After having made the collection of boys' games we undertook to obtain
in a similar way, fullest information concerning games played by the
girls. Of course, it was impossible to do it alone, for the appearance
of a man among a crowd of little girls in China is similar to that of a
hawk among a flock of small chicks--it results in a tittering and
scattering in every direction, or a gathering together in a dock under
the shelter of the school roof or the wings of the teacher. One of the
teachers, however, Miss Effie Young, kindly consented to go with us,
and a goodly number of the small girls, after a less than usual amount
of tittering and whispering, gathered about us to see what was wanted.
The smallest among them was the most brave, and Miss Young explained
that this was a "little street waif" who had been taken into the school
because she had neither home nor friends, with the hope that something
might be done to save her from an unhappy fate.
"Do you know any games?" we asked her.
She put her hands behind her, hung her head, shuffled in an embarrassed
manner, and answered: "Lots of them."
"Play some for me."
This small girl after some delay took control of the party and began
arranging them for a game, which she called "going to town," similar to
one which the boys called "pounding rice." Two of the girls stood back
to back, hooked their arms, and as one bent the other from the ground,
and thus alternating, they sang:
Up you go, down you see,
Here's a turnip for you and me;
Here's a pitcher, we'll go to town;
Oh, what a pity, we've fallen down.
At which point they both sat down back to back, their arms still
locked, and asked and answered the following questions:
What do you see in the heavens bright?
I see the moon and the stars at night.
What do you see in the earth, pray tell?
I see in the earth a deep, deep well.
What do you see in the well, my dear?
I see a frog and his voice I hear.
What is he saying there on the rock?
Get up, get up, ke'rh kua, ke'rh kua.
They then tried to get up, but, with their arms locked, they found it
impossible to do so, and rolled over and got up with great hilarity.
This seemed to suggest to our little friend another game, which she
called "turning the mill." The girls took hold of each other's hands,
just as the boys do in "churning butter," but instead of turning around
under their arms they turn half way, put one arm up over their head,
bringing their right or left sides together, one facing one direction
and one the other; then, standing still, the following dialogue took
place:
Where has the big dog gone?
Gone to the city.
Where has the little dog gone?
Run away.
Then, as they began to turn, they repeated:
The big dog's gone to the city;
The little dog's run away;
The egg has fallen and broken,
And the oil's leaked out, they say.
But you be a roller
And hull with power,
And I'll be a millstone
And grind the flour.
As soon as this game was finished our little friend arranged the
children against the wall for another game. Everything was in
readiness. They were about to begin, when one of the larger girls
whispered something in her ear. She stepped back, put her hands behind
her, hung her head and thought a moment.
"Go on," we said.
"No, we can't play that; there is too much bad talk in it." This is one
of the unfortunate features of Chinese children's games and rhymes.
There is an immense amount of bad talk in them.
She at once called out:
"Meat or vegetables."
Each girl began to scurry around to find a pair of old shoes, which may
be picked up almost anywhere in China, and putting one crosswise of the
other, they let them fall. The way they fell indicated what kind of
meat or vegetables they were. If they both fell upside down they were
the big black tiger. If both fell on the side they were double beans.
If one fell right side up and the other on its side they were beans. If
both were right side up they were honest officials. (What kind of meat
or vegetables honest officials are it is difficult to say, but that
never troubles the Chinese child.) If one is right side and the other
wrong side up they are dogs' legs. If the toe of one rests on the top
of the other, both right side up and at right angles, they form a dark
hole or an alley.
The child whose shoes first form an alley must throw a pebble through
this alley--that is, under the toe of the shoe--three times, or,
failing to do so, one of the number takes up the shoes, and standing on
a line, throws them all back over her head. Then she hops to each
successively, kicking it back over the line, each time crossing the
line herself, until all are over. In case she fails another tries it in
the same way, and so on, till some one succeeds. This one then takes
the two shoes of the one who got the alley, and, hanging them
successively on her toe, kicks them as far as possible. The possessor
of the shoes, starting from the line, hops to each, picks it up and
hops back over the line with it, which ends the game. It is a vigorous
hopping game for little girls.
The girls were pretty well exhausted when this game was over and we
asked them to play something which required less exercise.
"Water the flowers," said the small leader.
Several of them squatted down in a circle, put their hands together in
the centre to represent the flowers. One of their number gathered up
the front of her garment in such a way as to make a bag, and went
around as if sprinkling water on their heads, at the same time
repeating:
"I water the flowers, I water the flowers,
I water them morning and evening hours,
I never wait till the flowers are dry,
I water them ere the sun is high."
She then left a servant in charge of them while she went to dinner.
While she was away one of them was stolen.