He almost wished that he had not come, he felt so very small and
helpless; he wondered whether he could find his way out again, and
looking back, he was for a moment terrified to see that the stream of
people behind him shut him in so that he could not see the stile, nor
the wooden barrier, nor the red-faced man. Pushed forward, he found
himself at the end of the lane and standing in a semi-circular space
surrounded by strange-looking booths with painted pictures upon them,
and in front of them platforms with wooden steps running up to them.
Then, so unexpectedly that he gave a little scream, a sudden roar burst
out behind him. He turned and, indeed, the world seemed to have gone
mad. A moment ago there had been darkness and dim shadow. Now, suddenly,
there was a huge whistling, tossing circle of light and flame, and from
the centre of this a banging, brazen, cymbal-clashing scream issued-a
scream that, through its strident shrillness, he recognised as a tune
that he knew--a tune often whistled by Jim at Cow Farm. “And her golden
hair was hanging down her back.” Whence the tune came he could not
tell; from the very belly of the flaming monster, it seemed; but, as he
watched, he saw that the huge circle whirled ever faster and faster,
and that up and down on the flame of it coloured horses rose and fell,
vanishing from light to darkness, from darkness to light, and seeming of
their own free will and motion to dance to the thundering music.
It was the most terrific thing that he had ever seen. The most terrific
thing... he stood there, his cap on the back of his head, his legs
apart, his mouth open; forgetting utterly the crowd, thinking nothing of
time or danger or punishment--he gazed with his whole body.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account