Esio Trot

Mr. Hoppy writes something on a piece of paper and lowers it to Mrs. Silver on a string. It appears to be another language, but it’s actually just a few sentences of English written backwards. He says it is “tortoise language.” It’s a series of commands telling Alfie to get bigger and put on fat. He explains this by saying, “Tortoises are very backwards creatures. Therefore they can only understand words that are written backwards. That’s obvious isn’t it?” (24). Esio Trot, the novel’s title and a key phrase in Mr. Hoppy’s magic words, is “tortoise” spelled backwards.

Mr. Hoppy says she must whisper the chant to Alfie’s face three times a day. First, she practices it aloud for Mr. Hoppy. He says to give it a few months but promises that she’ll be satisfied.

Alone again, he keeps thinking of “your slave for life” (26): “What bliss!” Mr. Hoppy puts his furniture in his bedroom, puts canvas over his living room carpet, and writes the addresses and numbers of all 14 pet stores in the city. He then visits each one over the next two days.