repeating this to say it all at once, in one round, and not prolong
the task. This is the rhyme:--
There was a man and his name was Cob
He had a wife and her name was Mob,
He had a dog and his name was Bob,
She had a cat and her name was Chitterbob.
"Bob," says Cob;
"Chitterbob," says Mob.
Bob was Cob's dog,
Mob's cat was Chitterbob,
Cob, Mob, Bob, and Chitterbob.
In the old way of playing "Chitterbob" a paper horn used to be twisted
into the player's hair for each mistake made in the recitation, and at
the end these horns could be got rid of only by paying forfeits.
The Muffin Man
"The Muffin Man" is another variety. The players sit in a circle,
and the game is begun by one of them turning to the next and asking,
either in speech or in song--
Oh, do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?
Oh, do you know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane?
The reply is--
Oh, yes I know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, yes I know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane.
Both players then repeat together--
Then two of us know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man,
Then two of us know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane.
This done, the second player turns to the third and the same question
and answer are given; but when it comes to the comment--
Then three of us know the muffin man,...
the first player also joins in. At the end therefore, if there are
eight people playing, the whole company is singing--
Then eight of us know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin
man,
Then eight of us know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane.
Family Coach
In "Family Coach" each player takes the name of a part of a coach, as
the axle, the door, the box, the reins, the whip, the wheels, the
horn; or of some one connected with it, as the driver, the guard, the
ostlers, the landlord, the bad-tempered passenger, the cheerful
passenger, the passenger who made puns, the old lady with the bundle,
and the horses--wheelers and leaders. One player then tells a story
about the coach, bringing in as many of these people and things as he
can, and as often. Whenever a person or thing represented by a player
is mentioned, that player must stand up and turn round. But whenever
the coach is mentioned the whole company must stand up and turn round.
Otherwise, forfeits. A specimen story is here given as a hint as to
the kind of thing needed:--
"There's the railway, of course," said _Mr. Burly_, "and
there's the motor wagonette, and you've all got bicycles; but
let's go to London in the old-fashioned way for once; let's
go in the _Family Coach_." These words delighted everybody.
"Oh, yes," they all cried, "let's go in the _Family Coach_."
It was therefore arranged, and _John the Coachman_ had orders
to get everything ready. This was no light matter, for the
_Family Coach_ had not been used for many years, and it would
need to be taken to the coachbuilder's at once and be
overhauled. So the next morning it lumbered off, and it did
not come back for a week; but when it did there was a change
indeed. The _wheels_ had been painted red, the _axles_ had
been tested, the _springs_ renewed, the inside re-lined, the
_roof_ freshly upholstered, and the whole made bright and
gay. At last the morning came, a clear, sunny day, and
punctually at nine _John_ rattled up to the door. The
_horses_ stood there pawing the ground, as if ready to gallop
all the way. _John_ had a new coat and hat, and Tim and
Peter, the _grooms_, were also in new livery. Every one was
ready. First came _Mr. Burly_ in a wonderful great overcoat,
and then _Mrs. Burly_ in furs. Then _Uncle Joshua_, then
_Aunt Penelope_, and then the three girls and two boys. How
they all found room I don't know, but they did. "Are we all
ready?" said _Mr. Burly_. "All ready," said _Uncle Joshua_.
So _Tim_ and _Peter_ sprang away from the _horses'_ heads,
crack went the _whip_, round went the _wheels_, _Uncle
Joshua_ blew the _horn_, and the old _Family Coach_ was
fairly on its journey.
It was a splendid ride. _John_ kept his _horses_ going at a
grand pace and hardly used the _whip_ at all, the _wheels_
ran smoothly over the road, and whenever we passed through a
village _Uncle Joshua_ blew the _horn_. We stopped at
Thornminster for lunch. _John_ brought us up to the inn door
in style, and the _landlord_ came out rubbing his hands and
helped _Mrs. Burly_ and _Aunt Penelope_ down with a flourish.
"Proud to see you, sir," he said to _Mr. Burly_. "It is
seldom enough that folks travel nowadays in an old _Family
Coach_. I wish there were more of them."
