Highroads of Geography: Introductory Book: Round the World with Father — John Shaqi
Highroads of Geography: Introductory Book: Round the World with FatherAnonymous
General
Highroads of Geography: Introductory Book: Round the World with Father
Anonymous
Geography -- Juvenile literature
8. The Chinese do in the open street many things which we do inside our
houses. A Chinaman likes to eat his meals where every one can see him.
9. Sometimes he will sit in front of his house and wash his feet.
Yesterday I saw a man having his tooth drawn out of doors. A crowd stood
round him, watching to see how it was done.
10. How should you like to go for a ride in a wheelbarrow? In China the
wheelbarrow is often used for carrying people or goods from place to
place. It has a large wheel in the middle. Round the wheel there is a
platform for people or goods.
[Illustration: {People riding in a wheelbarrow}]
11. A broad river runs through the city. It is crowded with boats, in
which live many thousands of people. Many of these people never go
ashore at all.
12. Over the sterns of the boats there are long baskets. These are the
backyards of the floating city. Hens, ducks, geese, and sometimes pigs,
are kept in these baskets.
[Illustration: {A boy on a boat}]
13. The little boys who live on the boats have a log of wood fastened to
their waists. This keeps them afloat if they fall overboard. The little
girls have no such lifebelts. In China nobody troubles about the girls.
14. Nearly all the boats have an eye painted on their bows. Perhaps this
seems strange to you. The Chinese, however, say,--
"S'pose no got eye, no can see;
S'pose no can see, no can walkee."
* * * * *
20. CHINESE BOYS AND GIRLS.
1. Chinese fathers and mothers are very glad when their children are
boys. In China the boys are much petted. Their mothers give way to them,
and let them do as they please.
2. Girls, however, are not welcome. Sometimes they are called
"Not-wanted" or "Ought-to-have-been-a-boy."
3. A Chinese boy has always two names, sometimes four. He has one name
when he is a child, and another when he goes to school. He has a third
name when he begins to earn money. When he dies he has a fourth name.
4. Chinese boys are very fond of flying kites, which are shaped like
fish or butterflies or dragons. Old gentlemen are just as fond of
kite-flying as boys.
5. In China you will often see boys playing hopscotch or spinning
peg-tops. They also play shuttlecock, but they have no battledore. They
kick the shuttlecock with the sides of their feet.
6. Chinese boys love to set off fireworks, such as crackers, wheels, and
rockets. If the fireworks make a loud noise, so much the better.
7. Chinese children are taught to show very great respect to their
parents. They all bow and kneel to their fathers and mothers. A boy who
is not kind and good to his parents is thought to be a wicked wretch.
8. A few days ago I went to see a Chinese school. The boys sit on stools
at tiny tables. In front of them they have a stone slab, a stick of
Chinese ink, and some brushes with which they write.
[Illustration: {A boy at a table at school}]
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