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and rushing in with savage cries, among the crowd of
delicately and gorgeously habited men and women. The
contrast is inimitable!
 It must be, said the king: and the council arose hurriedly
(as it was growing late), to put in execution the scheme of
Hop-Frog.
His mode of equipping the party as ourang-outangs was
very simple, but effective enough for his purposes. The
animals in question had, at the epoch of my story, very rarely
been seen in any part of the civilized world; and as the
imitations made by the dwarf were sufficiently beast-like and
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The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe [Volume 5]
by Edgar Allan Poe
more than sufficiently hideous, their truthfulness to nature
was thus thought to be secured.
The king and his ministers were first encased in tight-
fitting stockinet shirts and drawers. They were then saturated
with tar. At this stage of the process, some one of the party
suggested feathers; but the suggestion was at once overruled
by the dwarf, who soon convinced the eight, by ocular
demonstration, that the hair of such a brute as the ourang-
outang was much more efficiently represented by flu. A thick
coating of the latter was accordingly plastered upon the
coating of tar. A long chain was now procured. First, it was
passed about the waist of the king, and tied, then about
another of the party, and also tied; then about all
successively, in the same manner. When this chaining
arrangement was complete, and the party stood as far apart
from each other as possible, they formed a circle; and to
make all things appear natural, Hop-Frog passed the residue
of the chain in two diameters, at right angles, across the
circle, after the fashion adopted, at the present day, by those
who capture Chimpanzees, or other large apes, in Borneo.
The grand saloon in which the masquerade was to take
place, was a circular room, very lofty, and receiving the light
of the sun only through a single window at top. At night (the
season for which the apartment was especially designed) it
was illuminated principally by a large chandelier, depending
by a chain from the centre of the sky-light, and lowered, or
elevated, by means of a counter-balance as usual; but (in
order not to look unsightly) this latter passed outside the
cupola and over the roof.
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The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe [Volume 5]
by Edgar Allan Poe
The arrangements of the room had been left to Trippetta's
superintendence; but, in some particulars, it seems, she had
been guided by the calmer judgment of her friend the dwarf.
At his suggestion it was that, on this occasion, the chandelier
was removed. Its waxen drippings (which, in weather so
warm, it was quite impossible to prevent) would have been
seriously detrimental to the rich dresses of the guests, who,
on account of the crowded state of the saloon, could not all
be expected to keep from out its centre; that is to say, from
under the chandelier. Additional sconces were set in various
parts of the hall, out of the war, and a flambeau, emitting
sweet odor, was placed in the right hand of each of the
Caryaides [Caryatides] that stood against the wall some fifty
or sixty altogether.
The eight ourang-outangs, taking Hop-Frog's advice,
waited patiently until midnight (when the room was
thoroughly filled with masqueraders) before making their
appearance. No sooner had the clock ceased striking,
however, than they rushed, or rather rolled in, all together
for the impediments of their chains caused most of the party
to fall, and all to stumble as they entered.
The excitement among the masqueraders was prodigious,
and filled the heart of the king with glee. As had been
anticipated, there were not a few of the guests who supposed
the ferocious-looking creatures to be beasts of some kind in
reality, if not precisely ourang-outangs. Many of the women
swooned with affright; and had not the king taken the
precaution to exclude all weapons from the saloon, his party
might soon have expiated their frolic in their blood. As it was,
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The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe [Volume 5]
by Edgar Allan Poe
a general rush was made for the doors; but the king had
ordered them to be locked immediately upon his entrance;
and, at the dwarf's suggestion, the keys had been deposited
with him.
While the tumult was at its height, and each masquerader
attentive only to his own safety (for, in fact, there was much
real danger from the pressure of the excited crowd), the
chain by which the chandelier ordinarily hung, and which had
been drawn up on its removal, might have been seen very
gradually to descend, until its hooked extremity came within
three feet of the floor.
Soon after this, the king and his seven friends having
reeled about the hall in all directions, found themselves, at
length, in its centre, and, of course, in immediate contact [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]