Like many, I feel that for such an excellent and powerful book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has a muddled ending.
Far be it for me to rewrite Twain, but I might’ve done some chopping.
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
Language can be complex, reason may sprawl,
And words don't always seem to point the way.
Extremes aren't always clear and distinct.
Overhauls are not always an upgrade.
The gist may dwell in a key phrase or two --
Those words the whip that make it race or stay.
Though multitudinous words are in place
They must do more than roar, hiss, or bray.
Overuse of the whip exhausts the horse --
Keep the impulse to whip too much at bay.
The original lines in Simplified Chinese are:
或文繁理富， 而意不指适。
极无两致， 尽不可益。
立片言而居要，乃一篇之警策。
虽众辞之有条，必待兹而效绩。
亮功多而累寡，故取足而不易。
Maybe the first lines constrain the last;
Maybe ends insist on openings;
Maybe some truths escape all words;
Maybe dulcet lines tell no truths.
One may need to keep separated --
Beauty and truth -- to avoid wounds.
Inspect and haggle over each word --
Distinctions maybe finer than a hair;
Weigh each edit upon a scale;
Ensure each cut serves its purpose.
Original poem in Simplified Chinese:
或仰逼于先条，或俯侵于后章。
或辞害而理比，或言顺而义妨。
离之则双美， 合之则两伤。
考殿最于锱铢，定去留于毫芒。
苟铨衡之所裁，固应绳其必当。
“Punch that word into proper position,”
the angry god of grammar cried.
It started surgically.
Teams tapped in pry bars,
popped out words,
and spackled in a space or a substitution.
Then they found rot,
and it’s all wrecking balls and dynamite from here.
[National Poetry Month: Poem #6]
Tiger Riding for Beginners 