For Mrs. Ursula, besides food, housing was another hell.
There is a long row of Datong bunk beds, with red clay fire pits underneath and straw mats on top, filled with a sour smell of sweat.
Brooke sat at the door and leaned directly against the wall. It didn't take long for him to start snoring.
The maid cleaned for more than half an hour, then laid out blankets and sleeping bags, and then she felt like she could barely lie down. Compared with the wild, the only advantage here is probably the well water.
It's cool and refreshing, a little sweet, and refreshing.
In this way, a group of people settled down.
A few days later, in early November, the Wilderness Circus that the store boy mentioned was finally here.
Warm drums and trumpets sounded outside the village, and caravans drove in and parked in the square at the entrance of the village.
The first group of clowns to get off the bus were all disabled people with missing arms and legs. They were lame, blind, and deaf. They held begging basins in their hands and performed funny performances while begging to the villagers who were watching.
This is a Wilderness Circus tradition called "Begging the Road." It is said that the prototype of the Wilderness Circus was a group of beggars who could not survive and lived together. At first they just wandered around and begged to make a living. Later, in order to increase the success rate of begging, some small animals were raised for performances to increase the fun, and later, some small handicrafts were made for sale.
Later, Liu Ying and Shen Po joined the group.
After thousands of years of development, it has gradually evolved into today's Wilderness Circus, a diversified mobile business system that integrates begging, circus performances, tarot card divination, herbal medicine, small handicraft sales, and skin and flesh business.
Ursula and her group stood in the crowd, Margulies' eyes widened, full of curiosity about everything new.
"Madam, eldest lady, please do me a favor and give me some reward!"
An old blind man on crutches stretched out his potted pot and begged the two of them.
"Aren't you blind? How did you see us?" Margulies asked strangely. Although there were no eyeballs in the other party's eyes, only the whites of the eyes, she accurately stated the identities of their mother and daughter.
"Haha..." the old blind man pointed to his nose, "I smell the perfume of the noble lady."
"That's awesome!" Margulies praised, took out three gold coins from the old housekeeper's purse and threw them into the basin.
"Oh, three gold coins, kind lady, the God of Wandering will bless you." The old blind man opened his hands, leaned down, and performed a standard aristocratic salute.
According to the rules, after a beggar receives a reward, other beggars can no longer disturb the kind person who gives alms.
Following the beggar was the drum and trumpet team, which turned out to be a group of monkeys riding goats, playing trumpets and playing drums. They looked human-like and very funny, which made the villagers laugh.
"Roar!"
A sexy female trainer sat on the lion's back, waving her whip from time to time, making a crisp sound of breaking through the air.
If Chen Xing were here, he would definitely think of one person - Princess Qingcheng, Lacey Maris. Only the riding lion was replaced by the two-headed manticore "Manticore", and the whip was replaced by the double golden spears.
Then, a group of actors and actresses in gymnastics uniforms, with warm smiles on their faces, kept waving and blowing kisses to the onlookers.
Then came a group of performers, some playing the accordion, some playing the tuba, and some playing the violin. The music was messy, but extremely lively.
Walking at the end were a group of old women wearing tattered cloth robes, holding crutches in their hands, their robes dragging on the ground, dirty.
Goddess, an old woman who specializes in predicting people's destiny and providing some herbal medicine.
"Wow, they are all so happy~"
Margulies cried involuntarily. Although these people were dressed in rags, with indelible traces of poverty and hunger everywhere on their bodies and faces, they all had one thing in common, which was that they felt happy from the bottom of their hearts.
The world seems to have opened a new page for the eldest lady of the earl family.
A world that has never been seen before, beyond cognition.
It turns out that there is such a life.
It turns out that a smile can
With such brilliance.
It turns out that happiness can be so simple and so unrestrained.
The smiles she saw were completely different from those of the nobles in Ice Blue City.
Although the nobles of Ice Blue City always have gentle smiles on their faces, in fact anyone can feel the coldness and vigilance in their hearts, like a smiling lion that can explode and hurt people at any time.
For them, smiling is just a kind of etiquette, something that must be carried, not a real feeling of happiness.
If others are like this, so is she. Smile every day and face everyone with a smile, but the coldness in your heart is inversely proportional to the smile on your face. Often the happier you smile, the more you want to kill the other person.
Because she grew up in that kind of environment and was surrounded by those kind of people, she could only become that kind of person, otherwise she would be rejected by that circle and become a "loser".
The happiness of these people is simple and pure, like birds flying across the sky, free and unrestrained.
Because I am happy, I laugh.
What touched the heartstrings was not only the young lady of the Ursula family, but also the madam.
She thought of her girlhood running around the countryside, and the day she held her wedding to her husband. It seemed that she had not felt such joy for a long, long time.
The Wilderness Circus is an angel that brings happiness to those who are struggling to survive in a harsh environment.
Power, wealth, and status are not important to them. They don't care about poverty, hunger and discrimination. The only thing they need is happiness.
Their happiness infects countless people who are struggling to live a hard life on the edge of the world, allowing them to continue to live, feel the warmth of the sun, and feel the kindness of the world.
Unknowingly, Mrs. Ursula put her arms around her daughter's shoulders, and the latter put her little head into her arms.
The mother and daughter cling to each other, as if time has slowed down, like trickling water, gentle and peaceful.
At this moment, they reconciled.
In the afternoon, the circus pulled up a huge tent and held a grand performance.
