Mark Twain is a great American writer. His works are widely read by millions of people all over the world. He was born in 1835 in Florida, a southern state of the USA. He grew up in Missouri on the Mississippi River. Before he was 13, he had fallen into the river for nine times. Luckily, he was always saved. At the age of 18, he ran away from home. For a time, he worked as a sailor and a newspaper reporter.

　　Mark Twain started writing a children's story called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1876. Its theme is to do with the freedom of humans. However, he didn't question the slavery (奴隶制度) in the book and never thought of giving freedom to slaves. This behaviour has been talked about many times by later reviewers.

　　Mark Twain liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time. One day he was going to a small town. One of his friends said that there were a lot of mosquitoes (蚊子) in the town and told him that he'd better not go there. Mark Twain waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter. The mosquitoes are very clever. They aren't relations of mine. Why will they come to visit me？"

　　Mark Twain's works have influenced many writers. They are great treasures of American literature. "There was nothing before. And there has been nothing as good since，" said a famous writer.