“The rabbit should not have appeared!” the pale artist interrupted, screaming at the manager. “I don’t understand the way the rabbit got into the box. There should not have been any kind of trick at all! Do you remember the script? I had to open the empty box without any animals at all, then clowns would run out into the arena and turn it into a farce!”
“Then whose evil joke is this? Maybe the tamer’s? But he works only with predators, so he can’t be responsible,” the manager said thoughtfully, walking away.
The conjuror took the rabbit by the ears and went into the dressing room. He examined the box carefully from every side more than once, but couldn’t find the slightest clue. Tired, he threw it into a corner, and looked at the rabbit. It was snow white, sitting on the table and basking under the lamp, and crunching on a third sweet carrot. At the same time, he was wiggling his ears with pleasure.
Long after midnight, the illusionist was still sitting in a chair in the dressing room, trying to understand. A knock at the door brought him back to reality.
“Who is it?”
The white-haired propman showed his head from behind the door.
“May I come in?”
The actor did not answer, so the propman went in anyway, and went over to the rabbit, and stroked him.
“Well, hello, I do recognize you, Brer Rabbit.”
“What? You rigged all this, didn’t you?!”
“Don’t get so excited. You’d better listen to what I tell you. Just let it be between you and me. Our circus has a long history, and I’ve been working here for a long time and seen a lot of things. Forty years ago, I began my career as an assistant magician, so I am a witness to the case, which our troupe is not aware of. What happened to you today in the arena took place forty years ago, but it was the other way around. The illusionist, who I assisted at that time, crafted this same prop. His stage name was Faust. As you can see, the box is rather ordinary, only with a mirror inside. His rabbit did not have to vanish in the box, but it disappeared the first time he did the act, and we’ve never seen it since. We searched the whole circus, everywhere. After that, Faust swore off not to make any tricks with that prop. He and the circus vowed never to speak of it again, to try and forget. However, I guess this rabbit returned today from somewhere.”