The 128 most classic philosophical essays in the world

Chapter 40 The Clown
[Russia] Turgenev
Clowns do well among timid people.

There was once a clown in the world.

He lived a very happy life for a long time, but by degrees some rumors had reached his ears that he was everywhere regarded as a very stupid and very vulgar fellow.

Embarrassed, the Joker began to think gloomily: How can we stop those nasty gossip?
A sudden idea finally opened his stupid head... So, without delay, he put his idea into practice.

He met an acquaintance in the street—and the acquaintance praised a famous colorist...

"Come on!" said the clown, raising his voice. "The colorist is dead already... Don't you know this? I didn't expect you to be so... You are a backward person."

The acquaintance was taken aback and immediately agreed with the clown.

"What a fine book I finished today!" another acquaintance told him.

"Come on!" said the clown, raising his voice. "Why aren't you shy? This book is not interesting at all, and everyone has given up reading it a long time ago. You don't know this yet? You are a backward person."

So the acquaintance was also surprised and agreed with the clown.

"My friend So-and-so is a very fine man!" the third acquaintance told the Clown, "he is a truly noble man!"

"Come on!" said the clown, raising his voice. "So-and-so is a bastard! He has robbed all his relatives. Who doesn't know that? You are a backward person!"

The third acquaintance was equally astonished, agreed with the joker, and stopped seeing the friend.In short, no matter who or what people praise in front of the clown, he keeps refuting.

Only sometimes, he added reproachfully:

"Do you still believe in authority?"

"What a bad-hearted man! What a vicious fellow!" His acquaintances began to talk about the clown, "but what a brain he has!"

"He's got a tongue, too!" added others. "Oh, he's a genius!"

Finally, the publisher of a newspaper asked the clown to come to him and host an opinion column.

And so the clown began to criticize everything and everyone, without changing his technique or his pompous air a bit.

Now he—a man who had once shouted against authority—has become an authority himself, and the young people adore him and fear him.

What should they, poor young men, do?Although generally speaking, one should not worship... But here, try not to worship - you will be a backward person!
Clowns do well among timid people.

Heart mark notes
What really becomes a clown in life is often not what he is willing to do, but someone else makes it so.Clowns are pathetic, and when clowns fool other people in life, other people become clowns, and other people are more pathetic than clowns.The clown establishes himself by defeating others. The innocent clown ends up as a sinister critic, and he will always play the role of the clown.Turgenev used pungent writing to portray the image of the clown who is arrogant and arrogant, and at the same time satirized those who are timid and uninitiated and succumb to authority.

In the noisy and flashy society, no matter what we do, we must first understand the true face of things before we can make our own judgments, and bravely stick to our own judgments to avoid becoming a clown who echoes others.

(End of this chapter)