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The Court Jester Whose Wit Saved His Life

How a court jester slapped the king's butt, then brilliantly convinced him not to kill him Triboulet served as court jester under King Francis I, who ruled France from 1515 to 1547 . Triboulet's quick humor rescued him from Francis I's deadly wrath, not once, but twice. Court jesters hold a unique place in history. Playing the fool for kings and queens meant they were always in close proximity to royalty, but so very far from their rank and station. Comedians often like to push boundaries, but that can be a dangerous business when your job is to entertain the peope who have executioners at their beck and call. Especially when you forget your place—or purposely ignore it, as the case may be—and playfully smack the reigning monarch square on the behind. That little whoopsie was the claim to fame of Triboulet, a court jester who served King Francis I in 16th-century France. But it was how he got away with slapping the king on the butt and living to tell about it that earne...
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Arkansas man planted mystery seeds delivered from China

Arkansas man planted mystery seeds delivered from China to grow massive unstoppable fruit

Doyle Crenshawn, from Arkansas, received one of the mysterious packages of seeds.



Several weird things happened back in 2020, as we know too well, but one of them involved seeds showing up at people’s homes.

A whole load of people in the US reported receiving these strange packages from China and it was advised not to go about planting them.

But obviously, there’s always someone who goes against the grain - or against the seed in this case...

Doyle Crenshawn, from Arkansas, received one of the mysterious packages of seeds from China and ended up growing a huge, unstoppable fruit.

Government officials told people not to plant the seeds due to concerns they could be an invasive species, but Crenshawn had already planted his by the time this advice came out.

He received the seeds in the post and said curiosity took over so decided to see what would happen.

He told KSFM: "Every two weeks I’d come by and put Miracle-Gro on it, and they just started growing like crazy."

While experts couldn’t figure out what exactly the plant is, Crenshawn’s boasted large white fruits and orange flowers, which some compared to a squash plant.

Many of the random packages received from China reportedly were labelled as containing jewellery.

Crenshawn said: "The package said it was from China and said ‘studded earrings’ on the outside, and we thought that was a little odd."

He ended up growing a huge fruit


Scott Bray of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture explained why there were concerns about the seeds.

At the time, he said: "Our concern is from an invasive-pest aspect; these seeds could introduce an invasive weed or an invasive insect pest or a plant disease."

Despite ongoing worries about the packages and seeds, officials said they believe that they were part of something known as a ‘brushing scam’.

A statement on the Whitehouse Police Department’s Facebook explained a brushing scam is 'an exploit by a vendor used to bolster product ratings and increase visibility online by shipping an inexpensive product to an unwitting receiver and then submitting positive reviews on the receiver’s behalf under the guise of a verified owner'.

People were told not to plant the seeds.


They added: "Although not directly dangerous, we would still prefer that people contact us to properly dispose of the seeds."

Arkansas wasn’t the only state to have seen the odd packages. Some 27 states including Washington, Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada and Texas, reported people received such packages they had not ordered.

Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported they had received over 900 emails from people who had the packages delivered to them.


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