A ROPE TRICK
The only rope trick I have ever seen performed by an Indian conjuror,
is that of "The cut string restored," as it is called in England.
The idea is to get one of the audience to cut a piece of string or
rope ostensibly in half and by magic to restore it, without the use of
knots.
[Illustration: PRELIMINARIES OF THE RESTORED ROPE.
The only rope trick that I have ever seen performed in India.]
The explanation of this trick is given in many books for beginners in
Magic. The author of "Modern Magic"--the best work to my mind on
Elementary conjuring--says of it "This trick is of such venerable
antiquity, that we should not have ventured to allude to it, were it
not that the mode of working, which we are about to describe,
though old in principle is new in detail and much superior in neatness
to the generally known methods."
After offering the rope for thorough examination Shah Mahommed took
the two ends and manipulated the rope in such a manner that when it
was held out to be cut it was in this wise:--
[Illustration]
Held at A by the left hand and at B by the right. It was cut at x and
consequently was in two pieces not of equal length, but of which one
was practically the whole length of the rope while the other was the
piece AX, or possibly some six inches long. While gathering up the
rope to be magically restored, the old scoundrel simply got rid of
this small piece and showed the longer one as the restored rope.
To go into details and to give the "drill" as to how to get the string
or rope into the required position would be tedious and difficult to
understand. The illustration, I trust, explains sufficiently clearly
the secret of the trick, and if one tries to get it into this position
it will be found quite easy to do, "chacun a son gout."
Shah Mahommed made quite a feature of the trick, using two assistants
for it, one to hold the rope occasionally and the other to cut it.
The first time I remember seeing it was when Uncle George showed it to
me on my fourth birthday, many long weary years ago.
[Illustration]
The string (as shewn in the above illustration) being held for the
audience to cut at x.
THE SWASTIKA
I remember on one occasion some 20 years ago, being very puzzled by a
trick that is often performed in Bengal.
The magician gets from one of the servants a broken "chatti" or
earthenware bowl. He selects a piece about two inches square and asks
one of his audience to draw upon it with a piece of charcoal, borrowed
from the "Khansamah" or cook, the sign of the Swastika, with which
most people are familiar.
[Illustration]
The draftsman is then requested to place the piece of earthenware or
tile on the ground and after gazing intently at the Swastika to crush
it to powder with the heel of his boot. These instructions are
accordingly carried out. The man of magic now asks his assistant to
look at the palm of his hand and see that there is no mark upon it.
There is no mark. The hand is then held out palm upwards over the
powdered tile and the assistant is told to gaze at it intently. After
a few seconds the performer turns the assistant's hand over so that it
is now palm downwards. A little music on the "bean," a magic pass, a
mystic word, and the assistant is requested to look at the palm of
his hand, when to his astonishment, there is a distinct mark of the
Swastika upon it! Truly a miracle!
The trick is a most effective one, and when well performed, with
intervals for gazing at the dust, the clean palm, mystic words and so
forth, it would baffle most audiences. Yet it is simplicity itself,
and this is the secret.
When the Swastika is drawn on the piece of tile, the performer in
placing it on the ground to be trodden upon, puts his thumb on the
drawing, and thereby gets an inverse print of it on the ball of his
thumb. The tile is powdered and the hand held palm upwards over it.
When turning the assistant's hand palm downwards, the conjuror does so
with his fingers at the back of the assistant's hand and the thumb on
the clean palm, leaving the imprint of the Swastika upon it. A rub
with his thumb on his garment, or the ground, removes instantly all
trace of the medium between the tile and the assistant's palm.
Charcoal must be used as it is soft to write with and gives the best
imprints. An "HH" pencil for instance, might do, but the imprint would
be hardly visible on the palm.
I consider this little trick to be one of the most mystifying of the
Indian conjuror.
THE EGG BAG
An effective little trick usually follows that of the Cut and Restored
String in the form of an egg being put into a small bag. A magic pass
is made over the mouth of the bag, which is then turned inside out,
stamped upon if necessary, and slapped all over to show that it is
quite empty and that the egg has disappeared. At will, and with
another magic pass, the egg reappears from the bag when it is turned
over, mouth downwards.
[Illustration: Shah Mahommed performing the Egg bag trick.]
The secret lies in the fact that the bag, which is of some opaque
material, and is nine inches deep and six inches broad, has one of its
sides double. The easiest way to make such a bag is to take a piece of
cloth six inches broad and 24 inches long. Fold six inches of one end
over and then turn the other end to where the cloth has been folded.
Stitch up either side, thus making a bag.
When the egg is put in, it drops to the bottom of the bag. When the
performer dips his hand in again to take out the egg, in doing so he
slips it into the pocket formed inside, and leaves it there, bringing
his hand out empty and from which the egg has disappeared. The bag
being turned inside out does not expose the egg which is in the inner
pocket. When treading on or slapping the bag, care should of course be
taken to miss the egg.