Chapter 9 Chapter VII

The carriages were not numbered, and it took me a while to find carriage No. 48. The burgundy body was marked with gold letters 30 centimeters high, "The Benzini Brothers The World's Largest Circus".Under the shiny new paint, slightly raised in the shape of a row of words, it can be seen that "Kirsty Brothers Circus." "Jacob!" Malena's voice floated down a window.A few seconds later, she appeared on the platform at the end of the car, leaning on the railing and waving, her skirt flying. "Jacob! Oh, I'm so glad you got the time, come in!" "Thank you," I said, looked around, climbed into the car, and followed her up the inner walkway and into the second door.

Compartment number three was beautiful and misnamed, not only occupying half a car, but also containing at least one extra room, separated by a thick velvet curtain.The living room has walnut paneling, steel furniture, a corner dining table and a small kitchen. "Don't be restrained, sit down." Malena said, beckoning me over. "August will be here soon." "Thank you." I said. She sits in front of me. "Oh," she jumped up again, "I forgot etiquette, do you want beer?" "Thank you, that's very handsome." She passed by me and hurried to open the freezer.

"Mrs. Rosenblower, may I ask you something?" "Oh, just call me Malena," she said, uncapping the bottle.She held a goblet at an angle and poured the wine slowly from the rim to avoid bubbles. "Ask whatever you want." She handed me the wine glass and went back to pour a second glass. "How come everyone on the train has so much alcohol?" "At the beginning of every season, we always go to Canada." She sat down again. "Their laws are more civilized than ours. Cheers." She toasted. I clink glasses with her and take a sip of a cold, crisp lager.handsome. "Won't it be checked when crossing the border?"

"We put wine and camels together," she said. "Sorry, I don't understand," I said. "Camels can spit." I almost didn't get the beer down my nose.She chuckled, put a hand over her mouth demurely, then she sighed and put down the beer. "Jacob?" "Ok?" "August told me about the morning." I look at the bruised arm. "He's sorry. He likes you, really, it's just... well, hard to say." She stared at her thigh, blushing. "Hey, it's nothing. It's okay." "Jacob!" August called from behind, "my good brother! I'm so glad you can come to our little party. It seems that Marina has poured wine for you, and she brought Have you seen the dressing room?"

"Dressing room?" "Marlena," he said, turning away and shaking his head sadly, reprimanding her with a wagging finger. "Tut tsk, darling." "Oh!" she jumped up, "I've completely forgotten about it!" August walked up to the velvet curtain and pulled it back. "Look!" Three sets of clothes lined up on the bed.Two of them were tuxedos and leather shoes, and a beautiful rose silk gown with beads on the neckline and hem. Marlena exclaimed in joy, clasped her hands, rushed to the bed, picked up the dress, and twirled it around her body.

I turned to August. "Are these Monday Clothes Thieves—" "Do tuxedos hang on the clothesline? No, Jacob, I'm a circus director and there's always something good about it. You can freshen up here," he said, pointing to a polished wooden door. "Marlena and I'm changing here, we've seen each other for a long time anyway, eh, honey?" She grabbed a rose silk shoe and threw him. I close the bathroom door and the last thing I see is two pairs of intertwined legs falling onto the bed. When they came out again, Malena and August hovered in the rear in a stately manner, while three white-gloved waiters were busy setting up a small rolling table and a large plate covered with a silver cover.

The neckline of Malena's gown barely covered her shoulders, revealing her collarbone and a thin bra strap.She followed my gaze, found the shoulder straps, and quickly stuffed them into the dress, her face flushed again. The evening meal was sumptuous, starting with oyster bisque, followed by prime rib, poached potatoes, creamed asparagus, and lobster salad.Dessert was English plum pudding in brandy sauce. I thought I couldn't fit a mouthful, but a few minutes later, I was scraping up the remaining pudding on the bottom of the plate with a spoon. "Apparently Jacob didn't think the dinner was enough," August drew on.

