menu_book Chapter 10

CHAPTER X. Hopfrog. As well as inimitable jokers. Whether people grow fat by joking, or whether there is something in fat itself which predisposes to a joke, I have never been quite able to determine. But certain it is that a lean joker

is a rara avis interis. About the refinements, or as he called them, the ghost of wit, the king himself very little. He had an especial admiration for breadth and a jest, and would often put up with length for the sake of it. Overnicities wearied him. He would have preferred Rabelais gargantua to the zadeg of Voltaire. And upon the whole, practical jokes suited his taste far better than verbal ones. At the date of my narrative, professing jesters had not altogether gone out

of fashion at court. Several of the great continental powers still retained their fools, who wore motley, with caps and bells, and who were expected to be always ready with sharp witticisms at a moment's notice in consideration of the crumbs that fell from the royal table. Our king, as a matter of course, retained his fool. The fact is, he required something in the way of folly, if only to counterbalance the heavy wisdom of the seven wise men who were his ministers.

Not to mention himself. His fool, or professional jester, was not only a fool, however. His value was trebled in the eyes of the king by the fact of his also being a dwarf and a cripple. Dwarfs were as common at court in those days as fools, and many monarchs would have found it difficult to get through their days—days are rather long at court than elsewhere—without both a jester to laugh with and a dwarf to laugh at. But, as I have already observed, your jesters,

in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, are fat, round, and unwieldy, so that it was no small source of self-gratulation with our king that, in Hopfrog—this was the fool's name—he possessed a triplicate treasure in one person. I believe the name Hopfrog was not that given to the dwarf by his sponsors at baptism, but it was conferred upon him by general consent of the several ministers, on account of his inability to walk as other men do. In fact, Hopfrog could only get along by a

sort of interjectional gait, something between a leap and a wriggle, a movement that afforded ill-imitable amusement and, of course, consolation to the king, for, notwithstanding the pertubarance of his stomach and a constitutional swelling of the head, the king, by his whole court, was accounted a capital figure. But although Hopfrog, through the distortion of his legs, could move only with great pain and difficulty along a road or floor, the prodigious muscular power which nature seemed to

have bestowed upon his arms by way of compensation for deficiency in the lower limbs enabled him to perform many feats of wonderful dexterity where trees or ropes were in question or anything else to climb. At such exercises, he certainly much more resembled a squirrel or a small monkey than a frog. I am not able to say with precision from what country Hopfrog originally came. It was from some barbarous region, however, that no person ever heard of, a vast distance from the court of our

king. Hopfrog, and a young girl very little less dwarfish than himself, although of exquisite proportions and a marvelous dancer, had been forcibly carried off from their respective homes in adjoining provinces and sent as presents to the king by one of his ever-victorious generals. Under these circumstances, it is not to be wondered at that a close intimacy arose between the two little captives. Indeed, they soon became sworn friends. Hopfrog, who, although he made a great

deal of sport, was by no means popular, had it not in his power to render Tripeta many services, but she, on account of her grace and exquisite beauty, although a dwarf, was universally admired and petted, so she possessed much influence and never failed to use it whenever she could for the benefit of Hopfrog. On some grand state occasion, I forgot what, the king determined to have a masquerade, and whenever a masquerade or anything of that kind occurred at our court,

then the talents both of Hopfrog and Tripeta were sure to be called into play. Hopfrog, in a special, was so inventive in the way of getting up pageants, suggesting novel characters, and arranging costumes for masked balls, that nothing could be done, it seems, without his assistance. The night appointed for the feat had arrived. A gorgeous hall had been fitted up under Tripeta's eye, with every kind of device which could possibly give a clat to a masquerade.

The whole court was in a fever of expectation. As for costumes and characters, it might well be supposed that everybody had come to a decision on such points. Many had made up their minds as to what roles they should assume, a week or even a month in advance, and, in fact, there was not a particle of indecision anywhere, except in the case of the king and his seven ministers. Why they hesitated, I never could tell, unless they did it by way of a joke. More probably, they found it

difficult, on account of being so fat, to make up their minds. At all events, time flew, and, as a last resort, they sent for Tripeta and Hopfrog. When the two little friends obeyed the summons of the king, they found him sitting at his wine with the seven members of his cabinet council, but the monarch appeared to be in a very ill humor. He knew that Hopfrog was not fond of wine, for it excited the poor cripple almost to madness, and madness is no comfortable feeling.

