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The jumping Frog
Mark Twain's "The Jumping Frog : In English, then in French, then clawed back into the civilized language once more by patient unremunerated toil" (1865), also known as "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog."
Containing the original story (in english), a french translation which was published in la Revue des Deux Mondes and which Twain finds to be a travesty of the original text, and Twain's re-translation of the french back into english, word for word (this is where things degenerate). A masterpiece of babelfishien nonsense dating from well before babelfish was even a gleam in the binary code of its creator (1903). Best appreciated if you can read both French and English, but even if you skip the french version it's truly brilliant. If you have ever translated random text using babelfish just because it's funny, don't miss this book.
As good old Samuel Clemens himself put it in his foreword "I cannot speak the French language, but I can translate very well, though not fast, I being self-educated.
Containing the original story (in english), a french translation which was published in la Revue des Deux Mondes and which Twain finds to be a travesty of the original text, and Twain's re-translation of the french back into english, word for word (this is where things degenerate). A masterpiece of babelfishien nonsense dating from well before babelfish was even a gleam in the binary code of its creator (1903). Best appreciated if you can read both French and English, but even if you skip the french version it's truly brilliant. If you have ever translated random text using babelfish just because it's funny, don't miss this book.
As good old Samuel Clemens himself put it in his foreword "I cannot speak the French language, but I can translate very well, though not fast, I being self-educated.
21 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1865
207 people are currently reading
7406 people want to read
About the author
Mark Twain
8,827 books18.5k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 426 reviews
September 19, 2020
Not a Winner
***Spoiler Alert ***
Jumping frog contests are supp0osed to be great fun, and this tory is based on the real juming frog contest in Angle’s Camp, CA that goes on to this very day. This story is supposed to be funny, and If you put 5lbs. of B-Bs or buckshot down a frog’s throat to make him too heavy to jump, well, that is supposed to be even funnier than the story that leads up to it. How many kids have tried this after reading his book?
When I was a kid I read this book, and I just now read it again. I liked it then; I don’t like it now. Then when we were kids my tepdad or soon to be stepdad, took my sister and I to Angel’s Camp to see the frog jumping contest in Calaveras County. I swear that we must have seen a toad derby too, because my stepdad called it the “Toad Turd Derby,” and I thought that he was so funny, funnier than how I view Mark Twain.
He even took us to see a Coonhound Trial, where they run a skin of a racoon over the ground ending up at a chosen tree where a real raccoon is in a cage high up in the tree. Now that I am older, I hate these sadistic contests and wish they were banned. I went to one here in Tahlequah, OK, and after the coonhounds found the racoon, they lowered the cage to the ground and let the dogs bark at the frightened raccoon. I am just not into using animals in contests that frighten or injure them.
Since I have little to say about this book, I will add a little story that I put in my journal back in the early 1990s. My husband titled it, and perhaps it had something to do with the book “Cannery Row.” Not sure.
The Great American Frog Hunt
My husband Clark received a phone call from his co-worker Rick, who asked him if he wanted some frogs since his neighbor was draining his pond, and he was afraid that the frogs would all die if Clark didn’t come to get them. We showed up at Rick’s with a bucket in hand. The guys were already having a party, and Tim, Clark’s friend, was there and asked, “Are you going to eat those poor frogs’legs?” Clark said, “No. We want them for our garden.”
We went to the neighbor’s and saw that a lot of goldfish had already died. Made sense to us. Clark and I began picking up baby frogs and putting them in the bucket. He was ever so gentle so as not to injure them. We also found a toad and took him too. Then Clark added some mud and water to the bucket, saying, “My froggies have to be happy.” We must have gathered about 30 frogs.
When we got home, we let them loose near a large washtub of water, and I put empty cat food cans around with water in them. Clark called them “Stagecoach Stations.” The End
***Spoiler Alert ***
Jumping frog contests are supp0osed to be great fun, and this tory is based on the real juming frog contest in Angle’s Camp, CA that goes on to this very day. This story is supposed to be funny, and If you put 5lbs. of B-Bs or buckshot down a frog’s throat to make him too heavy to jump, well, that is supposed to be even funnier than the story that leads up to it. How many kids have tried this after reading his book?
