Page:Pekinese Rhymes (G. Vitale, 1896).djvu/84

 eighth month, because in that night the moon is perfectly full 團 圓 t'uan- yuan-. 樺拳滑拳 [sic] hua ch'iiian'huà?quán, to play at guessfingers, at morra. 行 令 hsing- ling'', literary amusement. Somebody in the company begins by giving a verse or a classical phrase, and the other members of society must follow by inventing another verse or phrase with the same rhyme, or with the same parallelism of words, or the same style of allusions. The man who first exhausts his stock of phrases is punished by being forced to drink a number of glasses of wine.

The first lady drinks wine ― the second lady warms the wine ― the third ladies come bringing in small saucers with salted cucumbers ― the fourth lady at the side arranges the places (covers) ― she says that every body has come for a complete meeting ― to play at guessfingers, to play at allusions game, and to be merry. 秀子禿 箍出油來 上腦箍 煎豆腐 NOTES These words are sung to tease the boys, who