But the king loved his practical jokes and took pleasure in forcing Hopfrog to drink and, as the king called it, to be merry. Come here, Hopfrog, said he, as the jester and his friends entered the room. Swallow this bumper to the health of your absent friends, here Hopfrog sighed, and then let us have the benefit of your invention. We want characters, characters, man, something novel,

out of the way. We are wearied with this everlasting sameness. Come, drink, the wine will brighten your wits. Hopfrog endeavored, as usual, to get up a jest and reply to these advances from the king, but the effort was too much. It happened to be the poor dwarf's birthday, and the command to drink to his absent friends forced the tears to his eyes. Many large, bitter drops fell into the goblet as he took it humbly from the hand of the tyrant. Ah, ha, ha! roared the latter, as the dwarf

reluctantly drained the beaker. See what a glass of good wine can do! Why, your eyes are shining already! Poor fellow! His large eyes gleamed, rather than shown, for the effect of wine on his excitable brain was not more powerful than instantaneous. He placed the goblet nervously on the table and looked round upon the company with a half insane stare. They all seemed highly amused at the success of the king's joke. And now to business, said the prime minister, a very

fat man. Yes, said the king, come lend us your assistance. Characters, my fine fellow! We stand in need of characters, all of us! Ha, ha, ha! And, as this was seriously meant for a joke, his laugh was coarsed by the seven. Hopfrog also laughed, although feebly and somewhat vacantly. Come, come, said the king impatiently. Have you nothing to suggest? I am endeavoring to think of something novel, replied the dwarf, abstractedly, for he was quite

bewildered by the wine. Endeavoring, cried the tyrant fiercely. What do you mean by that? Ah, I perceive. You are sulky and want more wine. Here, drink this! And he poured out another goblet and offered it to the cripple, who merely gazed at it, gasping for breath. Drink, I say, shouted the monster, or by the fiends! The dwarf hesitated. The king grew purple with rage. The courtier smirked.

Trippetta, pale as a corpse, advanced to the monarch's seat and, falling on her knees before him, implored him to spare her friend. The tyrant regarded her, for some moments, in evident wonder at her audacity. He seemed quite at a loss what to do or say, how most becomingly to express his indignation. At last, without uttering a syllable, he pushed her violently from him and threw the contents of the brimming goblet in her face. The poor girl got up,

the best she could, and, not daring even to sigh, resumed her position at the foot of the table. There was a dead silence for about half a minute, during which the falling of a leaf or of a feather might have been heard. It was interrupted by a low but harsh and protracted grating sound, which seemed to come at once from every corner of the room. What, what, what are you making that noise for? demanded the king, turning furiously to the dwarf.

The latter seemed to have recovered in great measure from his intoxication, and, looking fixedly but quietly into the tyrant's face, merely ejaculated, I, I, how could it have been me? The sound appeared to come from without, observed one of the courtiers. I fancy it was the parrot at the window, wetting his bill upon his cage wires. True, replied the monarch, as if much relieved by the suggestion.

But, on the honor of a knight, I could have sworn that it was the gritting of this vagabond's teeth. Hereupon the dwarf laughed. The king was too confirmed a joker to object to anyone's laughing, and displayed a set of large, powerful, and very repulsive teeth. Moreover, he avowed his perfect willingness to swallow as much wine as desired. The monarch was pacified, and, having drained another bumper with no very perceptible ill effect, Hopfrog entered at once and with spirit

into the plans for the masquerade. I cannot tell what was the association of idea, observed he, very tranquilly, as if he had never tasted wine in his life. But just after your majesty had struck the girl and thrown the wine in her face, just after your majesty had done this, and while the parrot was making that odd noise outside the window, there came into my mind a capital diversion, one of my own country frolics,

