The hungry artist

Hunger shows have been noticeably chilled out in recent decades. In earlier times, people were interested in organizing such large-scale performances on their own and the income was not bad. But today, these are no longer possible. The situation then is indeed very different from now. At that time, the whole city was busy for the hunger show, the audience is growing day by day, everyone is eager to see at least once a day the performance of the hunger artists. Towards the end of the performance, many people bought long-term tickets, sitting in front of a small metal cage every day, that is, at night, the audience is also incessant. In order to see the effect without losing, people hold torches. When the weather is sunny, people move the cage to the open air, doing so for the sake of children, who have a special interest in starving artists. Adults watching mainly for a pastime, to catch up with the fashion, but the children are very different, they see the tight black suit, pale, thin and bony hunger artist when nervous, dumbfounded, in order to brave, they pull each other's hands tightly. The hunger artist did not even bother with the chair, just sitting on his butt on the hay spread in the cage. He sometimes nodded politely to everyone to say hello, and sometimes smiled hard to answer everyone's questions. From time to time, he also stretched his arms out of the fence, so that people can touch and see, in order to feel how dry and thin he is. Then deep in thought, no one for him to become non-existent, even the cage that is vital to him the clock (the only thing in the cage) also deaf to the rattle, only the almost closed eyes staring blankly ahead, occasionally sip a small glass of water to moisten the lips.

In addition to the bustling, endless flow of spectators, there are also the regular supervisors elected by the group to guard the place. Strangely enough, these guards are usually butchers, who always work in shifts of three, watching the hungry artist day and night to prevent him from stealing food by any secret means. In fact, this is just a form of comfort for the group, because connoisseurs know that the hunger artist is absolutely not eat during the hunger performance, even if someone forced him to eat, he will be indifferent. The honor of his art does not allow him to do so. Of course, not every guard can understand this point. Some guards on the night shift are very sloppy, they sit somewhere away from the hungry artist buried in a card game, deliberately giving him a chance to eat, they always think that the hungry artist definitely has a good trick to get some stock to fill the stomach. Encountering such guards, the hunger artist is really suffering, this group of people make him depressed, to his hunger performance brought a lot of difficulties. Sometimes, in spite of his weakness, he tried to sing as loudly as he could while they were guards, in order to show the gang how unfair their suspicions were to him. But it was to no avail. The guards were even more impressed by the fact that he was so spiritually skilled that he could eat even while singing. So the starving artist was particularly fond of the "fair and square" guards, who sat close to the bars and shone the flashlight provided by the show manager because the hall light was too dim. The harsh light had no effect on him, he could not sleep anyway, but no matter what the light, no matter what time of day, that is, the hall is crowded, noisy, a nap he can always do. He was very happy to stay up all night and such guards to spend the night, like to laugh with them, to tell them about their wandering life, and then listen to their anecdotes. All this is to keep the guards awake, so that they always see that his cage is not food, he is starving, no matter which guards do not have this ability. And the most exciting thing for him was to pay out of his own pocket in the morning and treat the guards to a beautiful breakfast that was brought to him. The strong men were all like hungry wolves after a hard night's work, and their appetites were whetted. However, some people believe that the invitation to dinner has the suspicion of bribery, which is pure nonsense, when others asked whether they are willing to work hard on a night shift and refused to eat breakfast, these people are slipping away, but to let them remove suspicion is not easy.

