Simple Tip-Cat
Translation details
Model:mistral-large-2512.Translated text
Section titled “Translated text”A Christian has not done his duty if… on Easter Tuesday he does not strike Mikołaj Rej on the head with a tip-cat until an eye pops out. This game is widespread in Poland (as is the next one) among rural and urban boys. It is suitable for older pupils of elementary schools, especially rural ones. It is played in numerous variations under different names (Kiczka, Kot, Pliszka, or Cyrka in Lesser Poland; Pchła in Kashubia; Stręk in Greater Poland; Czyż, Krypa, or Klipa in Mazovia; Szpak in Volhynia). We will consider only the 2 fundamental variations:
a) Tip-Cat with Markers (Central Lesser Poland) A boy chosen by casting or measuring stands by an oblong hole dug in the ground and places the tip-cat (a stick of soft wood, 20 cm long and 2 cm in diameter) across the hole; this place is called the “win,” “home,” or “kingdom.” The rest of the boys stand at the “loss” (or go “to tend the pigs”) at various distances, having first measured out straight-line intervals from the hole: 10, 15, 20… 50 steps, marked with pebbles. The first marker is 10 steps from the hole, the second 5 steps from the first, the third 5 steps from the second. The player at the win starts by placing the bat under the tip-cat and flinging it toward his companions. If one of them catches the tip-cat in the air, he goes to the win. If not, the striker places the bat across the hole, and one of the opponents “releases” the tip-cat (rolls it along the ground) toward the bat. If it hits the bat, the striker is “shackled” and yields his place to the thrower. If it misses, the striker begins the proper game. He places the tip-cat in the hole so that one end protrudes above the edge, facing the opponents. He then strikes this protruding end so that the tip-cat leaps up, and while it is in the air, he strikes it with the bat. If someone now catches it in flight (“catches a champ”), he scores 100 and goes to strike. If the uncaught tip-cat falls to the ground, the striker scores as many marks (“tips”) as the number of steps from the hole where it fell. The striker is also considered “shackled” if he fails to strike the tip-cat 3 times in a row or strikes it closer than marker 1 (10 steps). The game continues until one of the players reaches the agreed-upon number (e.g., 1000 or 3000).
b) Tip-Cat without Markers (Kraków region, Mazovia) The difference from variation a) is that the “released” tip-cat, if it misses the bat, is struck from where it stopped. Since there is no hole there, either the tip-cat is whittled to a point at both ends (so that when struck on one end, it leaps up), or (in the Łomża region) the boys know how to “drag” it with the bat along the ground, and when it rolls, “pick it up” (place the end of the bat under it and toss it into the air) and strike it. If the struck tip-cat falls uncaught, the striker measures the distance from the hole with the bat and scores as many marks as bat-lengths measured. (Variation a) fascinates boys with its scoring method; variation b) provides more movement, as the tip-cat can be struck in any direction, and players must run a lot to catch it).
Source scan: Kujawsko-Pomorska Digital Library, marked “Public Domain.” See PDF — page 210.
Metadata
Section titled “Metadata”- Type: game
- Traits: Not stated in the source
- Source: Eugeniusz Piasecki, Zabawy i gry ruchowe dzieci i młodzieży (1922)
- Printed pages: 205–207 / PDF 210–212
- Digital edition: Digital edition · Source record
- Open the edition at the relevant page: p. 205
- Read the source text: zgr-124