often enacted among us at our masquerades. But here it will be new altogether. Unfortunately, however, it requires a company of eight persons, and— —Here we are! cried the king, laughing at his acute discovery of the coincidence. —Eight to a fraction, I and my seven ministers. Come, what is the diversion? —We call it, replied the cripple, the eight chained orangutans, and it really is excellent

sport if well enacted. —We will enact it! remarked the king, drawing himself up and lowering his eyelids. —The beauty of the game, continued Hopfrog, lies in the fright it occasions among the women. —Capital! roared in chorus the monarch and his ministry. —I will equip you as orangutans, proceeded the dwarf. Leave all that to me. The resemblance shall

be so striking that the company of masqueraders will take you for real beasts, and of course, they will be as much terrified as astonished. —Oh, this is quite exquisite! exclaimed the king. —Hopfrog, I will make a man of you! —The chains are for the purpose of increasing the confusion by their jangling. You are supposed

to have escaped en masse from your keepers. Your majesty cannot conceive the effect produced at a masquerade by eight chained orangutans, imagined to be real ones by most of the company, and rushing in with savage cries among the crowd of delicately and gorgeously habited men and women. The contrast is inimitable. —It must be! said the king, and the council arose hurriedly, as it was growing late,

to put in execution the scheme of Hopfrog. His mode of equipping the party as orangutans was very simple, but effective enough for his purposes. The animals in question had, at the epoch of my story, very rarely been seen in any part of the civilized world, and as the imitations made by the dwarf were sufficiently beast-like and more than sufficiently hideous, their truthfulness to nature was thus thought to be secured.

The king and his ministers were first encased in tight-fitting stockinette shirts and drawers. They were then saturated with tar. At this stage of the process, some one of the parties suggested feathers, but the suggestion was at once overruled by the dwarf, who soon convinced the eight, by ocular demonstration, that the hair of such a brute as the orangutan was much more efficiently represented by flu. A thick coating of the latter was accordingly plastered upon the

coating of tar. A long chain was now procured. First it was passed about the waist of the king, and tied, then about another of the party and also tied, then about all successively in the same manner. When this chaining arrangement was complete and the party stood as far apart from each other as possible, they formed a circle, and to make all things appear natural, Hopfrog passed the residue of the chain in two diameters at right angles, across the circle, after the fashion adopted at

the present day by those who captured chimpanzees or other large apes in Borneo. The grand saloon in which the masquerade was to take place was a circular room, very lofty, and receiving the light of the sun only through a single window at top. At night, the season for which the apartment was especially designed, it was illuminated principally by a large chandelier, depending by a chain from the center of the skylight, and lowered or elevated by means of

a counterbalance as usual, but in order not to look unsightly, this latter passed outside the copula and over the roof. The arrangements of the room had been left to Turpetta's superintendents, but in some particulars it seems, she had been guided by the calmer judgment of her friend the dwarf. At his suggestion, it was that on this occasion the chandelier was removed. Its waxen drippings, which in weather so warm it was quite impossible to prevent, would have been seriously

detrimental to the rich dresses of the guests, who, on account of the crowded state of the saloon, could not all be expected to keep from out at center, that is to say, from under the chandelier. Additional sconces were set in various parts of the hall, out of the war, and a flambeau emitting a sweet odor was placed in the right hand of each of the caryatides that stood against the wall, some fifty or sixty altogether. The eight orangutans, taking Hopfrog's advice,

waited patiently until midnight, when the room was thoroughly filled with masqueraders, before making their appearance. No sooner had the clock ceased striking, however, than they rushed, or rather rolled, in, altogether, for the impediments of their chains caused most of the party to fall, and all to stumble as they entered. The excitement among the masqueraders was prodigious, and filled the heart of the king with glee. As had been anticipated, there were not

a few of the guests who supposed the ferocious-looking creatures to be beasts of some kind in reality, if not precisely orangutans. Many of the women swooned with a fright, and had not the king taken the precaution to exclude all weapons from the saloon, his party might soon have expiated their frolic in their blood. As it was, a general rush was made for the doors, but the king had ordered them to be locked immediately upon his entrance, and, at the dwarf's suggestion, the keys had been

