The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County Summary | Detailed Summary

The short story begins with the narrator telling the reader that he has visited an old man named Simon Wheeler. This visit comes at the request of a friend who wanted the narrator to ask about Leonidas W. Smiley. The narrator lets the reader know that he suspected his friend of setting him up to hear a long and boring story from the old man about Jim Smiley, a notorious gambler from the area.

The narrator, finding Simon Wheeler napping in a tavern at a mining camp, is greeted cheerfully by the old man. Then, it is conveyed that his friend's request for information about Leonidas W. Smiley, who was said to have been a minister, at one time living in the camp. Upon hearing this request, Wheeler traps the narrator in a corner and tells a story. At that time, the narrator notes that Wheeler speaks in a monotone, without making fun of what is clearly an outrageous tale. Additionally, the narrator says that he does not interrupt or question Wheeler during the story that follows.

Once the narrator has introduced the setting, as well as Wheeler himself, the story shifts to Wheeler's narrative, which is reproduced, consisting of the old man's figures of speech and rambling style. Wheeler first says that while he does not remember a Leonidas W. Smiley, he does remember a Jim Smiley who lived in the camp sometime in1849 or 1850. Jim Smiley was known for betting on almost anything.

Wheeler gives several examples of Smiley's gambling activity, ranging from standard sporting events to more ludicrous occasions. These examples include horse racing, cat, dog, and chicken fights, betting on which pair of perched birds would fly away first, the number of people that a parson could convert to Christianity, or something as meaningless as where a crawling insect would go. He also notes that Smiley was very up front about his gambling, even to the point of telling Parson Walker that he was going to bet against the parson's wife recovering from a serious illness.

Wheeler then begins to tell the narrator about Smiley's pets. The first of these is a mare, which had a reputation for being sick with one condition or another. However, this mare is said to have earned Smiley a lot of money. The mare was typically given a head start in any race, says the old man, and was most often passed by the other horses but the mare would then summon her strength, and always win.

The second pet Wheeler describes is a fighting dog named Andrew Jackson that looked as though it was not strong enough to be in the dog ring. Wheeler tells the narrator that the dog would start its fights very badly, allowing Smiley to build up bets against his animal. Once the betting was finished, says Wheeler, Smiley's dog would clamp its jaws on the other animal's hind legs and stay fastened until the dog's handlers conceded the fight.

The old man goes on to say that Smiley and his dog won many fights, until the animal was pitted against a dog that resulted in the losing of its hind legs. Wheeler says that the dog looked sadly at Smiley, at which time it laid down and died. Wheeler then expresses regret at the dog's death, since it could have had a longer and greater career in dog fighting.

Wheeler notes that Smiley had a pet that would fight or race for any occasion. He then tells the narrator about Smiley's pet frog. Smiley had spent three months teaching the frog to jump high and even to do somersaults in the air. In addition, Smiley honed the frog's fly catching ability, and trained it to respond to voice commands to catch flies. Wheeler tells the narrator that the frog's name was Dan'l Webster, and relates how Dan'l Webster was gifted with unrivalled skill at jumping long distances. He proceeded to explain that this was something Smiley would bet with other on.

The next part of the story deals with how Smiley was tricked by a stranger. The stranger sees Smiley with his frog, asking what is special about Dan'l Webster. Smiley says that his frog can jump farther than any other frog in Calveras County. The stranger says that he cannot see the difference between Dan'l Webster and any other frog. Smiley offers to bet the man $40, proving that Dan'l Webster can out-jump any other frog in the county.

The stranger agrees to the bet, but notes that he does not have a frog of his own. Smiley then proposes to leave Dan'l Webster with the stranger while he goes to the swamp to find another frog. While Smiley is gone, the stranger feeds some shotgun pellets to Dan'l Webster to keep him from jumping.

Once Smiley returns, the jumping contest is held. The new frog jumps well, but for some reason, Smiley's frog is stuck at the start line. The stranger collects his winnings, and again points out that he cannot see a difference between Dan'l Webster and any other frog.

Smiley then wonders what kept Dan'l Webster from jumping, and soon discovers that his frog is heavier than usual. After discovering the shotgun pellets, Smiley starts to chase the stranger. Wheeler lets the narrator know that Smiley did not catch the stranger, and is then interrupted. Wheeler gets up and leaves the room briefly, telling the narrator that he will finish the story when he returns.

Realizing at this point that he is unlikely to hear about Leonidas W. Smiley from the old man, the narrator starts to leave. On his way out of the room, he again encounters Wheeler, who starts to tell him about Smiley's one-eyed cow that had no tail. The narrator quickly retreats.