The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

ANNOUNCER: Now, the Special English program, AMERICAN STORIES.

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Our story is called “TheCelebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”  It was written by MarkTwain. Here is Shep O’Neal with the story.

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STORYTELLER: A friend ofmine in the East asked me to visit old Simon Wheeler, to ask about my friend'sfriend, Leonidas W. Smiley. I did as my friend asked me to do and this story isthe result.

I found Simon Wheelersleeping by the stove in the ruined mining camp of Angel's.

I saw that he was fat andhad no hair, and had a gentle and simple look upon his peaceful face. He wokeup, and gave me “good-day.”  I told him a friend had asked me to find outabout a friend named Leonidas W. Smiley, who he heard was at one time living inAngel's Camp. 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 intoa corner with his chair and began telling me this long story. He never smiled,he never frowned, he never changed his voice. But all through the endless storythere was a feeling of great seriousness and honesty.  This showed meplainly that he thought the heroes of the story were men of great intelligence.

I let him go on in his ownway, and never stopped him once. This is the story Simon Wheeler told.

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Leonidas W. …. h'm… Le…well, there was a man here once by the name of Jim Smiley, in the winter ofeighteen forty-nine--or may be it was the spring of eighteen-fifty. Anyway, he was the strangest man. He was always making money on anything thatturned up if he could get anybody to try to make money on the other side. And if he could not do that, he would change sides.

And he was lucky, uncommonlucky. He most always was a winner. If there was a dog-fight, he would try towin money on it.  If there was a cat-fight, he would take the risk. Ifthere was a chicken-fight, he would try to win money on it.  Why, if therewas two birds setting on a fence, he would want you to decide which one wouldfly first so he could win money.

Lots of the boys here haveseen that Smiley and can tell you about him. Why, it did not matter tohim.  He would try to make money on anything.  He was the mostunusual man. Parson Walker's wife was very sick once, for a long time, and itseemed as if they were not going to save her.

But one morning he come in,and Smiley asked him how was his wife, and he said she was better, thank God.And Smiley, before he thought, says, “Well, I'll risk my money she will not getwell.'"

And Smiley had a littlesmall dog.  To look at the dog, you would think he was not worth anythingbut to sit around and look mean and look for a chance to steal something. Butas soon as there was money, he was a different dog. Another dog might attackand throw him around two or three times.  Then all of a sudden Smiley’sdog would grab that other dog by his back leg and hang on till the men said itwas over. 

Smiley always come out thewinner on that dog, at least until he found a dog once that did not have anyback legs.  The dog’s legs had been cut off in a machine.  Well, thefighting continued long enough, and the money was gone.  Then whenSmiley’s dog come to make a grab the other dog’s back legs, he saw in a minutehow there was a problem.

The other dog was going towin and Smiley’s dog looked surprised and did not try to win the fight anymore.He gave Smiley a look that said he was sorry for fighting a dog that did nothave any back legs for him to hold, which he needed to win a fight.  ThenSmiley’s dog walked away, laid down and died. He was a good dog, and would havemade a name 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 way itturned out.

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Well, this Smiley had rats,and chickens, and cats and all of them kind of things.  You could not getanything for him to risk money on but he would match you.  He caught afrog one day, and took him home, and said he was going to educate the frog. Andso he never done nothing for three months but sit in his back yard and teachthat frog to jump.  And you bet you he did teach him, too.

He would give him a littlehit from behind. And the next minute you would see that frog dancing in the airand then come down all on his feet and all right, like a cat. Smiley got him sothe frog was catching flies, and he would catch one of those insects everytime.

Smiley said all a frogwanted was education, and he could do almost anything. And I believe him. Why,I have seen him set Dan'l Webster down here on this floor--Dan'l Webster wasthe name of the frog -- and sing out, "Flies, Dan'l, flies!" Andquicker than you could shut your eyes that frog would jump straight up andcatch a fly off the table.  Then he would fall down on the floor againlike a ball of dirt and start rubbing the side of his head with his back footas if he had no idea he had been doing any more than any frog might do.

You never seen a frog sohonest and simple as he was, for all he was so skilled. And when it come tojumping, he could get over more ground in one jump than any animal of his kindthat you ever saw.

Smiley was very proud of hisfrog, and people who had traveled and been everywhere all said he was betterthan any frog they had ever seen.

Well, one day a strangercame in and says to Smiley, "What might be that you have got in thebox?"

And Smiley says, "It’sonly just a frog." And the man took it, and looked at it careful, andturned it round this way and that, and says, "H'm, so it is. Well, what ishe good for?"

"Well," Smileysays, easy and careless, “he can out jump any frog in Calaveras county."

The man took the box again,and took another long look,  and gave it back to Smiley, and says,"Well, I don't see anything about that frog that is any better than anyother frog."

"Maybe you don't,"Smiley says. "Maybe you understand frogs and maybe you don't. Anyways, Iwill risk forty dollars and bet you that he can jump farther than any frog inCalaverasCounty."

And the man studied aminute.  "Well, I'm only a stranger here, and I do not have afrog.  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 a minute, I will go andget you a frog." And so the man took the box, and put up his forty dollarsand sat down to wait.

He sat there a long timethinking and thinking.  Then he got the frog out of the box. He filled itsmouth full of bullets used to kill small birds. Then he put the frog on thefloor.

Now Smiley had caughtanother frog and gave it to the man and said, “Now sit him next to Dan’l and Iwill give the word.”

Then Smiley says,“One-two-three-go!” and Smiley and the other man touched the frogs.

The new frog jumped. Dan’l just lifted up his body but could not move at all. He was planted like abuilding.  Smiley was very surprised and angry too.  But he did notknow what the problem was.

The other man took the moneyand started away. And when he was going out the door, he looked back and said"Well, I don’t see anything about that frog that is any better than anyother frog."

Smiley stood looking down atDan'l a long time, and at last says, "I wonder what in the nation happenedto that frog. I wonder if there is something wrong with him.”

And he picked up Dan’l andturned him upside down and out came a whole lot of bullets. And Smiley was theangriest man. He set the frog down and took out after that man but he nevercaught him.

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Now Simon Wheeler heard hisname called and got up to see what was wanted. He told me to wait but I did notthink that more stories about Jim Smiley would give me any more informationabout Leonidas W. Smiley, and so I started to walk away.

At the door I met MisterWheeler returning, and he started talking again. "Well, this here Smileyhad a yellow cow with one eye and no tail…”

However, lacking both timeand interest, I did not wait to hear about the cow. I just left.

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ANNOUNCER: You have heardthe American Story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Your storyteller was Shep O’Neal.  This story was written by Mark Twainand adapted into Special English by Karen Leggett. Listen again next week atthis time for another American Story in  Special English. I’m Faith Lapidus.