Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-03-05
HOP.FROG.
BY EDGAR A. POE.


FOR joking. To tell a good story of the joke
kind, and to tell it well, was the surest road to
his favor. Thus il happened that his seven
ministers we're all noted for their accomplish
ments as jokers. They all took after the king,
too, in being large, corpulest, oily men, as
we'll a, ini4itabie jokers. whether people
grow fat by joking, or whether there is some
thing in fat itself which prsdsposes to joke,
L never have been quite able to determine !;
but certain it is that lean joker is rara arrs
an tsTriS.
About the refnements, or, as he called them.
the ghosts OF wit the king troubled himself
very little. He had an especial admiration for
breadth in jest, and would often put up with
length, for the sake of it. Over ni,eties wea-
ried him. He would have preferred Rabelais' 8
Gargantua," to the d" Zadig'' of Voltaire !;
and, upon the whole, practical Jokes suited his
taste tar better than verbal ones.
At the date Of my narrative, protesting Jest
ers had not altogether gone out Of fashion at
court Several great continental "powers"
still retained their 6 fools, (" who were motley,
with caps and bells, and who were expected to
be always ready with witticisms, ut a moments
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 couuterbalance
toe heavy seven wise men who were his
minlsters-not to mention himself
HIS fool, or bis professional jester, was not
only q fool, however. His value was trebled
In the eyes of the king, by the fact of his being
also dwarf and cripple. Dwarfs were as
common at court, in those days as fools; and
many msnsrchs would have found it difficult
10 get through their days days are rather
longer at court than elsewhere) without both
Jester TO laugh ruth, and a dwarf to laugh at
But, as have already observed, your testers
In ninety mine eases out of hundred, are fat,
round and unwieldy-so that ii was no small
source d self-gratulation with our king that
In Hop Frog (this Was the fools name,) be DOS
sessed triplicste treasure in one person
believe the name "Hop- Frog was not that
given to the dwarf by the sponsors at baptism
out IL was conferred upon him, by general
consent OF the seven ministers on account of
bis inability to walk as other me do In fact
Hop-frog could only get along by sort of
interleotional gait-something between leap
and . wriggle-a movement that afforded ilIim
liable amusement, and of course consolation
to the king, for Notwithstanding the protuber-
ance Of his stomach and q constitu tional SWELL
Ing OF the head the king, by his whole court.
was accounted good figure. .
But although Hop Frog, through the distor-
ton OF his legs, could move only with great
pain and diHiculty along a road or floor, the
Prodigious muscular power which nature seem
ed to have bestowed upon his arms, by way of
compensation for deficiency in the lower limbs
enabled him to perform many feats of dexteri-
~, where trees or ropes were i'm question, or
any thing else to climb. At such exercises be
certainly much more resembled squirrel, or
small monkey, than q frog
am not able to say, with precision, from
what country Hoping originally came. II
was from some barbarOus region, however, that
no person ever heard of-a vast distance from
tne court OF our king. HOp-Frog and young
giri very little less dwarfsh than himself (ai.
though Of exquisite proportions, and a marvel.
ious dancer, had been forcibly carried of from
their respective homes in adjoining provinces.
and sent as presents to the king, BY one of his
ever-victorious generals.
Under these circumstances, ii is not TO be
wondered At that cless intimacy arose be-
tween the two little eaptives. Indeed. thew
soon became sworn friends. Hop Frog, who,
although he made a great deal of sport. was
by no means popular, had it not in his power
to render 1nppetta many services; but she
on account OF her grace and exquisite beauty
ta!nousn q Dwarf was universally admired
ana petted so she possessed much influence
and never failed to use it, whenever she could
for the benefit of Hop-Frog. '~'
On some grand state occasion-I forget what
the king determined to have a masGuerade
ana whenever masquerade, or any thing Of
that KIND, occurred ut the court. then the
talents both of Hop Prog and Trippetta were
sure to De called IN play. HOp-Frog. in espe-
clal, was 50 inventive in the way of getting mn
Pagesnts, suggesting novel characters. and
arranging costume, for masked balls. that
nothing could be done, it seems without his
assistance.
The night appointed for the Eete had arrival
A gorgeous hall had been fitted M. under
Irippetta eye, with every kind of device which
could possibly give eelat to a masquerade The
~noie court was IN a fever OF expectation As
Tor costumes and characters, it might well be
supposed that every body had come to a deci-
sion on such points. Many had made N their
minds las 70 what roles they should assumel a
ek,or even month in advance; and in fact
there was not particle of indecision an where
except IN the case Of the king and his seven
ministers Why they hesitated never could
probably, they found it difficult, on account of
being 50 fat, to make up their minds At all
events, time hew; and, as a last resource thew
sent for Trippetta and Hop Frog.
when the two little friends obeyed the sum.
mons OF the king, they found him sitting at his
wine win the seven members of his cabinet
council; but the monarch appeared TO be in a
very i'll humOr. He knew that Freq wa,
not fond OF wine; for il excited the poor crippIe
almost to madness; and madness is no comfart
able feeling. But the king loved his practical
jokes, and took pleasure in forcing Hop-Frog
10 drink and tas the king called it) g to be
merry
"COme here, Hop-Frog," said he, as the
Jester and his friend entered the room, "swal-
low this bumper the health of your absent
friends, (here Hop Frog sighed y and let US have
the benefit OF your invention. We want char
aeters-ehaTaeferS, man-something novel
out Of the way. We are wearied with this ever
lasting sameness. Come, drink the wine will
brighten your wits"
Hop-Frog endeavored, as usual, to get up q
Jest In reply to these advances from the king;
put tne enort was too much. 1t happened to
DC tne poor dwsrts birthday, and the COM
mand TO drink to his absent friends, forced
the tears to his eyes. Many large, bitter drops
fell into the goblet be took it, bumbIy. from
the hand Of the tyrant :
An ns ha ha roared the latter, az
the dwarf reluctantly drained the besker. s'See
what glass of good wine can do. Why, your
eyes shine already
Poor fellow hi. large eyes CLEANED, rather
than shone; for the effect Of wine on his ex-
citable brain was not more powerful than in
stantaneous. He placed the goblet neryousiy
on the table, and looked around upon the com
Pany with half insane stare. They all seemed