# How Simplicissimus Became a Fool Again as He Had Been a Fool Before explained — The Adventurous Simplicissimus > Chapter companion for The Adventurous Simplicissimus by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen. ## What happens Simplicissimus wakes in an open field and is taken by foragers to the camp before Magdeburg, where he falls to a colonel. He tells his story, including his escape from the Croats and his journey through the air, which is dismissed as folly. A former prisoner from Hanau recognizes him as the commandant's calf. The colonel's wife gives him a lute, and after eating, he plays and talks gibberish, convincing everyone he is a fool. He stays as the colonel's page, spends money freely, and is given a governor—a pious, learned man ruined by the Swedes—who watches over him. ## Themes in this chapter ### Deception and Appearance Simplicissimus deliberately plays the fool, using gibberish and lute-playing to deceive the officers and ladies into believing he is a simpleton. ### Folly and Wisdom Simplicissimus's apparent folly masks his cunning; he is wise enough to hide his ducats and manipulate his situation for survival. ### Fortune and Fate Simplicissimus's fortunes shift rapidly—from terror in the woods to being a favored page—highlighting the capricious nature of fate in wartime. ## Character check-ins ### Simplicissimus Wakes in the field, is taken to camp, plays the fool, and becomes a page to a colonel. ### The Governor Mentioned as the commandant of Hanau who was vexed at losing Simplicissimus. ### The Huntsman of Soest Not directly present, but Simplicissimus's earlier disguise as the huntsman is implied by his asses' ears. ## Key lines > I lay on my belly till ’twas at least broad daylight; as not having the heart to stand up: therewithal I doubted whether the things I have told of were a dream or not I stayed lying face down until morning, too scared to get up, and wondered if everything I'd experienced was just a dream. _Simplicissimus's disorientation after his previous adventures._ > there came foragers, which woke me up. And now for the first time I perceived I was in the open field. Foragers arrived and woke me, and only then did I realize I was lying in an open field. _His awakening to reality after a night of terror._ > I told him all to a nicety, and because I had no name for the Croats, I did but describe their clothing and gave examples of their speech, and told how I escaped from them: yet of my ducats said I nought I gave a detailed account, describing the Croats' clothes and language since I didn't know their name, and told how I escaped, but I kept quiet about my ducats. _Simplicissimus's selective honesty to protect his wealth._ > what I told of my journey through the air and of the witches’ dance, that they all held to be imagination and folly They all dismissed my story of flying through the air and the witches' dance as pure fantasy and foolishness. _Others' disbelief in his supernatural experiences._ > one fool makes a thousand One fool attracts many others. _Proverbial observation about how folly spreads._ > an empty stomach accorded not well with a fat one, such as the lute had A hungry belly doesn't pair well with a well-fed lute. _Simplicissimus's witty excuse to eat before playing._ > I talked gibberish, all that first came into my head, so that I easily persuaded the folk to believe I was of the quality that my apparel represented I babbled nonsense, whatever came to mind, and easily convinced everyone that I was the fool my outfit suggested. _His deliberate performance of foolishness._ > the ladies, who would deck my hood, my sleeves, and my short-cut ears with ribbons of all colours, so that I verily believe that certain fops copied therefrom the fashion of today The ladies decorated my hood, sleeves, and cropped ears with colorful ribbons, and I truly think some dandies copied that style. _Simplicissimus's influence on contemporary fashion._ > all the money that was given me by the officers, that I liberally gave away and spent all to the last farthing, drinking it away with jolly companions in beer of Hamburg and Zerbst I freely gave away or spent every coin the officers gave me, drinking it all with cheerful friends on Hamburg and Zerbst beer. _His reckless spending and carousing._ > he appointed for me a governor who should look after me, and I to obey him. And this was a man after mine own heart, for he was quiet, discreet, learned, of sufficient conversation yet not too much, and (which was the chief matter), exceeding God-fearing, well read, and full of all arts and sciences The colonel assigned me a guardian to supervise me, and I had to obey him. He was a man I liked—quiet, wise, learned, moderate in talk, deeply religious, well-read, and skilled in all arts and sciences. _Description of Simplicissimus's new governor, a pious and learned man._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_adventurous_simplicissimus_se/chapters/xix-how-simplicissimus-became-a-fool-again-as-he-had-been-a-fool-before - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_adventurous_simplicissimus_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_adventurous_simplicissimus_se/chapters