From there he would move on to speak about the equally hardto understand claim of the hunger artist that he could go onfasting for much longer than he was doing. He would praisethe lofty striving， the good will， and the great self-denial nodoubt contained in this claim， but then would try to contradictit simply by producing photographs， which were also on sale，for in the pictures one could see the hunger artist on the fortiethday of his fast， in bed， almost dead from exhaustion. Althoughthe hunger artist was very familiar with this perversion of thetruth， it always strained his nerves again and was too muchfor him. What was a result of the premature ending of the fastpeople were now proposing as its cause！ It was impossible tofight against this lack of understanding， against this world ofmisunderstanding. In good faith he always listened eagerly tothe impresario at the bars of his cage， but each time， once thephotographs came out， he would let go of the bars and， witha sigh， sink back into the straw， and a reassured public couldcome up again and view him.
When those who had witnessed such scenes thought back onthem a few years later， often they were unable to understandthemselves. For in the meantime that change mentionedabove had set it. It happened almost immediately. There mayhave been more profound reasons for it， but who bothered todiscover what they were？ At any rate， one day the pamperedhunger artist saw himself abandoned by the crowd of pleasureseekers， who preferred to stream to other attractions. Theimpresario chased around half of Europe one more time withhim， to see whether he could still re-discover the old interesthere and there. It was all futile. It was as if a secret agreementagainst the fasting performances had developed everywhere.
Naturally， it couldn’t really have happened all at once， andpeople later remembered some things which in the days ofintoxicating success they hadn’t paid sufficient attention to，some inadequately suppressed indications， but now it was toolate to do anything to counter them. Of course， it was certainthat the popularity of fasting would return once more someday，but for those now alive that was no consolation. What was thehunger artist to do now？ A man whom thousands of peoplehad cheered on could not display himself in show booths atsmall fun fairs. The hunger artist was not only too old to takeup a different profession， but was fanatically devoted to fastingmore than anything else. So he said farewell to the impresario，an incomparable companion on his life’s road， and let himselfbe hired by a large circus. In order to spare his own feelings，he didn’t even look at the terms of his contract at all.
A large circus with its huge number of men， animals， andgimmicks， which are constantly being let go and replenished，can use anyone at any time， even a hunger artist， provided， ofcourse， his demands are modest. Moreover， in this particularcase it was not only the hunger artist himself who wasengaged， but also his old and famous name. In fact， given thecharacteristic nature of his art， which was not diminished byhis advancing age， one could never claim that a worn out artist，who no longer stood at the pinnacle of his ability， wantedto escape to a quiet position in the circus. On the contrary，the hunger artist declared that he could fast just as well as inearlier times—something that was entirely credible. Indeed，he even affirmed that if people would let him do what hewanted—and he was promised this without further ado—hewould really now legitimately amaze the world for the firsttime， an assertion which， however， given the mood of the time，which the hunger artist in his enthusiasm easily overlooked，only brought smiles from the experts.
However， basically the hunger artist had not forgotten hissense of the way things really were， and he took it as selfevidentthat people would not set him and his cage up as thestar attraction somewhere in the middle of the arena， but wouldmove him outside in some other readily accessible spot nearthe animal stalls. Huge brightly painted signs surrounded thecage and announced what there was to look at there. Duringthe intervals in the main performance， when the general publicpushed out towards the menagerie in order to see the animals，they could hardly avoid moving past the hunger artist andstopping there a moment. They would perhaps have remainedwith him longer， if those pushing up behind them in the narrowpassage way， who did not understand this pause on the wayto the animal stalls they wanted to see， had not made a longerpeaceful observation impossible. This was also the reasonwhy the hunger artist began to tremble at these visiting hours，which he naturally used to long for as the main purpose of hislife. In the early days he could hardly wait for the pauses inthe performances. He had looked forward with delight to thecrowd pouring around him， until he became convinced onlytoo quickly—and even the most stubborn， almost deliberateself-deception could not hold out against the experience—that，judging by their intentions， most of these people were， againand again without exception， only visiting the menagerie. Andthis view from a distance still remained his most beautifulmoment. For when they had come right up to him， heimmediately got an earful from the shouting of the two steadilyincreasing groups， the ones who wanted to take their timelooking at the hunger artist， not with any understanding but ona whim or from mere defiance—for him these ones were soonthe more painful—and a second group of people whose onlydemand was to go straight to the animal stalls.