I stopped halfway to scrape the spoon on the plate. "No, little brother, I was joking—it should be obvious." He laughed and leaned over to pat my hand. "Eat it, and enjoy it. Come, eat more." "No, I can't eat anymore." "A little more bar, then," he said, refilling my glass before I could answer. August was sweet, charming, and mischievous enough that I was beginning to think that the Rex thing was a joke gone too far.After a few cups of yellow soup, his face glowed red, and he became a little sentimental, talking about his pursuit of Marlena.Marlena came to the animal tent three years ago, and when August saw the horse with her, he immediately realized that she was very good at horses.He refused to go with the circus troupe until he was so fascinated by Malena that he married him, but Uncle Allen was in a hurry.

"It took a little work," said Auguste, pouring the rest of the champagne into my glass and opening another. "Marlena isn't easy to push around, and she was kind of engaged at the time. Still, working with me in a circus troupe is better than marrying an old-fashioned banker's wife, isn't it, dear? Anyway, it's Marlena It's destiny, not everyone can train horses to do unmanned equestrian shows, it depends on talent, it depends on the sixth sense. This little girl can speak horse language, believe me, those horses really understand .” It's been four hours into the night, we've had six bottles of wine, August and Malena are dancing to "Maybe It's the Moon's Sake," and I'm snuggled up in an upholstered chair with my right leg over the armrest hang down.August took Marlene in a circle, and just as Marlene was spun out and his arms straightened, he stopped dancing suddenly, shaking his whole body, brushing his black hair and letting his bow tie hang down from both sides of his neckline , and unbuttoned the top buttons of the shirt, staring at Malena closely, as if she had changed into another person.

"What's the matter, Xiao Ao? Are you okay?" Marina said. He continued to watch her, tilting his head as if evaluating something.He pursed his lips and began to nod, very slowly, barely moving his head. Marina's eyes widened and she tried to back away, but August grabbed her chin. I sat up straight and leaned forward, suddenly awake. August looked at her for another moment, his eyes burning brightly, his face frosty.Then his face changed again, becoming so vulnerable, I once thought he was going to cry.He pulled Marlena's chin, pulled her into his arms, kissed her on the lips, then entered the bedroom by himself, and fell face down on the bed.

