A favorite setting for a children's story is the circus, and following an
alligator that sneaks about the grounds searching for an adventure offers
the listener a sense of involvement.
The circus is in town. All the boys and girls and their mothers and
fathers are excited by the posters and the circus parades along Main
Street.
Abercrombie, the alligator, wants to visit the circus. The morning the
circus opens, Abercrombie rises from his nest in the riverbank mud,
climbs on to his bicycle, and sets off for town. He has lots of friends at
the circus, and they like to have him visit with them.
Abercrombie also has a secret plan, but we won't talk about that yet.
First we'll introduce a few of Abercrombie's friends.
One of Abercrombie's close friends at the circus is JoJo, the juggler.
JoJo juggles three plates or, sometimes, three bottles.
Then there is Jingo, the jester, who struts along the circus Midway,
looking important. He's OK, though.
Abercrombie also has friends among the clowns who do somersaults
and fancy rolls, and play violins as they do their tricks. He knows the
elephants that ride around the ring on huge, funny looking bicycles and
the jugglers and clowns and elephants that enjoy making children laugh.
Finally, there is Bumble, the Bee. Bumble is the Circus Ringmaster. He
buzzes from one place to another in the circus rink, telling people what to
do and when to do it. He's bossy, but he's OK, too.
Let's return to Abercrombie. He has been planning his secret adventure
for a long time.
We see him close to the circus tent with colored flags flying from the
top. He sniffs the air and smells the popcorn, and he hears the booming
of the drums and the blaring of the trumpets. Crowds of children and
their parents are heading for the circus tents. Some of them stop to
watch JoJo, the juggler and they laugh at JoJo jumping up and down,
and twirling plates and bottles, catching them on their way up or down.
It's lots of fun to watch.
Abercrombie walks up to JoJo and whispers in his ear. Then
Abercrombie leaves JoJo; he's in a hurry to begin his adventure-his
secret adventure.
Flattening down to the ground on his stumpy legs and arms,
Abercrombie slithers into the big tent. All the boys and girls and their
mothers and fathers and grandmas and grandpas fill the seats around the
circular rink. They are concentrating on the clowns rolling and tumbling
and standing on the heads and shoulders of other clowns. They are also
watching the elephants ride their huge bicycles.
No one notices Abercrombie, and that is the way Abercrombie wants it.
He doesn't want to be noticed until he is ready.
Carefully, Abercrombie works his way around a circus wagon, looking
back over his shoulder to be sure he is not seen. Quickly, he climbs over
a large red and white striped box, slips around a corner and, fast as an
alligator can, he wiggles up, over the side and into an orange-colored
barrel.
He waits inside the barrel. He peeks out through a bunghole in its side.
He does not see or hear anyone close by, so he knows he has not been
noticed. He grins, chuckles, and gleefully rubs his palms.
Abercrombie takes another peek through the peephole. The way is clear.
Taking a deep breath, he tightens his muscles, and leaps out of the barrel.
Rearing up on to his hind legs, his heavy tail straight out behind him
Abercrombie dashes into and across the circus rink. His stumpy arms
wave furiously, and his head is high and wags from side to side for
balance. His legs pump and pound so fast they look blurry, like bicycle
spokes when the wheels turn fast.
Bumble, the Bee, Ringmaster of the circus, sees Abercrombie racing
across the ring and the direction in which he is heading.
'Stop, stop,' he shouts.
Abercrombie pays no attention. He reaches a ladder attached to a red
and white pole on the side of the center ring. The top of the pole is close
to the tent's peak, and that's really high. A ladder is fastened to the pole
all the way to the top.
Abercrombie wraps his stumpy arms around the pole and begins to
climb the ladder. He climbs and he climbs. Finally, he is at the very top
and stands on a tiny platform. Abercrombie leans out and twists his head
to look at the crowd far below.
The crowd is silent. They stare up, watching Abercrombie high up on
the tiny perch. Bumble, the Ringmaster, stands at the bottom of the pole
and shakes his fist up at him.
Abercrombie's secret ambition is that ever since he first attending a
circus he wanted to swing from a trapeze-a circus trapeze. The tiny
platform to which he climbed has a trapeze fastened to its railing. The
trapeze is now a few inches from where Abercrombie is standing.
No one can stop him now.
Abercrombie unties the trapeze, grasps the bar with both hands and takes
a deep breath. He looks down at the crowd once more and gripping the
trapeze tight, leaps from the platform. Away he G O E S!
Oh, what an adventure! What AN ADVENTURE! Back and forth, back
and forth from one side of the huge tent to the other.
First, Abercrombie holds on with both hands, then he holds on with one
hand and waves to the crowd below with the other. He twists and he
turns, then holds to the bar with only his teeth and waggles both arms
and stumpy hind legs. To cap that, he does somersaults and back flips,
and then twists himself so that he catches the bar with his hands, his feet,
and his teeth. Once, even with his tail!
The boys and the girls and the mothers and the fathers and the grandmas
and the grandpas watch Abercrombie from far below. They shout and
laugh and clap their hands. They're having a wonderful time, too.
Well, as you can imagine, after a while Abercrombie gets tired. It's time
to rest. He takes a few more swings, does a somersault and a back flip,
and catches the rail on the tiny platform where he started. He ties the
trapeze back to the railing, and climbs down.
When he steps away from the ladder at the bottom, the crowd welcomes
him with smiles, shouts, and clapping hands. Even Bumble, the
Ringmaster, is happy to see him and they shake hands.
Abercrombie waves to the crowd and makes his way to where he left his
bicycle. He heads for home.
Arriving home, he enjoys his supper and, as he is very tired, he puts on
his red pajamas and slips into his nest on the riverbank.