Chapter 37 hunger artist

Hunger shows have been noticeably neglected in recent decades.Earlier, everyone held such large-scale performances spontaneously with great interest, and the income was not bad.But today, none of this is possible.Things were really different back then than they are now.At that time, the whole city was busy for the hunger show, and the audience was growing day by day, everyone was eager to see the hunger artist perform at least once a day.Near the end of the performance, many people bought long-term tickets and sat in front of the small iron cage every day. Even at night, there were endless audiences.In order not to lose the effect, people hold torches.When the weather is nice, the cages are moved out into the open air, and this is done for the children, who have a special interest in hunger artists.Adults mainly watch it for fun and fashion, but children are completely different. When they saw the pale and skinny hunger artist in black tights, they were nervous and stunned. They held each other's hands for courage. tight.The hunger artist didn't even bother with a chair, just sat down on the hay that was strewn across the cage.Sometimes he nodded politely to everyone, and sometimes answered everyone's questions with a strong smile.He also stuck his arms out of the fence from time to time so that people could feel how thin he was.Then deep in thought, nobody was there for him, not even the ticking of the clock (the only thing in the cage) that was so important to him in the cage, just the eyes that were almost closed Staring blankly at the front, occasionally sip the water in the small glass to moisten his lips.

In addition to the bustling and endless stream of spectators, there were also fixed supervisors elected by the crowd to guard there.The strange thing is that these guards are usually butchers, and they always work in groups of three, watching the hunger artist day and night to prevent him from stealing food by some secret means.In fact, this is just a form of comfort to everyone, because everyone knows that a hunger artist never eats during hunger performances, and even if someone forces him to eat, he will remain indifferent.The honor of his art would not permit him to do so.Of course, not every guard understands this.Some guards on the night shift were very sloppy. They sat in a corner far away from the hunger artist and buried themselves in playing cards, deliberately giving him a chance to eat.The hunger artist was miserable with such guards, who depressed him and made his hunger performances very difficult.Sometimes, in spite of his weakness, he tried to sing loudly while they were guards, in order to show the gang how unfair their suspicions were to him.But it doesn't help.These guards were even more impressed by his spiritual skills, and that he could even eat while singing.Therefore, Hunger Artists especially like those guards who "enforce the law impartially". They sit close to the iron gate, think that the light in the hall is too dark, so they hold up the flashlight provided by the performance manager to illuminate themselves brightly.The harsh light didn't bother him at all, he couldn't sleep at all anyway, but no matter the light, no matter the time of day, even if the hall was full of people and noise, he could always manage to take a nap.He was more than happy to spend sleepless nights with such guards, laughing with them, telling them about his vagabond life, and then hearing their anecdotes.All this to keep the guards awake, to keep them seeing that there was nothing to eat in his cage, that he was starving, and no guard could do that.What excites him the most is paying out of his own pocket in the morning and treating the guards to a delicious breakfast delivered by others.These strong men were all like hungry wolves rushing to eat after a hard all night, with a big appetite.However, some people think that a dinner party is suspected of being a bribe. not easy.

