daughter
at first and touched us all so?

FISCHER.

The only thing that vexes me is that not a person in the play
wonders at the cat; the king and all act as though it had to be so.

SCHLOSS.

My head is all dizzy with this queer stuff.

_Royal dining-room_

_Large table set. Sound of drums and trumpets. Enter the_ KING, _the_
PRINCESS, LEANDER, HINZE, _several distinguished guests and_
JACKPUDDING, _Servants, waiting at the table._

KING.

Let us sit down, otherwise the soup will get cold! Has the
hunter been taken care of?

SERVANT.

Yes, your majesty, he will eat at the little table here with
the court fool.

JACKPUDDING (_to_ HINZE).

Let us sit down, otherwise the soup will get
cold.

HINZE (_sits down_).

With whom have I the honor of dining?

JACKPUD.

A man is what he is, Sir Hunter; we cannot all do the same
thing. I am a poor, exiled fugitive, a man who was once, a long time
ago, witty, but who has now become stupid and re-entered service in a
foreign land where he is again considered witty for a while.

HINZE.

From what country do you come?

JACKPUD.

Unfortunately, only Germany. My countrymen became so wise
about a certain time that they finally forbade all jokes on pain of
punishment; wherever I was seen, I was called by unbearable nicknames,
such as: Absurd, indecent, bizarre--whoever laughed at me was
persecuted like myself, and so I was compelled to go into exile.

HINZE.

Poor man!

JACKPUD.

There are strange trades in the world, Sir Hunter; cooks live
by eating, tailors by vanity, I, by the laughter of human beings; if
they cease to laugh I must starve.

[_Murmuring in the pit: A Jackpudding! A Jackpudding!_]

HINZE.

I do not eat that vegetable.

JACKPUD.

Why? Don't be bashful, help yourself.

HINZE.

I tell you, white cabbage does not agree with me.

JACKPUD.

It will taste all the better to me. Give me your hand! I must
become better acquainted with you, Sir Hunter.

HINZE.

Here!

JACKPUD.

Take here the hand of an honest German fellow; I am not
ashamed of being German, as many of my countrymen are. (_He presses
the cat's hand very tightly._)

HINZE.

Ow! Ow! (_He resists, growls, clutches_ JACKPUDDING.)

JACKPUD.

Oh! Hunter! Are you possessed of the devil? (_He rises and
goes to the king weeping._) Your majesty, the hunter is a perfidious
man; just look at the remembrance of his five fingers he has left on
me.

KING (_eating