Aesop Fable information part 7
7|The Buffoon and the Countryman|FORE=9|BACK=0|MARG=5|SCFX=7
The Buffoon and the Countryman^15
A rich nobleman once opened the theaters without charge to the people,
and gave a public notice that he would handsomely reward any person
who invented a new amusement for the occasion. Various public
performers contended for the prize. Among them came a Buffoon well
known among the populace for his jokes, and said that he had a kind of
entertainment which had never been brought out on any stage before.
This report being spread about made a great stir, and the theater was
crowded in every part. The Buffoon appeared alone upon the platform,
without any apparatus or confederates, and the very sense of
expectation caused an intense silence. He suddenly bent his head
towards his bosom and imitated the squeaking of a little pig so
admirably with his voice that the audience declared he had a porker
under his cloak, and demanded that it should be shaken out. When that
was done and nothing was found, they cheered the actor, and loaded him
with the loudest applause. A Countryman in the crowd, observing all
that has passed, said, "So help me, Hercules, he shall not beat me at
that trick!" and at once proclaimed that he would do the same thing
on the next day, though in a much more natural way. On the morrow a
still larger crowd assembled in the theater, but now partiality for
their favorite actor very generally prevailed, and the audience came
rather to ridicule the Countryman than to see the spectacle. Both of
the performers appeared on the stage. The Buffoon grunted and
squeaked away first, and obtained, as on the preceding day, the
applause and cheers of the spectators. Next the Countryman commenced,
and pretending that he concealed a little pig beneath his clothes
(which in truth he did, but not suspected by the audience ) contrived
to take hold of and to pull his ear causing the pig to squeak. The
Crowd, however, cried out with one consent that the Buffoon had given
a far more exact imitation, and clamored for the Countryman to be
kicked out of the theater. On this the rustic produced the little pig
from his cloak and showed by the most positive proof the greatness of
their mistake. "Look here," he said, "this shows what sort of judges
you are."
The Buffoon and the Countryman^15
A rich nobleman once opened the theaters without charge to the people,
and gave a public notice that he would handsomely reward any person
who invented a new amusement for the occasion. Various public
performers contended for the prize. Among them came a Buffoon well
known among the populace for his jokes, and said that he had a kind of
entertainment which had never been brought out on any stage before.
This report being spread about made a great stir, and the theater was
crowded in every part. The Buffoon appeared alone upon the platform,
without any apparatus or confederates, and the very sense of
expectation caused an intense silence. He suddenly bent his head
towards his bosom and imitated the squeaking of a little pig so
admirably with his voice that the audience declared he had a porker
under his cloak, and demanded that it should be shaken out. When that
was done and nothing was found, they cheered the actor, and loaded him
with the loudest applause. A Countryman in the crowd, observing all
that has passed, said, "So help me, Hercules, he shall not beat me at
that trick!" and at once proclaimed that he would do the same thing
on the next day, though in a much more natural way. On the morrow a
still larger crowd assembled in the theater, but now partiality for
their favorite actor very generally prevailed, and the audience came
rather to ridicule the Countryman than to see the spectacle. Both of
the performers appeared on the stage. The Buffoon grunted and
squeaked away first, and obtained, as on the preceding day, the
applause and cheers of the spectators. Next the Countryman commenced,
and pretending that he concealed a little pig beneath his clothes
(which in truth he did, but not suspected by the audience ) contrived
to take hold of and to pull his ear causing the pig to squeak. The
Crowd, however, cried out with one consent that the Buffoon had given
a far more exact imitation, and clamored for the Countryman to be
kicked out of the theater. On this the rustic produced the little pig
from his cloak and showed by the most positive proof the greatness of
their mistake. "Look here," he said, "this shows what sort of judges
you are."
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