Another popular amusement is "football," which is nothing like our game
of the same name. The ball is only about six or seven inches in
diameter. It is very light, as it is made of a few pieces of twisted
cane. Any number of people can play, from two upwards. The players stand
in a ring facing each other. One of them sends the ball into the air,
and the person nearest to it, when it descends, must send it up again.
He may do this with his head, shoulder, knee, or foot, but he must not
touch the ball with his hands. If the ball falls just behind the
player's back, he judges the distance without turning round, catches the
ball on the back of his heel, and so brings it back into the circle and
towards another player. There are no goals, and, in fact, no scoring of
any kind. The game ends when the players are tired. Sometimes a weary
one will drop out of the game, lie down for a while for a rest, and then
rejoin the circle when he feels refreshed. New-comers may join the game
at any moment. About the only amusement not associated with gambling is
the theatre. There is only one fixed theatre in the capital. In the days
when there was neither gas nor electric light it was only open on
moonlit nights, for without the light of the moon the people would have
had to go home in the dark. As a rule, theatrical performances take
place at private houses at times of weddings, or funerals, or on other
occasions of private rejoicing or sorrow.
[Illustration: A BUFFALO CART.]
There are no men players except the clowns. The other parts are taken by
women. The plays, if acted from beginning to end, would last for weeks;
but, as everybody knows the whole of every drama, only small portions
are acted at a time. The better the people know the selection that is
played, the better they like it. The actresses move about from one side
of the stage to the other, twisting their heads, arms, and legs about in
a slow and curious fashion, which is their way of dancing. They do not
speak. The story is told by a chorus of people, who screech out the
tale, to the accompaniment of the weirdest of bands. It sounds like a
mixture of drums, brass trays, and bagpipes.
As a fixed theatre is not necessary, the plays can be acted anywhere. A
space for the stage is marked out on the ground with mats. Round the
mats sit the band and the chorus. The spectators sit or stand quite near
the players, and sometimes an odd baby gets loose, and wanders about
amongst the feet of the angels and demons, who are strutting quaintly in
the mat-encircled area. When the man who beats the drums or bangs the
brass trays has had enough, some little boy in the audience will come
and take his place, and so allow the weary musician a little rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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