THE CIRCUS English Optative with Jorge Riquelme

Here you got a beautiful story about a circus journey that went quite different than planned!

The Circus

Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter.

This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn’t have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean.

The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by- two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, elephants and other acts they would see that night. One could sense they had never been to the circus before. It promised to be a highlight of their young lives.

The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him as if to say, “You’re my knight in shining armor.” He was smiling and basking in pride, looking at her as if to reply, “You got that right.”

The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly answered, “Please let me buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus.”

The ticket lady quoted the price. The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man’s lips began to quiver. The father leaned a little closer and asked, “How much did you say?”

The ticket lady again quoted the price. The man didn’t have enough money.

How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus?

Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father reached down, picked up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.”

The man knew what was going on. He wasn’t begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking, embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my dad’s eyes, took my dad’s hand both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied, “Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.”

My father and I went back to our car and drove home. We didn’t go to the circus that night, but we didn’t go without






The Circus   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfvBnMDPJ6o

Wow! A big tent was in the middle of the town's parking lot! We were going to a three-ring

circus. I couldn't wait for it to begin. Inside and outside of the tent, toys, balloons and

food were being sold. All of the children were so very excited.

Inside the tent, we found good seats so we could see everything. The band started to

play loud music, and the ringmaster came out with a big tall hat on his head.

In one ring, there were small animals, dogs, monkeys and parrots doing tricks. The dogs

were dressed in funny clothes, and so were the monkeys. They rode on bicycles, danced

and climbed ladders.

There were wild tigers and lions in a big round wire cage. A man with a whip was inside

the cage with them. He had them trained to jump through a hoop of fire and to roll over.

He even kissed them! He was very brave!

During the break in the middle of the circus, funny clowns came out and did silly things.

They had happy faces and sad faces. Some had big red noses that honked if you

squeezed them. There were rides on big elephants too. I didn't go on one because it cost

too much money.

The last act took up the whole tent. It was acrobats. They hung from their teeth, their feet

and their necks high up in the air! They also swung high up in the air and "flew" to each

other. It's kind of scary to watch because I was afraid they might fall.

I had a very good time at the circus. However, my tummy felt kind of sick from all the

 

cotton candy and junk food I ate!

Circus vocabulary

clown	pallasso	caravan	caravana
tamer	domador	snake	serp
juggler	malabarista	camel	camell
elephant	elefant	mime	mimo
lion	lleó	magicien	mag
tiger	tigre	wizard	bruixot
monkey	mico	dancers	ballarines
big top	carpa	suit	vestit
floodlight	focus	cannon	canó
stairs	escala	tightrope	corda de equilibrista
wardrobe	vestuari	mime	mim
horse	cavall	acrobat	acròbata
seal	foca
presenter	presentador
puppet	marioneta
advertising	publicitat
stage	escenari
panther	pantera
springboard	trampolí
tightrope	equilibrista