The Celebrated Jumping Frog
In the small town of Angels Camp, California, there lived a man named Jim Smiley who had a passion for betting on just about anything. He would bet on horses, dogs, and even on which bug could crawl the fastest.
But Jim’s favorite thing to bet on was his pet frog, Dan’l Webster. Dan’l was a celebrated jumping frog, known throughout the town for his incredible leaps. Jim was convinced that Dan’l was unbeatable, and he loved to challenge anyone who dared to bet against him.
One day, a stranger came to town and stopped in at the local tavern. He overheard Jim boasting about Dan’l’s jumping abilities, and he offered to bet against him. Jim eagerly accepted the challenge, and the two men agreed to meet back at the tavern the next day.
The stranger then asked Jim to show him Dan’l’s jumping abilities, so Jim placed him on the ground and gave him the signal to jump. But to everyone’s surprise, Dan’l didn’t move. He just sat there, looking lazy and uninterested.
Jim was confused and embarrassed. He had never seen Dan’l act like this before. The stranger suggested that Dan’l might be sick, and he offered to buy him a drink of whiskey to revive him.
Jim agreed, and the stranger left to get the drink. While he was gone, Jim’s friend Simon Wheeler came into the tavern. Jim told him what had happened, and Simon laughed and said that the stranger had played a trick on him.
He explained that the stranger had probably filled Dan’l’s mouth with quail shot, which made him too heavy to jump. Simon then launched into a long, rambling story about a man named Leonidas W. Smiley, who was known for his love of betting and his endless supply of animals to bet on.
As Simon talked, Jim grew increasingly frustrated. He just wanted to know if Dan’l was okay and if he could still win the bet. But Simon continued his story, regaling Jim with tales of Leonidas W. Smiley’s various animals, including a dog who couldn’t bark and a horse who liked to play dead.
Finally, the stranger returned with the whiskey, and Jim quickly poured it down Dan’l’s throat. To everyone’s amazement, the frog suddenly sprang to life and leaped across the room with a mighty jump.
Jim was ecstatic. He knew that he had won the bet, and he collected his winnings from the stranger. But he also knew that he had been tricked, and he was determined to get revenge.
He spent the next few days searching for the stranger, but he never found him. And so, he decided to take his revenge on Simon Wheeler instead. He started telling everyone he met about Simon’s long, pointless story, and before long, Simon became the laughingstock of the town.
Years later, when Mark Twain heard the story of Jim Smiley and his jumping frog, he immortalized it in his famous short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” And although the story may have been embellished over the years, the legend of Jim Smiley and Dan’l Webster lives on as a testament to the power of a good bet and a great story.