At the beginning of the new term, there was a Chinese boy named Chen amongst the new students. He was dressed in a smart suit, which from the tag inside the jacket had clearly been made by an expensive tailor. The housemaster delivered him into the tender care of Billy, and asked Billy to show him around. This was an excellent arrangement, because although Billy wasn’t tough, he was widely respected by the other boys and thus it was unlikely that any of them would indulge in the tedious bullying tactics that they sometimes used with new boys.
Billy soon discovered that Chen had a talent for football, and decided to play a little joke on him. He took him to watch a football match. At first, Chen thought it was a football match, but he got quite a surprise when the game kicked off. First of all, the ball, although it was the same tan color as a football, was a sort of lemon shape. Chen couldn’t understand why they didn’t invest in a new one; surely they couldn’t be so hard up? Then, when the game kicked off, he watched the player take a long run at the ball and then gently tap it to the boy on his left, who immediately caught it in his hands and started to run. “Hey,” shouted Chen, “Hand ball!” but Billy merely told him not to talk and carried on watching the game. Then another player decided to target the first player and suddenly threw his arms round him, upon which they both fell to the ground, carving a deep tear in the muddy surface of the pitch. “Did he lose his temper?” asked Chen. But Billy merely laughed. “No,” he said, “That’s how you tackle in rugby.” He then explained to Chen how rugby football had been invented on the playing fields of Rugby School. At first, handling the ball had been a temporary thing, but once people developed a taste for this style of play they found that ordinary football seemed tame by comparison. A person who by temperament was uninterested in soccer could still find plenty in rugby to tempt them. Then they took to it. The game had a different tempo and people who played it would often tend not to be interested in soccer at all. Chen asked Billy why the game had been invented, and Billy decided to tease him a little. “To save on footwear,” he said, “At that time there was a hefty tax on boots”.
Billy soon discovered that Chen had a talent for football, and decided to play a little joke on him. He took him to watch a football match. At first, Chen thought it was a football match, but he got quite a surprise when the game kicked off. First of all, the ball, although it was the same tan color as a football, was a sort of lemon shape. Chen couldn’t understand why they didn’t invest in a new one; surely they couldn’t be so hard up? Then, when the game kicked off, he watched the player take a long run at the ball and then gently tap it to the boy on his left, who immediately caught it in his hands and started to run. “Hey,” shouted Chen, “Hand ball!” but Billy merely told him not to talk and carried on watching the game. Then another player decided to target the first player and suddenly threw his arms round him, upon which they both fell to the ground, carving a deep tear in the muddy surface of the pitch. “Did he lose his temper?” asked Chen. But Billy merely laughed. “No,” he said, “That’s how you tackle in rugby.” He then explained to Chen how rugby football had been invented on the playing fields of Rugby School. At first, handling the ball had been a temporary thing, but once people developed a taste for this style of play they found that ordinary football seemed tame by comparison. A person who by temperament was uninterested in soccer could still find plenty in rugby to tempt them. Then they took to it. The game had a different tempo and people who played it would often tend not to be interested in soccer at all. Chen asked Billy why the game had been invented, and Billy decided to tease him a little. “To save on footwear,” he said, “At that time there was a hefty tax on boots”.