Page:String Figures and How to Make Them.djvu/44

You now have a loop on each wrist, two twisted loops on each thumb, and two twisted loops on each little finger (Fig. 20).

Fifth: With the right thumb and index lift the left wrist loop from the back of

the left wrist up over the tips of all the left fingers, and let it fall on the palmar side. With the left thumb and index lift the right wrist loop from the back of the right wrist up over the tips of all the right fingers, and let it fall on the palmar side.

Sixth: Retaining the loops on the thumbs and little fingers, rub the palms of the hands together; then separate the hands, and draw the figure tight (Fig. 20).

This is a beautiful figure, and not at all difficult. Moreover it retains its shape no matter how tight you may pull it. It contains several interesting movements:

In the Second, the method of transferring the index loops to the wrists is unusual; as we shall see further on, a more complicated method is almost always employed. In the Third movement the changing of a string from one finger to another by means of the thumb and index of the other hand is a process not often observed. Indeed one may easily believe that the methods given in these two movements are short cuts peculiar to the individual who taught me the figure, and that, some day, other Indians will be seen doing these movements in the usual elab-

orate style, whereby the strings on either hand are shifted and arranged by the fingers of that hand only. As far as I know, the Fourth movement has not been observed in any other string figure. The rubbing of the hands together in the