,
interests me a good deal. An instance of this came under my own observation
during a recent visit to Shanghai of "Fillis' Circus". Mr. Fillis had a mare
which for many years had acted the part of the horse of a highway robber.
The robber, flying from his enemies, urges the animal beyond its strength,
and the scene culminated with the dying horse being carried from the arena
to the great grief of its master. When this entertainment
was given in Shanghai this horse -- "Black Bess" -- fell sick.
A tonic was administered in the shape of the lively tune
which the band always played as she was about to enter the arena
and play her part as the highwayman's mare. The animal made
pitiable attempts to rise, and her inability to do so apparently suggested
to the intelligent creature the dying scene she had so often played.
She lay down and relaxed, prepared to die in reality. The attendants,
ignorant of the manner in which the horse had let herself go,
tried to lift her, but in her relaxed condition her bowels split --
Black Bess had acted her part for the last time.
Chapter 17. Sports
Perhaps in nothing do the Chinese differ from their Western friends
in the matter of amusements more than in regard to sports.
The Chinese would never think of assembling in thousands
just to see a game played. We are not modernized enough
to care to spend half a day watching others play. When we are tired of work
we like to do our own playing. Our national game is the shuttlecock,
which we toss from one to another over our shoulders,
hitting the shuttlecock with the flat soles of the shoes we are wearing.
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