deposited with him. While the tumult was at its height, and each masquerader attentive only to his own safety, for in fact there was much real danger from the pressure of the excited crowd, the chain by which the chandelier ordinarily hung, and which had been drawn up on its removal, might have been seen very gradually to descend, until its hooked extremity came within three feet of the floor. Soon after this, the king and his seven friends, having reeled about the hall in

all directions, found themselves at length in its center, and, of course, in immediate contact with the chain. While they were thus situated, the dwarf, who had followed noiselessly at their heels, inciting them to keep up the commotion, took hold of their own chain at the intersection of the two portions which crossed the circle diametrically and at right angles. Here, with the rapidity of thought, he inserted the hook from which the chandelier had been

wont to depend, and, in an instant, by some unseen agency, the chandelier chain was drawn so far upward as to take the hook out of reach and, as an inevitable consequence, to drag the orangutans together in close connection and face to face. The masqueraders, by this time, had recovered, in some measure, from their alarm, and, beginning to regard the whole matter as a well-contrived pleasantry, set up a loud shout of laughter at the predicament of the apes.

Leave them to me! now screamed Hopfrog, his shrill voice making itself easily heard through all the dim. Leave them to me! I fancy I know them! If I can only get a good look at them, I can soon tell who they are. Here, scrambling over the heads of the crowd, he managed to get to the wall, when, seizing a flambeau from one of the caryatides, he returned as he went to the center of the room, leaping with the agility of a monkey upon the king's head, and thence clambered

a few feet up the chain, holding down the torch to examine the group of orangutans, and still screaming, I shall soon find out who they are! And now, while the whole assembly, the apes included, were convulsed with laughter, the jester suddenly uttered a shrill whistle, when the chain flew violently up for about thirty feet, dragging with it the dismayed and struggling orangutans, and leaving them suspended in midair between the skylight and the floor. Hopfrog, clinging to the

chain as it rose, still maintained his relative position in respect to the eight maskers, and still, as if nothing were the matter, continued to thrust his torch down toward them, as though endeavoring to discover who they were. So thoroughly astonished was the whole company at this ascent that a dead silence of about a minute's duration ensued. It was broken by such a low, harsh, grating sound, as had before attracted the attention of the king and his counselors when

the former threw the wine in the face of Trepetta. But on the present occasion, there could be no question as to whence the sound issued. It came from the fang-like teeth of the dwarf, who ground them and gnashed them as he foamed at the mouth, and glared with an expression of maniacal rage into the upturned countenances of the king and his seven companions. Aha! said at length the infuriated jester. Aha! I begin to see who these people are now.

Here, pretending to scrutinize the king more closely, he held the flambeau to the flaxen coat which enveloped him, and which instantly burst into a sheet of vivid flame. In less than half a minute, the whole eight orangutans were blazing fiercely amid the shrieks of the multitude who gazed at them from below, horror-stricken and without the power to render them the slightest assistance. At length, the flames, suddenly increasing in virulence, forced the jester to

climb higher up the chain, to be out of their reach, and, as he made this movement, the crowd again sank for a brief instant into silence. The dwarf seized the opportunity and once more spoke. I now see distinctly, he said, what manner of people these maskers are. They are a great king and his seven privy counsellors, a king who does not scruple to strike a defenceless girl, and his seven counsellors who abet him in this outrage. As for myself, I am simply

Hopfrog the jester, and this is my last jest. Owing to the high combustibility of both the flax and the tar to which it adhered, the dwarf had scarcely made it end of his brief speech before the work of vengeance was complete. The eight corpses swung in their chains, a fetid, blackened, hideous and indistinguishable mass. The cripple hurled his torch at them, clambered leisurely to the ceiling and disappeared through the skylight.

It is supposed that Tripetta, stationed on the roof of the saloon, had been the accomplice of her friend in this fiery revenge, and that, together, they affected their escape to their own country, for neither was seen again.