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Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Clemens, and it came from the Mississippi. On steamboats, a crewman measuring the depth called out “mark twain” when the water was two fathoms, about 3.7 metres, deep: just enough for a boat to pass safely.

Territorial Enterprise, Virginia City, 1863

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The story behind the card

Clemens (1835–1910) grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi. As a young man he trained for more than two years under an experienced pilot and was licensed as a steamboat pilot in 1859. On the river a crewman called the leadsman dropped a weighted line with marks on it to measure depth; twain is an old word for two, so “mark twain” meant the second mark, two fathoms, which was safe water. The American Civil War cut river traffic in 1861 and ended his piloting career. He went west to Nevada, and on 3 February 1863 first signed a newspaper piece “Mark Twain” in the Territorial Enterprise of Virginia City. He later described his river years in Life on the Mississippi (1883), and the river runs through his best-known novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Türkçe oku
Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens'ın takma adıdır ve kökü Mississippi Nehri'ne dayanır. Buharlı gemilerde suyun derinliğini ölçen tayfa, derinlik iki kulaç, yani yaklaşık 3,7 metre olduğunda “mark twain” diye seslenirdi: Bu, geminin güvenle geçebileceği derinlikti.
Territorial Enterprise, Virginia City, 1863

Clemens (1835-1910), Missouri eyaletinde, Mississippi kıyısındaki Hannibal kasabasında büyüdü. Gençken deneyimli bir kılavuzun yanında iki yılı aşkın süre çıraklık etti ve 1859'da nehir gemisi kılavuzu olarak ruhsat aldı. Nehirde derinliği iskandilci denen tayfa ölçerdi: Ucunda ağırlık olan, üzerinde belli aralıklarla işaretler bulunan bir ipi suya sarkıtırdı. Twain, İngilizcede “iki” anlamına gelen eski bir sözcüktür; “mark twain” da ikinci işaret, yani iki kulaç demekti ve güvenli suyu gösterirdi. 1861'de başlayan Amerikan İç Savaşı nehir trafiğini kesintiye uğratınca kılavuzluk yılları da sona erdi. Batıya, Nevada'ya gitti ve 3 Şubat 1863'te Virginia City'de çıkan Territorial Enterprise gazetesindeki bir yazısını ilk kez “Mark Twain” diye imzaladı. Nehir yıllarını daha sonra Life on the Mississippi (1883) adlı kitabında anlattı; nehir, en tanınmış romanları Tom Sawyer'ın Maceraları ile Huckleberry Finn'in Maceraları'nın da merkezindedir.

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Background reading: Mark Twain
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