The Celebrated Jumping Frog

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is a humorous short story by Mark Twain. It tells of a man named Smiley who bets a stranger that his frog, named Dan’l Webster, can’t beat any other frog in a jumping contest. The stranger loads Dan’l with buckshot, making him too heavy to jump well. Smiley wins the bet, but the story humorously highlights human nature, deception, and the quirks of storytelling. It’s a witty example of Twain’s skill in using local color and irony to entertain and comment on human absurdities.