Although the equipment is somewhat old, the speakers are hoarse, and the costumes are crude, the dancing girls are either too old and slow in their movements, or they are too young to learn to be clumsy. As for the animal performance, the lion did not dare to jump through the fire hoop and rushed out of the stage midway. He chased the monkey who was teasing him, scaring a group of villagers into pissing themselves and shouting that they wanted a refund.
Regardless of professionalism, it is indeed very happy to be happy.
After the performance, it was already nightfall. A huge bonfire was set up outside the circus tent. People gathered around the fire, holding hands, singing and dancing.
Suddenly, a high-pitched voice drowned out the sounds of the accordion and six-string guitar.
The music is light and joyful, like the sound of nature. Everyone stopped and looked towards the place where the music came from.
I saw a girl walking out of the crowd, holding a violin on her white neck, the strings were pulling rapidly, and her two golden ponytails were beating in the brisk melody. When she turned around, her skirt flew up, as graceful as a legendary elf.
People gradually came back to their senses and began to dance to the rhythm of the music, and their dance became more and more enthusiastic.
When the music reached its climax, Margulies' whole body glowed with blue light, and she jumped onto the bonfire. Her little red leather shoes stepped on the burning logs, her ballet steps were swaying freely, and the high-pitched piano sound soared into the sky.
People cheered. I don't know who shouted the slogan "Flame Swan" first, and everyone followed suit.
The carnival lasted all night, and it was not until the next morning that people with tired faces left one after another.
The Wilderness Circus will stay for three days. On the first day, there will be large-scale performances and bonfire carnival. On the second day, it will perform magic tricks, throw fireballs and other small acrobatics, and sell small handicrafts. , the third day continues what happened on the second day.
For the refugees who have been busy all year long, the three days before the circus arrives are the happiest time of the year, even happier than the Harvest Festival.
Especially for those old bachelors who have not married a wife, or have grown up but do not have a girlfriend.
A young guy who vents his strong hormones everywhere.
Compared with ordinary wandering warblers who have a fixed residence, the quality of the wandering warblers in the circus is generally not high. They spend all day eating and sleeping around in the wild. Their skin may not be very good, but the price is relatively cheap. Sometimes they even cost no money. Give some Just food will do.
Moreover, there is a tradition among circus warblers that they do not take any contraceptive measures. Once pregnant, they are born and raised by the circus family to replenish the population.
Some of these children grew up to be acrobats, animal trainers, craftsmen, or guards, or wandering warblers.
Some of the descendants of the refugees are in the circus. If they pass by again and their blood relatives want to claim them, they will have to pay a large amount of child support, or give up their settled life and join the circus, so that they can be with their children. Life.
Wilderness circuses usually have their own travel routes. This route is relatively fixed, going back and forth between familiar villages, and basically comes once a year. After all, the refugee villages and edge towns are very poor and cannot afford too frequent carnivals.
If there is a "crash" by chance, that is, two wilderness circuses come to a village at the same time, or a circus has just come not long ago, they will politely leave.
But this time is rare, because they will agree with the local village chief or tribal leader for next year's date.
For example, after the circus leaves, the head of Guzala Village will hang a colorful flag at the entrance of the village, which means that a circus has visited this year, or that someone has already made an appointment. Seeing this flag causes other circuses to leave in silence.
On the third day, Ursula and her daughter visited the circus leader.
"Beautiful Miss Flame Swan, and this noble lady, how can I help you two?" The middle-aged, somewhat bald leader bowed to greet them.
Ever since Margulies performed a violin solo that stunned the audience and performed a ballet dance of walking in flames, everyone began to call her that.
"We want to go north, but I don't know where you will pass?" Margulies asked.
“We will arrive at Beifeng Town before winter, and then spend the whole winter there, passing through Dashi Village, Niujiao Village, Laqi Tribe, Prade Town, Locke Town, Roast Duck Town, Orchid Town... along the way... "
When she heard about Orchid Town, Margulies' beautiful eyes lit up, and she immediately asked to follow the team to the north.
Under Brooke's repeated warnings, although the middle-aged man seemed to be a good person, Margulies still did not reveal the true destination to avoid prying eyes.
Although Margulies has reservations, the tradition of the Wilderness Circus is that no one will be refused. Anyone who wants to join can come or leave at any time, not to mention the noble lady who is willing to pay the travel expenses.
After receiving a huge sum of one hundred gold coins - for the Wilderness Circus, one hundred gold coins may be half a month's income, the troupe leader freed up a newer caravan for them to use.
The caravan was fuel-powered and had long strips of carpet on the inside and thick patchwork canvas on the outside. Although it looks shabby, it is quite comfortable to sit inside. At least you don't have to bask in the sun and you can lie down.
However, compared to the tolerance and friendliness of the Wilderness Circus, it also has its ruthless side. During the journey, sleeping in the open air, exposed to the sun and rain, the sick and weak people would soon die and be buried everywhere.
And people who lose their effectiveness are easily abandoned, because everyone is a person who does whatever they want and cannot ask for too much.
A bard once wrote, "If one day you feel tired, tired, disappointed with this hypocritical world, and want to put down all your baggage and find your own happiness, then you can join a team. A Wilderness Circus Troupe, because there is only joy there.”
The Wilderness Circus has always been full of dramatic romance, but the premise is that all pursuits in the world have been given up, and all fame and wealth, love and hatred, responsibilities and obligations have been left behind.
Compared to the asceticism and otherworldliness emphasized by Holy Light Church, New Zen Buddhism and Supreme God Religion, Wilderness Circus is more pure and thorough.
Let me ask you, how can an organization with a strict hierarchy, a territorial concept and a need for expansion really be free from desires and desires, and be extraordinary?
