2. Barnaby would wander through the
towns. Seeing a good-sized gathering of
people at a fair or a marketplace, he
would entertain the crowd.
big or fairly big
3. When it rained, he had no audience and
no way to eat.
The spectators or listeners assembled at a
performance
5. The monk was the prior who took charge of
all the monks.
the superior of a house or group of
houses of any of various religious
communities
6. At that time, a juggler was a street
person, a show by himself.
One who practices or exhibits tricks
by keep (two or more objects) in the
air at one time by alternately tossing
and catching them.
7. One of those miserable days, Barnaby was
sitting by the road wondering where to
go.
very unhappy
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. From out of a French legend
Arrived a poor juggler, called John.
His role was to amuse the crowd
With his jokes, patter, and song.
13. Though he was kindhearted
And very devout…
He was often the butt
Of cruel jokes, and what-not.
14. When no more can be taken
His tormentors he flees.
To serve God, he became a monk,
For their forgiveness, he prayed on
his knees.
15. At the abbey, it’s a happier life.
(A better fed one; that’s a
certainty.)
But his desire to please the Virgin,
Is ruined by his own inferiority.
16. One day in great desperation,
He put on his old costume.
In front of her statue, he juggled,
And sang of his favorite tune.
17. The older friars rushed in,
To prevent his serious sacrilege.
But they saw the statue smile,
With her kind gesture of knowledge.
18. Legend says the comic continued,
Without a single fumble.
The moral? A gift from the heart is
pure…
No matter how humble.