On a hot summer night, in a small western town,

At a carnival down by the water,

A young woman walked through the fairgrounds alone

Esther, the archbishop's daughter



She walked past the carousel down to the lake

Where she spotted a wrinkled old man

Who stood by the side of a broken-down hut

With a bucket held firm in his hand



The old man approached her and whispered his plea

"Won't you please take this gift that I offer?"

A beautiful puppet of violet and gold,

Of velvet and satin and lace



And he looked at the girl with a powerful gaze

And she stared at the bucket bewildered

Till he lifted the doll for the young girl to see

And a giant smile grew on her face



The doll was as pretty as any she'd seen

And she thanked the man quickly and ran to the church

And she burst through the doorway with puppet held high

And a hush filled the chapel, and the people looked mean . .



(same lyrics as current ones, until the last three verses:) . .



As Esther stood and shook her head the joggers were approaching

And she knew she had no choice left but to swim

As she dove into the water she saw a flicker in the distance

It was the place she got the puppet that had made her life so grim



When she reached the shore she pulled her icy body from the water

Saw the carnival, and then she saw the shack

And she ran across the fairgrounds to the old man with the bucket

And she took the puppet out and gave it back!



Up from the water came thousands of souls

Joggers and muggers and church-going folk

And they all ran past Esther towards the old man

Like a raging stampede they dissolved in a huge cloud of dust....