After lunch we went along in the same splendid way until
suddenly round a corner came a donkey-cart with the donkey
braying at the top of his voice. _John_ pulled the _horses_
well over to the side, but the braying was too much for them,
and they rolled into the ditch. In a moment the old _Family
Coach_ was overturned. _Mr. Burly_ was shot into the field
across the hedge, _Uncle Joshua_, grasping the _horn_, landed
in a pond, _John_ and _Aunt Penelope_, _Mrs. Burly_ and the
_grooms_ all stuck in the hedge. No one was hurt, but two of
the _wheels_ were broken to pieces and one _axle_ was bent,
and that was therefore the last of the old _Family Coach_. So
we never got to London in the old way after all.
If this story is not long enough, it can be lengthened. The words in
italics are those to be distributed among the company, each player
taking more than one if necessary. When the accident comes they might
all fall down as they are mentioned. In the case of the wheels and the
horses, these may either be taken all four by one player, or eight
players may share them. Thus, when the wheels are mentioned, all four
players who have taken the wheels would stand up and turn round, and
four others when the horses were alluded to.
The Traveler, and the Bicyclist
"The Traveler" is a favorite variety of the "Family Coach." In this
game a player with a ready tongue is chosen as traveler, and the
others are given such names as landlord, bell-boy, clerk, waiter,
chambermaid, electric light, elevator, bed, supper, paper,
sitting-room, bedroom, steam-radiator, slippers, and so on. The
traveler is then supposed to arrive and give his orders. "Can I have a
room to-night? Good. And how soon will _supper_ be ready? Ask the
_bell-boy_ to take my _satchels_ up to my _room_. Show me to my
_room_ and send up the _papers_." And so on, each person named having
to stand up or be booked for a forfeit.
This game lends itself to various new forms. One might be called "The
Bicyclist" and run thus:--A player having been chosen as the
bicyclist, the others take as many bicycling names (or two names each
might add to the fun) as there are players. Thus--lamp, wick, oil,
handle-bars, spokes, tires, chain, pump, nuts, bell, hedges, fields,
sheep, roads, hill, dog. This settled, the bicyclist will begin his
story, something in this style:--
It looked so fine this morning that I determined to go for a
long ride. So I got out the _pump_ and blew up the _tires_,
put the _monkey-wrench_ to a few _nuts_, filled the _lamp_,
trimmed the _wick_, polished up the _bell_ and the
_handle-bars_, and started off. The _roads_ were perfect. The
_fields_ were shining with dew, the _hedges_ were sweet with
honey-suckle, and I skimmed along like the wind until
suddenly, at the turn at the foot of Claymore _Hill_, I rode
bang into a flock of _sheep_ and came down with a smash. You
never saw such a ruin. The _lamp_ and _bell_ were lost
completely, the _handle-bars_ were twisted into corkscrews,
the _tires_ were cut to ribbons, the _spokes_ looked like
part of a spider's web, my hands and my knees were cut, and
the worst of it was that the shepherd's _dog_ mistook me for
an enemy and I had to beat him off with the _monkey-wrench_,
until the farmer heard the noise and came to the rescue.
During this story all the players named would, in the ordinary way,
stand up for a moment when their adopted names were mentioned, except
at the point when the accident occurs, and then every player bearing
the name of a part of the bicycle--the handle-bars, spokes, tires,
chain, air-pump, lamp, wick, bell, monkey-wrench, pump, nuts--should
fall to the ground.
Drawing-Room Acrobatics
There are various feats which can be performed in a small room without
injury to furniture. To lie flat on the floor on one's back and be
lifted into an upright position by a pair of hands under the back of
the head, keeping stiff all the time, is a favorite accomplishment.
Another is to bend over and touch the floor with the tips of the
fingers without bending the knees. Another is, keeping your feet
behind a line, to see who, by stretching along the ground supported on
the left hand only, can place a penny with the right hand the farthest
distance and get back again to an upright position behind the line
without moving the feet or using the right hand for a support. This
done, the penny must be recovered in the same way.
Another feat is, keeping your feet together and one arm behind you, to
see how far back from the wall it is possible to place your feet
(remembering that you have to get into an upright position again)
while you lean forward supported by the other hand laid flat against
the wall.
