This game is very much like that of the Spanish Merchant, the only difference being that instead of the players representing themselves as Spanish merchants, they carry on for the time the business of pork-butchers. The first player begins the game by saying, "I have just killed a pig, and shall be glad to sell portions of it to any of you. What part will you take?" he continues, addressing his right-hand neighbour. The trick of the game is that whatever part the purchaser shall choose, the corresponding part on his own person must, as he names it, be touched by him.
This game, sometimes used as a forfeit, is played in the following manner:--First of all, some one is stationed at the door, inside the room, to answer the repeated knocks that will be made. Another of the company begins the game by going out of the room, and presently making himself heard outside as postman, by giving a double knock. On the door being opened he is asked for whom he has a letter, and how many pennies the owner will have to pay for it. The person to whom the imaginary letter is addressed must then go outside the room, and give the postman his fee, not in pennies, but in kisses, after which he must take his turn as postman.
In choosing a proverb for this game, the simpler ones will be found the best, as those with long, prominent words are difficult to introduce. One of the company having retired, a proverb is fixed upon. The absent one is then called in, when he at once begins by asking a question of each of the company, the first one of whom must mention in his reply the first word in the proverb; the second player must mention the second word, and so on, until all the words have been brought in. Sometimes when the company is large, the proverb is repeated twice in the same round, though when this is done the person who is guessing should be told of the arrangement. As soon as the proverb is discovered, the person whose word gave the clue to the mystery must be the next guesser.
Those of the company who wish to play arrange themselves in a straight line on the floor, all kneeling on the right knee, while on the other knee they must have their hands resting and twist their thumbs. Their countenances must all wear a very solemn, woeful appearance; indeed, the rule is that should even a smile be detected on the countenance of any one a forfeit can be demanded. The following conversation is then carried on, each sentence of which, both question and answer, must be repeated in turn by every one of the players--all remembering that the utmost gravity must be sustained throughout:--