Chapter 19 Chapter Seventeen

God knows what August will do to Rosie.In his absence, Malena and I curl up on the grass inside the vanity tent, snuggling up to each other like spider monkeys.I hardly uttered a word, just held her head in front of my chest and listened to her hurriedly murmuring the past. She told the story of meeting August.When she was seventeen, there was a steady stream of single men coming to the house for dinner, and one day it dawned on her that her parents had considered those men as candidates for son-in-law.One of them was a banker, middle-aged, with a short chin, thinning hair, and long thin fingers.He came too soon, and she could vaguely see the way out of the future being cut off one by one.

The banker sniffled and said something that made Marina pale and stare in horror at her oyster chowder, while circus posters were plastered all over the city.The wheel of fortune has turned.At that moment, the largest circus troupe in the world of the Benzini brothers is heading towards them, bringing with it a fantasy that is all too real, and for Marina, it is a way out, a way out that is both romantic and harmful . Two days later, on a beautiful sunny day, they went to the circus together.Marina came to the tent and stood in front of a row of handsome black and white Arabian horses.It was then that August approached her for the first time.Her parents wandered to look at the big cat, unaware that a force that was about to change everything had quietly shrouded it.

August is the embodiment of power.He is personable, exquisite and handsome as a devil.Wearing dazzling white breeches, a high hat, and a tuxedo, he exudes majesty and charm.Within a few minutes, he coaxed Marina into agreeing to meet him in secret and go away before the Raches came to find their daughter. Later, they meet in an art gallery.He launched a passionate pursuit.August was twelve years her senior, with the air of a circus director.Before the date is over, he has proposed to Marlena. He is charming and unrelenting.He refused to back down and insisted on marrying Marlena.He narrated how anxious Uncle Allan was, and Uncle Allan also begged her on August's behalf.They had already missed two parts of the itinerary, and a circus would fail if it didn't follow the schedule.Yes, marriage is a lifelong event, but she must understand how her refusal to marry August will affect the members of the regiment.Countless livelihoods depend on her making the right decisions.

Seventeen-year-old Malena reviewed her future in Boston three nights in a row and packed her bags on the fourth day. Speaking of this, she became a teardrop.I still hold her and still rock her gently back and forth.Finally, she backed off, wiping away tears with her hands. "You should go," she said. "I do not want." She whimpered, stretched out her jade hand, and stroked my cheek with the back of her hand. "I want to meet you again." "You can see me every day." "you know what I mean." There was a long silence.Her eyes dropped to the ground, and she opened her mouth a few times before speaking. "no."

"Marlena, for God's sake—" "I just can't see you. I'm married, and since raw rice has become cooked rice, I have to swallow it." I knelt before her and gazed into her face, looking for signs that she wanted me to stay.I waited anxiously for her to nod, knowing that she would not agree. I kissed her forehead and left. I hadn't walked more than forty meters when I heard what Rosie paid for the lemonade.I really don't want to know that kind of detail. Apparently Augustus stormed into the tent angrily and drove all the workers out.The workers couldn't figure out what he was trying to do, and many of them stood outside the animal tent, with their ears stuck to the seams of the canvas, only to hear angry screams.The sound scared the rest of the animals into panic. The chimpanzee hissed, the big cat roared, and the zebra whistled, which shocked the audience outside.Amidst the din, one could still hear the muffled sound like a hook being hit on the flesh, one after another.

Rosie was at first a low moan, then a long, high-pitched howl.Many people couldn't stand it and turned around to leave.One of them ran to call Earl, and Earl went to the animal tent, put his hand in August's armpit, kicked and beat him, and dragged him to Uncle Allen's compartment. Those who stayed behind saw Rosie lying on her side, trembling all over, her feet still chained to the iron stake. "I hate that guy," Walter said.I climbed into the show carriage, and he sat on the cot, stroking Queenie's ears. "I really really hate him." "Who's going to tell me what happened?" Lao Luo called from behind the row of suitcases. "I know something must have happened. Jacob, tell me, Walt won't tell."