Another is to keep the toes to a line, and kneel down and get up again
without using the hands.
Another is to make a bridge of your body from chair to chair, resting
the back of your neck on one and your heels on the other. This is done
by beginning with three chairs, one under the back, and then when you
are rigid enough having the third one removed.
Acrobatic Impossibilities
If you hold your hands across your chest in a straight line with the
tips of the forefingers pressed together, it will be impossible for
any one else, however strong, to hold by your arms and pull those
finger-tips apart.
It is quite safe to stand a person against the wall with his heels
touching it, and, laying a shilling on the floor a foot or so is front
of him, to say it will be his if he can pick it up without moving his
heels from the wall.
Another impossible thing is to stand sideways against the wall with
your left cheek, left heel, and left leg touching it, and then raise
the right leg.
The Trussed Fowls
In this contest two boys are first trussed. Trussing consists of
firmly tying wrists and ankles, bringing the elbows down below the
knees and slipping a stick along over one elbow, under both knees and
over the other elbow, as in the picture. The game is, for the two
fowls to be placed opposite each other with their feet just touching,
and for each then to strive to roll the other over with his toes.
[Illustration: A TRUSSED FOWL]
The Candle-Lighters
Another balancing game. Two boys face each other, each with a candle,
one of which is lighted and the other not. Kneeling on the right knee
only and keeping the left leg entirely off the ground, they have to
make one candle light the other.
Hat and Cards
A tall hat is placed in the middle of the room and a pack of cards is
dealt out to the players seated round it. The game is to throw the
cards one by one into the hat.
Tug of War
This is properly an outdoor game, but in a big room indoors it is all
right. The two sides should be even in numbers, at any rate in the
first pull. In the middle of the rope a handkerchief is tied, and
three chalk lines a yard apart are made on the floor. The sides then
grasp the rope, the captain of each side, whose duty it is to
encourage his men by cheering cries, having his hands about a yard and
a half from the handkerchief. The rope is then trimmed by the umpire
until the handkerchief comes exactly over the middle one of the three
lines. On the word being given, each side has to try and pull the rope
so that the handkerchief passes over the chalk line nearest it. The
best of three decides the victory. For the sake of sport it is better,
if one side is much weaker than the other, to add to it until the
balance of strength is pretty even.
High Skip
The players stand in as wide a circle as the size of the room allows,
with one player in the middle. He has a rope or heavy cord in his hand
with some object, rather heavy but not hard, tied to it, such as a
small cushion or a large bunch of rags. Stooping down, he begins
swinging this around the circle. As it comes to them the players must
jump over the cord. As the cushion is swung faster and faster it goes
higher and is more difficult to jump over. The first one to miss takes
the place of the person swinging the rope, who is not allowed to raise
his hand higher than his knee.
Parlor Football
In this game goals are set up at each end of the room, the players are
provided with fans, and the football is a blown hen's egg, which is
wafted backward and forward along the floor.
Balloon
A string is stretched across the room at a height of about three or
four feet. The players divide into sides and line up on each side of
the string. The balloon is then thrown up, the game being to keep it
in the air backward and forward over the string, so that if it falls
it will fall in the other side's camp. It ought to be tapped with the
back of the fingers and not hit hard.
Tissue-Paper Race
In this game tissue-paper is cut into pieces three or four inches
square. As many squares as there are players are placed in a line at
one end of the room, and at the other are placed two books, or other
objects, a foot or so apart. At the word of command each competitor,
who is armed with a Japanese fire-screen or fan, starts to fan his
square through the goal-posts. For the sake of distinguishing them it
is better to mark the papers or have them of different colors. A
competitor may not fan any other square except by accident.
Walking Spanish
This game should not be played unless there are some older, stronger
players to prevent possible accidents, but it is very amusing. Each
player in turn goes to the end of the room, takes a cane or umbrella,
puts his head down on the handle, closes his eyes and, stooping over
thus, whirls rapidly about six times, not moving the point of the cane
from its original position. Then instantly he straightens up and tries
to walk steadily the length of the room along a string laid down or
line marked. The one who steps nearest to the line all the time is the
winner.
