CHAPTER XXXII

_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.