Identifier: siampeepsatmany00youn (find matches)
Title: Siam
Year: 1908 (1900s)
Authors: Young, Ernest, 1869-1952 Norbury, Edwin Arthur, 1849-
Subjects: Thailand -- Description and travel
Publisher: London : A. and C. Black
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
n fact, no scoring ofany kind. The game ends when the players are tired.Sometimes a weary one will drop out of the game, liedown for a while for a rest, and then rejoin the circlewhen he feels refreshed. New-comers may join thegame at any moment. About the only amusement notassociated with gambling is the theatre. There is onlyone fixed theatre in the capital. In the days whenthere was neither gas nor electric light it was onlyopen on moonlit nights, for without the light of themoon the people would have had to go home in thedark. As a rule, theatrical performances take place atprivate houses at times of weddings, or funerals, oron other occasions of private rejoicing or sorrow. There are no men players except the clowns. Theother parts are taken by women. The plays, if actedfrom beginning to end, would last for weeks; but, aseverybody knows the whole of every drama, only smallportions are acted at a time. The better the peopleknow the selection that is played, the better they like 24
Text Appearing After Image:
A BUFFALO CART Amusements it. The actresses move about from one side of thestage to the other, twisting their heads, arms, and legsabout in a slow and curious fashion, which is their wayof dancing. They do not speak. The story is told bya chorus of people, who screech out the tale, to theaccompaniment of the weirdest of bands. It sounds likea mixture of drums, brass trays, and bagpipes. As a fixed theatre is not necessary, the plays can beacted anywhere. A space for the stage is marked outon the ground with mats. Round the mats sit the bandand the chorus. The spectators sit or stand quitenear the players, and sometimes an odd baby gets loose,and wanders about amongst the feet of the angels anddemons, who are strutting quaintly in the mat-encircledarea. When the man who beats the drums or bangsthe brass trays has had enough, some little boy in theaudience will come and take his place, and so allow theweary musician a little rest. There is of course, no scenery, and the audience hasto d

Note About Images