Potato Race
This is a good game for a hall or landing. Two baskets are needed,
which are placed at one end of the hall about two yards apart, and
then in a line from each basket are placed potatoes, at intervals of a
yard or so all down the floor, an equal number to each line. Any even
number of competitors can play, the race being run in heats. Each
competitor is armed with a long spoon, and his task is to pick up all
the potatoes on his line and return them to the basket before his
opponent can. Each potato must be carried to the basket in turn, and
if dropped on the way must be picked up again before another can be
touched, and the spoon only must be used. Any help from the other hand
or from the foot disqualifies.
Fire-Buckets
At a fire in the country, where there is no hose, a line of men
extends from the burning house to the nearest pond, and buckets are
continually being passed along this line. Hence the name by which this
excellent game is called here. It is played thus. A large number of
miscellaneous and unbreakable articles--balls, boots, potatoes, books,
and so on--are divided into two exactly equal groups, and each group
is placed in a clothes basket. The company then forms into two equal
lines, and each chooses a captain. Each captain stands by the basket
at one end of his line, at the other end being a chair and another
player standing by that. At the word "Start," the articles are handed
one by one by the captain to the first player in the line, and passed
as quickly as possible without dropping to the player by the chair. As
they come to him he piles them on the chair (without dropping any)
until all are there, and then returns them with equal speed until the
basket is filled again. The side which finishes first is the winner.
If an article is dropped it must be picked up before any other of the
articles can pass the player who dropped it.
Forfeits
In many of the games already described mention has been made of
"Forfeits." They do not now play quite so important a part in an
evening's entertainment as once they did, but they can still add to
the interest of games. "Paying a forfeit" means giving up to the
player who is collecting forfeits some personal article or other--a
knife, a pencil, a handkerchief--which, at the end of the game, or
later in the evening, has to be recovered by performing whatever
penance is ordered. When the times comes for "crying the forfeits," as
it is called, the player who has them sits in a chair, while another
player, either blindfolded or hiding her eyes, kneels before her, the
remaining players standing all around. The first player then holds up
a forfeit, remarking, "I have a thing, and a very pretty thing. Pray
what shall be done to the owner of this pretty thing?" To which the
blindfolded one replies by asking, "Is it fine or superfine?" meaning,
Does it belong to a boy (fine) or a girl (superfine)? The answer is
either "It is fine," or "It is superfine," and the blindfolded one
then announces what its owner must do to get possession of it again.
Of stock penances there are a great number, most of which are tricks
which, once known, are necessarily very tame afterward. In the case of
those that follow, therefore, something definite and practical is
required.
Frown for a minute.
Dance for a minute.
See how many you can count in a minute.
Say the alphabet backward.
Do the exact opposite of three things ordered by the company.
Crow like a cock.
Say "Gig whip" ten times very rapidly.
Say "Mixed biscuits" ten times very rapidly.
Say rapidly: "She stood on the steps of Burgess's Fish Sauce Shop
selling shell fish."
Say rapidly: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper. A peck
of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck
of pickled pepper, where is the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper
picked?"
Count fifty backward.
Repeat a nursery rhyme.
Hold your hands behind you, and, keeping them there, lie down
and get up again.
Hold your hands together and put them under your feet and over
your head.
Walk round the room balancing three books on your head without
using your hands.
Smile to the prettiest,
Bow to the wittiest,
And kiss the one you love the best.
Yawn until you make some one else yawn.
Push your friend's head through a ring. (Put your finger through
a ring and push your friend's head with the tip.)
Place a straw on the floor so that you can't jump over it. (Very
close to the wall.)
Put a chair on a table, take off your shoes and jump over them.
(Over your shoes.)
Leave the room with two legs and come in with six. (Bring in a
chair.)
Repeat five times without mistake, "A rat ran over the roof of
the house with a lump of raw liver in his mouth."
Repeat ten times rapidly, "Troy boat."
Ask a question to which "no" cannot be answered. (What does y-e-s
spell?)
Shake a dime off your forehead. (The coin is wet and some one
presses it firmly to the forehead of the one to pay the forfeit,
who must keep his eyes closed. The dime is taken away, but the
forfeit player still feels it there and tries to shake it off.)
