Foppery

“ Some bearded fop will offer you his hand, he will hold you up if you feel tired, and the pressure of his fingers will either be a temptation to you, or will shew that you are a temptation to him. Again when you sit down to table with married men and women, you will have to see kisses in which you have no part, and dishes partaken of which are not for you. ”

“ You and I may be well content, by the lowness of our apparel, to magnify the magnificent; only, I confess that when I find myself standing as a foil to one of our rough-haired, be-whiskered and bearded fops, I do sometimes feel inclined to throw a nut in his way to see if he be a monkey or a man. One would not wish to be showman to the brute. The contempt of the fop is of little moment ”

“ Sir Fopling thinks a looking-glass in the room ‘the best company in the world;’ it is another self to him: Lord Foppington merely considers it as necessary to adjust his appearance, that he may make a figure in company. The finery of the one has an imposing air of grandeur about it, and is studied for effect: the other is really in love with a laced suit, and is hand and glove with the newest-cut fashion. He really thinks his tailor or peruke-maker the greatest man in the world, while his lordship treats them familiarly as necessary appendages of his person. ”

“ THERE are more Ways to come to a Right Understanding of Things, then by Question and Answer. There are Certain Contentious Humors that are never to be Pleas'd, and he that Troubles his Head because he cannot Please them, is Worse then a Mad-man. Nay it falls out many times that the very Desire and Endeavour to do it, makes it more Impossible, Especially where People are Imperious and Insulting, as well as Peevish. Now in the Case of this Fable, it may be a Question whether the Wife, or the Woman, was the more Freakish of the Two: For she was still the same Uneasie Fop wherever she was ”

“ Then the old wallaby whispered what Hop-o’-my-thumb wanted to know, and the latter, smiling, went back to the giant Slubber.
“Well, hast thou the answers, mite?” he said.
“Oh yes,” replied our hero cautiously, “but how am I to know you will keep your word with me?”
The giant laughed. Then he lay full length upon the sward, and plucking a long hair from his beard laid it across his nose. “Will that condition satisfy you?” he said in a rage, for Slubber knew he dare not break that form of oath. [333]
“Then,” said Hop-o’-my-thumb, “the most wonderful animal in the world is a pig ”

“ At length the flames, suddenly increasing in virulence, forced the jester to climb higher up the chain, to be out of their reach; and, as he made this movement, the crowd again sank, for a brief instant, into silence. The dwarf seized his opportunity, and once more spoke:
"I now see distinctly." he said, "what manner of people these maskers are. They are a great king and his seven privy-councillors,—a king who does not scruple to strike a defenceless girl and his seven councillors who abet him in the outrage. As for myself, I am simply Hop-Frog, the jester—and this is my last jest." ”

“ How many such Asses are there in the World, that Huffe, Look Big, Stare, Dress, Cock, Swagger, at the same Noise-Blustring Rate; and Nothing more Familiar then for a Whiffling Fop, that has not so much as One Grain of the Sense, or Soul of a man of Honour in him, to play the part of a Heroe. ”

“ Why they hesitated I never could tell, unless they did it by way of a joke. More probably, they found it difficult, on account of being so fat, to make up their minds. At all events, time flew; and, as a last resort they sent for Trippetta and Hop-Frog.
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 humor. 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. ”

“ When he had assured himself of the fact, the boy looked at the girl. She was in the stern-sheets; her shawl was wrapped about her shoulders and over her head in a hood, and she was motionless as a statue of severity. The boy's throat tightened a bit, but he sat upon the centre thwart, very calmly picked up the oars lying at the bottom, and slid them out between the holes.
In another second there came what he expected. Somewhere in the depths of the fog arose the hysterical shriek of the little launch. "Toot—toot—toot," she cried; "toot—toot—toot, toot—toot—toot!" ”

“ On some grand state occasion—I forgot what—the king determined to have a masquerade, and whenever a masquerade or any thing of that kind, occurred at our court, then the talents, both of Hop-Frog and Trippetta were sure to be called into play. Hop-Frog, in especial, was so inventive in the way of getting up pageants, suggesting novel characters, and arranging costumes, for masked balls, that nothing could be done, it seems, without his assistance. ”

