Alfred and Manfred

The organ-grinder carried a monkey on his back. The monkey’s name was Alfred, the organ-grinder’s name was Manfred; together they were called Manfred and Alfred. Manfred and Alfred lived behind the Sears in an old circus tent with one pole, the centermost pole. The last circus to come to town (Barnaby & Baxley) left their tent behind, plus a three-legged camel, a lame dog and a very fat lady with a beard. The ringmaster (a onetime Lutheran preacher with a gamy leg and a top-hat) hurried the circus out of town after being accused of dupery, moral depravity and bestiality. The shamble leg man was a boy when the last circus to come to town came to town then hurried out of town, leaving behind an old circus tent, a three-legged camel, a lame dog, a very fat lady with a beard and a town astir with rumors of beastly coitus, moral turpitude and Lutheran deception. The organ-grinder and his monkey (Alfred and Manfred) raised the tent upright with wooden pegs and clothesline. They borrowed stay-lines from the owner of the Seder’s bakery (Hansom Cohen) and a ball-peen hammer from the after-hours clerk at the Waymart.