| A Flea, a
Grasshopper, and
a Leap-frog once wanted to see which could jump highest; and they
invited
the whole world, and everybody else besides who chose to come to see
the
festival.
Three
famous jumpers were
they, as everyone would say, when they all met together in the room. "I
will give my daughter to him who jumps highest," exclaimed the King;
"for
it is not so amusing where there is no prize to jump for."
The Flea
was the first to
step forward. He had exquisite manners, and bowed to the company on all
sides; for he had noble blood, and was, moreover, accustomed to the
society
of man alone; and that makes a great difference.
Then came
the Grasshopper.
He was considerably heavier, but he was well-mannered, and wore a green
uniform, which he had by right of birth; he said, moreover, that he
belonged
to a very ancient Egyptian family, and that in the house where he then
was, he was thought much of. The fact was, he had been just brought out
of the fields, and put in a pasteboard house, three stories high, all
made
of court-cards, with the colored side inwards; and doors and windows
cut
out of the body of the Queen of Hearts. "I sing so well," said he,
"that
sixteen native grasshoppers who have chirped from infancy, and yet got
no house built of cards to live in, grew thinner than they were before
for sheer vexation when they heard me."
It was thus
that the Flea
and the Grasshopper gave an account of themselves, and thought they
were
quite good enough to marry a Princess.
|
| The
Leap-frog said nothing;
but people gave it as their opinion, that he therefore thought the
more;
and when the housedog snuffed at him with his nose, he confessed the
Leap-frog
was of good family. The old councillor, who had had three orders given
him to make him hold his tongue, asserted that the Leap-frog was a
prophet;
for that one could see on his back, if there would be a severe or mild
winter, and that was what one could not see even on the back of the man
who writes the almanac.
"I say
nothing, it is true,"
exclaimed the King; "but I have my own opinion, notwithstanding." Now
the
trial was to take place.
The Flea
jumped so high that
nobody could see where he went to; so they all asserted he had not
jumped
at all; and that was dishonorable.
The
Grasshopper jumped only
half as high; but he leaped into the King's face, who said that was
ill-mannered.
The
Leap-frog stood still
for a long time lost in thought; it was believed at last he would not
jump
at all. "I only hope he is not unwell," said the house-dog; when, pop!
he made a jump all on one side into the lap of the Princess, who was
sitting
on a little golden stool close by.
Hereupon
the King said, "There
is nothing above my daughter; therefore to bound up to her is the
highest
jump that can be made; but for this, one must possess understanding,
and
the Leap-frog has shown that he has understanding. He is brave and
intellectual."
And so he won the Princess.
"It's all
the same to me,"
said the Flea. "She may have the old Leap-frog, for all I care. I
jumped
the highest; but in this world merit seldom meets its reward. A fine
exterior
is what people look at now-a-days." The Flea then went into foreign
service,
where, it is said, he was killed.
The
Grasshopper sat without
on a green bank, and reflected on worldly things; and he said too,
"Yes,
a fine exterior is everything--a fine exterior is what people care
about."
And then he began chirping his peculiar melancholy song, from which we
have taken this history; and which may, very possibly, be all untrue,
although
it does stand here printed in black and white.
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