Repeat a verse of poetry, counting the words aloud. Mary (one)
had (two) a (three) little (four) lamb (five).
Dance in one corner, cry in another, sing in another, and fall
dead in the fourth.
Two forfeits may be redeemed at once by blindfolding two players,
handing them each a glass of water, and bidding them give the other
a drink. This, however, can be a very damp business.
The old way of getting rid of a large number of forfeits was to tell
their owners to hold a cats' concert, in which each sings a different
song at the same time. Perhaps it would be less noisy and more
interesting if they were told to personate a farm-yard.
Auctioning Prizes
A novel way of awarding prizes is to auction them. Each guest on
arrival is given a small bag instead of a tally card. These bags are
used to hold beans, five of which are given to all the players that
progress at the end of each game. After the playing stops the prizes
are auctioned. Of course the person who has the greatest number of
beans can buy the best prizes; so that besides making a great deal of
fun, the distribution is entirely fair.
DRAWING GAMES
Many persons, when a drawing game is suggested, ask to be excused on
the ground of an inability to draw. But in none of the games that are
described in this chapter is any real drawing power necessary. The
object of each game being not to produce good drawings but to produce
good fun, a bad drawing is much more likely to lead to laughter than a
good one.
Five Dots
All children who like drawing like this game; but it is particularly
good to play with a real artist, if you have one among your friends.
You take a piece of paper and make five dots on it, wherever you
like--scattered about far apart, close together (but not too close),
or even in a straight line. The other player's task is to fit in a
drawing of a person with one of these dots at his head, two at his
hands, and two at his feet, as in the examples on page 48.
Outlines or Wiggles
Another form of "Five Dots" is "Outlines." Instead of dots a line,
straight, zigzag, or curved, is made at random on the paper. Papers
are then exchanged and this line must be fitted naturally into a
picture, as in the examples on page 49.
A good way to play Wiggles when there are a number of people to play,
is to mark the same line for all the players, either by pressing down
very hard with a hard pencil so that the line can be traced from one
piece of paper to another, or with carbon copy paper between the
sheets. Thus each person has the same line, and the one who uses his
in the most fantastic and unexpected way is the winner. The only rule
about making the line is that a circle shall not be made. The two ends
must be left ready to add the rest of the design. It is well sometimes
to limit the pictures to human faces, as this makes the grotesque
unlikeness of the drawings all the more absurd.
[Illustration: FIVE DOTS]
[Illustration: OUTLINES]
Eyes-Shut Drawings
The usual thing to draw with shut eyes is a pig, but any animal will
do as well (or almost as well, for perhaps the pig's curly tail just
puts him in the first place). Why it should be so funny a game it is
difficult quite to explain, but people laugh more loudly over it than
over anything else. There is one lady at least who keeps a visitor's
book in which every one that stays at her house has to draw an
eyes-shut pig. The drawings are signed, and the date is added. Such a
guest book is now manufactured, bound in pig skin, or in cloth.
"Ghosts of My Friends"
While on the subject of novel albums the "Ghost of My Friends" might
be mentioned. The "ghost" is the effect produced by writing one's
signature with plenty of ink, and while the ink is still very wet,
folding the paper down the middle of the name, lengthwise, and
pressing the two sides firmly together. The result is a curious
symmetrically-shaped figure. Some people prefer "ghosts" to ordinary
signatures in a visitors' book.
The "Book of Butterflies" is on the same order. With the book come
four tubes of paint. The paint is squeezed on the page, which is
doubled and flattened. The effects are very beautiful, and
surprisingly lifelike.
Another guest book is the "Hand-o-graph," in which the outline of the
hand of each guest is kept. The "Thumb-o-graph" is on the same
principle, except that in this case the imprint of the guest's thumb
is preserved, made from an ink pad supplied with the book.
A remarkable collection can be made of ink-blot pictures. A drop of
ink, either round as it naturally falls, or slightly lengthened with a
pen, is dropped on paper which is then folded smartly together and
rubbed flat. The most surprising designs are the result, some of
which, aided a little by the pen, look like landscapes, figures and
complicated geometric designs.
Drawing Tricks