Cat's-Cradle

Game played by two persons with a string 4 or 5 ft., with the ends tied together. It is held upon the hands of one of the players and removed by the other, a uming different forms. Its original significance is unknown. It is a common game in Japan, aya ito tori; in China, ch'ang tsang, and in Korea, sil tiki, the names all referring to the pattern in weaving. It is also common among the Malays, the Dyaks of Borneo, and the natives of New Zealand. Among the Pueblo Indians of America, the children fight "Cat's-Cradles," and the knots formed by cords as combined in the various figures have mnemonic significance.