Of all the diversions of the court the most polite, and at the same time
the most engrossing, is the drama.
In a great sala, or hall, which serves as a theatre, the actors and
actresses assemble, their faces and bodies anointed with a creamy,
maize-colored cosmetic. Fantastic extravagance of attire constitutes the
great gun in their arsenal of attractions. Hence ear-rings, bracelets,
massive chains and collars, tapering crowns with wings, spangled robes,
curious finger-rings, and, strangest of all, long tapering nails of
gold, are joined to complete their elaborate adornment. The play, in
which are invariably enacted the adventures of gods, kings, heroes,
genii, demons, and a multitude of characters mythical and fabulous, is
often performed in lively pantomime, the interludes being filled by a
strong chorus, with songs and instrumental accompaniment. At other times
the players, in grotesque masks, give burlesque versions of the graver
epics, to the great amusement of the audience.
Chinese comedies, termed Ngiu, attract the Siamese in crowds; but the
foreign is decidedly inferior to the native talent. "Nang," so called,
is a sort of tableau, masked, representing characters from the Hindoo
mythology. Parts of the popular epic, Ramayana, are admirably rendered
in this style. In front of the royal palace an immense transparent
screen, mounted on great poles, is drawn across the esplanade, and
behind this, at a moderate distance, great fires are lighted. Between
the screen and the fire masked figures, grotesquely costumed, enact the
story of Rama and Sita and the giant Rawuna, with Hanuman and his army
of apes bridging the Gulf of Manaar and piling up the Himalayas, while
the bards, in measured story, describe the several exploits.
A great variety of puppet-shows are contrived for the delectation of the
children; and the Siamese are marvellously ingenious in the manufacture
of toys and dolls, of porcelain, stone, wood, bark, and paper. They make
pagodas, temples, boats, and floating houses, with miniature families to
occupy them, and all true to the life in every apartment and occupation;
watts, with idols and priests; palaces, with kings, queens, concubines,
royal children, courtiers, and slaves, all complete in costume and
attitude.
The royal children observe with grave formalities the eventful custom of
"hair-cutting" for their favorite dolls; and dramas, improvised for the
occasion by ingenious slaves, are the crowning glory of those high
holidays of toddling princes and princesses.
The ladies of the harem amuse themselves in the early and late hours of
the day by gathering flowers in the palace gardens, feeding the birds in
the aviaries and the gold-fishes in the ponds, twining garlands to adorn
the heads of their children, arranging bouquets, singing songs of love
or glory, dancing to the music of the guitar, listening to their slaves'
reading, strolling with their little ones through the parks and
_parterres_, and especially in bathing. When the heat is least
oppressive they plunge into the waters of the pretty retired lakes,
swimming and diving like flocks of brown water-fowl.
Chess and backgammon, Chinese cards and dice, afford a continual
diversion to both sexes at the court, and there are many skilful players
among them. The Chinese have established a sort of "lottery," of which
they have the monopoly. It is little better than a "sweat-cloth," with
thirteen figures, on which money is staked at the option of the gambler.
The winning figure pays its stake thirty-fold, the rest is lost.
Kite-flying, which in Europe and America is the amusement of children
exclusively, is here, as in China and Birmah, the pastime of both sexes,
and all ages and conditions of people. At the season when the south-wind
prevails steadily, innumerable kites of diverse forms, many of them
representing gigantic butterflies, may be seen sailing and darting over
every quarter of the city, and most thickly over the palace and its
appendages. Parties of young noblemen devote themselves with ardor to
the sport, betting bravely on results of skill or luck; and it is most
entertaining to observe how cleverly they manage the huge paper toys,
entangling and capturing each other's kites, and dragging them disabled
to the earth.
Combats of bulls and elephants, though very popular, are not commonly
exhibited at court. At certain seasons fairs are held, where exhibitions
of wrestling, boxing, fencing, and dancing are given by professional
competitors.
