18
‚When the two little friends obeyed the summons
of the king, they found him sitting at his wine
with the seven members of his cabinet council; but
the monarch appeared to be in a very ill humour.
He knew that Hop-Frog was not fond of wine; for
it excited the poor cripple almost to madness; and
madness is no comfortable feeling. But the king
loved his practical jokes, and took pleasure in
forcing Hop-Frog to drink and (as the king called
it) “to be merry”. |
“Come here, Hop-Frog”, said he, as the jester
and his friend entered the room; “swallow this
bumper to the health of your absent friends, (here
Hop-Frog sighed,) and then let us have the benefit
of jour invention. n=
We want characters—characters, man,—some-
thing novel-—out of the way. We are wearied with
this everlasting sameness. Come, drink! the wine
will brighten your wits.” .~ |
Hop-Frog endeavoured, as usual, to get up a
jest in reply to these advances from the king; but
the effort was too much. It happened to be the
poor dwarf’s birthday, and the command to drink
to his “absent friends‘ forced the tears to his eyes.
Many large, bitter drops fell into the goblet as he
took it, humbly, from the hand of the tyrant. |
“Ah! ha! ha! ha!” roared the latter, as the dwarf
reluctantly drained the beaker. “See what a glass
of good wine can do! Why, your eyes are shining
already!” SEE |
Poor fellow! his large eyes gleamed, rather
than shone; for the effect of wine on his excitable
Als
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