Tom Loses a Tooth

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Tom dreads Monday morning because it begins another week's slow suffering in school. His dislike of school starts the comic chain of excuses he tries in order to stay at home.

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Tom first pretends that he has a stomach ache. This excuse fails because it does not sound convincing, even to him, so he has to think of another plan.

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Tom decides not to tell Aunt Polly about the loose tooth at once because he knows she will pull it out. He keeps it as a last resort, hoping it may help him avoid school later.

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Here 'mortified' means turned gangrenous or rotten. It does not mean embarrassed in this story. Tom uses the word in a dramatic, false illness claim.

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Tom speaks a theatrical farewell to Sid, saying, 'I forgive you everything, Sid... When I'm gone—' The line sounds like a serious deathbed speech, but it is part of his comic performance.

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Sid believes Tom is really dying because Tom's acting is so dramatic. He runs downstairs and shouts, 'Oh, Aunt Polly, come! Tom's dying!'…

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Aunt Polly rushes upstairs in genuine terror and asks, 'Tom, what's the matter?' After Tom reveals his sore toe claim, she reacts with both laughter and crying at the same time, showing love and exasp…

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Tom suddenly shifts from his fake dying scene to the claim that his sore toe is 'mortified.' The odd, exaggerated complaint helps reveal that the whole act is a trick.