François is next to Marcel’s pole… This last, very athletic, climbs rapidly along his pole. François is a little behind Marcel who is about three quarters the way up ; François, a little less, but he realises that his hands are at the height of Marcel’s boots. With a quick gesture he gets hold of one of Marcel’s boots and pulls it from his foot. Even so, Marcel, surprised, attempts to climb higher on his pole. His unbooted foot greases his own pole… and shortly after his other boot rubs itself on the oiled area of his pole… His support is now almost nil with his boots… Solely with the force of his hands and feet he attempts to continue to mount. It is not only a question of time : despite his athlete’s body, gravity and centrifugal force will get the better of him.

    Jacques and Pierre (the young lad) are neighbours on the pole. Jacques has seen well the little trick of François towards Marcel. Pierre is also himself in advance of Jacques in the climb. Jacques attempts the same trick with Pierre. The young Pierre defends himself well : he succeeds in freeing himself from the hold that Jacques has on his boot and gives him a good kick in the stomach. Due to this his boot is freed but it hangs on the end of his foot. Pierre is three quarters of the way up towards the top of the pole : the fit of his boot on his calves is relatively big… Pierre has no choice : he has to let himself descend the length of the pole in order to move away from Jacques and profit from the rubber sticking to the metal in order to make his leg slip higher in his boot. Like this he comes down to about half of the pole and he is again ready to go back towards the top…

    But the speed of the carousel still increases enormously. The centrifugal force truly becomes more impressive. Pierre struggles a lot but he succeeds in gaining a few centimetres of height… His Nora boots “quiver” as we say in Canada and crease noisily during his slow ascent. As his boot hangs only from the end of his foot, the whole of the interior is nevertheless oily and very slippery. In his eagerness in wanting to ascend more rapidly his boot suddenly slips off his foot and “plop !” falls on the mattresses. He has good reflexes : he takes care not to oil his pole with his unbooted foot… The strong centrifugal force takes him calmly towards the bottom. This brings him almost to the end of the pole. His last boot is really pressed on the pole…

    The young Pierre who likes climbing trees in boots has got excited almost since the start of this adventure on the carousel… And the continual rubbing along the pole makes him crazy with pleasure. He is on the point of losing this competition but he has quite a bit of energy, this young scrawny kid ! He tries, perhaps for the last time, to get a better position higher on the pole. Despite having one boot less he slowly progresses higher up the pole. He is almost at the end of his strength…He struggles greatly ; he takes short breaths and his face is tensed and blushing. His boot tortures him with folds and rubbered squeaks on the pole… Now he is drooling with fatigue. He has reached the end : his eyes closed… His last boot leaves him slowly… It hangs down and then flies into the void … At the same moment, he is red from the repeated rubbing on the pole. He cries out in a plaintive voice : “Oh ! nooooo …” while he is ejected from the carousel and tumbles onto the mattresses…He has lost! He is disappointed but happy at the same time. He adores climbing in rubber boots that are too big for him. He remains marked for ever by this extraordinary climbing adventure.

    Marcel the sportsman and mountaineer… There were many times that he suffered. This man is rather stocky and determined ! Since the carousel has increased its speed, Marcel has slipped dangerously towards the bottom of the pole. One boot less and nylon trousers does not really give him a good hold. One can hear him curse his boots –he has a horror of wearing rubber boots… At each movement that he makes, his boot slips a little more off his foot… But from now on he has no margin of manoeuvre for recovery… he finds himself at the extremity of the pole : he cannot go any lower. It is the end ! His boot leaves him for ever… With his last boot having disappeared, he is no longer able to win this championship. He lets himself fall onto the mattresses.

    François is always in the running. His neighbour on the pole is the baker Clément. One asked oneself how he, Clément, manages to hold on so well high up near to the top of the pole. We know that he is very heavy and not vey athletic. Of course Clément has prepared a strategy. Before putting on his boots at the beginning of the championship he has succeeded, on the sly, in putting on three pairs of really thick woollen socks. We also know of course that Clément has big legs : his boots are gripped around his big calves. He therefore has a very good hold on the pole with his feet which holds well in his boots. He has also succeeded in getting hold of the top of the pole where the centrifugal force is at a minimum.

    François envisages eliminating Clément. He mounts up the pole so that his hands arrive at the height of the latter’s boots. François starts to hit Clément’s boots with his free hand. Clément laughs : his boots do not move and stay firmly on his feet. François still continues to hit Clément’s boots.

Tournoi de carrousel en Nora, par Martinbottes
Translated by Alan;
page 2/4 © AMBC, 2009.

(continuation)