three stories high, and built on purpose for him, with the
colored sides inwards, and doors and windows cut out of the Queen of
Hearts. "And I sing so well," said he, "that sixteen parlor-bred
crickets, who have chirped from infancy and yet got no one to build them
card-houses to live in, have fretted themselves thinner even than
before, from sheer vexation on hearing me."

It was thus that the Flea and the Grasshopper made the most of
themselves, each thinking himself quite an equal match for the princess.

[Illustration: He made a sideways jump into the lap of the princess.]

The Leapfrog said not a word; but people said that perhaps he thought
the more; and the housedog who snuffed at him with his nose allowed that
he was of good family. The old councilor, who had had three orders
given him in vain for keeping quiet, asserted that the Leapfrog was a
prophet, for that one could see on his back whether the coming winter
was to be severe or mild, which is more than one can see on the back of
the man who writes the almanac.

"I say nothing for the present," exclaimed the King; "yet I have my own
opinion, for I observe everything."

And now the match began. The Flea jumped so high that no one could see
what had become of him; and so they insisted that he had not jumped at
all--which was disgraceful after all the fuss he had made.

The Grasshopper jumped only half as high; but he leaped into the King's
face, who was disgusted by his rudeness.

The Leapfrog stood for a long time, as if lost in thought; people began
to think he would not jump at all.

"I'm afraid he is ill!" said the dog and he went to snuff at him again;
when lo! he suddenly made a sideways jump into the lap of the princess,
who sat close by on a little golden stool.

"There is nothing higher than my daughter," said the King; "therefore to
bound into her lap is the highest jump that can be made. Only one of
good understanding would ever have thought of that. Thus the Frog has
shown that he has sense. He has brains in his head, that he has."

And so he won the princess.

"I jumped the highest, for all that," said the Flea; "but it's all the
same to me. The princess may have the stiff-legged, slimy creature, if
she likes. In this world merit seldom meets its reward. Dullness and
heaviness win the day. I am too light and airy for a stupid world."

And so the Flea went into foreign service.

The Grasshopper sat without on a green bank and reflect