A mother and her children file under the arms of two players. The child caught is drawn aside for the choice between a cake of gourd seed or a peanut porridge, a necklace of beads or a bow and arrow--we all know the phantom bliss of such choices. The children are caught and ranged until there remains none but the mother and one who is now called “the only child.” This remnant of a once numerous family takes to the bush, but the mother sallies forth from time to time and tosses a handful of grass toward the company, who ask her in chorus: “How big is the only child now?” “The only child creeps,” says the mother. “Hay-a-a!” exclaims the astonished chorus after this and all other complacent maternal announcements. “How old is the only child now?” “The only child walks.” “Hay-a-a!” To this chorus of astonished approval, the only child comes to be a young girl, has a sweetheart, is married, and has a baby! Having achieved so much success, the only child ceases to figure in this drama, and the grandmother is plied with questions about the child of the only child. “How old is the child of the only child now?” “The child of the only child creeps.” “Hay-a-a!” He walks, he sets traps, one day he has killed a little antelope, another day he has killed a big antelope, and now he has killed an elephant! Here surely is a climax. “Hay-a-a!” The chorus disintegrates; one after another comes to beg a piece of elephant meat from the child of the only child, who emerges from hiding. One after another is refused, until that one comes who pleases the child of the only child. He gives her a piece of elephant meat for a sign that she is his sweetheart--and they are obliged, of course, to run away. After them the entire company is, of course, obliged to follow. Here, you see, is a rehearsal of life as it is to be. Here is the dissension, the gossip, the greed, the romance, and the adventure of life.[33] [Illustration: “LONDON BRIDGE” AT THE MIDORI KINDERGARTEN, JAPAN] [Sidenote: African children’s play.] “Kidd in his book on ‘Savage Childhood’ describes the Bantu children of Africa as showing great power of imagination in their games. Before the missionary they appear dull and unresponsive, but when no stranger is about they delight in playing missionary, holding a play service, singing hymns, and mimicking the padre’s bad dialect. The insistence of the motor idea is strong in the native; he likes to play games involving motor skill, is fond of acrobatic tricks, of mimicking animals, and delights in dolls and play animals. In fact, the whole picture is that of an intensely human little animal, decidedly attractive, and one feels pity that it should grow up into an unattractive and troublesome Kaffir problem.”[34] [Sidenote: Children of the desert at play.]