s his face marked curiously
with ink. If a girl, she has a paper or wisp of straw stuck in her hair.

[24] _Garuta_, or karuta, our word "card," as spoken on Japanese lips.

The One Verse (from each of the) Hundred Poets game consists of two
hundred cards, on which are inscribed the one hundred stanzas or poems
so celebrated and known in every household. A stanza of Japanese poetry
usually consists of two parts, a first and second, or upper and lower
clause. The manner of playing the game is as follows: The reader reads
half the stanza on his card, and the player, having the card on which
the other half is written, calls out, and makes a match. Some children
become so familiar with these poems that they do not need to hear the
entire half of the stanza read, but frequently only the first word.

The game of Ancient Odes, that named after the celebrated Genji
(Minamoto) family of the Middle Ages, and the Shi Garuta are all
card-games of a similar nature, but can be thoroughly enjoyed only by
well-educated Chinese scholars, as the references and quotations are
written in Chinese and require a good knowledge of the Chinese and
Japanese classics to play them well. To boys who are eager to become
proficient in Chinese it often acts as an incentive to be told that
they will enjoy these games after certain attainments in scholarship
have been made. Having made these attainments, they play the game
frequently, especially during vacation, to impress on their minds what
they have already learned.

Two other games are played which may be said to have an educational
value. They are the "Wisdom Boards" and the "Ring of Wisdom." The former
consists of a number of flat thin pieces of wood, cut in many
geometrical shapes. Certain possible figures are printed on paper as
models, and the boy tries to form them out of the pieces given him. In
some cases much time and thinking are required to form the figure. The
ring-puzzle is made of rings of bamboo or iron, on a bar. Boys having a
talent for mathematics, or those who have a natural capacity to
distinguish size and form, succeed very well at these games and enjoy
them.

The game of Checkers is played on a raised stand or table about six
inches in height. The number of "go" or checkers, including black and
white, is 360. In the Sho-gi, or game of Chess, the pieces number 40 in
all. Backgammon is also a favorite play, and there are several forms of
it.

[Illustration: Getting Ready t