THE BOWL OF RICE
A surprising little trick was once shewn to me by a performer whose
exhibition of magic was otherwise of a very low class.
He borrowed a "lota" or brass water bowl of one of the servants. These
lotas are invariably so shaped that the circumference of the top is
about half that of the widest part, thus:--
[Illustration]
He then borrowed some uncooked rice with which he proceeded to fill
the bowl to its utmost capacity. While doing so he kept on bumping
the bowl on the ground so that the rice was packed as closely as
possible inside it, until finally one could see the last few grains in
a pyramid on top.
He then borrowed a large table knife, and as it were, stabbed it into
the rice down into the bowl. Little stabs at first, and then deeper
and deeper until the whole of the blade of the knife was in the rice,
and the handle alone remained to be seen. After an incantation and
jadoo-music, he caught hold of the handle and raised the bowl and the
rice slowly into space. He then swung it to and fro and eventually
spun round and round, holding the handle of the knife while the bowl
and its contents of rice clung tenaciously to the blade. Beginning to
slow down, he at last replaced the bowl on the ground, extracted the
knife and handed it to me for examination. He emptied the bowl pouring
the rice into some paper laid out to receive it. The closest scrutiny
revealed no trace of "gadgets" or of any artifice that had enabled him
to thus lift the filled bowl.
A small bribe could not tempt him to reveal the secret, and in such
cases I make it a rule to try the trick exactly as I have seen it
done.
I took a similar bowl, filled it with rice, and stabbed it with a
table knife. Gently at first and then more firmly. To my astonishment
I found that after three or four stabs in exactly the same place, the
rice below the blade seemed to get harder, until I pressed down the
knife and found that I could not extract it with a straight pull! I
lifted the bowl of rice, and could with impunity swing it round over
my head just as one uses an Indian club. To extract the knife one has
to twist the handle slightly, when it comes out immediately. Try it
and see.
_The Coloured Sands._
Occasionally our conjuring friend breaks out from the stereotyped
programme already described, and one of the most common additions to
his programme is the "coloured sand" trick.
He has a bowl of water on the ground, and from a number of small
packets of paper he takes a corresponding number of different coloured
powders. Let us say "Green, Red, White, Orange and Blue." He pours all
these into the bowl of water, which assumes a dirty blue colour when
stirred up well.
Finally, from a box containing common sand he puts two or three
handsfull into the basin of water and thoroughly mixes up the contents
of the bowl.
He then asks his audience which coloured sand they would like
extracted from the water. The reply may be "green." "Wet or dry?" asks
the conjuror. Let us ask for "dry." He dips his hand into the water
and grasping, apparently, a handful of the mixture, draws it out
again, and squeezes out a shower of dry green sand, unmixed with any
other colour! "Now what colour will you have?" asks the magician. Let
us ask for "wet blue sand." He dips his empty hand into the water, and
draws out a handful of wet blue sand, for, when he opens his hand, a
damp ball of blue sand falls on to the ground. He can deal with the
other coloured sands in the same way, bringing out each colour
separately, and wet or dry as desired.
How on earth is it done?
The different coloured sands or powders are put into the water in a
fair and square manner. But the solution of the trick is to be found
in the way in which he puts the common sand into the water. This
common sand is kept in a box, and in it are little balls of prepared
powders or sand of colours corresponding to those already put into
the water. These balls are prepared by being mixed with a little
water, rolled into a ball, which is smeared all over with grease, and
then baked until dry. Each ball can then be immersed in water for a
minute or so without crumbling or being damaged by the water. These
balls are put into the common sand box, so that they are only just
visible to the performer. He puts his hand into the box and extracts a
handful of common sand, together with a ball of powder. He thrusts his
hand into the bowl leaving the ball immersed, and notes its position.
He again takes a handful of common sand and with it another ball which
he places in the water. Similarly he places all the coloured balls
into the water, under the guise of adding plenty of common sand, to
make the trick more difficult and wonderful. He notes very carefully
the position of each coloured ball as he puts it into the water, as
when immersed they cannot be seen either by him or the audience, owing
to the dirty blue-ishness of the whole mixture.
The audience now select the colour of the powder to be extracted. The
performer remembers the position of the required ball and takes it
out.
If it is to be poured out wet, he opens his hand and drops it on to
the ground. If it is wanted "Dry," by squeezing the ball, its baked
shell is cracked and its contents pour out.
There is no difficulty in performing the trick. It is very effective
and one that is included in the programme of many European conjurors,
though their modus operandi is more efficient and needs less
preparation.