I said nothing. Walter went on: "There's no need to be so hard, no need at all. He nearly ran the animals out of the way, which would have killed a lot of people. Were you there? Did you hear anything?" Our eyes meet. "No." I said. "Hey, I also want to know what you are talking about. You seem to treat me as an outsider. Hey, isn't it dinner time?" "I'm not hungry." I said. "Me too," Walter said. Lao Luo is on fire. "But I'm hungry. I bet you two didn't bother to talk about my belly. I'll bet you two didn't even help me, an old man, with a piece of bread."

Walt and I looked at each other.He said, "I was there. Do you want to know what I heard?" "I don't want to." I stared at Kuni, it saw my gaze, and patted the quilt a few times with its short tail. "Really?" "real." "I thought you would want to know, after all, you are a veterinarian." "I want to know, but I'm afraid that something will happen after I hear it." I said aloud. Walt and I looked at each other for a long time. "Then who is going to help that old waste get food, you or me?" "Hey! Be respectful in your speech!" shouted the old waste.

"I'll go." I turned and left the car. Halfway to the kitchen, I realized I was gritting my teeth. I helped Lao Luo get the food back, but Walt was not in the room.It was only a few minutes later that he was seen returning with a large bottle of whiskey in one hand. "Wow, God bless your soul." Lao Luo giggled.Leaning in a corner, he pointed at Walter with a feeble hand and said, "Where did you get that?" "A friend in the fellowship car owes me a favor, and I think the three of us will be relieved tonight." Lao Luo answered, "That's good, what are you waiting for? Stop talking nonsense and give me the wine."

Walt and I both turned to stare at him. The wrinkles on Old Luo Chou's face deepened. "Hey hey, you two really are a couple of nerds, aren't you? What's the matter? Is someone spitting in your soup?" "Come on, leave him alone." Walter pushed a bottle of whiskey against my chest. "What do you mean by 'don't pay attention to him'? In my time, everyone had to learn to respect their elders from an early age." Walter didn't say anything, just squatted beside him with another bottle of wine.Lao Luo reached out to take it, but Walter knocked his hand away.

"I won't give it to you, old man. Otherwise, if it is knocked over, there will be three annoying people here." He brought the mouth of the bottle to Lao Luo's lips, held the body of the bottle and let him drink six mouthfuls in a row, just like a baby sucking a bottle.Walter turned around, sat down against the wall, and took a big gulp. "What's the matter? You don't like whiskey?" He wiped his mouth and pointed to the unopened bottle in my hand. "I like it. Look, I don't have a dime right now, and I don't know if I'll ever have money, but can you give me the whole bottle?" "I've given it to you." "No, I need a gift, this wine?" Walter looked at me for a moment, eyes so crow's feet. "Is it a woman?" "no." "Liar." "No." "I'll bet you five dollars, it's a woman." He started to sip again, his Adam's apple moved up and down, and the amber liquid in the bottle dropped by more than two centimeters.The speed at which he and Lao Luo poured the Chuanchanghuang Tang down their stomachs was amazing. "A bitch indeed," I said. "Ha! You'd better not let her hear you call her that. Whoever she is or what she is, she's better than the person you've been thinking of lately," snorted Walter. "I let people down today. I have to make amends," I said. Walter looked up at me and instantly realized who I was giving the drink to. Lao Luo became impatient: "How about some more wine? It's his family's business if he doesn't drink a drop, but I want to drink. I don't blame this kid for chasing girls. He is only young once in his life. According to me Said, don’t let it go if you can get it. That’s right, boss, don’t miss it if you can get it, even if you have to consume a bottle of spirits, it’s not a pity.” Walter smiled, brought the bottle to Lao Luo's lips again, let him drink a few sips, then put the cap on the bottle, leaned over and handed it to me without leaving the floor. "Take this bottle too. By the way, you can help me pass the message, just say that I am sorry too, I am very sorry." Lao Luo yelled: "Damn! No woman in the world is worth two bottles of whiskey! Stop making trouble!" I stood up and stuffed the bottle into my coat pocket.Set aside a bottle. Lao Luo begged: "Don't be foolish! Hey, this