_DIFFERENT GAMES_
ORIENTAL SHOOTING MATCHES
These matches were played with little rods, which the players had to
throw into a long-necked and narrow-mouthed vase.
According to the Book of Rites, the host at a dinner party had to offer
these arrows to his guests, and it was their duty to refuse them at
first, but after some pressing to accept them. A servant then brought a
vase on to the table, and the guests threw each two or four arrows into
its mouth. At rich dinner-parties each arrow that entered the vase was
saluted with a burst of music from the orchestra. A horse or a carriage
was given to the player who succeeded in putting all his arrows into the
vase.
Our forefathers asserted that the character of a man could easily be
told by his manner of playing this game. Suspicious and timid people
threw their arrows for the most part askance, whilst weak-minded men
invariably missed the mark. To succeed once and to miss twice was a sign
of a want of perseverance, for to get the arrow exactly into the mouth
of the vase a sharp eye and a good aim are necessary, and it will not do
to do too much or too little. The throw must also be straight, and the
aim exactly at the centre, and this, in conformity with human principles
about straightforwardness and moderation, our forefathers used also to
think that the activity put into play at this game resembled that of the
conscience. To miss one’s aim with an arrow was equivalent to neglecting
a duty. The rule was to reflect with prudence, and to throw with
measure. He who did this was fitted to become an able statesman.
One wins without manifesting pride or showing his delight, another cheats
or tries to draw too near the mark. These different ways of acting enable
one to distinguish between honest and dishonest people.
To conclude, men used thus to be judged formerly by trifles of small
importance in themselves, but which became powerful auxiliaries of truth.
And it was for that reason that our ancestors included this game in their
rituals.
THE CANDLESTICK
This game is also a very ancient one, and consists in getting a person
to guess what object is hidden under a bell of non-transparent material,
metal or china. Those who guess must not name the object directly, but
must compose a quatrain referring to it.
For instance, supposing a lizard has been hidden, this is how a clever
player would tell us that he had guessed it:
“It is not a dragon, for it has no horns;
It is not a serpent, for it has feet;
It can divide itself, and it can climb up walls.
It is a lizard.”
One day three objects were hidden under the bell—a swallow’s egg, a
piece of honeycomb, and a spider. The following were the quatrains which
revealed the nature of the hidden objects:—
“The first is one of the beloved of spring, who climbs on the roofs
of the drawing-rooms.
When the male or the female is fledged,
It at once spreads out its wings.
It is a swallow’s egg.
The second is a house hung upside down.
It has a multitude of doors and windows.
The sweetest fluid is stored up in it.
And its inhabitants multiply in it.
It is a honeycomb.
The third resembles a long-footed slug.
It produces threads for making nets,
Into which all falls for its nourishment.
It is night which makes it happy.
It is a spider.”
Other guessers were still more skilful, albeit they did not compose
quatrains.
A Sovereign had placed a white bird under a bell, and ordered his
Minister to guess. He answered that the emperor could not force him to
guess. When he was asked why not, he said, “Let him, first of all, let
his white bird escape.”
On another occasion a rat was hidden. Everybody said it was a rat. But
one very clever player insisted that there were four rats under the bell.
The bell was removed, and it was found that, true enough, there were four
rats. Whilst she had been in confinement, the rat had given birth to
three little ones.
Guessing is done by means of the Koua, or diagrams, of which I have
spoken elsewhere.
SHUTTLECOCKS
We also play with shuttlecocks, made of four duck feathers, the ends
of which are passed through the square hole in the centre of one of
our coins and bent down, which renders them very elastic. Ladies play
with battledores; gentlemen use their feet, as in the English game of
football. A certain height is fixed upon, and the player who fails to
reach it loses the game. The same game is played with leather balls
stuffed with cotton.
THE COIN GAME
A coin is thrown against the wall. The player whose coin springs back
farthest from the wall begins. He throws his coin in any direction, and
it is agreed upon that the other players must throw their coins so as to
fall at such or such a distance from the place where his is lying. Those
who manage to do this, or get closest to the mark, win, those who are
farthest off lose.
This game used formerly to be played by the ladies of the Court, but
now-a-days it is only played by children in the streets.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]