(MUSIC)Our story is called “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
” It was written by Mark Twain. Here is Shep O’Neal with the story.
(MUSIC)STORYTELLER: A friend of mine in the East asked me to visit old SimonWheeler, to ask about my friend's friend, Leonidas W. Smiley. I did asmy friend asked me to do and this story is the result.
I found Simon Wheeler sleeping by the stove in the ruined mining campof Angel's.
I saw that he was fat and had no hair, and had a gentle and simplelook upon his peaceful face. He woke up, and gave me “good-day.” Itold him a friend had asked me to find out about a friend namedLeonidas W. Smiley, who he heard was at one time living in Angel'sCamp. I added that if Mister Wheeler could tell me anything about thisLeonidas W. Smiley, I would feel a great responsibility to him.
Simon Wheeler forced me into a corner with his chair and began tellingme this long story. He never smiled, he never frowned, he neverchanged his voice. But all through the endless story there was afeeling of great seriousness and honesty. This showed me plainly thathe thought the heroes of the story were men of great intelligence.
I let him go on in his own way, and never stopped him once. This isthe story Simon Wheeler told.
(MUSIC)Leonidas W. …. h'm… Le… well, there was a man here once by the nameof Jim Smiley, in the winter of eighteen forty-nine--or may be it wasthe spring of eighteen-fifty. Anyway, he was the strangest man. He wasalways making money on anything that turned up if he could get anybodyto try to make money on the other side. And if he could not do that,he would change sides.
And he was lucky, uncommon lucky. He most always was a winner. Ifthere was a dog-fight, he would try to win money on it. If there was acat-fight, he would take the risk. If there was a chicken-fight, hewould try to win money on it. Why, if there was two birds setting on afence, he would want you to decide which one would fly first so hecould win money.
Lots of the boys here have seen that Smiley and can tell you abouthim. Why, it did not matter to him. He would try to make money onanything. He was the most unusual man. Parson Walker's wife was verysick once, for a long time, and it seemed as if they were not going tosave her.
But one morning he come in, and Smiley asked him how was his wife, andhe said she was better, thank God. And Smiley, before he thought,says, “Well, I'll risk my money she will not get well.'"And Smiley had a little small dog. To look at the dog, you would thinkhe was not worth anything but to sit around and look mean and look fora chance to steal something. But as soon as there was money, he was adifferent dog. Another dog might attack and throw him around two orthree times. Then all of a sudden Smiley’s dog would grab that otherdog by his back leg and hang on till the men said it was over.
Smiley always come out the winner on that dog, at least until he founda dog once that did not have any back legs. The dog’s legs had beencut off in a machine. Well, the fighting continued long enough, andthe money was gone. Then when Smiley’s dog come to make a grab theother dog’s back legs, he saw in a minute how there was a problem.
The other dog was going to win and Smiley’s dog looked surprised anddid not try to win the fight anymore. He gave Smiley a look that saidhe was sorry for fighting a dog that did not have any back legs forhim to hold, which he needed to win a fight. Then Smiley’s dog walkedaway, laid down and died. He was a good dog, and would have made aname for himself if he had lived, for he had intelligence. It alwaysmakes me feel sorry when I think of that last fight of his and the wayit turned out.
(MUSIC)Well, this Smiley had rats, and chickens, and cats and all of themkind of things. You could not get anything for him to risk money onbut he would match you. He caught a frog one day, and took him home,and said he was going to educate the frog. And so he never donenothing for three months but sit in his back yard and teach that frogto jump. And you bet you he did teach him, too.
He would give him a little hit from behind. And the next minute youwould see that frog dancing in the air and then come down all on hisfeet and all right, like a cat. Smiley got him so the frog wascatching flies, and he would catch one of those insects every time.
Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do almostanything. And I believe him. Why, I have seen him set Dan'l Websterdown here on this floor--Dan'l Webster was the name of the frog -- andsing out, "Flies, Dan'l, flies!" And quicker than you could shut youreyes that frog would jump straight up and catch a fly off the table.
Then he would fall down on the floor again like a ball of dirt andstart rubbing the side of his head with his back foot as if he had noidea he had been doing any more than any frog might do.
You never seen a frog so honest and simple as he was, for all he wasso skilled. And when it come to jumping, he could get over more groundin one jump than any animal of his kind that you ever saw.
Smiley was very proud of his frog, and people who had traveled andbeen everywhere all said he was better than any frog they had everseen.
Well, one day a stranger came in and says to Smiley, "What might bethat you have got in the box?"And Smiley says, "It’s only just a frog." And the man took it, andlooked at it careful, and turned it round this way and that, and says,"H'm, so it is. Well, what is he good for?""Well," Smiley says, easy and careless, “he can out jump any frog inCalaveras county."The man took the box again, and took another long look, and gave itback to Smiley, and says, "Well, I don't see anything about that frogthat is any better than any other frog.""Maybe you don't," Smiley says. "Maybe you understand frogs and maybeyou don't. Anyways, I will risk forty dollars and bet you that he canjump farther than any frog in Calaveras County."And the man studied a minute. "Well, I'm only a stranger here, and Ido not have a frog. But if I had a frog, I would risk my money on it.
And then Smiley says, "That's all right. If you will hold my box aminute, I will go and get you a frog." And so the man took the box,and put up his forty dollars and sat down to wait.
He sat there a long time thinking and thinking. Then he got the frogout of the box. He filled its mouth full of bullets used to kill smallbirds. Then he put the frog on the floor.
Now Smiley had caught another frog and gave it to the man and said, “Now sit him next to Dan’l and I will give the word.”
Then Smiley says, “One-two-three-go!” and Smiley and the other mantouched the frogs.
The new frog jumped. Dan’l just lifted up his body but could not moveat all. He was planted like a building. Smiley was very surprised andangry too. But he did not know what the problem was.
The other man took the money and started away. And when he was goingout the door, he looked back and said "Well, I don’t see anythingabout that frog that is any better than any other frog."Smiley stood looking down at Dan'l a long time, and at last says, "Iwonder what in the nation happened to that frog. I wonder if there issomething wrong with him.”
And he picked up Dan’l and turned him upside down and out came awhole lot of bullets. And Smiley was the angriest man. He set the frogdown and took out after that man but he never caught him.
(MUSIC)Now Simon Wheeler heard his name called and got up to see what waswanted. He told me to wait but I did not think that more stories aboutJim Smiley would give me any more information about Leonidas W.
Smiley, and so I started to walk away.
At the door I met Mister Wheeler returning, and he started talkingagain. "Well, this here Smiley had a yellow cow with one eye and notail…”
However, lacking both time and interest, I did not wait to hear aboutthe cow. I just left.
(MUSIC)ANNOUNCER: You have heard the American Story “The Celebrated JumpingFrog of Calaveras County.” Your storyteller was Shep O’Neal. Thisstory was written by Mark Twain and adapted into Special English byKaren Leggett. Listen again next week at this time for anotherAmerican Story in VOA Special English. I’m Faith Lapidus. |