Flea Circus

On the bottom shelf, next to the music box, is an antique, one-of-a-kind, flea circus. The base is a semi-circle of three quarter inch plywood, two feet across painted in scintillating radial stripes of violet and burgundy. On this are situated the three rings, decorated in blue and yellow triangles. The smallest ring, on the right, has a ten inch high dive platform on a white wooden pole. A tiny wire ladder leads up the pole to the red platform which overlooks a small tin cup, white enamel on the outside and dark blue inside. Close examination of the inside of the cup reveals a washer painted the same dark blue connected to a thin wire that goes through a hole in the bottom. The ring on the left side has five blue thimble-shaped tin pieces arranged in a semi-circle like a lion taming act. In front of them are a white hoop and a red seasaw, also made of tin. The center ring is the largest, about eight inches across. Four shiney brass poles, two at each side of the ring, reach up fourteen inches to support a thin copper highwire and a set of trapezes. Like the high dive, each pole has a platform and a wire ladder. At the base of one of the poles is a three inch, brass cannon pointed towards the center of the ring where a wire framed, red trampoline is ready to catch the daring projectile. Behind all of this is another sheet of plywood, glued perpendicular to the base about eighteen inches high. It is painted with a scene of a sweeping river valley with misty blue hills in the distance. In the foreground is a great white pavillion festooned with bannersgs burgundy and violet. The opening of the pavillion is drawn apart by two rampant elephants to show the words “Henri DuBonnet’s World Famous Flea Circus” in flowing calligraphic script. If one were to turn the gaudy apparatus over, they would see several copper wires coming out of holes near the back of the unpainted bottom. Each one is connected to a brass ring the right size to fit around someone’s finger. Some of the wires change the tension on the highwire, move the washer in the highdive tub and make the trapezes swing others seem to have no visible effect at all.

Corin had always insisted that she had bought the flea circus from it’s ancient creator at an exorbitant sum for the sole purpose of freeing the fleas. It was so hard to tell whether she was joking for her face was as inscrutable as a heron’s.

1 comments:

1. misuba, Thu Jan 05 19:07:14 -0600 2006

   Rock on. Do I detect a little dishonesty on Corin’s part?

   (Hey, hi, tell us a little about you and how you found us!)

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