When I was a kid I read this book, and I just now read it again. I liked it then; I don’t like it now. Then when we were kids my tepdad or soon to be stepdad, took my sister and I to Angel’s Camp to see the frog jumping contest in Calaveras County. I swear that we must have seen a toad derby too, because my stepdad called it the “Toad Turd Derby,” and I thought that he was so funny, funnier than how I view Mark Twain.
He even took us to see a Coonhound Trial, where they run a skin of a racoon over the ground ending up at a chosen tree where a real raccoon is in a cage high up in the tree. Now that I am older, I hate these sadistic contests and wish they were banned. I went to one here in Tahlequah, OK, and after the coonhounds found the racoon, they lowered the cage to the ground and let the dogs bark at the frightened raccoon. I am just not into using animals in contests that frighten or injure them.
Since I have little to say about this book, I will add a little story that I put in my journal back in the early 1990s. My husband titled it, and perhaps it had something to do with the book “Cannery Row.” Not sure.
The Great American Frog Hunt
My husband Clark received a phone call from his co-worker Rick, who asked him if he wanted some frogs since his neighbor was draining his pond, and he was afraid that the frogs would all die if Clark didn’t come to get them. We showed up at Rick’s with a bucket in hand. The guys were already having a party, and Tim, Clark’s friend, was there and asked, “Are you going to eat those poor frogs’legs?” Clark said, “No. We want them for our garden.”
We went to the neighbor’s and saw that a lot of goldfish had already died. Made sense to us. Clark and I began picking up baby frogs and putting them in the bucket. He was ever so gentle so as not to injure them. We also found a toad and took him too. Then Clark added some mud and water to the bucket, saying, “My froggies have to be happy.” We must have gathered about 30 frogs.
When we got home, we let them loose near a large washtub of water, and I put empty cat food cans around with water in them. Clark called them “Stagecoach Stations.” The End
July 28, 2019
This is one of these stories that nicely illustrate Mark Twain's flair for humorous storytelling.
July 19, 2023
It’s a humorous short story that shows how a story can change after a few rounds of translation. First in English, then in French and then back to English. I didn’t find it that funny but that’s personal taste.
February 10, 2025
A three part book - Twain's original story, a French translation, and finally, Twain's translation from the French back into English (or American English, to be accurate). It's a setup, as Twain implies with a wink: "I cannot speak the French language, but I can translate well, though not fast, I being self-educated." And "There may be people who can translate better than I can, but I am not acquainted with them."
Nothing against the French - they make great films - but if I'm going to experience someone shooting French poissons in a barrel, I can't imagine anyone more entertaining than Mark Twain. His translation from the French is hilarious - funnier than his original story.
Upgraded to 5 stars. Reread Twain's translation from the French back into English and couldn't stop laughing.
Nothing against the French - they make great films - but if I'm going to experience someone shooting French poissons in a barrel, I can't imagine anyone more entertaining than Mark Twain. His translation from the French is hilarious - funnier than his original story.
Upgraded to 5 stars. Reread Twain's translation from the French back into English and couldn't stop laughing.
December 7, 2012
Mark Twain's sense of humor is peculiar, for want of a better word. I think I understand what he was trying to do here, but if I could sum this book up in just one word, I would call it strange. I'm always amused when an author addresses the readers (say, in an introduction, or in an afterward) without actually breaking from the fiction of the narrative, and that seems to be the whole point of this revenge edition.
"The Amazing Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is a short story about a man who gets roped into listening to another man who loves to hear himself talk. The poor guy has to sit through a stream of meaningless stories that don't seem to go anywhere, and he can't get a word in edgewise. The man talks about a horse, about a sick woman, about a dog, and of course, about a jumping frog. It's not my cup of tea, but I can appreciate the humor that comes first of all from the dialect, secondly from the archetype of the old-timer who leisurely rambles on about whatever comes into his head, and thirdly, and to a much lesser degree, the weird nature of the stories themselves.
This edition, however, isn't really about the original short story. Twain must have really loved framing because he takes his handful of stories within a story and shoves the whole lot into yet another story. Twain introduces the text by saying that he wants to rebut an unfavorable review about his talents as a humorist; his argument is that the reviewer (who was French) did not get to appreciate his work fully because he was reading a crummy translation that screwed up the humor of the tale. This introduction is some of the funniest prose in the book. Twain includes his original story, the French translation, and his English re-translation of the French.
