Hanging

Source: What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games And Pastimes
Category: IN THE TRAIN Or DURING A WAIT AT A RAILWAY STATION



This is a more difficult game, very suitable for a tiring journey. The
two players sit side by side, and one of them dots out on a piece of
paper the words of a proverb or well-known line of poetry. Thus, "I
met a little cottage girl" would be set down in this way:--

. ... . ...... ....... ....

Underneath this line a small gallows is erected. Thus:--

+---------+
/
/








The game is for the other player to discover the line. In order to do
this he is permitted to ask his opponent for letters. Perhaps he will
begin by asking, "May I have an 'a,'" because there are few sentences
that do not contain an "a." His opponent will then put the first "a"
in. Thus:--

. ... a ...... ....... ....

Then perhaps another "a" will be asked for, and the line will come out
thus:--

. ... a ...... ....a.. ....

Then perhaps an "e":--

. .e. a ...... ....a.. ....

So far all has gone favorably with the guesser, and the gallows is
still untouched. But perhaps he will now venture to ask for a
consonant (which is much more risky than a vowel), and will say, "May
I have an 's'?" As there is no "s" in the line the reply will be
against it, and the opponent will at once append to the rope of the
gallows a small head. Thus:--

+---------+
/
/

O






This means that the guesser has lost one out of a possible six points,
the others being his body, his two arms and two legs. For each letter
he asks for in vain he loses one of these, and when all have gone he
has lost the game too. Sometimes, however, the quotation can be
detected very quickly.


Next: Other Games

Previous: Letters With A Pencil

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