All kinds of suspicions like these seem to be difficult for hunger artists to get rid of.None of the guards could have been around the hunger artist day and night without interruption, so no one had ever witnessed whether he was indeed constantly starving.Only the hunger artist himself knows best, and only he can be regarded as the audience who is most satisfied with his hunger performance.But again he was never satisfied for another reason.Perhaps his emaciated body was not caused by hunger at all, but by dissatisfaction with himself, so that some people did not come to watch the hunger show out of sympathy for him, because these people could not bear to see him being tortured. tortured look.In fact, he himself understands that performing a hunger show is extremely simple, and it is the easiest thing to do in the world. I'm afraid even experts don't know this.In this regard, the hunger artist is outspoken, but people just don't believe it.It's okay to say in good faith that he is humble, but most people think he is boastful, and even more that he is a liar. Of course he finds it easy to be hungry because he knows how to make it easy , and he was so brazen that he refused to tell the truth 100%.All this, the hunger artist has to endure.After a long time, he also got used to it, but the unhappiness deep in his heart always disturbed his peace.One must attest to the fact that the hunger artist never voluntarily left his cage at the end of a hunger show.After the show manager sets a maximum period of forty days for each round of performances, he will never allow hungry artists to go hungry any longer, even in the great cities of the world.It is reasonable for the manager to do this, because according to past experience, the interest of the people in the city will be fully stimulated through the advertisements that become more and more popular in forty days, and after forty days, the audience will feel tired, and the number of people watching the performance will change accordingly. sharp decrease.There are of course some small differences between cities and villages on this point, but the maximum limit of forty days has become a general rule.On the fortieth day, the doors of the cage were opened, flowers were planted all around the cage, the amphitheater was filled with crowds, the audience was jubilant, and the military band played music.Two doctors entered the cage to perform the necessary tests for the starving artist, and the results were broadcast throughout the theater through loudspeakers.Then two women came forward, happy to have been chosen to help the Hunger Artist out of his cage and down the front steps.On the small table in front of the steps, carefully prepared patient meals have already been set.At such moments the hunger artist always refused, and although he voluntarily offered his skinny arm to the lady who came to help, he refused to stand up.Why did you stop performing just after forty days?He could have been hungry for a long time and endlessly, why should he stop at the most critical moment of his performance?He hasn't had a really good show yet!He could go on starving, not only could he be the greatest hunger artist of all time (which he probably was), but he could go beyond himself to the unthinkable, because he felt his capacity for hunger performance was endless.But why should people take away the honor of continuing to starve?Why don't these people who admire him so much have no patience?He can insist on continuing to perform hunger, why can't these people even be patient as spectators?Alas, he was tired too, and should have sat down on the hay to rest for a while, but now he had to stand up his tall and slender body to eat.He felt sick at the thought of eating, and only swallowed what he wanted to say when he thought of the lady next to him. He looked up at the eyes of the two ladies who were kind on the surface but were cruel, and shook them on his weak neck. That too heavy head.Then, the old tricks came again.The show manager comes on, like a mute, without saying a word (in fact, the music is too loud for him to speak), and he raises his hands on the hungry artist's head, as if inviting God to come down to visit him sitting on the shaggy hay. The work of the martyr worthy of pity.In truth, the hunger artist was a martyr, but in another sense.The manager held the hunger artist's slender waist with both hands, a little too cautiously, and his movements and expressions reminded people that he was not a living person in his hand, but a very fragile object.At this point the manager probably surreptitiously touched the hunger artist so lightly that his feet and upper body swayed from side to side.Immediately afterwards, the manager handed him over to two ladies whose faces were already pale with fright, and the hunger artist was at his mercy, with his head deafly pulled on his chest, as if it had rolled there involuntarily, and then remained motionless for no apparent reason.His body has been hollowed out, his legs are tightly attached to his knees out of self-defense instinct, but his feet are rubbing against the ground, it seems that it is not the real ground, they seem to be looking for a real place to land.His entire, already light body weight leaned over one of the ladies.Panting heavily, she looked left and right, asking for help. She really didn't expect that this glorious job would be like this. She first tried to stretch her neck as much as possible, so that her pretty face could at least avoid "disaster", but she didn't do it arrive.And her luckier partner just trembled, took the hunger artist's hand - which was really just a bone - and walked forward, not helping at all, so angry that the unlucky girl was in the public Amidst the booing and booing, she burst into tears, and the servant who had been waiting on the side had to replace her.Then began to eat, the manager first fed a few spoonfuls of soup to the hunger artist who was in a fainting state, half awake and half asleep, and said a few amusing words by the way, so as to distract everyone from observing the hunger artist's physical condition.He then proposed a toast to the audience, an idea said to have been whispered by the starving artist to the manager, and the band pumped out their energy.Then everyone dispersed, and no one was dissatisfied with what happened, except for one person, the hunger artist himself, who was always dissatisfied.