is not fair." He flattered and complained, and I walked to a place where I couldn't hear him. At dusk, a lot of people had already gathered in the carriage on the artist's side to have fun.I couldn't help noticing that there was also a group of people gathered in the compartment of Marlena and Auguste.Even if they invite me, I won't go.But the point is I wasn't invited.August and I, I guess, are on the same page again.Perhaps it should be said that since I have never hated anyone so deeply in my life, I am the one who broke with him. Rosie was on the other side of the tent.After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw someone standing beside it.It was Greg, the one who brought Rosie back from the garden. "Hey." I said as I stepped forward. He turned his head, holding a tube of zinc oxide ointment in one hand, and was applying medicine to Rosie's puncture wound.There are more than twenty white spots on this side of the body alone. "My God." I looked it up and down.Drops of blood and histamine ooze from under the ointment. Rosie's amber eyes stared straight at mine, she blinked her unbelievably long eyelashes, sighed, and exhaled a big breath, vibrating her entire proboscis. I was overwhelmed with guilt. "Why are you here?" Grug was annoyed and continued to take the medicine. "Just wanted to see how it hurt." "Oh, did you see that? Please get out of the way." He asked me to go away, and said to the elephant, "Noge. No, dajnoge! (foot)" After hearing this, the elephant obediently raised one foot and held it in front of him.Greg got down on his knees and dabbed a dab of the medicine under his armpits, right in front of his weird gray breasts that hung down from his chest like a woman's. "Jestesdobradziewczynka. (Good girl.)" he said standing up, screwing on the cap of the ointment, and adding: "Poloznoge. (Put your foot down.)" Rosie put her foot down. "Masz, mojapiekna (that's my pretty girl)." He reached into his pocket for something.Rosie swung her proboscis to see what he was holding.He pulled out a mint, wiped the lint off, and handed it.It was lightly taken from his hand and thrown into his mouth. I was so dumbfounded that I probably opened my mouth too.In two seconds, I remembered his refusal to perform, his journey with the mahout, the lemonade theft, and finally the vegetable garden. Turned around. "My God," I said. "How?" said Greg, stroking its proboscis. "It understands what you say." "Yeah, how?" "What's 'how'? My god, do you know what that means?" "You stop for me," Greg said, with a cold face to prevent me from approaching Rosie, and to stand between us. "Give me a break. Please, I won't hurt the elephant if I kill it." He continued to stare at me.I'm still not sure if he's going to punch me in the back, but I go ahead and face Rosie.It winks at me. "Rosie, noge!" I said. It blinked again and opened its mouth to smile. "Noge, Rosie!" It flapped its ears and sighed. "Prosze. (Please.)" I said. It sighed again, shifted its weight, and raised one foot. "My God." I heard my own voice, and it felt like I was out of my body.My heart was pounding and my head was spinning. "Rosie." I put my hand on her shoulder and said, "Just one more movement." I looked her in the eyes and begged her with my eyes.It must have understood the importance of this matter.Lord, please, Lord, please, Lord— "Rosie, Dotylu! Dotylu! (Back off!)" I cheered, turned to the stunned Greg, grabbed his shoulders, and kissed him on the mouth. "What the hell!" I ran towards the exit of the animal tent, stopped after running about five meters, and turned around.Greg was still spitting, wiping his mouth, disgusted. I took both bottles of wine out of my pocket.He put on an amused expression, the back of his hand still held in front of his mouth. "Come on, catch!" I threw a bottle of wine at him.He caught it with a flip of his hand, looked at the label, and then looked at the other bottle expectantly.I throw it to him. "Give the wine to our rising star, please?" Greg tilted his head thoughtfully and turned to Rosie.Rosie was already laughing, sticking her proboscis towards the bottle. For the next ten days I became August's Polish tutor.In every city we stopped at, he had someone set up a practice area in the back.August, Marlena, Rosie, and I rehearsed Rosie's program day after day, taking advantage of the hours after the train stopped and before the noon show.Although it participates in parades every day and also shows up in big