The Siamese, naturally imaginative and gay, cultivate music with great
zest. Every village has its orchestra, every prince and noble his band
of musicians, and in every part of Bangkok the sound of strange
instruments is heard continually. Their music is not in parts like ours,
but there is always harmony with good expression, and an agreeable
variety of movement and volume is derived from the diversity of
instruments and the taste of the players.
The principal instrument, the _khong-vong_, is composed of a series of
hemispherical metallic bells or cups inverted and suspended by cords to
a wooden frame. The performer strikes the bells with two little hammers
covered with soft leather, producing an agreeable harmony. The hautboy
player (who is usually a professional juggler and snake-charmer also)
commonly leads the band. Kneeling and swaying his body forward and
backward, and from side to side, he keeps time to the movement of the
music. His instrument has six holes, but no keys, and may be either
rough or smoothly finished.
The _ranat_, or harmonicon, is a wooden instrument, with keys made of
wood from the bashoo-nut tree. These, varying in size from six inches by
one to fifteen by two, are connected by pieces of twine, and so fastened
to a hollow case of wood about three feet in length and a foot high. The
music is "conjured" by the aid of two small hammers corked with leather,
like those of the khong-vong. The notes are clear and fine, and the
instrument admits of much delicacy of touch.
Beside these the Siamese have the guitar, the violin, the flute, the
cymbals, the trumpet, and the conch-shell. There is the _luptima_ also,
another very curious instrument, formed of a dozen long perforated reeds
joined with bands and cemented at the joints with wax. The orifice at
one end is applied to the lips, and a very moderate degree of skill
produces notes so strong and sweet as to remind one of the swell of a
church organ.
The Laos people have organs and tambourines of different forms; their
guitar is almost as agreeable as that of Europe; and of their flutes of
several kinds, one is played with the nostril instead of the lips.
Another instrument, resembling the banjo of the American negroes, is
made from a large long-necked gourd, cut in halves while green, cleaned,
dried in the sun, covered with parchment, and strung with from four to
six strings. Its notes are pleasing.
The _takhè_, a long guitar with metallic strings, is laid on the floor,
and high-born ladies, with fingers armed with shields or nails of gold,
draw from it the softest and sweetest sounds.
In their funeral ceremonies the chanting of the priests is usually
accompanied by the lugubrious wailing music of a sort of clarionet.
The songs of Siam are either heroic or amatory; the former celebrating
the martial exploits, the latter the more tender adventures, of heroes.
Athletic games and the contests of the arena and the course form so
conspicuous a feature in all ceremonies, solemn or festal, of this
people, that a description of them may not with advantage be wholly
omitted here. The Siamese are by nature warlike, and their government
has thoughtfully and liberally fostered those manly sports and exercises
which constitute the natural preparation for the profession of arms. Of
these the most popular are wrestling, boxing (in which both sexes take
part), throwing the discus or quoit, foot-shuttlecock, and racing on
foot or horseback or in chariots; to which may be added vaulting and
tumbling, throwing the dart, and leaping through wheels or circles of
fire.
The professional athletes and gymnasts are exercised at a tender age
under male or female trainers, who employ the most approved methods of
limbering and quickening and strengthening and toughening their
incipient champions, to whom, though well fed, sleep is jealously
allowanced and intoxicating drinks absolutely forbidden. Their bodies
are rubbed with oils and unguents to render them supple; and a short
langoutee with a belt forms the sum of their clothing. None but the
children of Siamese or Laotians are admitted to the gymnasia. The code
of laws for the government of the several classes is strictly enforced,
and nothing is permitted contrary to the established order and
regulations of the games. Excessive violence is mercifully forbidden,
and those who enter to wrestle or box, race or leap, for the prize, draw
lots for precedence and position.
The Siamese practise wrestling in its rude simplicity, the advantage
being with weight and strength, rather than skill and address. The
wrestlers, before engaging, are rubbed and shampooed, the joints bent
backward and all the muscles relaxed, and the body and limbs freely
oiled; but after the latter operation they roll in the dust, or are
sprinkled with earth, ground and sifted, that they may be grappled the
more firmly. They are matched in pairs, and several couples contend at
the same time. Their struggles afford superb displays of the anatomy of
action, and the perfection of strength and skill and fierce grace in the
trained animal. Though one be seized by the heel and thrown,--which the
Siamese applaud as the climax of the wrestler's adroitness,--they still
struggle grandly on the ground, a double Antæus of arms and legs, till
one be turned upon his back and slapped upon the breast. That is the
accepted signal of the victor.
