Manchurian Books

Two
of the dancers first commenced. Their dance consisted of the same
winding movements which I had already seen in Benares, only they
were far more animated, and twisted their fingers, hands, and arms
about in every conceivable manner. They might well be said to dance
with their arms but not with their feet. They danced for ten
minutes without singing, then they began to scream, without however
keeping time, and their motions became more violent and wild, until
in about half an hour both strength and voice failed, they stopped
quite exhausted, and made way for their sisters, who repeated the
same spectacle. Dr. Rolland told me that they represented a love
story, in which every virtue and passion, such as truth, self-
devotion, hate, persecution, despair, etc., played a part. The
musicians stood a little behind the dancers, and followed all their
movements. The whole space which such a company requires, is at the
most ten feet in length and eight broad. The good Hindoos amuse
themselves for hours together with these tasteless repetitions.


Pages:
548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572