In this way, performance, rest; rest, performance, he passed year after year, radiant and respected on the surface, but in fact a gloomy mood often haunted him.With no real understanding from anyone, his mood went from bad to worse.How should people comfort him?What more could he want?If some well-meaning sympathetic person tells him that hunger may be the cause of his sorrow, he will fly into a rage (especially after the hunger show has been going on for a while) and wobble frightfully like a ferocious beast fence.But for situations like this, the show manager has his own set of punishments that he likes to employ.He publicly defended the hunger artist and stated that the behavior of the hunger artist can be forgiven, because the abnormal irritability caused by hunger is beyond the comprehension of normal people.Then he began to talk about the hunger artist's own point of view that needs to be explained, saying that he can actually starve much longer than the hunger show he is doing now. The manager greatly appreciated his persistent pursuit, good intentions and Great self-restraint, of course, is included in the words of the hunger artist.Then, he pulled out a stack of photos (which are also for sale) and easily refuted the artist's claims.Because it can be seen from the photos that the hunger artist was lying on the bed on the fortieth day, weak and dying.These are clichés, but they continue to overwhelm the hunger artist.He was outraged at this distortion of the facts, when it was clearly the result of the hunger show ending early, and people were saying it was the reason the show had to be stopped.It is futile to fight against ignorance, against this ignorant world.He always clutched the fence devoutly and hungrily and listened carefully to every word the manager said, but when the manager showed the photos, he let go of the fence every time and sat back on the haystack with a sigh.As a result, the comforted audience gathered around to watch him perform again.

Years later, whenever witnesses to this scene recalled this scene, they could not even understand how it happened, because the incident mentioned occurred in the meantime.This change came extremely suddenly, and there may be more complicated reasons for it, but who will go into it?Regardless, the once-favorite hunger artist one day found himself forgotten by the hilariously addicted audience, who flocked to other venues.The show managers took him on another trek halfway across Europe to see if they could rediscover some lost enthusiasm and interest somewhere, but they found nothing.There seemed to be some sort of tacit agreement, and there was an air of loathing the hunger show everywhere.Of course, this kind of emotion was not formed overnight. It is only because people were too intoxicated with the joy of victory at that time that they did not pay enough attention to it and did not take precautions. Now it is too late to take countermeasures.While it is certain that one day the hunger show will flourish again, that is no consolation to the living.Now, what should hunger artists do?It would be too miserable for the hunger artist who was once cheered by thousands of audiences to perform on the crude stage in the market. Let's do something else. Not only is he too old, but more importantly, he has a deep understanding of hunger performances Crazy pursuit.Finally, he bid farewell to the manager, an incomparable partner in life's journey, and was hired by a huge circus.To avoid further irritation, he didn't even glance at the conditions of the contract.

The circus is indeed very big. Countless people, animals, and equipment can be seen everywhere. They need to be constantly updated and supplemented. No matter who is talented, they can be used in the circus at any time. Of course, hunger performers are no exception. Not harsh.In addition, the reason why he was hired was due to special circumstances, not only because of the artist himself, but more importantly because of his great name back then.In fact, the skills of hunger performances will not be eclipsed with age at all. Based on this alone, at least one cannot say that a hunger artist who is too old and can no longer perform at the peak of his skills wants to hide Go to a quiet place in the circus to dawdle.On the contrary, the hunger artist's assurance that his hunger art remains the same is absolutely credible.He even declared that if people allowed him to act on his own ideas (and they immediately agreed to his request), he would really shake the world and achieve unprecedented sensation.Once excited, the hunger artist has long forgotten the current situation, and his words only make people who know how to laugh.

However, the hunger artist has not forgotten to keep an eye on reality after all.People put him and the cage not in the center of the circus as a wonderful show, but in a traffic intersection, and he also took it for granted.The cage is surrounded by slogans, and those bright and colorful characters tell people what to see there.If the audience flocks to the zoo during a break between other shows, they always walk past The Hunger Artist and stop there for a while.If the road is not narrow and crowded, and the people behind can understand why the audience in front are not in a hurry to see the beast and stop, people may be able to stay in front of him for a while and slowly appreciate his performance.That's why the hunger artist doesn't tremble when he sees the audience approaching him.He takes people to watch himself as the purpose of life, so he naturally looks forward to this kind of moment.At first, he was eagerly looking forward to the rest of the show, and he was ecstatic when he saw crowds of audiences flocking towards him, but he soon saw that the audience's intention was to see the beast, and every time they did so, almost Without exception, even the most obstinate and willful self-deceit will have to admit this fact.But no matter what, watching the audience walking towards him in the distance is what makes him the happiest. When people rushed over, there was continuous shouting and scolding. Some people watched his performance slowly, not out For the sake of his understanding (these people made the Hunger Artist very painful), they deliberately made trouble with those who urged them behind, while others were anxious to go to the animal farm.After the crowd passed, the rest were some latecomers, who were not urged to chase them away, and could have stayed in his presence for a while if they were interested, but these people strode straight to the animal field without turning their eyes.Still, hunger artists occasionally hit lucky moments.Sometimes the father brought the child to him, and the father pointed out and explained in detail what happened. He talked about the past, saying that he had seen similar performances before, but the grand occasion was unprecedented.But children have never experienced these things in school or in life, so they still can't understand what adults say. It's no wonder, how can they understand what hunger is?But something new, futuristic, and more benevolent gleamed from their probing, sparkling eyes.The hunger artist sometimes quietly thinks that if his performance venue is a little farther away from the zoo, maybe the situation will be better, and now it is so close to the zoo, it is easy for people to choose to see the beast, not to mention the smell of the zoo. The nocturnal noises of the animals, the noise of people walking around while delivering raw meat to the beasts, and the wild hissing of the animals when feeding disturbed him, causing him to be depressed for a long time.However, he didn't have the guts to tell the circus leaders.He still has to thank those beasts, without them, how could he attract so many viewers?What's more, among the crowd, there was someone who was really coming for him.If he were to call attention to his own existence, it was immediately assumed that he was—literally—a mere obstacle to the menagerie, who knew where he would be tucked.