It is here that the humor falls flat, at least for me. Twain's goal here is *not* to show his anglophone readers how the French experienced his work. His goal is to entertain, and he does this by offering a silly re-translation, mistranslating (I assume on purpose) so that he can poke fun at --what, exactly? French syntax? The lack of a French equivalent to an American southern drawl? The idea of translation? All of the above, perhaps. But what I don't understand is why. He claims to have done the translation himself, and he also claims not to speak French. These claims may or may not be true; I get the feeling he's spinning another yarn. And, as though to substantiate these claims, the translation is bad. I mean really, really bad. Again, I assume this is deliberate. How else would he get away with translating adjectives as nouns and treating single negations as double?
The actual story within a story within a story -- the actual part about a frog -- would not be interesting at all without the frame of the long-winded storyteller with a captive audience. Yet the pseudo-translation, which is hilarious by itself (seriously, just try to read it out loud with a straight face), loses all its power in the framing. Twain snarkily calls it a serious translation, and clearly he means it NOT to be, and somehow, this just seems like an odd vehicle for such a hatchet job.
But that's not all! What's a revenge translation without an epilogue? Twain tells of an encounter with a man who claims that the story of the jumping frog dates back to antiquity. According to the epilogue, this man produced a book containing an ancient Greek tale that is eerily close to Twain's story. At first, Twain says that he had not meant to repeat the story. He says that he had never heard of the story, and that the similarities are just a coincidence. Then, Twain claims that the stories are far too similar, and he realizes that the alleged ancient text was phony. I don't know how to respond to this, since I think there's a pretty good chance that the whole epilogue was phony. If so, it's perhaps one of the more interesting takes on an unreliable narrator. I have read fiction books with nonfiction, honest, serious introductions and afterwards. This was not one of them. Then again, it's Twain, so what did I expect?
"The Amazing Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is a short story about a man who gets roped into listening to another man who loves to hear himself talk. The poor guy has to sit through a stream of meaningless stories that don't seem to go anywhere, and he can't get a word in edgewise. The man talks about a horse, about a sick woman, about a dog, and of course, about a jumping frog. It's not my cup of tea, but I can appreciate the humor that comes first of all from the dialect, secondly from the archetype of the old-timer who leisurely rambles on about whatever comes into his head, and thirdly, and to a much lesser degree, the weird nature of the stories themselves.
This edition, however, isn't really about the original short story. Twain must have really loved framing because he takes his handful of stories within a story and shoves the whole lot into yet another story. Twain introduces the text by saying that he wants to rebut an unfavorable review about his talents as a humorist; his argument is that the reviewer (who was French) did not get to appreciate his work fully because he was reading a crummy translation that screwed up the humor of the tale. This introduction is some of the funniest prose in the book. Twain includes his original story, the French translation, and his English re-translation of the French.
It is here that the humor falls flat, at least for me. Twain's goal here is *not* to show his anglophone readers how the French experienced his work. His goal is to entertain, and he does this by offering a silly re-translation, mistranslating (I assume on purpose) so that he can poke fun at --what, exactly? French syntax? The lack of a French equivalent to an American southern drawl? The idea of translation? All of the above, perhaps. But what I don't understand is why. He claims to have done the translation himself, and he also claims not to speak French. These claims may or may not be true; I get the feeling he's spinning another yarn. And, as though to substantiate these claims, the translation is bad. I mean really, really bad. Again, I assume this is deliberate. How else would he get away with translating adjectives as nouns and treating single negations as double?
The actual story within a story within a story -- the actual part about a frog -- would not be interesting at all without the frame of the long-winded storyteller with a captive audience. Yet the pseudo-translation, which is hilarious by itself (seriously, just try to read it out loud with a straight face), loses all its power in the framing. Twain snarkily calls it a serious translation, and clearly he means it NOT to be, and somehow, this just seems like an odd vehicle for such a hatchet job.
But that's not all! What's a revenge translation without an epilogue? Twain tells of an encounter with a man who claims that the story of the jumping frog dates back to antiquity. According to the epilogue, this man produced a book containing an ancient Greek tale that is eerily close to Twain's story. At first, Twain says that he had not meant to repeat the story. He says that he had never heard of the story, and that the similarities are just a coincidence. Then, Twain claims that the stories are far too similar, and he realizes that the alleged ancient text was phony. I don't know how to respond to this, since I think there's a pretty good chance that the whole epilogue was phony. If so, it's perhaps one of the more interesting takes on an unreliable narrator. I have read fiction books with nonfiction, honest, serious introductions and afterwards. This was not one of them. Then again, it's Twain, so what did I expect?
