gs as
money, books, and pens. Then the parents watch him to see what he will
play with.

13. If he takes up the money, they say that he must be a trader or a
banker. If he takes up a book or a pen, they say that he must be a
writer or a teacher or a scholar.

* * * * *

21. HAIR, FINGERS, AND TOES.

1. Chinese men shave their heads, all but a small patch of hair. This is
allowed to grow very long, and is plaited into a pigtail. I have seen
Chinamen with coloured ribbons woven into their pigtails.

[Illustration: {Two Chinamen}]

2. When men are at work they twine their pigtails round their heads.
When they wish to show respect to any person they let down their
pigtails. A man who has a long, thick pigtail is very proud of it.

3. Sometimes men who are sent to prison have their pigtails cut off.
This is thought to be a great disgrace. When they leave prison they buy
false pigtails to wear.

4. When Chinamen fight they pull each other about by the pigtail.
Sometimes a schoolmaster punishes bad boys with his pigtail.

5. Rich women are very proud of their tiny feet. Chinese ladies can wear
shoes about four inches long. Fancy mother wearing a doll's shoes!

[Illustration: {Chinese women holding fans}]

6. Girls have their feet bound up tightly when they are five years of
age. The bandages are made tighter every week, until the foot stops
growing. Of course, the poor girls suffer very much. The Chinese have a
saying: "Every pair of bound feet costs a bath of tears."

7. When the girls grow up they cannot walk. They can only totter along,
and they have to lean on the arm of a maid to keep themselves from
falling.

[Illustration: {Woman walking with the support of her maid}]

8. I am glad to say that many parents do not now bind the feet of their
girls. They have learnt that it is both wicked and foolish to do so. At
one school in China all the girls have their feet unbound. They skip and
play about almost as well as Kate and May.

9. You and I think that only dirty, untidy people let their nails grow
long. Rich people in China never cut their nails. They let them grow so
long that they have to wear shields to keep them from being broken.

10. The dress of a Chinaman is very simple. He wears trousers and
several cotton or silk tunics. The outside tunic has very long, wide
sleeves; these are used as pockets.

11. The trousers are loose, and are covered up to the knee by whit