A Most Splendid Feast
All the Wigs began to laugh, their large, amiable frogs' mouths expanded, and they crossed their fingers under their chins, which is in this country a great sign of mirth. They laughed because they all knew quite well that the Despoiler himself was only made of cardboard. He was certainly very well covered with jams and sweetmeats; but he was cardboard underneath for all that.
The Despoiler
There was a story that one day the Despoiler had found himself beside a pool which lay between his house and the great kitchen of the Chief Contractor. The Despoiler had wanted to capture a flying-fish made of red marzipan, which was feeding upon a laurel-tree beside the pool. He leaned forward too far towards the tree and fell into the water, which was none the less wet for being scented with orange flowers. The birds which lived at the bottom of the pool brought him up to the surface once more. He was saved; but a terrible thing had happened to him. Not one spot of jam remained upon his cardboard.
Which is in this Country a Great Sign of Mirth
He fled hastily.