make a thing, I could invent one—and do it easy. I became head superintendent at the factory; had a couple of thousand men under me.
Well, a man like me is a man that is full of fight. With a couple of thousand rough men under you, one has plenty of amusement. I had, anyway. At last I met my match, and I paid my dues. It was during a misunderstanding with a fellow we used to call Hercules. He laid me out with a hit alongside the head that made everything crack. Then the world went out in darkness.
When I came to again, I was sitting under an oak tree, on the grass, with a whole beautiful and broad country landscape all to myself—nearly. Not entirely; for there was a fellow on a horse, looking down at me—a fellow fresh out of a picture-book. He was in old-time iron armor from head to heel, with a helmet on his head with slits in it; and he had a shield, and a sword, and spear. His horse had armor on, too, and a steel horn projecting from his forehead, and gorgeous red and green silk trappings that hung down all around him like a bedquilt, nearly to the ground.
“Fair sir, will ye just?” said this fellow.
“Will I what?”
“Will ye try a passage of arms for land or lady or for—”
“What are you saying to me?” I said. “Get along back to the circus.”
Now what does this man do but fall back a couple of hundred yards and then come rushing at me as hard as he could, with his helmet bent down nearly to his horse’s neck and his long spear pointed straight ahead. I saw he meant business, so I was up the tree when he arrived.
He told me I was his captive. He had a spear—so I judged it best to humor him. We fixed up an agreement whereby I was to go with him and he was not to hurt me. I came down, and we started away, I walking by the side of his horse. We marched comfortably along, through glades and over brooks which I could not remember to have seen before—which puzzled me and made me wonder—and yet we did not come to any circus or sign of a circus.
I asked him how far we were from Hartford. He said he had never heard of the place.
___
Adapted from Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain, Public domain.
Questions
Read the following sentence: “We marched comfortably along, through glades and over brooks which I could not remember to have seen before—which puzzled me and made me wonder—and yet we did not come to any circus or sign of a circus.”
What does this quote reveal about the narrator’s thoughts regarding his situation?
The narrator is starting to wonder if something strange is going on and if he is in a new place.
The narrator realizes that he is no longer in Hartford and that he has been transported to the past.
The narrator recognizes that the man with the spear is a knight from King Arthur’s court.
The narrator has no clue that anything strange is going on and believes he is still going to the circus.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The quote primarily reveals that **the narrator realizes that he is no longer in Hartford and that he has been transported to the past.** His confusion about the unfamiliar landscape and the absence of any signs of a circus indicate that he recognizes something unusual is happening, suggesting a significant shift in his circumstances.