First came the green-faced sea king with his trident and his mermaid bride, followed by a man in a suit studded with pretzels and a troupe of raggedy clowns thwacking small children with folded fans.
Then there were the dignitaries in particoloured jesters’ hats, a paddle steamer on wheels and a phalanx of dancing girls in frilly tricorn hats.
It was, in other words, a perfectly normal German carnival parade . . . until the Apaches came along.
