Esio Trot

After weighing Alfie, Mrs. Silver is giddy with delight as she calls Mr. Hoppy a “miracle man.” In a brief scene, she discovers that Alfie is now too large to enter his house. Mr. Hoppy doesn’t miss a beat. He merely tells another lie and says that if she changes the magic words to make Alfie shrink a little, he’ll be able to enter the house again, without requiring changes to the structure. He writes a new chant for her, also in backward English.

Mrs. Silver worries that Alfie will be disappointed if he gets smaller, but she agrees to try. She touches Mr. Hoppy’s arm and says that if it works, “then [he is] the cleverest man alive” (53). This is all the encouragement he needs to stay the course.

While she is at work the next day, Mr. Hoppy finds a small enough tortoise and places it in Mrs. Silver’s garden. He hears her happy shouts later that day. He excitedly runs down to meet her, telling himself not to mess up this greatest moment of his life. She hugs him and invites him inside for tea.