A sketch by Jean-Pierre Martinez
One – Did you see that? There’s a jackass on the roundabout, sitting on a chair.
Two – A jackass…? So they’re back again?
One – Who?
Two – The Yellow Vests.
One – A jackass! Don’t you know what a jackass is?
Two – Well… yes. I’ve got one right in front of me.
One – I’m talking about a real jackass, for fuck’s sake!
Two – A real jackass…? And it’s just sitting there, on a chair?
One – In the middle of the roundabout.
Two – And who had the idea of putting a chair in the middle of a roundabout?
One – I’m telling you there’s a jackass sitting on a chair in the middle of a roundabout, and you ask me who put the chair there?
Two – And so…?
One – When the wise man points at the jackass, the idiot looks at the chair…
Two – Another one of your Chinese proverbs. You sure you didn’t just make that one up?
One – It’s a free adaptation…
Two – Right… And what’s that jackass doing, sitting on its chair in the middle of the roundabout? Directing traffic?
One – It’s dead.
Two – It’s dead?
One – Of course it’s dead! Otherwise it wouldn’t just sit there on a chair in the middle of a roundabout.
Two – Which brings me back to my question: who put the chair there?
One – And more importantly, who put the jackass on the chair?
Two – And even more importantly: who killed the jackass?
One – Why do you think it was killed?
Two – Because it’s dead! Do you know many jackasses that die of natural causes sitting on a chair in the middle of a roundabout?
One – And this obsession with building roundabouts as well…
Two – What?
One – What’s the point of this roundabout? It used to be a crossroads and no one ever complained.
Two – There were quite a few accidents.
One – Yeah…
Two – Several people were killed.
One – Maybe… But never a jackass!
Two – You’re right… It’s a pretty strange story…
Blackout.
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A sketch from the collection Of Animals and Men
Link to the collection for free download (PDF)
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https://jeanpierremartinez.net