strange events, it has not yet performed formally.Uncle Ailan is eager to see the content of the elephant's performance, but August insists that he is not allowed to watch it before it is perfect. My days consisted of sitting next to the sleepers in the show area, with a knife in hand and a bucket between my legs, dicing vegetables and fruits for primates, and yelling Polish as August needed. talk.Although August's accent was terrible, perhaps because August usually only recalled the sentences I shouted, Rosie obeyed obediently and never made a mistake.August hadn't used the elephant hook on Rosie since we realized that the language was the problem.He just walked around on Rosie's left side, swinging the hook under her belly and behind her legs, but the hook never touched Rosie's flesh, not once. It is hard to imagine that this August is another violent August.To be honest, I didn't even bother to imagine it.This bright, cheerful, generous August I have met several times.But I know that once he loses his temper, he will be in trouble, so I will keep it in mind at all times.People can think what they want, but I don't believe for a second that this is the real August, and that the other August is just a moment of insanity.But I could see that they might be bluffed by him. He was charming, charming, and radiant as the sun.From the time we met in the morning until they went to the parade in the afternoon, all his attention was devoted to the gray creature and the little girl who rode him.He is attentive and gentle to Marlena, and generous to Rosie like a loving father. Although I couldn't trust him, he didn't seem to notice that we were having a bad time.He smiled at me and patted me on the back as a greeting. As soon as he saw that my clothes were worn out, the clothes thief would bring me new clothes that afternoon on Monday.He claimed that the resident veterinarians should not bathe with cold water in a bucket, and asked me to bathe in their compartment.When he found out that Rosie probably loved gin and ginger beer besides watermelon, he brought them both for her every day, without exception.He stroked it, whispered in its ear, and it was immersed in his care, and every time it saw his presence, it cried with joy. Did it all forget? I looked him up and down, looking for flaws.But this new August lingers.After a while, his joy infected the rest of the group.Even Uncle Ailan was affected, and came every day to check on the progress of the elephant.Within two days, he ordered a new poster featuring Rosie and Marlena sitting on top of it.He stopped beating people, and it didn't take long for everyone to run away when they didn't see him.He became a merry man.It is said that there may be real money to be received on payday, and even the workers have a smile. It wasn't until I caught a glimpse of Rosie snoring under August's caress that I began to be suspicious of him, thinking maybe my mind was too ugly. Maybe the one with the problem is me.Maybe I hate him with all my heart, just because I'm in love with his wife.If so, what have I become? In Pittsburgh, I finally went to confession.I cried like a baby in the confessional, telling the priest about my parents, my wild nights, my thoughts of adultery.The priest was a little surprised, murmured a few words "it's all right, it's all right", and told me to pray the Rosary and forget Marlena.I'm too ashamed to admit that I don't have a rosary.Back in the show carriage, I asked Walter and Lao Luo if they had any.Walter looked at me with strange eyes, and Lao Luo gave me a green necklace made of elk teeth. I knew what Walt was thinking.He hated August more than anything, and though he didn't say anything, I knew what he thought of my vacillating position.We still work together to take care of Lao Luo’s daily life and feed him, but the three of us no longer tell stories to each other on the long night bus ride.Walter read Shakespeare, while Lao Luo got drunk and became more and more demanding. At Midway, August decided that night would be Rosie's time to make her debut. He told Uncle Ailan the good news, Uncle Ailan was speechless, he pressed his hand to his heart, and stared straight ahead with two tears in his eyes.He raised his hand, and the followers hurriedly dodged, but he just patted August on the shoulder, shook hands with him firmly, and then stopped talking, apparently too happy to speak, so he had to talk to August again. Steer shook hands. I was examining the split hoof in