THE CHILDREN
Siamese children can only be described in the language that an English
mother uses about her own small ones as they tumble over one another in
the nursery or in the garden--they are just "little dears." They laugh
merrily, avoid quarrelling, either in words or with blows, and are most
unselfish. The boy who has a new bicycle or a new watch will lend it in
turn to each of his playmates, quite content to see them enjoying what
was given to him for his own personal amusement.
At first sight the children, with their straight black hair and their
brown faces, strike the white man as being rather funny-looking little
creatures. But after a while, when one has seen more of them, it is
recognised that they possess a distinct charm and beauty of their own.
Their features are quite different from those of the European, because
they belong to a different race of people. The Siamese are _Mongols_, as
are also the people of Japan, China, Burma, and Tibet. Their complexion
varies from a lightish yellow to dark brown. Their faces are rather
broad and flat; their cheek-bones stand out prominently; their noses are
small; their hair is long, lank, and jet-black; and their eyes are small
and set obliquely. Most Siamese children have very merry eyes--eyes that
have got a perpetual twinkle in them, and more than a suggestion of
mischief and roguishness.
About a month after a child is born the little hair that is upon the
head is shaved off. A little later the new arrival receives a name. At
first every baby, whether a boy or a girl, has the same name. This
common name is "Dang," which means "red." "Yellow" would be a better
name, for all the babies are rubbed from head to foot with a yellow
paste, which produces a very bilious appearance. This yellow powder is
supposed to keep away mosquitoes, and as the dogs and cats are often
powdered as well as the babies, you may frequently see a yellow set of
wee creatures--animals and babies--rolling about together in the most
laughable fashion. Names are often changed, so that a boy who is "Leam"
to-day may be called "Chua" to-morrow. Sometimes the name is changed
because it is thought to be unlucky. If "Chua" is ill, the chances are
that there are certain spirits who do not like his name, so the parents
alter his name to "Mee," or something else, and then he gets well again.
Smoking is commenced at a very early age, and every little boy has his
own tobacco supply and packet of cigarette-papers. As he trots to school
in the morning he puffs away vigorously, occasionally passing his
cigarette to a friend that he also may take a few whiffs. If the
cigarette is not finished when he arrives at school, he pinches off the
hot end and puts the rest behind one of his ears, as we might put a
pencil or a pen. As soon as school is over out come the matches and the
cigarettes again, and the little chimney puffs off home to lunch.
When the Siamese young folks get up in the morning, they do not go to
the washstand to wash their hands and faces, for the simple reason that
there are no washstands. They go outside the house to a large jar of
water, and then throw the water over hands and faces with a coco-nut
dipper. No towels are used, as the hot air soon dries up the water. The
teeth are not brushed, for they have been stained black, and it would be
a pity to wash the colour off. The hair is not combed, as it has all
been shaved except for a little tuft on the top of the head, and that is
tied in a knot, and not often combed.
When breakfast is over the children go off to play, the baby being
carried by the big sister, not in the arms, but sitting on the hip of
the bearer, as on a pony. The girls play at keeping houses. They make
dishes of clay and mud, and dry them in the sun; gather herbs, and
flowers, and weeds, and pretend that these are cakes and sweetmeats. For
dolls they use small clay images that have been whitewashed. The dolls
are put in tiny cradles and covered over with scraps of cloth. The
cradles are made of network fixed on to a small oblong frame, like a
picture-frame. The boys go fishing for crabs in the mud, and when the
baskets are full of crabs, they pelt one another with warm, soft mud,
just as we pelt one another with snow in the winter-time. When they feel
sufficiently tired and dirty, they take a plunge into the water, and
come up again clean, smiling, and happy.
There are many games played both by men and boys, and about some of
these you will hear in a later chapter.
The Siamese children are very obedient and respectful to their parents,
teachers, and those who are older than themselves. They never dream of
arguing with those set in authority over them. They respect rank as well
as age, but they have at the same time a certain amount of independence
of character which prevents them becoming servile.