Circus Comes to Town by Albert Maltz

4.8

Part I

It was Saturday, 7 o’clock in the morning. In an open field near a small American town were two boys. They knew that a circus must come to their town that day. But the circus was not yet there. There were no tents, no flags, no animals in the large open field. It was too early. One of the two children, a boy of seven years, said, “What if the circus does not come today, Eddie?” His brother, a boy of twelve, answered, “Everybody says it will come today. Now don’t be silly, Alan. Let us play and the time will go quickly.”

They sat down on the grass and began to play. The two brothers, Eddie and Alan, were small, thin children. They had no father and their mother was poor. The boys were often hungry.

When the boys heard about the circus, they ran to their mother and told her about it. She said to them, “I am sorry, boys, but I have no money now. I can’t buy tickets for you.”

The boys did not know what to do. They wanted very much to go to the circus.

Then a boy told Eddie how he could get a ticket. “Go and help the circus workers in their work,” said the boy. “There is always a lot of work before the show and they give tickets to the boys who help them.”

Eddie and Alan decided to go and help the circus workers. So here they were in the field at 7 o’clock that Saturday morning.

They waited very long: 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock came. Other boys began to come to the field too. They also wanted to work and get tickets for the show. Soon there were about eighty boys in the field.

Part II

Then at last the circus came. There was a lot of work to do. Every boy found work, even Alan, who was very young and very small. The boys began to work very quickly. Eddie and Alan with some other boys helped to put up a big tent and carried chairs. They wanted very much to get tickets and see the show. But soon they were tired. It was hard work and they could not rest. The circus worker whom they helped did not stop the work. Alan thought about the show and it helped him a little. He thought: “There will be elephants in the show, and I shall see them! And there will be clowns. They are so funny! Everybody will laugh at them.” But soon he was so tired that he could not think.

“Now, boys, that is all. You may go and get your tickets,” said the circus worker. It was already after 5 o’clock in the afternoon. Eddie and Alan drank some cold water and went for their tickets. They were cold, hungry and very tired. They got their tickets and went into the big tent. It was very beautiful and warm there. The boys sat down. Now they could have a rest. There was nothing to do, the tents were all up, and the chairs were all in their places.

At last the show began. It was a very good show. There were lions and elephants. The clowns were very funny and everybody laughed. But the boys did not see any of these things. They slept—they were so tired. And they slept to the end of the show.

When the show was over and the people began to clap their hands, Eddie and Alan opened their eyes. It was time to go home. On their way home the boys cried but nobody heard them.