“ When the growing suspicion became a certainty she was assaulted in the dormitory in the presence of a matron. The biggest and stoutest girl of the section pulled her from her bed in the dark and began to beat her. There was no outcry at first,—only a silent struggle on the floor.
But the stout young woman had counted too much on her physical strength and upon the supposed weakness of her frail antagonist. For Fouchette was like a cat in another respect,—she fought best on her back, where she was all hands and feet and teeth. ”

“ Dwarfs were as common at court, in those days, as fools; and many monarchs would have found it difficult to get through their days (days are rather longer at court than elsewhere) without both a jester to laugh with, and a dwarf to laugh at. But, as I have already observed, your jesters, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, are fat, round, and unwieldy—so that it was no small source of self-gratulation with our king that, in Hop-Frog (this was the fool's name) , he possessed a triplicate treasure in one person. ”

“ If the fopperies of their religion were only fopperies, they ought to be complied with, wherever it is established, like any ridiculous dress in fashion; but I think them impieties: their devotions are scandal to humanity from their nonsense ”

“ The two, now stretched face down above, looked on breathless. "It's gaining, it's gaining!" the little girl cried. With a vast, silent swoop, the fog now pounced down upon them and enveloped them hermetically.
The father, straining his eyes in the white smother, could see nothing. But to the child—so it seemed as he watched her—glimpses were being given still. She pressed her little heart, she breathed fast. "How piercing her eyes!" he thought. "How piercing are children's eyes!" ”

“ The society of respectable young girls of her own age, and constant contact with those who were older and of superior birth and breeding, opened up a new world to Fouchette. That these companions were [83] more or less partakers of similar misfortunes engendered ready sympathies, though the feeling of caste was as powerful among these orphans of the State as in the Boulevard St. Germain. Tacitly acknowledging the lowly origin of the rag-heap, Fouchette was content to fag, to go and come, fetch and carry, and to patiently endure the multitude of petty tyrannies put upon her. ”

“ Usually it's some old guy is that way—and he's so nice-looking. But I guess he's nuts, all right!"
He grew morose and strange. One walking behind him would have heard him talking to himself. "What bosh!" he would cry, stopping suddenly and with his right fist striking the palm of his left hand. This meant that he had caught himself with his system in full rout. That for an hour, for centuries, he had been dreaming of a girl with brown eyes—great gazelle eyes, liquid and profound. Of eyelids heavy and long- fringed, of a beauty a little austere and sad, yet infinitely tender. ”

“ Hoppy went on, "that he knows we toads have the homing instinct as strong as Mrs. Talker's pigeons have. Only our poor old toes can't go as fast as their wings even though some of them are half webbed."
"My young master knows about toads," I said: "I heard him telling little Big Wig all about your habits the other day."
"Your young master is beloved by every toad and frog on this farm," said Hoppy. "He never steps on us, he never chases us, he won't let any boy kill us." ”

“ Then the guard loosed his grip and pushed the shoulder away from him.
“By God,” he said evenly. “You are a bad one.”
He turned; the steel door shut; a bar fell heavily into a socket outside. 9009 remained seated on the edge of his bunk, holding his chin in his two hands. The exultation of his discovery, of his resolve, had left him; instead, a vague sense of danger was enwrapping him; he shivered slightly. And to his nostrils again, an obsession, there came the taint; the taint that came from men, caged, like wild beasts. ”

“ He examined first the face of 9009, passing his eyes slowly and mercilessly over each feature, exploring every fold and pit of skin; then, with the same passionless, peering scrutiny, like that of an old woman examining a piece of meat at the market, he searched the arms, the hands, the naked torso, and finally the feet. ”

“ And care had ne'er planted its thorn in her breast.
One morning she saw on the opposite side
A Foxglove displaying his colours of pride;
She gazed on his form, that in stateliness grew,
And envied his height and his beautiful hue;
She mark'd how the flow'rets all gave way before him.
While they press'd round her dwelling with far less decorum.
Dissatisfied, jealous, and peevish she grows,
And the sight of this Foxglove destroys her repose.
She tires of her vesture, and swelling with spleen,
Cries, "Ne'er such a dowdy blue mantle was seen!" ”