In boxing, the Siamese cover their hands with a kind of glove of ribbed
leather, sometimes lined with brass. On their heads they wear a leather
turban, to protect the temples and ears, the assault being directed
mainly at the head and face. Besides the usual "getting away" of the
British bruiser, blows are caught with surprising address and strength
in the gloved hand. The boxer who by overreaching, or missing a blow he
has put his weight into, throws himself, is beaten; or he may surrender
by simply lowering his arms.
The Siamese discus, or quoit, is round, and of wood, stone, or iron.
Their manner of hurling it does not differ materially from that which
all mighty players have practised since Caesar's soldiers pitched quoits
for rations.
Quite otherwise, in its curious novelty, is their spirited and
picturesque sport of foot-shuttlecock,--a game which may be witnessed
only in Asia, and in the perfection of its skill and agility only in
Birmah and Siam.
The shuttlecock is like our own, but the battledore is the sole of the
foot. A number of young men form a circle on a clear plot of ground. One
of them opens the game by throwing the feathered toy to the player
opposite him, who, turning quickly and raising his leg, receives it on
the sole of his foot, and sends it like a shot to another, and he to
another; and so it is kept flying for an hour or more, without once
falling to the ground.
Speed, whether of two legs or four, is in high estimation among the
Siamese. Their public festivals, however solemn, are usually begun with
races, which they cultivate with ardor and enjoy with enthusiasm. They
have the foot-race, the horse-race, and the chariot-race. In the first,
the runners, having drawn lots for places, range themselves across the
course, and, while waiting for the starting signal, excite themselves by
leaping. At the word "Go," they make play with astonishing speed and
spirit.
The race of a single horse, "against time," with or without saddle, is a
favorite sport. The rider, scorning stirrup or bridle, grips the sides
of his steed with his knees, and, with his right arm and forefinger
stretched eagerly toward the goal, flies alone,--an inspiring picture.
Sometimes two horsemen ride abreast, and at full speed change horses by
vaulting from one to the other.
In the chariot-races from two to four horses are driven abreast, and the
art consists in winning and keeping the advantage of ground without
collision. This kind of racing is not so common as the others.
The favorite pastime of the late Second King, who greatly delighted in
equestrian exercises and feats, was Croquet on Horseback,--a sport in
which he distinguished himself by his brilliant skill and style, as he
did in racing and hunting. This unique equestrian game is played
exclusively by princes and noblemen. There are a number of small balls
which must be croqueted into two deep holes, with the aid of long
slender mallets. The limits of the ground are marked by a line drawn
around it; and the only conditions necessary to render the sport
exciting and the skill remarkable are narrow bounds and restive steeds.
The Siamese, like other Orientals, ride with loose rein and short
stirrups. Their saddles are high and hard, and have two large circular
flaps, gilded and otherwise adorned, according to the rank of the rider.
Cavaliers of distinction usually dress expensively, in imported stuffs,
elaborately embroidered with silk and gold thread. They wear a small
cap, and sometimes a strip of red, like the fillet of the Greeks and
Romans, bound round the brows.
Prizes for the victors in the games and combats are of several
kinds,--purses of gold and silver, suits of apparel, umbrellas, and,
more rarely, a gold or silver cup.
In concluding this imperfect sketch, I feel that a word of praise is due
to the spirit of moderation and humanity which seems to govern such
exhibitions in Siam. Even in their gravest festivals there is an element
of cheerfulness and kindness, which tends to promote genial fellowship
and foster friendships, and by bringing together all sorts of people,
otherwise separated by diversity of custom, prejudice, and interest,
unquestionably avails to weld the several small states and dependencies
of Siam into one compact and stable nation.