Tom was not really ill but he pretended to be ill
The excerpt has been taken from a novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It is the 12th chapter of the book named The Cat and the Pain-Killer.
Tom was not really ill; he was sad though for Becky Thatcher was not coming to school for she was unwell. He was utterly depressed, a lover sighing like furnace. He had lost interest in almost everything on the dear planet, war or even piracy. On top of everything, his Aunt Polly was experimenting with almost every remedy to pull Tom out of his melancholic mood. However, nothing would help. Finally, she discovered a syrup, pain killer, and would give it to Tom. He knew his aunt’s infatuation with the medicines; so, rather than refusing to take the medicine he showed interest in the syrup and started asking more of it. Aunt Polly also got irritated due to the extreme interest of Tom in the medicine. The reality was different however; Tom was actually mending health of a crack in the sitting-room floor with the syrup.