Lenten Games

In the season of fasting before Easter, children and young people used to play different games, the rules of which often differed from village to village and region to region.  Although the genders sometimes played some games together, they generally had different interests.  Boys typically played sport-like games that were quite competitive in nature, but girls had games of their own - mostly circle games.  One of these games was played mostly by girls in the "Dunántúl" region of western Hungary.  It was called variously csutizás or csöntörözés. 

The children stood in a circle, with one child, designated the king, standing in the center.  The "king" held a pitcher with small pebbles rattling in it.  The children started singing a rhyme, which is sung to this day in many kindergartens:

Itt a köcsög, mi van benne,
Aranyalma, aranykörte.
Add tovább, add tovább,
Te meg fizesd az árát!

This can be translated as:

Here's the pitcher, what's inside?
Golden apple, golden pear
Pass it onwards, pass it onwards
And you must pay the price!

As the song started, the "king" threw the pitcher to someone in the circle, who passed it on to their neighbor, who then passed it on to the next person, all to the beat of the song.  If someone dropped it, they had to sit down to show they were out.  Whoever was left holding the pitcher when the rhyme ended also had to sit down.  At the end of the round, the child in the center got the pitcher again and started a new round of passing the pitcher around.  It lasted until there was only one person left standing.  This person would then become the king, and the game would start anew.


Mancsozás

One game that both genders could play together was called mancsozás.  It was played on a field that measured about 30 X 45 yards, and was divided into two sections, one for each of the two teams. 

Before the game started, boys would carve and decorate sticks that would be used like bats. These would be about two feet in length and were slightly curved at the end. Finally, the players needed a "mancs" - a wooden ball - which was commonly carved from acacia, hornbeam, or another hard wood. Young men would carve sticks for the girls they were interested in - with obvious symbolic intentions. Even though it was the season of fasting, young people still took the opportunity to court one another.

Two captains, usually the best players of the village, were chosen by consensus.  They would be the ones to pick the players on each team.  Although the size of the teams could vary, it was common to have eight players per team.  To decide who got to go first, the captains would square off and one would grab hold of a long stick. The other would grab the stick above the other's fist, and they would alternate grabbing the stick until there was no more left to grab hold of. Whoever's hand was on top would win the chance to go first. This method was called "mérés" - measuring.

Someone would toss a ball high into the air, and the children would smack them with their bats.  (If they couldn't hit the ball and it dropped on the ground, the hitter was out.)  Then, their sticks were thrown into the opposite team's playing field.  They had to run and retrieve the stick and return to their own side before the other team could find the ball and throw it back.  Whoever couldn't retrieve their stick was declared out.