The Adventurous Simplicissimus · Chapter
How He Found the Devil in the Trough, and How Jump-I’-Th’-Field Got Fine Horses explained
Simplicissimus, now in possession of Jupiter the fool, reflects on the uncertainty of fortune.
What happens
Simplicissimus, now in possession of Jupiter the fool, reflects on the uncertainty of fortune. He joins Count von der Wahl's cavalry expedition against Hessian troopers, and during a night assault, he and Jump-i'-th'-field seize a house. Simplicissimus finds a naked black man in a trough, whom he mistakes for the devil. They capture horses and booty, including a portmanteau with rings and a portrait. Simplicissimus gains a negro servant, two horses, and valuables. Later, he visits the pastor from whom he once stole bacon, giving him a watch as a peace offering.
Themes in this chapter
Fortune and Fate
Simplicissimus reflects on the uncertainty of fortune, contrasting his past misery with present prosperity.
Deception and Appearance
The black man in the trough is mistaken for the devil, highlighting how appearances deceive.
Greed and Money
The division of booty, including horses, rings, and a portrait, underscores the material gains of war.
Characters to notice
- Simplicissimus
Narrates his good fortune, leads a storming party, mistakes a black man for the devil, and later reconciles with the pastor.
- Jump-i'-th'-field
Accompanies Simplicissimus in the assault, captures horses and a servant, and shares the booty.
- Jupiter
Mentioned as the fool Simplicissimus now owns, having been given by the commandant.
- Count von der Wahl
Leads the cavalry expedition and later lodges his staff in the house Simplicissimus and Jump-i'-th'-field had seized.
Key passages
“So wondrous is fortune and so changeable the times! Even now had the lice troubled me, and now had I the very god of fleas in my power; half a year before was I serving a miserable dragoon as page, and now I had command of two servants that called me master; and so I reflected at times that nothing is so certain in this world as its uncertainty.”
Fortune is fickle: once I was plagued by lice, now I command a fool; half a year ago I was a page, now I have two servants. I realize that nothing in life is certain.
Simplicissimus muses on the instability of fortune.
“I knocked open in hopes to find somewhat valuable, but as I raised the cover a coal-black thing rose up against me which I took for Lucifer himself.”
I broke open the trough expecting treasure, but a black figure rose up, and I thought it was the devil.
Simplicissimus mistakes the black man for the devil.
“For my share I received the negro and the two best horses, of which one was a Spanish one, on which any soldier might meet his enemy, and with this thereafter I made no small show; but out of the portmanteau I got divers costly rings, and in a golden case set with rubies the Prince of Orange’s portrait.”
My share of the booty included the black man, two fine horses (one Spanish), and from the portmanteau I took several valuable rings and a ruby-set gold case with the Prince of Orange's portrait.
Simplicissimus lists his gains from the plunder.