Special Sub-Topic: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Click Here To Play: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

The story begins with an unnamed narrator requesting information from an old man about someone named Leonidas W. Smiley. What is the name of this old man with a proclivity for storytelling?

Simon Wheeler. The narrator describes how a friend of the old man (Simon Wheeler) told him to inquire about Leonidas W. Smiley because his friend knew that the old man would talk about Jim Smiley.

Instead of telling the narrator about Leonidas W. Smiley, the old man tells stories about a man named Jim Smiley. What addiction or bad habit do we learn that Jim Smiley has?

Betting. Jim Smiley would bet on everything from a horse race to which bird on a fence would fly away first.

Jim Smiley had a "small bull-pup" dog that had a very intimidating name. What was this battle-ready dog's name?

Andrew Jackson. The name seems like a great fit for a fighting dog. I'm glad that there are many laws now-a-days preventing betting on animal fighting.

Jim Smiley's prized possession was obviously his "jumping frog". What famous political name did Smiley bestow on the frog?

Daniel Webster. According to the old man, Dan'l Webster was the best leaping, most modest, and gifted frog in all of Calaveras County.

How long did Jim Smiley "educate" his frog in order to make him a championship jumper?

3 Months. Jim Smiley trained (educated in Twainspeak) his frog for three straight months in his backyard. According to Smiley, "all a frog wanted was education, and he could do 'most anything".

A stranger tells Jim Smiley that he'd challenge Smiley's celebrated frog in a jumping contest, but he can not at the moment because he doesn't have a frog. What wager did Smiley make for this proposed contest?

$40. Forty dollars in 1865 is probably equivalent to over $1,000 today. With all that money at stake, Jim Smiley should've either taken Dan'l Webster or the stranger with him while looking for another frog.

As Jim Smiley is searching for a frog to give to the stranger for the competition, the stranger engages in some foul business. What cheating act does the stranger do before the competition?

He pours quail-shot into Smiley's frog.. How dishonorable! The stranger is probably the type of character that goes town-to-town scamming people.

The stranger ends up winning the competition because Jim Smiley's frog is unable able to jump. What does the stranger say as he leaves the competition?

I don't see no p'ints about that frog that's any better'n any other frog.. The stranger first said this line about Dan'l Webster after Jim Smiley stated that his frog "can outjump any frog in Calaveras County". To make the comment again after winning an unfair competition is adding much undue insult.

After the stranger is gone, Jim Smiley tries to discern why his talented frog wouldn't jump. How does he discover that his frog has been tampered with?

He picks the frog up and realizes that he weighs about five pounds.. I suppose that a five pound frog is rather hefty. Smiley's suspicions were confirmed when Dan'l Webster vomited quail-shot several moments later.

As the old man is about to finish the story of Jim Smiley's jumping frog, he is interrupted by another individual. The narrator attempts to leave the locale, but the old man catches up with him. The story ends with the old man beginning to tell the narrator about what?

A one-eyed cow.. The cow "didn't have no tail, only a short stump like a bannanner". Luckily for the narrator, he was able to escape the old man before he could tell a story about the bovine cyclops.