The red-haired clown. A novel. Elena Fedorova

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СКАЧАТЬ Benosh will look better than that gray gentleman in a bowler.”

      “We-e-ell, that’s a strong comparison,” the Director grinned. “Nobody can look better than the banker Schtanzer.”

      “We will try,” having winked at him, Lele said. “Besides, we have one little, tiny advantage it is youth.”

      “Bravo, Lele!” the Director began to laugh. “You are the smartest woman I have ever met in my life. If it weren’t for your Bebe and my…” he began to whisper. “Gilda…”

      The Director came out from behind the table, hugged Lele, kissed her on the neck, the only spot with no makeup. She stared wide-eyed, pressed a finger to her lips, and shook her head.

      “Ah, I have forgotten that we match Matilda,” the Director exclaimed, releasing Lele out of his embrace. He looked at Charles and said in a stern voice:

      “Today, at half past five, Matilda will be ready to go with you to the cinema.”

      “But the boy has absolutely nothing to pay for the tickets in the cinema,” the ingratiating whisper of Lele sounded behind him. “Benosh wanted to outdo the banker so much that…”

      “Okay, okay, I got it,” the Director grinned, having written another check. “Lele, you can turn me round your finger.”

      “I use this gift extremely rare, Rudolf,” she said coquettishly.

      “I appreciate this, dear,” he smiled, having handed her another check. “This is for Bebe.”

      “Thank you,” she sang and pushed Charles towards the door.

      “We are fabulously rich,” she exclaimed when the teller gave her cash. “We can leave everything and run to the end of the world. But…” she became very serious. “We will never do this because we are people of honour, though, we wear a clownish attire. We have no right to let Rudolf Welzer down. He is a very good fellow and a very, very unhappy man,” Lele sighed. “Okay, let’s go. Today, I am not going to tell you heartbreaking stories because you have to take Matilda to the cinema.”

      “And can we do without this?” Charles hopefully asked, anticipating the answer of Lele in advance.

      “No,” she stated in a categorical tone.

      “Lele, you know that I do not like this fat Matilda,” Charles began to whimper.

      “People will point their fingers at us and will

      giggle.”

      “Haven’t you gotten used to people laughing at you?” she asked, having frowned.

      “You should consider yourself a hero of the scene, a king of the circus arena. Be above the crowd. Remember, darling, everything that happens outside of Chapiteau is the same circus. You just do not know the sequence of numbers and the number of artists, involved in the program, so you should be prepared to perform your favourite trick at any moment. Okay?” she flicked him on the nose. “Smile, my dear, we are being watched.”

      “Who is watching us?” having looked around, Charles asked. Lele climbed the steps, opened the door of the show-booth, and answered:

      “Eternity… Someday, we all will appear before the Almighty. We all will give Him an account of our deeds, words, and even thoughts. Therefore, do not think evil. Let your soul be pure and light, like a feather. After all, souls but not bodies will be put on the scales of eternity.”

      “Lele, isn’t it too early for you to lecture the little boy?” Bebe asked.

      “No, it isn’t too early,” Lele said, having sat down in front of the mirror.

      Bebe turned. The makeup was completely wiped off his face. It was not easy to recognize the clown Bebe in this man with firm chin, large nose, large far-set eyes rimmed in thick lashes and hairy eyebrows.

      “Most importantly, you shouldn’t be a clown in real life, my son,” Bebe said, looking Charles in the eye. “There is an arena for acting. There is a scene for characters. Everything else is ordinary, everyday life. It can be surprising if you yourself will make every moment unique. Admire, love, kiss, and enjoy what you have. Live happily, do not be sad because of the trifles.”

      “That’s easy for you to say, you are not forced to go to the cinema with the beautiful Matilda,” Charles lamented.

      “Son, look at this from another perspective,” Bebe said. He took Lele by the arms, began to whirl her, dropping stools, throwing right and left clothes left on the floor.

      “You look so delicious, my sweetie, Matilda! I am ready to eat you right away. Wait, wait, wait, I will tie a napkin on the neck, pour a cup of tee-e-ea…” Lele stood up and ran off aside. Bebe began to approach her. “Matilda, where are you going? Matilda, I miss… your forms, curve of your hands…” Lele winded around his neck and rubbed her white cheek on his cheek. He tried to free himself from her embrace. “Matilda, why are you like this with me? Why are you like this? Like this?”

      “I am doing this because you are a fool!” Lele replied. “Only jesters and clowns, like you, can talk such nonsense.”

      “By the way, you are also a clown” Bebe smiled. “The little Benosh is still a hybrid, though, he is already so famous that receives invitations from honourable ladies, gray-haired ladies, and silly, funny girls… Well, okay, joking aside. What will we do next?”

      “Next?” Lele sat down in front of the mirror. “Next, there will begin life without deceit, without hypocrisy and lies…”

      “I will fall from happiness now. Benosh, hold me,” having rolled his eyes, Bebe exclaimed and fell to the hands of Charles.

      Then they went to an expensive shop and chose Charles a strict dark suit, a shirt, a neckerchief, and an expensive pin. Looking at himself in the large full-length mirror, Charles could not decide who he was. A funny clown, a homeless child, a circus actor or…

      “Are you a lord, a milord, or a baron?” having looked behind the screen, Lele asked.

      “I am… Charles Benosh,” he said, having slightly raised the chin. “I am the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet.”

      “Bravo!” Lele exclaimed. “That’s just what I thought. Jesters and kings people of the same rank, same class, so they are always side by side. A king without his faithful jester is nobody. And what about the jester? He is a huge mirror, in which all vices become noticeable hundredfold. Aren’t you happy about this?”

      “About what?” Charles did not understand her.

      “That you, my boy, are a jester. You are the mirror of the crowd, to which people keep coming to look at their vices…” Lele replied.

      “I am tired of being a jester,” Charles frowned.

      “Let’s talk about this before going to bed,” having pushed him to the door, Lele said.

      “It is time, Matilda is waiting for you. It is not СКАЧАТЬ