December 31, 2018
First book I read by Mark Twain, I like his writing style even though its a bit of getting used to.
April 23, 2025
For me this book illustrates a central problem in communication: the 'gap' between translation and understanding. Mark Twain translates his work into French (he states that he does not speak French) and then retranslates the French version back into English. What follows is a 'dictionary' translation of the story - which makes little sense. This book should be required reading for anyone involved in diplomatic relations - fun, yet illustrative of a very important concept in interpersonal relations.
March 11, 2023
🐸 Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain was amazing. His life was riven with tragedy. Yet he continued to write books and stories that made people not only think, and experience the whole gamut of human emotions, but smile, and feel better for awhile, without his work being in any way facile. This is one such made-you-laugh story.
January 11, 2020
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Theme of Cunning and Cleverness. Though Jim Smiley appears to be extraordinarily lucky, it is partly through his cunning and cleverness that he is able to win bets. He is finally outsmarted by a stranger, who beats him through cheating.
October 7, 2019
First Mark Twain read. His style gets some getting used to but enjoyable. I love his humor.
October 25, 2013
Jim Smiley bets on everything he can possibly bet on. One day he found a frog and trained it to jump. The frog learned to jump further than any frog in Calaveras County. One day Jim met a man that said his frog was no more special than any other frog. Jim wanted to prove him wrong so he went to find a frog. While he was gone the man filled up the frog with a lot of quail shot. When Jim got back he bet the man that his frog would win. When the frogs went to jump Jim’s frog didn’t even move. The man took Jim’s money and left. By the time Jim realized what had happened the man was gone.
Jim Smiley is the main character. He dresses in raggedy clothing and talks with a southern accent. Jim often spent his days betting. He would bet on anything and everything. I would say this usually helped him but ended up hurting him in the end.
The book is set in Calaveras County in the spring of 1950.
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was overall a good story with a good moral. At times the book was hard to follow and used many large words and for that reason I would not recommend it to a younger audience. The book was not very good at keeping my attention although it contained some interesting information. I would recommend this book to most people because even though it is hard to read it is not very long. I would give this book three and a half stars out of five.
Jim Smiley is the main character. He dresses in raggedy clothing and talks with a southern accent. Jim often spent his days betting. He would bet on anything and everything. I would say this usually helped him but ended up hurting him in the end.
The book is set in Calaveras County in the spring of 1950.
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was overall a good story with a good moral. At times the book was hard to follow and used many large words and for that reason I would not recommend it to a younger audience. The book was not very good at keeping my attention although it contained some interesting information. I would recommend this book to most people because even though it is hard to read it is not very long. I would give this book three and a half stars out of five.
October 25, 2019
Short and sweet.
June 13, 2025
ESE FINAL NO ME PARECE NADA JUSTO, OK????
March 28, 2023
2,5★ had to read this for uni 👍🏻
July 29, 2024
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was the story that introduced Mark Twain to the literary world of the American East. It was his first great success as a writer. The contrast of its framing story with the tale told within it was the source of its humor. The Eastern narrator of the framing story apparently was pranked by a friend into making inquiries of a loquacious Western barkeep that triggered the long-winded tale of the gambler Jim Smiley and his frog Daniel Webster. Much of the original hilarity of the tale has been lost to the passage of time and corresponding tastes in what we find funny, but it is an interesting piece to illustrate the beginnings of Mark Twain’s career and what his original audiences found chuckle-worthy.
September 12, 2023
I've never been a huge fan of Twain, but I do agree the man can write. It's just not necessarily my kind of story. This was no exception. I didn't really care for the story line, old timers who like to bet aren't really my thing, but Twain just has a way of drawing you into a story and gets you all caught up in its characters. In the end, I was surprised it was over. I found myself wondering what the frog's future was and what could have happened next. Twain is no doubt a classical writer. He's got the magic. Everyone should read some Twain in their lifetime.
January 31, 2015
Picked this up at the library today because I've always been a big Mark Twain fan and for some reason I've never read this.
