‘Why do people like me?’ asks the clown, still surprised at the warmth shown to him. ‘Is it because I make them laugh?’
‘They enjoy laughing, certainly,’ says his friend.
‘And I suppose my large shoes, colourful clothes and big smile?..’
‘They enjoy those too.’
‘But you don’t think they’re the real reason?’
His friend pauses, and then he speaks.
‘The real reason people like you is this: you always get up.’
‘How d’you mean?’
‘Whatever crisis has occurred, however hard you’ve been knocked over or sent tumbling – you always get up! With you, the story’s never over. Whatever the disaster, the story gets up and goes on.’
‘Well, it has to!’
‘So, more than the funny man, you’re the resurrection man. And if it’s true of you, it might be true of me.’
‘Of course it is; of course it is, my friend!’
‘And that’s why we like the clown.’
