Summary

In “Hop-Frog” by Edgar Allan Poe, the action takes place at the court of an unnamed king who enjoys hearing and making jokes. His seven ministers try to please the king, and they share his passion for jokes. Hop-Frog is the king’s fool or jester. The man is both a dwarf and a cripple. In fact, his crippled walk attracted his nickname. Hop-Frog’s job is to make the king and his subjects laugh. Hop-Frog and another dwarf woman called Trippetta were sent to the King as war captives by one of the generals from a faraway land. The two are now friends and Trippetta, who is a dancer at the court, tries to help Hop-Frog whenever she can pull in a favor on account of her beauty.

The king decides to organize a masquerade, where all his subjects and guests are to wear costumes. But while everyone prepares for the ball, the king, and his ministers are out of ideas with regards to what costumes they s...