It was a short story in classic Twain fashion - the narrator being an educated man getting a story from a more down to earth uneducated man. It's funny and told well and I'd recommend it - only takes about 15 minutes and you'll enjoy it and maybe smile or laugh a time or two.
It was a short story in classic Twain fashion - the narrator being an educated man getting a story from a more down to earth uneducated man. It's funny and told well and I'd recommend it - only takes about 15 minutes and you'll enjoy it and maybe smile or laugh a time or two.
March 29, 2018
What a waste of time. Absolutely pointless.
May 16, 2020
Amusing, clever and funny!
March 25, 2012
The story titled 'The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County' was originally published in 1865. The edition that I read had the story with a preface in which Twain has angrily addressed some frenchman who have tried to translate his story in french and had ended up making fun of it. So Mr. Twain has given the original story to him, then his own translation in french and then the translation in english of the story that the frenchman published in the article.
The story is about a Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley who is very prone to betting. If he can't find a person to bet on the other side, he would happily change sides himself. He once got a frog and spent 3 months day and night in training the frog to jump. Unfortunately he was tricked by a stranger into loosing a bet. Read yourself to enjoy it more.
I haven't read any of Twain's work and a couple are lined up in my TR. Was this the best place to start? I am not sure!
But will it help me in kick starting his other celebrated works? Definitely, it will !
The story is about a Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley who is very prone to betting. If he can't find a person to bet on the other side, he would happily change sides himself. He once got a frog and spent 3 months day and night in training the frog to jump. Unfortunately he was tricked by a stranger into loosing a bet. Read yourself to enjoy it more.
I haven't read any of Twain's work and a couple are lined up in my TR. Was this the best place to start? I am not sure!
But will it help me in kick starting his other celebrated works? Definitely, it will !
November 23, 2014
The titular story is okay. Cute, but only okay.
The real gold in this collection of sketches are the pieces "Answers to Correspondents" (seriously giggled out loud about eight times), "Concerning Chambermaids" (very amusing bit of hate-rant) and "The Killing of Julius Caesar 'Localized'" (where Mark Twain writes as if he was a first-eye witness reporter to the assassination of Caesar - best punch-up between toga-wearing gents if there ever was one!)!
Oh, the joys!
The real gold in this collection of sketches are the pieces "Answers to Correspondents" (seriously giggled out loud about eight times), "Concerning Chambermaids" (very amusing bit of hate-rant) and "The Killing of Julius Caesar 'Localized'" (where Mark Twain writes as if he was a first-eye witness reporter to the assassination of Caesar - best punch-up between toga-wearing gents if there ever was one!)!
Oh, the joys!
August 3, 2016
I was lurking in a group discussing Tom Sawyer, and they were discussing how that book represented an American "idyllic childhood" of the era. And after thinking about it a bit, and listening to this short story this morning, I can definitely see their point.
But, oh, how incredibly different Twain is from Bradbury - who's the author I generally think of when I think of small American town idyllic childhoods!
But, oh, how incredibly different Twain is from Bradbury - who's the author I generally think of when I think of small American town idyllic childhoods!
September 4, 2023
A short story that showcases Twain’s writing style and humor. I listened to the audiobook and as my children were walking through the house, I could hear their laughter. Before I knew it, they were collected all around me listening and laughing, wanting to see how it would end. If that’s not a story worth 15 minutes of time, I don’t know what is.
September 27, 2015
I love Mark Twain, but this story goes nowhere. A couple light chuckles. No moral, no purpose. The dialect is classic Twain, as always, but it's really not worth your time. Read Huck and Tom, instead.
March 30, 2016
“I claim that I never put together such an odious mixture of bad grammar and delirium tremens in my life.” Well, I have to agree. To be honest, I can’t quite understand why my professor made us read this story.
September 11, 2018
For some reason, I've always found the beginning of this short story one of the funniest things I've ever read. I always imagine the narrator with this bewildered look on his face, backed into a literal corner as this old man just stares him down, grabs a chair and sits right in front of him.
February 3, 2023
Twain’s first literary success (1865). A very short and amusing tale picked up from the mining towns, and expertly handled
July 26, 2020
An amusing little story about Jim smiley, a man who’d bet on anything and his frog.
October 2, 2018
Fun but pointless
October 23, 2019
What is the point of this story? I don't understand why this is rated so high in Top Short Stories of all time lists. A gambler gets fooled. Ok. So what?
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