TALE
The Little Girl and the Clown — Chapter 1
A magnificent serialized fairy tale
that touches the fragile strings of the heart.
Caterina Olmi was seven years old when she was first taken to the circus. She had two blue eyes, as big as the sky and as deep as the sea. Gold curls fell over her shoulders. She almost looked like a princess. Caterina Olmi was a very pretty little girl. Good, sweet. Maybe a little too sensitive. But she had a big heart. The daughter that every mother would like.
That evening she was at the circus with her parents and her older brother Marcello. She was such a sweet child that you got diabetes just looking at her.
“I’ve never seen a lion!” She said to Marcello, sitting in the front row. — “I could make it befriend Melly.”
Melly was her kitten, whom she had brought with her that evening as well. In reality, the public could not bring animals. But for Caterina, they had made an exception. Seeing her, in fact, so pretty, with such pleading eyes, the guardians at the entrance had not been able to say no to her.
“She will be good, still, and silent.” — Caterina had said. — “Melly is not like other cats. It is almost a person.”
Her little voice had been so credible that the keepers believed her. And now Melly was sitting on Caterina’s lap, perhaps she too is eager to see the lions. Or maybe just happy with her mistress.
The circus was great. A shed large enough to hold at least five hundred spectators. The ceiling almost touched the sky. Caterina looked up and saw ropes up there. She immediately thought of the trapeze artists, whom she had seen on television several times. She dreamed that she herself was a trapeze artist up there.
She was all intent on her thoughts when she felt something warm spread over her legs. She took a good look at herself and saw that Melly had done the mess right on her new dress. The child turned to her mother and with a big smile exclaimed:
“Melly is so scared that she got it on her own!”
That little girl had the ability to minimize everything. Her mother smiled, a little strained to be honest. Then she replied:
“I have the spare part in my bag. Let’s go to the bathroom.”
In fact, knowing that her daughter was a little naughty, she carried everything in her bag. Even once her husband had found a saucepan there. With a quizzical air he asked her: “Why?” and his wife had replied with great ease: “Caterina may be hungry!”. That woman really thought of everything.
The two, mother and daughter, went to the bathroom: the child was newly dressed. As they returned to their station, they caught a glimpse of someone behind the scenes.
A man sitting on a barrel, with his hands on his face, thin as a scarecrow from which the sparrows have snatched all the straws one by one. He sobbed silently, shedding hot tears, which crashing to the floor crumbled her heart drop by drop. He looked desperate. Little by little his mood had devoured him, almost like a moth that mercilessly gnaws at wood.
“Mom, what’s wrong with that gentleman?” Caterina asked.
“I do not know. Maybe he’s concentrating before the show.”
“Looks sad. Can’t you see he’s crying?”
“These are not our business.”
The mother took Caterina by the hand and carried her away. Caterina looked at the man, turning her neck until she was in her line of sight. Then she didn’t see him anymore.
“He was sad.” —she concluded.
The show began at nine o’clock sharp. A great trumpet blast started and immediately a man came out. He was the presenter. He wore a glow-in-the-dark green suit that blinded your eyes just looking at him. And when he began to speak into the microphone, his words stung your ears just to hear him. In fact, the microphone transformed his voice so that it was no longer that of a human being, but of a crow. The effect was intended.
“Good evening to all, ladies and gentlemen. We have a special program tonight. You will see all sorts of animals, from lions to monkeys to snakes. Any animal that is on the face of the earth.”
There was a roundup of various animal species occasionally interspersed with some trapeze numbers or some contortionist. Caterina remained speechless all the time. She was happy. As always, after all. That little girl was always happy.
She had happiness inside. Like a sprout that someone has planted, but it’s up to you to cultivate. If you water it as a child, it slowly grows, becoming more and more prosperous, otherwise, it dries up and what remains is sadness.
The presenter kept presenting numbers after numbers and the cheers grew. The crowd was thrilled. Just as he was about to present the number on the lions, a very peculiar man took the stage.
He wore a red wig. The red nose. The big red mouth, with white outlines, painted, red and white checkered trousers, which looked like a tablecloth to eat on, suspenders, and a blue shirt. He was so thin that he could pass between two wisps of rain. That man was a clown. Laughed. And it was funny.
“I’ll tell you a story.” He said, addressing all the children.
“Yeeeee !!!” — all the children in the audience answered, in chorus.
The clown began to tell funny stories. And all the children laughed. They were intrigued by that funny and mysterious figure at the same time. Only Caterina could not laugh.
“Something wrong, baby?” Her mother asked.
“Ninth.” — replied the child, a little perplexed. “It’s just a little weird. How does a person first be sad, cry and sob, and then laugh like that?”
“I do not understand.” Said the mother.
“The clown on stage,” — explained the child, — “is the gentleman who used to cry. The one sitting on the barrel.”
Her mother hadn’t noticed. She looked at the clown well and recognized him. Caterina was right. The clown was the man who cried behind the scenes.
“Maybe he was just a little tense before the show.” — ventured the mother.
“No. That gentleman is not happy. It is shown in his eyes.”
Caterina was a very sensitive child. She was able to see a person’s heart from his eyes. It was as if she was looking out of the window of a person’s eyes and was able to look inside, seeing every little thing.
“That gentleman is sad.” — concluded the child. —” But I can’t understand how he laughs.”
She did not have time to finish the sentence when the clown from the microphone said:
“Now I will choose a child from the audience, who will be my assistant, in my experiment.”
All the children were happy. Everyone hoped to be the chosen one. The choice of the clown, however, in one way or another, fell on Caterina Olmi.
“You!” — the clown exhorted, with a smile that accentuated all his red mouth.
At first, Caterina was a little hesitant. But then, under the pressure of her mother, she took the stage.
“What’s your name?” The clown asked her.
“Caterina Olmi.” Replied the child, who looked too serious to be on a circus stage.
“Are you scared?” — continued the clown.
“No.” — She stopped for a moment. Then in a very decisive tone, she added: — “Mr. clown, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, Caterina, tell me!” The clown spread his lips again, accentuating the red, red mouth again.
“Why did you cry before the show and now you smile instead? From your eyes, I see that you are not happy. Why?”
The clown froze. Almost as if someone had stabbed him in the heart. Sweat began to run down his forehead. He was deeply embarrassed. But even more embarrassed were Caterina’s parents. So much so that his mother took courage, went up on stage, and picked up her daughter.
“I’ll never take you to the circus again!” — she admonished her when she took Caterina to her place.
“But” … — replied the child.
Meanwhile, the clown was petrified on stage. The presenter intervened and continued to present the number of lions, apologizing for the inconvenience.
Trapeze artists grabbed the clown and carried him behind the scenes.
