An alternative name for this game is "Tease The Bear".
One player is chosen to be Bear, another to be Bear-Keeper. Bear has one end of a rope tied around his waist. Bear-Keeper holds the other end of the rope in one hand and his `whip', another length of rope or a few stalks of wheat, in the other hand. All other players are Urchins. Urchins try to tease or baste Bear. Bear tries to catch Urchins.
Bear-Keeper must keep Bear away from Urchins by pulling on Bear's rope and keep Urchins away from Bear by hitting them with his whip. If an Urchin is caught by Bear or hit three times by Bear-Keeper's whip, he becomes the new Bear, the old Bear becomes the new Bear-Keeper and the old Bear-Keeper becomes an Urchin for the next game.
Last update February 7, 2010