CHAPTER TWELVE

“That’s perfect! I would never discover any trickery!” Oliver exclaimed and turned to Raja. “You’ve promised to explain to me the “The Colored Sugar Trick”! Do you remember?”

“What is it? The Colored Sugar Trick? Did I miss something?” Amita said joyfully.

“Where have you been?” Raja asked.

“I watched the street jugglers’ performance. Look what I’ve got!” she said, and showed them the new green and red clubs. “I must get ready for my performance when we come back to Jaipur. Oliver, will you toss these clubs to me in turn!”

Amita was juggling clubs gracefully.

“Take the red club over there,” she asked Oliver.

“I can’t. I’ve got only four paws,” the lizard said. Then he made a quick move with the tail and got the club.

“You’re so agile and quick! Your tail seems to have grown!”

“Really?” Oliver felt very excited.

“I’m sure. Let’s check the length of your tail with the measuring tape!” the juggler insisted.

“Don’t you know that lizards can grow their tails again after they’d lost them?” the old fakir smirked.

“Are you kidding? That’s impossible!” the lizard said and shook his head in disbelief.

“He came to Agra to find a magician who could make his tail grow. But we haven’t found one yet!” Raja explained.

“I mean what I say,” the fakir said in a soft voice. “I read about it in my school textbook in biology when I was a kid.”

He wrinkled his forehead and added, “Maybe, you don’t need a magician anymore! You’d better grab the book urgently to meet the lacks in your education!”

“My tail has become longer! Thank you!” the happy lizard hopped with joy. “I knew that the magician would help me!”

“Let me ask you about “The Colored Sugar Trick”. There is one part that eludes me.” Raja frowned.

“What part?” The fakir was interested.

“How does he hide the sugar cubes?”

“To accomplish this trick, the fakir had secretly prepared beforehand six small packages, each containing one of the colored sugars. He secreted in his mouth, three in each cheek, in a prearranged order.”

“Why didn’t the sugar cubes dissolve in his mouth?”

“These cubes were enclosed in thin, waterproof edible fabric! The fakir could easily reach any of these packets with his tongue, bring it to the front of the mouth, break the fabric by pressing it against his teeth. He blew the sugar cube out in a perfectly dry condition!”

“If some skeptical spectator wishes to examine the fakir's mouth… What is he going to do?” Raja asked.

“He merely swallows the colorful sugar left.”

“That was one of the most interesting days of my life!” Oliver the Lizard exclaimed. “I’ll never forget it!”

“Me too! What if I actually learned some magic tricks?” Raja said and looked at Amita the Juggler.

“Great!” Amita encouraged him. “It would be so exciting!”

“Have you seen Lucky the Snake Charmer among those magicians and fakirs?” Oliver asked the juggler.

“I saw him and his king cobra. Lucky was performing, playing his flute.”

“Do flutes work on snakes?” Raja asked doubtfully.

“No. Snakes are known to have poor hearing. The charm has nothing to do with the music,” the fakir said, “My name is Darvanda. It means the hood of a cobra!”

“Darvanda, why can’t snakes hear the music? How do snake charmers tame snakes?” Oliver asked.

“I like the dancing snakes. Their dance is so mystical,” the girl said. “What’s the trick? Why do they dance?”

“They lack the outer ear that would enable them to hear music,” the fakir explained. “But they react to high-pitched flute music. Certain vibrations of the air strike the scales of the skin or the tips of the snake’s ribs.”

“What’s the trick?” Oliver smiled at her. “A special flute?”

“The whole trick is not at all in the flute!” Darvanda explained. “Swinging to the beat of the music, the cobra follows the movements of the human hand, and does not dance at all. The snake charmer looks into the eyes of the snake to catch the moment when it wants to grab his hand.”

“Why do you know so much about snake charmers?”

The fakir smiled and said, “Can you guess, Oliver?”

“I have no clue.”

“Well, I used to be the one! But I’m not doing it anymore because this profession is not only mysterious, but also very dangerous. I like these lithe, graceful creatures that carry enough poison in the tooth to kill an elephant. But I fear them at the same time. A real snake charmer mustn’t fear his snake to tame it. I gave it up and began to study magic tricks.”

“You’ve made the right choice. Your tricks are amazing!” Oliver uttered. “Look! What a gorgeous rug over there! There is an elephant embroidered in it! Donut would like this rug!”

“I’m not a rug,” the embroidered thing protested, “I’m a carpet!”

The lizard startled in surprise and stared at the carpet.

“It isn’t polite to stare at carpets for long. They can get offended or annoyed. And I can’t tell you what is worse!”

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