All kinds of suspicions, such as these, starving artists also seem to be difficult to get rid of. No guards could be around the starving artist day and night, without any interruption, so no one had ever witnessed whether he was indeed starving continuously. Only the hunger artist himself knows best, and only he can be considered the most satisfied audience of his hunger performance. But for another reason, he was never satisfied. Perhaps his dry and thin 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 pity for him, because they could not bear to see his tortured appearance. In fact, he himself understands that hunger performance is extremely simple, is the easiest thing in the world to do, which I am afraid even connoisseurs do not know. In this regard, the hunger artist is outspoken, but people just do not believe. He certainly thinks that starvation is an easy thing because he knows how to make it easy, but he is shameless and refuses to tell the truth 100% of the time. All this, the starving artist has to endure. Over time he became accustomed to it, but deep inside his unhappiness always disturbed him. At the end of each round of the hunger show, the hunger artist did not leave the cage voluntarily, and this, people must testify for him. The manager of the show set a maximum period of forty days for each round of performances, after which he would never let the starving artist continue to starve again, even in the big cities of the world. The manager was justified in doing so because, according to past experience, the interest of the whole city would be fully aroused by the increasingly hot advertising for forty days, after which the audience would become tired and the number of people watching the show would then drop sharply. There are certainly some small differences between the city and the countryside on this point, but the forty-day maximum has become a universal rule. On the fortieth day, the cage door was opened, the cage was surrounded by flowers, the semi-amphitheater was crowded, the audience was happy, and the military band played music. Two doctors entered the cage to perform the necessary tests on the starving artist, the results of which were transmitted to the theater through loud speakers. Then two women came forward, happy to be chosen to help the starving artist leave the cage and walk down the front steps. The small table in front of the steps was already set up with a well-prepared meal for the sick. At such moments, the starving artist always refused, although he still voluntarily handed his bony arm to the lady who came to help, but he did not want to stand up. Why did he stop performing just after reaching forty days? He could have gone on starving for a long time, endlessly, why should he stop precisely at the most critical juncture of his performance? He hadn't really performed well yet! He could go on starving, and he would not only become the greatest hunger artist ever (which he probably already is), but also go beyond himself to reach the unimaginable, because he feels that his hunger performance ability is never ending. But why do people want to take away the honor of his continued starvation? Why do these people who admire him so much have more than a little patience? He can insist on continuing the hunger show, why these people can't even be patient as an audience? Alas, he was also tired, should have sat on the hay to rest for a while, but now he had to stand up his tall and thin body to eat. He felt sick at the thought of eating, only to think of the ladies next to him before he swallowed what he was going to say, he looked up into the eyes of the two apparently kind but actually cruel ladies, shook the overly heavy head hanging down on his feeble neck. Then came the same old story. The manager of the show appeared, like a mute, he did not say a word (in fact, the music was too loud for him to speak), hands raised to the head of the starving artist, as if inviting God to come down and visit his work sitting on the messy hay - the martyr of mercy. To be honest, the Hunger Artist is indeed a martyr, but in another sense. The manager's hands stuck to the thin waist of the starving artist, some over-cautious, his movements reminiscent of his hands, not a living person, but a highly fragile object. At this point the manager may have secretly touched the starving artist gently, so that his feet and upper body swayed from side to side. Immediately after the manager handed him over to two ladies whose faces had already turned pale with fear, the starving artist was at his mercy, his head deafened and pulled in front of his chest, as if it was rolling there unheeded, and then inexplicably motionless. His body had been hollowed out, his legs clinging to his knees out of self-defense instinct, but his feet scraping the ground as if it were not the real ground, as if they were looking for a real place to land. The entire weight of his body, which was already very light, was leaning on one of the ladies. She was gasping for breath, looking left and right for assistance, she really did not expect that this honorable task would be so, she first tried to stretch her neck, so that her beauty can at least be saved from "disaster", but she did not do it. And her luckier companion just trembled, pulling the hand of the starving artist high - in fact, just a bone - forward, not helping at all, so that the unlucky girl in the crowd of cries out, already The servant who was already waiting for her had to replace her. Then the meal began, the manager first gave a few spoons of soup to the fainting, half-awake, half-asleep starving artist, and said a few amusing words in order to distract the crowd from observing the physical condition of the starving artist. He then proposed a toast to the audience, a move that was said to be an idea whispered to the manager by the starving artist, and the band held their breath to play. Then everyone dispersed, no one was dissatisfied with what was happening, with the exception of one person, the Hunger Artist himself, who was always dissatisfied.

