King and Jester - a joke on the verge

A jester is a person, or rather an image of a person. He is always cheerful, energetic and positive, the faces of comedy and tragedy are intertwined in his mouth. His movements are full of chaos and disorder, but naive humor is not always like that. Today was quite an unusual day, a new actor joined the theater team, his skills amazed the old director, he was truly outstanding among the others. Mansle recently completed his acting studies, but during the entire time he was there, the man managed to perform in many plays, earning a reputation and gaining a small name. Why did the old theater suddenly decide to hire a new actor for one of the main roles? It’s all about the quality and status of this establishment, only here people could watch the legendary performance “The King and the Jester”. The production itself was invented decades ago, during the reign of the king, who was the first monarch to introduce the fashion of jesters in his time. The colorful “fools” used to be just social fools who had fun without any obligations. But the king himself decided that he would like to wake up every morning to the singing of birds, with a soft ray of light from his window, being able to hear new jokes every single day. This was the so-called recipe for a good day, and so on in a circle: Singing, rays, joke, end. His reign was glorious, the people liked their master, even though he was powerful, but his mood never spoiled, his optimism infected everyone in his country, which made everyone believe that he was one of a kind. But any little Jester wants to shine brighter than his owner allows him. - Why do they praise the king for his kind smile if he only has it because of me?! Thought the unfortunate jester, angrily holding his stupid, rattling, ringing staff like a trinket. He became tired of laughing, tired of smiling, and he became gloomy and angry. No one cares about his mood, people still only see a mask on him with a smile, then why shouldn’t they care about what’s underneath it? Another day, everyone is going to listen to the royal jester, and he too, was also ready to listen to the opinions of others about his performance. The beginning was nice, the usual jokes of a fool, until suddenly a joke was heard from him with a slight blackness in the context. Everyone did not immediately understand, the general laughter died down slightly, but it was still heard throughout the hall, and the king seemed not to understand, bursting into laughter like wine, according to the classics. Every day, the jokes became darker and darker and darker. The king was bored with the usual humor, he liked the jester’s new direction too much, no one else laughed at the jester except the king. Towering behind the back of his patron, the jester was able to create many nasty things, show any facial expressions, no one would answer him, because the king values his toy. The next day the king felt sad, the jokes of the jester did not help much, then the jester whispered something, the devilish words charged the king with cheerfulness, after which he ordered the prisoner to be brought from the dungeon. The prisoner was brought straight into the hall, in front of the king’s throne. The monarch himself remembered one recent anecdote of the jester, after which the poor fellow was secured on the table where the feast had previously been held, and after that the executioner cut off his head. The head rolled away, running under the corridor out of the hall, while the king himself laughed, shouting. - How much did he drink, the-he, he poured out so much! The bloody show became a new way to have fun, the satisfied jester watched the king, saw the indignation of the crowd, quietly weaving all the threads around his master, until one day, the exhausted people broke down the gates of the royal castle, and after that the tyrant king was killed, cutting his body into pieces, the jester playfully twirled the king’s crown on his little finger, casually taking his place on the royal throne. Speaking quietly, he said. - A crown made of fools' gold, fits only on fools. The ending remained open; the author had his own idea about how it all ended, but he did not share how exactly. The work was given to the theater, and the theater began to stage the production. And for the tenth year now, people have been coming to see the new ending that the head of the theater came up with. Mansle was inspired by the work, there was no clear thought in it, the idea itself could be interpreted the way you saw it yourself, and therefore the opportunity to get the role of a jester became his dream… - Tomorrow there will be a rehearsal, and a week later, a performance! The young actor said joyfully, excitedly holding the props in his hands, a white theater mask with a black strap, as well as a stupid hat.