III explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Self-Aggrandizement and Heroism

  The Baron magnifies his hunting feats, turning accidents and mistakes into triumphs of wit and courage.

• The Marvelous and the Absurd

  Improbable events such as eye-sparks igniting a gun, nailing a fox's tail, and bending a boar's tusks with a stone highlight the absurdity of the narrative.

• Critique of Human Nature

  The Baron's boastful tone and the exaggeration of his exploits satirize human vanity and the desire for self-glorification.

Characters to notice

• Baron Munchausen

  Narrates his hunting exploits, demonstrating his resourcefulness and bravado.

Key passages

• “One morning I saw, through the windows of my bedroom, that a large pond not far off was covered with wild ducks. In an instant I took my gun from the corner, ran downstairs and out of the house in such a hurry, that I imprudently struck my face against the doorpost. Fire flew out of my eyes, but it did not prevent my intention; I soon came within shot, when, levelling my piece, I observed to my sorrow, that even the flint had sprung from the cock by the violence of the shock I had just received. There was no time to be lost. I presently remembered the effect it had on my eyes, therefore opened the pan, levelled my piece against the wild fowls, and my fist against one of my eyes. A hearty blow drew sparks again; the shot went off, and I killed fifty brace of ducks, twenty widgeons, and three couple of teals.”

  One morning, seeing a pond full of wild ducks, the Baron rushed out so fast that he hit his face on the doorpost, causing sparks from his eyes. The jolt also knocked the flint off his gun, but he recalled that his eyes could produce sparks, so he punched himself in the eye to ignite the gunpowder, killing a huge number of waterfowl.

  This passage exemplifies the Baron's absurd resourcefulness and the blending of pain with success.

• “In a noble forest in Russia I met a fine black fox, whose valuable skin it would have been a pity to tear by ball or shot. Reynard stood close to a tree. In a twinkling I took out my ball, and placed a good spike-nail in its room, fired, and hit him so cleverly that I nailed his brush fast to the tree. I now went up to him, took out my hanger, gave him a crosscut over the face, laid hold of my whip, and fairly flogged him out of his fine skin.”

  In a Russian forest, the Baron encountered a black fox with a valuable pelt. To avoid damaging the skin, he replaced his bullet with a spike-nail, fired, and nailed the fox's tail to a tree. He then cut the fox's face with a sword and whipped it out of its skin.

  This anecdote highlights the Baron's cunning and the grotesque humor of his methods.

• “My ball had missed them, yet the foremost pig only ran away, and the sow stood motionless, as fixed to the ground. On examining into the matter, I found the latter one to be an old sow, blind with age, which had taken hold of her pig’s tail, in order to be led along by filial duty. My ball, having passed between the two, had cut his leading-string, which the old sow continued to hold in her mouth; and as her former guide did not draw her on any longer, she had stopped of course; I therefore laid hold of the remaining end of the pig’s tail, and led the old beast home without any further trouble on my part, and without any reluctance or apprehension on the part of the helpless old animal.”

  After missing a shot at a wild pig and sow, the Baron discovered that the sow was blind and had been holding her pig's tail to be led. His bullet had severed the 'leading-string' (the pig's tail), so the sow stopped. He then took the tail end and led the sow home.

  This story turns a failed shot into a clever capture, showcasing the Baron's ability to reinterpret events to his advantage.

• “Terrible as these wild sows are, yet more fierce and dangerous are the boars, one of which I had once the misfortune to meet in a forest, unprepared for attack or defence. I retired behind an oak-tree just when the furious animal levelled a side-blow at me, with such force, that his tusks pierced through the tree, by which means he could neither repeat the blow nor retire. Ho, ho! thought I, I shall soon have you now! and immediately I laid hold of a stone, wherewith I hammered and bent his tusks in such a manner, that he could not retreat by any means, and must wait my return from the next village, whither I went for ropes and a cart, to secure him properly, and to carry him off safe and alive, in which I perfectly succeeded.”

  The Baron met a wild boar in a forest and dodged behind an oak tree. The boar's tusks pierced the tree, trapping it. The Baron then hammered and bent the tusks with a stone, immobilizing the boar, and went to a village for ropes and a cart to take it away alive.

  This passage demonstrates the Baron's quick thinking and the absurdity of his victories over nature.