the smithy when August sent for me. "August!" I pressed my face against the opening of Marina's vanity.The door flapped and snapped in the wind. "You looking for me?" "Jacob!" he yelled loudly. "I'm glad you're here! Come in! Come in, boy!" Malena was wearing a stage dress, sitting in front of the dressing table, with one foot on the edge of the table, and the red ribbon of the high-heeled shoes was tied to the ankle.August sat on the left, wearing a tall hat and a tuxedo, and was spinning a silver-tipped cane quickly.The handle of the cane was bent like a hook. "Please sit down." He got up from his seat and patted the cushion. I hesitated a little, then walked through the tent.As soon as I was seated, August was standing in front of us, and I glanced at Marina. "Marlena, Jacob—my darling, my friend," said August, taking off his hat and looking at us with wet eyes, "in many ways it's been a great week It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a spiritual journey. Only two weeks ago, our circus troupe was almost collapsed. Especially now that the economy is so bad, everyone's livelihood in the troupe, no, it can be said that every day A person's life! It may be lost. Do you want to know the reason?" His clear eyes moved from me to Marlena, and from Marlena to me. "Why?" Malena asked obediently, raised her other leg, and tied a wide red ribbon around her ankle. "Because we dumped our fortunes on an animal that was supposed to save the group. Because we had to buy a car to carry it. Because we then discovered that this elephant obviously knew nothing and ate everything. .Because we have to feed this elephant, we can’t support the workers, so we have to give up some workers.” Hearing his euphemism about sending people to see the red light, I suddenly looked up.But August glanced past me, at a canopy wall.He was silent for an embarrassingly long time, as if he had forgotten we were there.Then he shuddered and came back to himself. "But we are saved." He looked at me with loving eyes, "and the reason we are saved is that we have been blessed twice. Fate took care of us and led Jacob to our train. She delivered it to our door It is not only an Ivy League veterinarian who is suitable for a big circus like ours, but also a veterinarian who is extremely caring about animals to detect Rosie's language problem. This is really amazing, and the fate of our whole group is therefore Bring the dead back to life." "Don't say that, I'm just—" "Jacob, don't say anything. I won't let you pass the buck. The first time I saw you, I thought you were not simple. Don't you, dear?" August turned Marina, shake your finger at her. She nods.As soon as the second shoe was tied, she moved her foot off the edge of the dresser and sat with her legs crossed, her toes immediately starting to wobble. August stared at her and continued: "But Jacob didn't do it all by himself. My beautiful and intelligent heart, you are really amazing. And Rosie is a link we must not miss. He is so patient, So happy to do it, so—” He paused, taking a deep breath, his nostrils dilating.When he continued, his voice fell apart. "Because it is so beautiful and noble, with a generous heart, understand that misunderstandings are inevitable. Thanks to the three of you, the greatness of the world's largest circus of the Benzini Brothers has risen to a higher level and has become a For a big circus. None of this would be possible without the three of you." He showed emotion to us, and his cheeks were so red I feared he might cry. "Oh! I almost forgot," he exclaimed, clapping his hands in front of his face, rushing to a suitcase, rummaging in it, and pulling out two small boxes.One is square and the other is a flat rectangle.Both come gift-wrapped. "Honey, this is for you." He handed the flat box to Marina. "Ah, Xiao Ao! You spend too much money!" "You know again?" He smiled, "Maybe it's the right pen." Mariana tore open the wrapping paper, and inside was a blue velvet box.She looked up to his face, a little hesitant, and then opened the lid.A diamond necklace sparkled against a red satin lining. "Oh, little Ao," she said, looking from the necklace to August's face, frowning with worry. "Xiao Ao, so beautiful, but where do we have money—" "Hush," he said, leaning over to grab her hand, and kissed her palm. "Tonight is a milestone, and nothing is too precious." She picked up the necklace and let it dangle in her hand, obviously fascinated by it. August turned around and