Shakespeare has not told us, so far as I know, that Macbeth had any such
eccentric habit as turning head-over-heels in private life: but Bruno
evidently considered it quite an essential part of the character, and
left the stage in a series of somersaults. However, he was back again
in a few moments, having tucked under his chin the end of a tuft of
wool (probably left on the thorn by a wandering sheep), which made a
magnificent beard, that reached nearly down to his feet.
“Shylock!” Sylvie proclaimed. “No, I beg your pardon!” she hastily
corrected herself, “King Lear! I hadn't noticed the crown.” (Bruno had
very cleverly provided one, which fitted him exactly, by cutting out the
centre of a dandelion to make room for his head.)
King Lear folded his arms (to the imminent peril of his beard) and said,
in a mild explanatory tone, “Ay, every inch a king!” and then paused,
as if to consider how this could best be proved. And here, with all
possible deference to Bruno as a Shakespearian critic, I must express my
opinion that the poet did not mean his three great tragic heroes to be
so strangely alike in their personal habits; nor do I believe that he
would have accepted the faculty of turning head-over-heels as any proof
at all of royal descent. Yet it appeared that King Lear, after deep
meditation, could think of no other argument by which to prove his
kingship: and, as this was the last of the 'Bits' of Shakespeare (“We
never do more than three,” Sylvie explained in a whisper), Bruno gave
the audience quite a long series of somersaults before he finally
retired, leaving the enraptured Frogs all crying out “More! More!” which
I suppose was their way of encoring a performance. But Bruno wouldn't
appear again, till the proper time came for telling the Story.
{Image...The frogs' birthday-treat}
When he appeared at last in his real character, I noticed a remarkable
change in his behaviour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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