Page:The Chinese Boy and Girl.djvu/86

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THE CHINESE BOY AND GIRL

of each other's hands, just as the boys do in "churning butter," but instead of turning around under their arms they turn half way, put one arm up over their head, bringing their right or left sides together, one facing one direction and one the other; then, standing still, the following dialogue took place:

Where has the big dog gone?
Gone to the city.
Where has the little dog gone?
Run away.

Then, as they began to turn, they repeated:

The big dog's gone to the city;
The little dog's run away;
The egg has fallen and broken,
And the oil's leaked out, they say.
But you be a roller
And hull with power,
And I'll be a millstone
And grind the flour.

As soon as this game was finished our little friend arranged the children against the wall for another game. Everything was in readiness. They were about to begin, when one of the larger girls whispered something in her ear. She stepped back, put her hands behind her, hung her head and thought a moment.

"Go on," we said.

"No, we can't play that; there is too much bad talk in it."

This is one of the unfortunate features of Chinese chil-

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