"Sorry, I'll come as soon as I go." Malena said. She went into the bedroom, turned him over, let him lie flat in the middle of the bed, and took off his shoes, letting them fall to the floor.When she came out, she closed the velvet curtains, then immediately changed her mind, opened the curtains, turned off the radio, and sat across from me. A deep snore sounded like a king from the bedroom. My head was buzzing and I was completely drunk. "What the hell just happened?" I said. "What?" Malena kicked off her shoes, crossed her legs, and leaned over to rub her arches.August's fingers left red marks on her chin. "That's it," I slurred, "that's when you were dancing." She looked up suddenly, her face contorted, and for a moment I feared she was going to cry, but she turned to the window, one finger to her lips, and was silent for almost half a minute. "About Xiao Ao, there is something you need to clarify, but I don't know how to explain it." I leaned forward, "Tell me about it." "He's a very... volatile man. He could be the most attractive man in the world, like tonight." I waited for her to continue, "And then...?" She leaned back in the chair, "Then, um, he...will play his temper, like during the day." "How is the day?" "He almost sent you into the belly of a big cat." "Oh, well, I can't say I'm happy, but I'm in no danger at all, Rex has no teeth." "No, but it has a weight of 180 kilograms and claws." She said quietly. I put down my glass and gradually realized that this incident was not a joke.Marina was silent for a moment, then raised her eyes to meet mine. "Isn't Jankowski a Polish name?" "Yes, of course." "Most Poles don't like Jews." "It didn't occur to me that August was Jewish." "His last name is Rosenblower, isn't that obvious enough?" Her eyes were downcast, her hands resting on her lap, wringing them. "My family is Catholic, and when they found out that August was Jewish, they severed ties with me." "It's a pity, but I'm not surprised." She suddenly looked up. "That's not what I meant. I'm not...that kind of person." We fell into an awkward silence. "Why did you invite me here tonight?" I finally said, my drunken head was powerless to think. "I want you two to reconcile." "Really? He doesn't welcome me as a guest?" "No, of course he welcomes you. He also wants to apologize to you, but he is a little bit embarrassed. He can't hold back his temper, and he is very embarrassed himself. The best way is to pretend that nothing happened." She Sniffing, and with a tight smile on my face, I said, "You sure had a good time tonight, didn't you?" "Yeah, dinner was great. Thank you." Silence surrounds us again.It dawned on me that unless I was going to get drunk on the roof in the middle of the night and hop car by car all the way back to the show carriage, I'd have to stay where I was overnight. "Jacob, to be honest, I hope you don't have any lumps in your heart. August is very happy that you joined our circus troupe. So is Uncle Allen." "Why? How to say?" "Uncle Ailan has always been very concerned that there are no veterinarians in the team, and then you suddenly popped up, and you were still in an Ivy school." I stared blankly at her, still trying to figure out the meaning of her words. Malena continued: "Brother Lin Ling and the others have a veterinarian, and Uncle Ailan is very happy to be like Lin Ling." "I thought he hated Lin Ling." "Honey, he wants to be Lin Ling." I threw my head back and closed my eyes, only to feel the world spinning, so I opened my eyes again and tried to focus on the feet hanging from the bed. When I woke up, the train had stopped.is it possible?I didn't wake up to the screeching brakes?But the sun was pouring on me from the windows, my brain was pounding inside my skull, my eyes were hurting, and my mouth tasted like gutter. I staggered to my feet and glanced at the bedroom.August put his arms around Marlena, crossed her body with his arms, and the two of them lay on the bed cover, their clothes from last night had not been changed. I came out of carriage No. 48, still wearing a tuxedo, with my own clothes tucked under my armpits, attracting the attention of others.When I walked to the end of the train, there were mostly entertainers, and they looked at me coldly with great interest.Passing the worker's sleeping car, the gaze cast on me became more serious and suspicious. I carefully climbed into the performance carriage and pushed open the door of the lamb house. Jinke was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a pornographic cartoon in one hand and stroking the penis in the other.He stopped the movement of the bottom of his hand, and the purple smooth glans was exposed outside his hand.There was silence for a heartbeat, and then an empty Coke can whized towards my head and I dodged it. "Get out!" Jinke roared, and the Coke can hit the door frame behind me.He jumped up, his erection bouncing wildly. "Get out!" He held up another can of Coke and hit me again. I turned to face the wall, covered my head, and threw my clothes on the floor.I heard a zipper being pulled, and a moment later, the complete works of Shakespeare fell against the wall next to me. "Okay, okay," I yelled, "I'll just get out!" I left the room, closed the door, and stood against the wall.There were endless curses in the room. Ortiz came to the door of the cattle carriage, looked at the closed door vigilantly, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hey, handsome guy, are you coming to help take care of the animals?" "Of