“ Idler, you must not suppose that I am one of those silly fellows who aspire to lead the fashion or to play the dandy, for, indeed, I am nothing of the sort. I do not believe there is a man living who more heartily despises those empty-headed creatures who are variously known as fops, dudes and dandies. It has never been my ambition to be the introducer of a new style of neckwear or footgear ”

“ It would be too much or too little—according to the point of view—to assume that Fouchette was patient under her yoke and that she went about her tasks with the docility of a well-trained animal. On the contrary, [21] she not only rebelled in spirit, but she often resisted with all her feeble strength, fighting, feet, hands, and teeth, with feline ferocity. Having been brought to the level of brutes, she had become a brute in instinct, in her sensibility to kindness, her pig-headedness, resentment of injury, and dogged resistance. ”

“ When a scented fop offers her this empty attention, she leaves him on the staircase and rushes into the room saying that she is not lame. Indeed, she will never wear high heels though she is not tall; her feet are small enough to dispense with them. ”

“ It lay behind the mask, far back in the dull eyes. Something couchant there for days had moved; it had gathered itself and crouched, now, quivering. And in the mask had come a new heaviness, a heaviness that was a satisfaction, almost a satiety. But the man still stood motionless, his arms folded upon his breast, his face turned down.
The garotter came toward him; and, as it always did, his walk changed; he bent forward, touching the floor with the balls of his feet only, his eyes upon the red-striped convict. ”

“ Just then Flop Ear dashed behind a big log, and there he found a little mouse sitting.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" asked the mouse.
"Because the fox is after me," replied Flop Ear, "and he is right behind me, ready to grab me."
"Squeak!" cried the mouse. "The only way to get clear from a fox is to fool him. Now what have you there besides the cake of chocolate?" asked the mouse, for he could see that plainly enough.
"A stocking full of leaves," answered Flop, "and one empty. Also part of a cookie."
"Very well," spoke the mouse. "Give me the cookie, and I will tell you how to fool the fox." ”

“ I had found out what Guillaume and the nurse were doing. They were futtering.
Yes, but what was futtering?
I had often heard common people use the word foutre, either when they were much astonished or very angry. I knew it was a trivial word. I likewise had heard an idiot called a foutre or a Jean foutre, that likewise was low. Moreover a man that was dead or done for, was said to be foutu. To futter some one was—I had hitherto believed—to thrash a person. How could it then follow that "futtering was the only thing worth living for?" ”

“ And now, while the whole assembly (the apes included) were convulsed with laughter, the jester suddenly uttered a shrill whistle; when the chain flew violently up for about thirty feet—dragging with it the dismayed and struggling ourang-outangs, and leaving them suspended in mid-air between the sky-light and the floor. Hop-Frog, clinging to the chain as it rose, still maintained his relative position in respect to the eight maskers, and still (as if nothing were the matter) continued to thrust his torch down toward them, as though endeavoring to discover who they were. ”

“ The fog had gone with the night and the moon, and upon the green resplendent sea, beneath the joyous sun, they floated embraced, in sight of the whole world.
"Damn!" said the boy. Not a quarter of a mile away the launch was steaming toward them, shrieking its little lungs out in garrulous salutation. At the bow, leaning far over, a coiled rope in his hand, was the red-headed lieutenant.
"Throw out the life-line," said the boy, resignedly. ”

“ D'you know any other fellow might send her sweets?”
“She don't know any other fellows. She's not the kind of girl. Besides, where's the sense of it? I tell you, she don't like sweets. Don't touch 'em. Won't touch 'em.”
“Luck for her,“said the detective. “Now, young fellow——” and he told Mr. Hopkins of the box of chocolates and the poisoned children and the charge of attempted murder. The first effect was to stupefy Mr. Hopkins. The second was to make him rage furiously against Mrs. Morley. ”