Hop-Frog

This was an interesting story in which a two vagabonds, a cripple dwarf man and a dwarf giel, were taken to be entertainment for a king and his seven councilmen. All eight men were fat and loved jokes. At one point the king hit the dwarf girl and threw wine in her face. Hop-Frog, the male dwarf hated this and wanted revenge. His elaborate scheme involved dressing the men in monkey costumes for the masquerade. The outfits were great and flammable. Hop-Frog attached the men, connected by a chain to the chandelier and set them ablaze. This was his final act of revenge.

The author criticizes each character differently. The king and his councilmen were all corpulent and the dwarf was a cripple. The author really tells the worst and best qualities of each character.

"I now see distinctly," he said, "what manner of people these maskers are. They are the king and his seven privy-councilors- a king who does not scruple to strike a defenseless girl, and his seven councilors who abet him in the outrage. As for myself, I am simply Hop-Frog, the jester- and this is my last jest."