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The Fakir and the Science of Miracles/Chapter One: The Circus of Mr. Lurie

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Chapter One:
The Circus of Mr. Lurie

The director of the circus strolled leisurely through the city. There were still two days left until the first performance. He admired the colorful posters for the new program of his circus, which were adorned round on advertising stands with the words: “The circus of Mr. Lurie! Acrobats and riders! Tamers of tigers and lions! Jugglers and clowns!”

His thoughts were filled with satisfaction: “The city is large, there must be very many people here. The proceeds and multiplication in fame of one of the best circuses in Europe — all this is waiting for us here!” Such prospects amused the pride of the director, whose name was Etienne Lurie, and, in high spirits, he continued on his way.

Not too far from him, a crowd of spectators had gathered around one of the stands that had his poster on it. They were clapping enthusiastically.

Mr. Etienne was curious and came closer.

In front of the crowd, a little blond girl of about five or six years old bowed and collected coins in a basket.

“Do it again! We missed the beginning!” — several spectators, who had recently arrived, asked.

… The girl made a funny bow and an air kiss — as it was done on the playbill for the circus of Mademoiselle Sisi. And then she began to show her performance again.

The director was about to move on… But then a few movements of the little actress intrigued him to stay.

Yes, it was a real “nugget” — such natural flexibility comes once in a hundred years! The whole ridiculousness of it disappeared, the girl became the very definition of elegance and grace, and she was happy because with incredible skill she performed a few flips, did two cartwheels without stopping, and then gracefully bent backwards like a bridge. It was clear that no one had ever taught her such things; after all, the movements were not perfect. But, in fact, to perform such twisting poses, with such ease, requires years of training!

The director once again examined her from head to toe with a professional’s eye. A beautiful appearance, blond curly hair… She could easily be turned into an angel if one were to wash and properly dress her!

He was already starting to imagine the girl as a soaring angel in a white-pink dress under the dome of the circus.

When the audience dispersed and the girl looked pleased with the pennies that she had received, Mr. Etienne Lurie approached her and asked:

“Who taught you this?”

“I did myself. I saw the circus performers on the square and how they were applauded and given a lot of money. So, I too decided to make enough money to cure my mother.”

“Is your mother sick?”

… The girl became sad:

“She died this winter…”

“And with whom do you live?”

“The hostess, from whom my mother and I rented a room, allowed me to stay and live there, so that I could pay off her debt. My mother was ill for a long time and did not pay our rent…

“Don’t you have any more relatives?”

“No…”

“Do you want to perform in a real big circus? This one?” — the director pointed his finger to the poster. — “You will have a beautiful dress with sparkles and a gold hoop in your hair. And — satin shoes.”

“I want to… But only who will let me go there?”

“I myself am the director of this circus. I want to turn you into a real performer!”

The girl’s eyes expressed surprise and delight. The director himself noted the immediacy and emotionality of his new acquisition.

“Now all that remains is to complete the formalities. If the girl does not have relatives, then it will be quite easy!” — he thought.

“What’s your name?”

“Katya.”

“We’ll have to think up a real circus name for you. For example — Little Mademoiselle Kitty!”

Katya was very surprised that she might be called Mademoiselle…

And the director took Katya by the hand and went to the nearest bakery. He fed the girl with cakes and offered tea. Through this, he finally won her over to himself.

Then he talked strictly with the hostess for a long time, while Katya packed her meager belongings.

He gave the landlady a little less money than she wanted. After all, Mr. Etienne did not like to waste money, spending it on the greed of other people.

When all the preparations were completed, he stopped the coachman and, loading up all the property of Katya, which had been stored in a small pack and suitcase, sat Katya beside him and asked the man to take them to the circus of Mr. Lurie.

* * *

Then, for a while, everything that happened next seemed to Katya like a fairy tale.

Even the fat German named Franz, whose job it was to choreograph the circus numbers, — and to whom Katya was given, at first seemed nice to her.

She even liked his funny accent. He used a mix of words from different languages, including certain circus words, which were unfamiliar to Katya, for body movements, as well as commands. And when he was angry, he spoke only in German.

The word “allé” was now the main word in Katya’s life.

She was dressed up in a thin leotard and a very short gown for trainings. And the circus dressmaker took measurements and began to sew a special dress for Katya’s performances — with sparkles and small wings.

Katya perceived all this as… magical!

And she even could watch all the shows every day!

In the inaccessible to the public premises of the circus, where specially trained circus animals lived, she stroked — with permission of the trainers — clever dogs and cats, monkeys, and horses! With admiration, she looked at the huge elephant named Tubo, and the lions and tigers!

The world of the circus was special, with its own laws and rules. Katya studied them gradually.

But the feeling that her life had suddenly turned into a fairy tale, ended very soon.

Mr. Franz forced her to do more and more exercises every day from morning to evening. Her body was constantly sore from overstrain and bruises.

She always heard his: “bad!”, “wrong!”, “smile!”, “allé!”, “allé!”, “allé!”, “allé!”…

And only very rarely did she hear: “good!”… But then a new exercise was invented at once, which was even more difficult than the one before…

And then a trapeze was added, which was raised higher and higher every time… And the fear of falling became torturous…

“If you are not a good girl, I will drive you into the streets, and there you will die of hunger!” — Franz shouted at her.

Sometimes Katya even wanted to be on the street and die, so that these endless tortures would stop.