Game

During the weekend, I brought Euterpe to her singing class as usual.

Since parents are not allowed to join the class, I had to wait outside for an hour - a rare occasion when I could sit down and read some journal, without being disturbed.

This week, however, there was some construction work going on at the place where I used to wait, and I had to go to another part of the building to find a seat.

And this little accident proved to be entertaining. Soon after I settled myself in a long wooden chair, an old man with a heavy cigarette smell and a husky voice came and sat next to me. With him there was a large square board, a little box, and a folding chair.

A few minutes later, a middle age man came and waved to the old one, who opened that folding chair and indicated the new comer to sit opposite to him.

The two then unfold the board - it became a table; from the little box they extracted some pieces of woods, for which they hurriedly arrange on the table. By now it became clear that they were playing Chinese chess.

And, for the rest of that hour, I enjoyed watching several rounds of this traditional game - a luxury that I missed for over 25 years.

PS. The players, seriously, were not all that outstanding. Nonetheless, the game was exceptionally enjoyable - exactly because the two sides used highly unconventional strategy. For example, in the first round, it was "三步虎對過宮炮", which is known only to some senile outdated bookworm who remains living in the previous millennium.

PPS. It is the traditional saying that it needs a real gentleman to remain silent while watching others' chess game (觀棋不語真君子). Alas, after doing bedside teaching for so many years, it is not all that difficult to be a gentleman.