handed me the box. I tore off the ribbon and carefully unwrapped the paper.The box inside was also blue velvet.I can't speak. "Quickly. Open it! Don't be shy!" August became impatient. The box lid popped open, revealing a golden pocket watch. "August—" "Don't you like it?" "It's a beautiful watch, but I can't accept it." "Of course you can accept it, and you will accept it!" He grabbed Marlena's hand, pulled her up, and took the link from her hand. "No, I can't. You're very nice, but this is too expensive," I said. "I said yes, and you will accept it. I am your immediate boss, and I order you to accept it. In short, why can't you accept this gift from me? I vaguely remember that you just paid for a gift not long ago. A friend gave away a pocket watch." He said firmly. I close my eyes firmly.When I opened my eyes again, Malena stood with her back to August, pulling her hair up, allowing August to wrap the necklace around her throat and fasten the hook. "Okay," he said. She turned around, leaned over to look in the mirror of the dressing table, tentatively touched the diamond on her throat with her fingers. "Looks like you like it?" he said. "I don't even know what to say. It's so beautiful - oh! I almost forgot! I have a surprise planned too," she squealed. She opened the third drawer of the dressing table, rummaged through it for a while, threw away the gauze-like stage costumes and props, and finally pulled out a large shiny pink thing.She picked up the edge and flicked it lightly to make it shine brightly, reflecting thousands of bright spots. "How? How?" She was full of joy. "This...this...what is this?" August said. "This is a tiara for Rosie." She pressed one end to her chest with her chin, letting the whole tiara fall in front of her. "Look, see? This piece goes behind his bridle, and these pieces go down the sides of his head, and this one goes over his forehead. I made it myself, and it took me two weeks. Same as mine." She looked up, and there was a small blush on each cheek. August stared at her, his jaw moved, but no words came out.Then he stretched out his arms and took her into his arms. I just have to look away. Thanks to Uncle Ailan's superb advertising techniques, the tent was crowded with people.We sold a lot of tickets, and when Uncle Allen begged the audience for the fourth time to sit a little tighter, the seats obviously couldn't accommodate all the audience. The handyman was ordered to sprinkle hay on the walkway.Meanwhile, to pass the time for the audience, the band played music and clowns, including Walt, walked around, handing out candy and rubbing children's chins. Entertainers and animals line up backstage, ready to perform the spectacle.They had been waiting for twenty minutes, restless. Uncle Allan rushed into the backstage of the tent and shouted: "Okay, everyone, listen up. Tonight is a hay field, so you stay in the inner circle of the field, and the distance between the animals and the bumpkins should be at least one meter. Half. If any child is touched by one of his animals, I'll skin that person myself. Understand?" Nods of nods, whispers of whispers.Let's straighten out our clothes again. Uncle Ailan poked his head into the tent and raised his hand to signal the band conductor. "Okay. Let's play! Fuck 'em! But don't really f*ck 'em!" None of the children were injured.In fact, everyone put on a fantastic performance, especially Rosie.During the spectacle, it wore a pink sequined headdress, let Malena sit on its head, rolled up its proboscis to salute the audience.There was a clown in front of it, a lanky figure, flipping backwards and cartwheels.Rosie's proboscis reached forward, grabbed his trousers and yanked so hard that his legs were off the ground.His lungs were exploding, but when he turned around, he saw only the smiling elephant.The audience whistled and clapped, but then the Joker kept keeping his distance from Rosie. When it was almost Rosie's turn to perform, he slipped into the awning and stood against the back of the audience chairs.Taking advantage of the time when the high-altitude acrobats were applauding from the audience, the handymen ran into the performance area and rolled in two balls, one small and one large, both decorated with red stars and blue stripes.Uncle Ailan raised his arms and glanced at the background.His eyes passed over me, he met August, he nodded slightly, and gestured to the conductor with one hand.The conductor began to play Gounod's waltz. Rosie