"A man came from the south on horseback and stole one before I knew it.
I followed him but how could I catch a man on horseback?"
After many rebukes for her carelessness, she again sang:
"A basin of water, a basin of tea,
I water the flowers, they're op'ning you see."
Again she cautioned the servant about losing any of the flowers while
she went to take her afternoon meal, but another flower was stolen and
this time by a man from the west.
When the mistress returned, she again scolded the servant, after which
she sang:
"A basin of water, another beside,
I water the flowers, they're opening wide."
This was continued until all the flowers were gone. One had been taken
by a carter, another by a donkey-driver, another by a muleteer, another
by a man on a camel, and finally the last little sprig was eaten by a
chicken. The servant was soundly berated each time and cautioned to be
more careful, which she always promised but never performed, and was
finally dismissed in disgrace without either a recommendation, or the
wages she had been promised when hired.
The game furnishes large opportunity for invention on the part of the
servant, depending upon the number of those to be stolen. This little
girl seemed to be at her wit's end when she gave as the excuse for the
loss of the last one that it had been eaten by a chicken.
This game suggested to our little friend another which proved to be the
sequel to the one just described, and she called out:
"The flower-seller."
The girl who had just been dismissed appeared from behind the corner of
the house with all the stolen "flowers," each holding to the other's
skirts. At the same time she was calling out:
"Flowers for sale,
Flowers for sale,
Come buy my flowers
Before they get stale."
The original owner hereupon appeared and called to her:
"Hey! come here, flower-girl, those flowers look like mine," and she
took one away.
The flower-seller did not stop to argue the question but hurried off
crying:
"Flowers for sale," etc.
The original owner again called to her:
"Ho! flower-seller, come here, those flowers are certainly mine,"
whereupon she took them all and whipped the flower-seller who ran away
crying.
As the little flower-seller ran away crying in her sleeve, she stumbled
over an old flower-pot that lay in the school court. This accident
seemed to act as a reminder to our little leader for she called out,
"Flower-pot."
The girls divided themselves into companies of three and stood in the
form of a triangle, each with her left hand holding the right hand of
the other, their hands being crossed in the centre.
Then by putting the arms of two back of the head of the third she was
brought into the centre (steps into the well), and by stepping over two
other arms, she goes out on the opposite side, so that whereas she was
on the left side of this and the right side of that one, she now stands
on the right side of this and the left side of that girl. In the same
way the second and third girls go through, and so on as long as they
wish to keep up the game, saying or singing the following rhyme:
You first cross over, and then cross back,
And step in the well as you cross the track,
And then there is something else you do,
Oh, yes, you make a flower-pot too.
By this time the girls had lost most of their strangeness or
embarrassment and continued the flower-pot until we were compelled to
remind them that they were playing for us. Everybody let go hands and
the little general called out,
"The cow's tail."
One girl with a small stick in her hand squatted down pretending to be
digging and the others took a position one behind the other similar to
the hawk catching the chicks. They walked up to the girl digging and
engaged in the following conversation:
"What are you digging?"
"Digging a hole."
"What is it for?"
"My pot for to boil."
"What will you heat?"
"Some water and broth."
"How use the water?"
"I'll wash some cloth."
"What will you make?"
"I'll make a bag."
"And what put in it?"
"A knife and a rag."
"What is the knife for?"
"To kill your lambs."
"What have they done?"
"They've eaten my yams."
"How high were they?"
"About so high."
"Oh, that isn't high."
"As high as the sky."
"What is your name?"
"My name is Grab, what is your name?"
"My name is Turn."
"Turn once for me."
They all walked around in a circle and as they turned they sang:
"We turn about once,
Or twice I declare,
And she may grab,
But we don't care."
"Can't you grab once for us?"
"Yes, but what I grab I keep."
She then ran to "grab" one of the "lambs" but they kept behind the
front girl just as the boys did in the hawk catching the chicks. After
awhile however, they were all caught.
Why this game is called "cow's tail" and the girls called "lambs," we
do not know. We asked the girls why and their answer was, "There is no
reason."
The girls were panting with the running before they were all caught and
we suggested that they rest awhile, but instead the little leader
called out:
"Let out the doves."
One of the larger girls took hold of the hands of two of the smaller,
one of whom represented a dove and the other a hawk. The hawk stood
behind her and the dove in front.
She threw the dove away as she might pitch a bird into the air, and as
the child ran it waved its arms as though they were wings. She threw
the hawk in the same way, and it followed the dove.
She then clapped her hands as the Chinese do to bring their pet birds
to them, and the dove if not caught, returned to the cage. This is a
very pretty game for little children.
By this time the girls were all rested and our little friend said:
"Seek for gold."
Three or four of the girls gathered up some pebbles, squatted down in a
group and scattered them as they would a lot of jackstones. Then one
drew her finger between two of the stones and snapped one against the
other. If she hit it the two were taken up and put aside.
She then drew her finger between two more and snapped them.
If she missed, another girl took up what were left, scattered them,
snapped them, took them up, and so on until one or another got the most
of the pebbles and thus won the game. Our little friend was reminded of
another and she called out:
"The cow's eye."
Immediately the girls all sat down in a ring and put their feet
together in the centre. Then one of their number repeated the following
rhyme, tapping a foot with each accented syllable.
One, two, three, and an old cow's eye,
When a cow's eye's blind she'll surely die.
A piece of skin and a melon too,
If you have money I'll sell to you,
But if you're without,
I'll put you out.
The foot on which her finger happened to rest when she said "out" was
excluded from the ring. Again she repeated the rhyme excluding a foot
with each repetition till all but one were out.
Up to this point all the children were in a nervous quiver waiting to
see which foot would be left, but now the fun began, for they took the
shoe off and every one slapped that unfortunate foot. This was done
with good-natured vigor but without intention to hurt. It was amusing
to see the children squirm as they neared the end of the game.
This game finished, the little girl called out:
"Pat your hands and knees."
The girls sat down in pairs and, after the style of "Bean Porridge
Hot," clapped hands to the following rhyme:
Pat your hands and knees,
On January first,
The old lady likes to go a sightseeing most.
Pat your hands and knees,
On February second,
The old lady likes a piece of candy it is reckoned.
Pat your hands and knees,
On March the third,
The old lady likes a Canton pipe I have heard.
Pat your hands and knees,
On April fourth,
The old lady likes bony fish from the north.
Pat your hands and knees,
The fifth of May,
The old lady likes sweet potatoes every day.
Pat your hands and knees,
The sixth of June,
The old lady eats fat pork with a spoon.
Pat your hands and knees,
The seventh of July,
The old lady likes to eat a fat chicken pie.
Pat your hands and knees,
On August eight,
The old lady likes to see the lotus flowers straight.
Pat your hands and knees,
September nine,
The old lady likes to drink good hot wine.
Pat your hands and knees,
October ten,
The old lady, you and I, may meet hope again.
This we afterwards discovered is very widely known throughout the north
of China.
The foregoing are a few of the games played by the children in Peking.
In that one city we have collected more than seventy-five different
games, and have no reason to believe we have secured even a small
proportion of what are played there. Games played in Central and South
China are different, partly because of climatic conditions, partly
because of the character of the people. There, as here, the games of
children are but reproductions of the employments of their parents.
They play at farming, carpentry, house-keeping, storekeeping, or
whatever employments their parents happen to be engaged in. Indeed, in
addition to the games common to a larger part of the country, there are
many which are local, and depend upon the employment of the parents or
the people.