Thus, performing, resting; resting, performing, he lived year after year, outwardly radiant and respected, while in reality a gloomy mood often haunted him. Without any real understanding from anyone, his mood became worse and worse. How should people comfort him? What else does he crave? If some kind-hearted person who sympathized with him told him that his sadness might be caused by hunger, he would burst into a rage (especially after the hunger show had been going on for some time) and shake the fence frighteningly like a ferocious beast. But for this situation, the show manager has his own set of punishment he likes to use. He publicly defended the hunger artist and showed that the hunger artist's behavior could be forgiven, because the perverse irritability caused by hunger was simply incomprehensible to normal people. Then he began to talk about the hunger artist's own point of view that needed to be explained, saying that he was actually able to starve for much longer than the time he was now doing the hunger show, and that the manager greatly appreciated his persistence, good intentions and great self-restraint, which were certainly included in the hunger artist's statement. And then he produced a stack of photos (which were also used for sale), easily refuting the artist's claims. For as one can see from the photos, the starving artist is lying weak and dying on his bed on the fortieth day. These are clichés, but they continue to overwhelm the starving artist. He was angry at this distortion of the truth, which was clearly the result of the early end of the hunger show, but which people wanted to present as the reason why the show had to be stopped. It was futile to fight against ignorance, against this ignorant world. He always clutched the fence reverently and hungrily and listened attentively to every word the manager said, but when he showed the pictures, he let go of the fence every time and sat back in the hay with a sigh. The soothed audience then regrouped to watch him perform.

Years later, whenever the witnesses of this scene recalled this scene, even they themselves could not understand how it happened, because in the meantime the mentioned event had occurred. The change came extremely suddenly, and it may have more complicated reasons, but who is going to look into it? In any case, the starving artist, once loved by everyone, found himself one day forgotten by the hilariously addicted audience, who flocked to other venues. The show manager led him on yet another trek halfway across Europe, trying to see if somewhere they could regain the fervor and interest they had lost, but they came up empty-handed. As if there was some kind of private agreement, there was an atmosphere of disgust for hunger shows everywhere. Of course, this sentiment was not formed overnight, only then people were too intoxicated by the joy of victory, did not pay enough attention to it, and did not prevent, and now it is too late to take countermeasures. Although it is certain that one day, the hunger show will be popular again, but this is no consolation for the living. Right now, what should hunger artists do? The hunger artist, for whom thousands of spectators had cheered, was now too miserable to perform on a humble stage in a marketplace, but he was not only too old, but more importantly, he had an obsession with hunger shows. In the end, he said goodbye to his manager, an unparalleled partner on his journey, and was hired by a huge circus. To avoid further excitement, he did not even glance at the terms of his contract.

The circus was indeed huge, with countless people, animals and instruments everywhere, and they needed to be constantly updated and replenished, no matter what talent could be useful in the circus at any time, and of course starving performers were no exception, as long as the conditions were not harsh. In addition, the reason why he was hired when it is a special case, it is not only the employment of an artist itself, but more importantly, his hefty reputation back then. In fact, the skills of the hunger show will not be eclipsed by age, based on this alone, one can not say that an old and useless, no longer able to perform at the peak of the skills of the hunger artists want to hide in a quiet position in the circus to go to live. Quite the contrary, the hunger artist assured people that his hunger art is no less credible. He even declared that he was going to really rock the world and achieve an unprecedented sensation, as long as people gave him permission to do what he wanted (and they immediately agreed to his request). When the Hunger Artist gets excited, he forgets all about the current situation, and his words cause only laughter among those who know what they are talking about.

However, the Hunger Artist did not forget to focus on reality after all. People put him and the cage not as a wonderful show in the center of the circus, but in a traffic junction, he also took it for granted. The cage is surrounded by signs that tell people what to see there in big, flowery letters. If the audience flocked to the arena during breaks in other performances, they always had to walk past the hungry artists and stay there for a moment. If it is not narrow and crowded, and the people behind can understand why the audience in front of them do not rush to see the beast and stay, people may be able to stay in front of him for a little longer and take their time to enjoy his performance. This is the reason why the starving artist does not tremble when he sees that the audience is coming towards him. He lives for the purpose of people watching him, and naturally looks forward to such moments. At first, he was eagerly looking forward to the break in the show, watching a crowd of spectators swarming towards him, he was excited and ecstatic, but he soon saw that the audience's intention was to see the beast, and every time, almost without exception, even the most stubborn and willfully self-deluded people had to admit this fact. But in any case, watching the audience in the distance coming toward him was the most delightful thing for him, the people came, a continuous chaos of shouts and curses, some slow to watch his performance, not out of understanding him (these people make the hungry artist very painful), but deliberately and behind the people rushing them, while others are anxious to get to the beast. After the mass of people, there were some late comers left, no one rushed them, as long as they were interested, full of people who could stay in front of him a little longer, but these people stride, without looking away, straight to the beast field. However, the hungry artist can occasionally encounter a lucky moment. Sometimes the father led his children to him, and the father pointed while telling in detail how it was, and he spoke of a bygone era, saying that he had seen similar performances, but then the spectacle was unprecedented. But the children had not experienced these things either in school or in life, so they could never understand the words of the adults, and it was no wonder, how could they know what hunger meant? But something new, something future, something more benevolent, flows from their inquiring, shining eyes. Hungry artist sometimes quietly think, if their own performance venue a little farther away from the beast, perhaps the situation will be better, and now so close to the beast, people can easily choose to see the beast, not to mention the stench of the beast, the animals nocturnal ruckus, to the beast when people walk the sound of raw meat and feeding the animals hissing stirred him up, so that he was depressed for a long time. However, he did not have the courage to speak to the circus leaders. He also had to thank the beasts, without them, which can attract so many spectators? Moreover, the crowd can also find a certain someone really came for him. If he wants to remind people of his presence, then people will immediately associate him - rather - is just an obstacle to the beast field, who knows which corner people will stuff him into.