course, of course." I jumped to the ground. He glared at me. "What's wrong?" I said. "Aren't you going to change out the monkey clothes first?" I glanced at the closed door as something heavy hit the inner wall. "Well, it's okay. I'd better not change clothes yet." "Whatever you want. Cliff let the big cat out, and he wants us to bring the meat." The camel carriages were noisier this morning. Ortiz said: "These grass eaters really hate being with the meat bucket. I hope they don't kick around like this, we have a long way to go." I opened the door and flies flew out.The stench drilled into my nostrils, and maggots came into view at the same time.I managed to walk a few steps away before I started throwing up, and Ortiz, like me, bent over and hugged his stomach to throw up. After he vomited, he took a few deep breaths, took out a dirty handkerchief from his pocket, covered his mouth and nose and went back to the carriage, took out a bucket and rushed to the edge of the woods to dump it, holding his breath and rushing back halfway before stopping. Bending down, panting with hands on knees. I wanted to help, but every time I approached the car I felt sick again. When Ortiz came back I gasped and said, "I'm sorry. I can't, there's nothing I can do." He gave me a hard look. I feel the need to explain. "My stomach is not right. I drank too much last night." "Yes, I think so too. Sit down, monkey boy, and I'll do it." Ortiz lifted all the remaining meat barrels to the edge of the forest and dumped them into a pile, and the flies buzzed. We left the doors of the camel carriages wide open, but ventilation alone obviously couldn't get rid of the stench. We unloaded the camels and llamas, tied them to the side of the train, and then watered the floor and took long-handled brooms to clear the filth out of the cars.The car still stinks, but we did our best. After we've got the other animals in order, I head back to the show carriage.Silver Star was lying on her side, and Marlena was kneeling beside her. The rose dress from last night hadn't been changed yet.I walked past the long row of stable partitions and stood beside her. Silver Star is barely open, wincing at some irritant we can't see, grunting. "It's getting worse," Malena said without looking at me. After a moment I said, "That's right." "Is there any hope of it recovering? Is there any hope?" I hesitated, because the words that came to my tongue were lies, and I really couldn't say them. "It's okay if you say it straight, I want to know the facts." "There's no hope, I'm afraid there's no hope at all." She put one hand on its neck and didn't move. "Since that's the case, you have to promise to give it a good time. I don't want it to suffer." I understood what she wanted me to do, closed my eyes and said, "I promise." She stood up and stared at the horse.I was surprised that she was so calm. When she was still completely at a loss, she made a strange sound in her throat, followed by a deep moan, and then burst into tears. He hugged his chest, his shoulders twitched and he couldn't breathe, as if he was about to pass out. I was dumbfounded.I don't have a sister, and I have limited experience comforting women, and none of them are life-or-death matters.I hesitated for a moment before putting my hand on her shoulder. She turned and fell into my arms, her wet cheeks pressed against my shirt, no, it was August's.I stroked her back and hissed her until she stopped wailing and was just sobbing.Then she pushed me away. Her eyes and the tip of her nose were swollen and red, and her face was shiny with snot.She blew her nose and wiped her lower eyelids with the back of her hand, as if that would help.Then she puffed up her chest and walked out of the carriage on her high heels without looking back. "August," I said, standing by the bed and shaking his shoulders.He rolled over limply, sleeping like a dead man. I bent down and yelled into his ear, "August!" He grunted and lost his temper. "August! Get up!" He finally moved, turned over, and covered his eyes with his hands. "Ouch, God. Ouch, God, I think my head is going to explode, can you close the curtains?" "Do you have a gun?" Hands jerked away from his eyes, he sat up straight. "what?" "I'm going to kill Silver Star." "no." "I have no choice." "You heard what Uncle Ailan said. If there is something wrong with that horse, he will send you to the red light." "What the hell does that mean?" "Just throwing it off the train, and while the train is moving. If you're lucky, you can see the red lights of the station where you get off, and you can still find your way back to town. In case you Xing Gaozhao, hey, you have to pray that the train didn't happen to be walking on the viaduct when they opened the door." I suddenly understood what Lao Luo meant when he said to discuss with Lao Hei, and I also understood the meaning of what they said when I first met Uncle Ai Lan. "In that case, then I'll try my luck and stay here, and I won't get in the car and go with you later. Anyway, the horse's time has come." August stared at me with panda eyes. "Damn it." He finally opened his mouth, moved his legs to the ground, sat on the edge of the bed, and rubbed his stubbled cheeks. "Does Marlena know?" he asked, bending over to tickle his toes through his socks. "Know." "Do it." He stood up as he said, with one hand on his head, "Ailan will definitely jump up in anger, well, meet me in the performance carriage later, and I will take the gun over." I turned to