Of course it's just a small obstacle, and it's getting smaller and smaller.It is a strange thing in this day and age that people should bother with a hunger artist, but people have become accustomed to strange phenomena, and it was this habit that condemned him.He wanted to do his hunger show to the best of his ability, and he did, but none of this could save him from his fate.The audience passed in front of him as quickly as passers-by.Go try teaching people the art of hunger!But it is impossible for anyone who has not experienced the art of hunger to comprehend it.The beautiful large colored letters had been stained and blurred, and they had been torn off without thought of replacing them with new ones.The numbers on the little plaques used to count the days of the Hunger Show, which used to have new records every day, are now neglected, and the numbers stay the same for days, because after a few weeks, even the recorders themselves get tired of the monotony of the job greasy.Although the hunger artist keeps doing hunger performances, which is what he dreamed of in the past and what he once boasted about, and now he can do whatever he wants, but no one records the number of days of performances for him, no one, not even He himself didn't know to what extent his achievements had reached, and his heart became heavy.If at any time some idle fellow came along and made fun of the old number and called it a hoax, his words were really the stupidest lies capable of indifference and malice.For the hunger artist works honestly, and he does not cheat others, but the world cheats him of his wages.

Many days passed, and the show was over.One day the cage attracted the attention of a caretaker, who asked the servants why a good cage was left unused, and the straw in it was moldy and smelly, and no one knew about it until one of them saw the tally. The little sign, he suddenly remembered the hunger artist.People used sticks to poke the rotten weeds and found him inside. "You still haven't eaten?" asked the caretaker. "When will you finish?" "Everyone, please forgive me." The hunger artist whispered weakly, only the caretaker could hear him clearly As he pressed his ear to the fence, "Of course, of course." The caretaker nodded and pointed his hand to his forehead, in order to suggest to others that the hunger artist's physical condition was very dangerous, "Of course we will forgive you. "I've been thinking, you guys can appreciate my hunger show," said the hunger artist.

"We really appreciate it," said the overseer enthusiastically. "But you shouldn't appreciate it," said the hunger artist. "Then we don't appreciate it," said the overseer, "why shouldn't we appreciate it?" "Because I can only starve, and there is nothing else I can do," said the Hunger Artist. "Look, it's weird, isn't it," said the caretaker, "Why don't you have any other choice?" On the back of his ear, he was afraid of revealing a word, "Because I can't find food that suits my appetite. If I find such food, please believe me, I will not invite people to visit, if people are conspicuous, and like you, like Well-fed like everyone." These were the last words of the Hunger Artist, but from his dilated pupils there was a kind of conviction that was no longer pride but firm belief: he would Go on hungry.

"Okay, let's get it together!" said the caretaker.The starving artist was buried along with the rotten grass.A young jaguar was placed in the cage.Even the dullest of senses would find it a pleasant respite from the sight of the beast thrashing about in its long-unused cage.The leopard lacked nothing, and the custodians would bring it without long thinking about it.The loss of freedom doesn't seem to matter to it. This noble body has everything, not only with claws, but also with freedom, which seems to be hidden somewhere in its teeth.Its joy of life always comes with a mighty roar from its great maw.It is difficult for the audience to enjoy the relief from its joy, but they restrain themselves and huddle around the cage, unwilling to leave at all.