Page:The Chinese Boy and Girl.djvu/145

Rh more amusing than this to the children was to see him turn summersaultssomersaults [sic] both forward and backward. These were repeated several times because they were easily done, and added to the length of time the show continued.

Children, however, begin to appreciate at an early age what is difficult and what easy, and it was not until he took a carrying-pole six feet long, put the middle of it upon his forehead and set it whirling with his paws, that they began to say:

"That's good," "That's hard to do," and other expressions of a like nature.

They enjoyed seeing him stand on his front feet, or on his head with his hind feet kicking the air, but they enjoyed still more seeing him put on the wooden collar of a convict and twirl it around his neck. The manager gave him some bread and then tried to induce him to take it off, but he whined for more bread and refused to do so. Finally he took off the collar, and when they tried to take it from him he put it on again. When he took it off the next time and offered it to them they refused to receive it, but tried to get him to put it on, which he stubbornly refused to do, and finally threw it away.

His last trick was to sit down upon his haunches, stick up one of his hind feet, and twirl a knife six feet long upon it as he had twirled the carrying-pole upon his head. The manager said he would wrestle with the men, but this was a side issue and only done when extra money was added to the regular price, which was twelve cents.

One of the most common showmen seen on the streets of Peking, goes about with a framework upon his shoulder in