A teller of tales
DEEPA AGARWAL
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The baron's yarns were so fantastic that they were compiled into a book.
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Imagine a beanstalk that grows all the way to the moon, snowflakes so huge that they can be used as snow balls, a dog that is such a tireless runner that it wears down its legs! Stories as fabulous and incredible as these were part of Baron Munchhausen's repertoire. Hieronymous Karl Friedrich von Munchhausen was born on May 11, 1720 into a noble family in Germany.
As was common at the time, he became a soldier and saw active service in Russia. He fought in two campaigns against the Turks and became a captain in the regiment of Peter III of Russia. He was commended for his bravery. In 1744, he married Jacobine von Dunter. When he retired, he lived on his estate looking after his property, hunting and — telling tall tales!
The Baron's yarns were mostly about his experiences in far off lands or during the hunt. They were told after dinner, when the gathered company sought to outdo each other in relating anecdotes. The first collection of the Baron's amazing stories was published in England in 1785, titled Baron Munchhausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. Rudolf Erich Raspe, the ex-curator of the museum of a German ruler, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, was the author. A German edition by Gottfried August Burger came out the following year. The second English edition was published in 1786.
One such amazing story is about his trip to the moon, to retrieve a silver hatchet which he had thrown with such force that it flew all the way there! No spaceship conveyed the Baron there, but an amazingly fast growing beanstalk — no doubt similar to the one used by Jack in the well-known story. Once, the Baron came across an astonishingly clever stag. Trained by a wily old man, he would stick his head through the window of an inn and pretend to be a coat hanger. When people had hung their coats and hats on his horns, he would gallop away to his master who removed them and sold them off. His hunting experiences were no less fantastic. There was a hare that led the Baron on a long and merry chase. Amazed at the creature's extraordinary endurance, the Baron eventually realised that it had four pairs of legs, two above and two below. When one set got tired it just flipped itself over and used the other. On another occasion the Baron ran out of bullets and decided to use cherry stones instead. His quarry, a fine stag, was hit but escaped. A year later the Baron found it again. He could recognise the stag by the thriving cherry tree, laden with fruit that grew on its head!
Apparently he did not lose his talent for telling tall tales to the last. Shortly before his death his housekeeper happened to adjust his blanket. She was taken aback to discover that he had no toes. The Baron cheerfully told her that a polar bear had bitten them off in Russia. They had actually been amputated because of frostbite.
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