Of course it is only a small obstacle, and it will become smaller and smaller. It is a strange thing that people have to work hard for a starving artist in this day and age, but people are used to strange phenomena, and it is this habit that has sealed his fate. He wanted to do his best to starve, and he did, but nothing could save him from his fate. The audience flew past him as if in a hurry. Go and try to tell people about the art of hunger! But whoever has no personal experience of the art of hunger simply cannot understand it. The big beautiful colored letters had been soiled and blurred, they were torn off, and no one thought of replacing them with new ones. The numbers on the small signs used to count the number of days of the hunger show, which at first had a new record every day, were now unattended, and the numbers remained the same for many days, because after weeks, even the recorders themselves were bored with the monotonous task. Although the hunger artist kept doing hunger performance, which is what he used to dream of, but also he once boasted, now, he can do it alone, but no one for him to record the number of days of performance, no one, even he himself is not sure how far his results have reached, his mood became heavy. If at some point a loafer comes along and amuses himself with that old figure, saying that it is a trick, then his words are really the most foolish, indifferent and malicious lies that can be prepared. For the starving artist labored honestly, and he did not cheat others, but the world cheated him of his wages.

After many more days, the show ended. One day, the cage caught the attention of a caretaker, who asked the servants why a good cage was left unused, the grass inside had become moldy and smelly, no one knew about it, until one of them saw a small sign to keep count, he suddenly remembered the hungry artist. People used a stick to pluck away the rotten grass and found him inside. "And you haven't been eating?" The caretaker asked, "When exactly are you going to be done?" "Gentlemen, I beg your indulgence." The hungry artist whispered so breathlessly that only the caretaker could hear him as he pressed his ear to the fence, "Of course, of course." The caretaker nodded while putting his finger to his forehead as a hint to the others that the hunger artist was in a very dangerous physical condition, "Of course we'll forgive you." "I've been thinking that you guys would appreciate my hunger performance," the hunger artist said.

"We do quite appreciate it, too," the caretaker said enthusiastically. "But you should not appreciate it," said the hunger artist. "Then we don't appreciate it," said the caretaker, "Why shouldn't we appreciate it?" "Because I can only endure hunger, and there is nothing else I can do." The starving artist said. "You see, it's too strange, isn't it," said the caretaker, "why don't you have any other way?" "Because I," said the starving artist, with his little head slightly raised and his lips as if to kiss the caretaker, pressed right up to his ear, fearing not to lose a word, "because I cannot find food to suit my appetite. If I find such food, believe me, I will not invite people to visit, if people are conspicuous, and eat as much as you, like the crowd." These are the last words of the hungry artist, however, from his pupils have been dilated eyes also reveal a no longer proud, but firm belief: he will continue to be hungry.

"All right, let's get it together!" The caretaker said. The hungry artist was buried along with the rotting grass. A young jaguar was put into the cage. Even the most dull senses, when he saw the beast alive in the long-idle cage, he would find it a comfortable rest. This leopard does not lack anything, delicious food guards will bring without long consideration. The loss of freedom does not seem to matter to him, this noble body has everything, not only with sharp claws, but even freedom seems to be with him, freedom seems to be hidden somewhere in his sharp teeth. The joy of its life always comes together with the strong roar that comes from its big mouth. The audience hardly enjoys the relaxation from its joy, but they restrain themselves and huddle around the cage, refusing to leave at all.