https://twitter.com/monofrogue/status/1655727109816438785
(2023/5/9 9:11)
Heard joke once: man goes to doctor. Says he's
depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel.
Says he feels all alone in a threatening world
where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain.
Doctor says, "Treatment is simple. Great clown
Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him."
Man goes to Pagliacci's show. The theatre is
full of laughter from the moment the clown
trips onto the stage late. Man is overwhelmed
with joy and an impression that life is
bursting with meaning. He comes out of the
theatre singing, and dances home under the
stars.
The next day, he thinks he'll go again. But
when he turns up at the Box Office, they say
Pagliacci has disappeared. He looks backstage,
but the only trace there was ever a clown there
is a very ragged script, which Man pockets.
Man has a burning passion to see Pagliacci
again. For three decades, he travels the
country and the major world capitals, looking
for him. Nobody has seen Pagliacci. Nobody
outside that first town has even heard of him,
or recognises the script Man has copied out.
One day, a woman comes to his door. 'I have
heard about your search', says the visitor.
'Alas, I cannot tell you where Pagliacci is
now. But I can still help'. She pulls out a
strange machine. 'This device', she says, 'can
send you to the past, where you know where to
find him.'
Man seizes the opportunity. He sets the
contraption to take him back to that night
where he saw Pagliacci, and makes his way to
the theatre. When he gets there, he realises
there's a risk of running into himself. 'I
can't be recognisable', he thinks.
Not to worry. It's a theatre, so there's sure
to be costumes backstage. Sure enough, in the
first dressing room he tries there's a
harlequin's suit and some shoes - albeit a
little too big for him. For good measure he
cakes some white facepaint on as well.
Realising the show must be about to start, he
runs to the wing, so as not to miss a moment.
The curtain rises, but nobody appears on stage.
'This is a disaster', he thinks, 'This was the
most important night of my life. I can't let it
not happen'.
But Man has had years of reading and re-reading
the script. He knows precisely what needs to be
said and done, and precisely how it needs to be
said and done. He runs onto the stage to take
over, trips over an uneven floorboard, and
kicks off the evening of non-stop laughter.
At the end of the show, Man leaves a copy of
the script in a dressing room, and leaves
secretly. Then another thought strikes him: if
he was Pagliacci the whole time, then how did
the doctor know about the show?
He decides to use the time machine again, and
goes back to earlier in the day, so he can find
the doctor. He goes to the hospital and,
disguised in a white coat and stethoscope, he
sneaks into the doctor's office to wait for him
to appear.
Finally the door opens, but he finds himself
looking not at the doctor, but at a version of
himself, thirty years younger. 'I'm depressed',
the younger man says. 'Life seems harsh and
cruel. I feel all alone in a threatening world
where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain.'
'Treatment is simple', replies the older.
'Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go
and see him'.
As the patient closes the door behind him, the
older man sits back in his chair and chuckles
to himself, 'But doctor...I am Pagliacci'.
(End)