entered the tent and walked side by side with August.With Marlena on her head, Rosie curled up her proboscis in salute and smiled.When they reached the central performance area, Rosie lifted Malena from her head and lowered her to the ground. Malena took a big stride and slid around the field like a sparkling pink whirlwind.She smiled sweetly, twirled around, stretched out her arms, and blew kisses to the audience.Rosie followed her closely, her proboscis curled high in the air.August followed her, turning a silver-tipped cane instead of an elephant hook.I stared at his mouth, watching the shape of his mouth and speaking the Polish words he had learned by rote. Marlena danced around the periphery of the performance area again, and then stopped next to the ball.August took Rosie to the center of the arena, and Marina watched them, then turned to the audience.She puffed up her cheeks, wiped her forehead with one hand, pretended to be tired exaggeratedly, sat on the small ball, crossed her legs, propped her elbows on her knees, and rested her chin on her hands.She patted the ground with her foot and rolled her eyes to look up.Rosie saw her movement, smiled, and raised her proboscis high.After a while, it turned slowly and put its huge gray butt on the big ball.There were bursts of laughter among the crowd. Marlena didn't understand it at first, but then she suddenly understood, stood up, opened her mouth, and pretended to be angry.She turned her back to Rosie.The elephant got up too, wobbled around, and turned its tail toward Mariana.The crowd applauded with joy. Malena looked back, raised her face with a straight face, raised one foot with a big movement, put it on the small ball, then folded her arms in front of her chest, and nodded deeply, as if to say: "Elephant, take the move!" Bar." Rosie rolled up her proboscis, raised her right foreleg, and placed it lightly on the big ball.Malena glared at each other, mad with rage.She raised her arms sideways, letting the other leg off the ground.She slowly raised her knee and brought her other leg out to the side, pointing her toes straight like a ballerina.As soon as her leg straightened, she lowered the other foot and came to stand on the ball.She laughed, sure she had won the elephant this time.The audience clapped, whistled, and thought the same.Marina slowly turned her back to Rosie and raised her arms in victory. Rosie waited a moment, then put her other front leg on the ball as well.The audience cheered.Marlena was puzzled and turned her head to look.She moved slowly, facing Rosie again, with her hands on her hips, her brows furrowed, and she shook her head in frustration.She raised a finger and shook it at Rosie, but after a moment she froze again, her expression soared, there it is!She raised her finger high and spun around to let the audience know that she was about to outwit the elephant and win a big victory. She held her breath for a moment, staring down at her satin slippers.The snare drum became more and more urgent. She moved her feet and rolled the ball forward, faster and faster, until her feet became a blur, and she went around the field amidst the applause and whistles of the audience.Then, the audience applauded wildly—— Marina stopped and looked up.Originally, she was only concentrating on rolling the ball, and didn't realize the funny scene behind her.The pachyderm also stood on the ball, all four legs huddled together, and the back arched.The drums sounded again.At first, it was motionless.Then, slowly, slowly, the ball began to roll under Rosie's feet. The bandleader instructed the band to speed up the tempo, and Rosie let the ball roll four meters.Malena smiled cheerfully, clapped her hands, and held out her hand to Rosie, inviting the audience to applaud it.Then she slid off the ball and jumped up to Rosie.Its ball movement is much more cautious than Malena.He lowered his long nose, and Malena sat on the bend of the nose, raised her long nose, and straightened her toes gracefully.Rosie lifted her proboscis, lifted Malena high and put it on her head, away from the rejoicing crowd inside the tent. Then, money rain fell from the sky, that sweet and wonderful money rain.Uncle Ailan got up in a daze, stood in the center of the field, raised his arms, and turned his face to the sky, letting the copper plate fall on him like raindrops.He kept his face up even as the copper plates bounced off his cheeks, nose, and forehead.I think he may have actually shed tears.