go. "Well, Jacob?" "Huh?" I said. "Take off my tuxedo first." I went back to the show carriage, the door was open.I poked my head in, and it was messy inside, but Jinke wasn't there.I went inside and changed back into casual clothes.A few minutes later, August arrived with a rifle. "Here," he said, climbing up the ramp, handing me the gun, and slipping two more bullets into the palm of my other hand. I pocketed one round and handed him the other. "One is enough." "What if you miss the shot?" "What's the matter, August, I'll stand next to it and shoot." He glared at me and took the bullet. "Okay, fine, take it off the train and keep it away from the train." "You're kidding, it can't walk." "You can't do it here. The other horses are outside." I look him straight in the eye. "Damn." It took him a long time to say anything, then he turned and leaned against the wall, tapping his fingers on the wooden bar. "Okay, no problem." He went to the door and said, "Ortiz! Joe! Take all these horses, at least to the second train." Someone was chattering outside. "Yeah yeah, I know. But they're gonna have to wait. Yeah, I know, I'm going to tell Alan we've got a little... trouble," August said. He said to me, "I'm going to find Alan." "You'd better go find Marlena too." "Didn't you say she knew?" "Yeah, but I don't want no one by her side when the gunshots sound. Do you want her to face it alone?" August glared at me for a long time, then trudged down the ramp, his legs so strong that the ramp bounced under his feet. I waited for a full fifteen minutes. On the one hand, it was to give August time to inform Uncle Ailan and Marlena, and on the other hand, it was to allow others to take the other horses far enough away. I finally picked up the rifle, loaded it, and pulled the safety.I put Silver Star's muzzle against the end of the stable.Its ears twitch.I leaned against it, stroked its neck, put the muzzle of the gun under its left ear, and pulled the trigger. There was a crack and the butt of the gun hit my shoulder.Silver Star's life ended, his muscles suddenly spasmed, and then remained still.A desperate wail came from afar. I climbed down from the cattle car, my ears buzzing, but I thought the scene was eerily quiet.A small group of people gathered and stood there motionless with heavy faces.One took his hat off his head and pressed it to his chest. I walked a few meters, climbed onto the grassy bank, sat down and rubbed my shoulders. Ortiz, Pete, and Earl got into the car, put the rope around Silver Star's hind legs, and dragged the lifeless body down the ramp.The lying position made her belly look big and fragile, a smooth white with black-skinned genitalia.Every time they pulled the rope, the dead horse nodded. I sat there for almost an hour, staring at the grass between my feet.I plucked a few blades of grass and wrapped them around my fingers, wondering how it took so long to move a horse carcass. After a while, August came to me.First he looked at me, then bent down and picked up the rifle.I never realized I was carrying a gun with me all the way. "Come on, friend. Don't be left here without a ride." "I just want to stay." "Never mind what I told you. I talked to Alan, no one wants to see a red light, you're safe." I stared morosely at the ground, and after a moment August sat down beside me. "What's wrong?" he said. "How's Marina?" I replied. August looked at me for a moment, then took a pack of Camels from his shirt pocket and shook out a cigarette for me to smoke. "No thanks," I said. "Is this your first time killing a horse?" He picked up the cigarette directly from the box. "No, but that doesn't mean I feel good about killing horses." "You are a veterinarian, so it is inevitable that you will have to do something, little brother." "Strictly speaking, I'm not a veterinarian." "You just missed the exam, what's the difference?" "The difference is huge." "No, it's not bad at all. The certificate is just a piece of paper, and no one cares about it here. Now that you are a member of our regiment, the rules are different." "How to say?" He waved to the train. "Tell me frankly, do you think this is the world's largest circus?" I was silent. "Huh?" He pushed me with his shoulder. "I have no idea." "Then let me tell you, we are far behind. We probably won't even be in the top 50. Our size may be 30% that of the Lin Ling brothers. You already know that Marlena is not a Romanian royal family, and Lu Where's Cinda? She doesn't have the 400 kilograms we claim, she only weighs 200 at most. Do you really think that Frank Otto got tattooed because he provoked a headhunter in Borneo? Shit, no. He It was originally the person in charge of piling in the Feitian Brigade, but it took nine years to stab it like that. Do you want to know how Uncle Ailan disposed of the dead hippopotamus? He replaced the water of the hippopotamus with formalin and continued to exhibit it We just took the hippopotamus soaked in formalin for two weeks. Jacob, it's all hallucinations, and there's nothing wrong with that. People come to see hallucinations, and they don't expect anything else from us." He stood up and held out a hand.After a while, I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. We walk to the train. "Damn it, August. I almost forgot, the big cats haven't been fed yet, we dumped the meat." "Little brother, it's okay, everything is settled." "Fixed? What do you mean?" I stop. "August? What do you mean it's done?" August walked on, the gun casually slung over his shoulder.