open; across this opening a white sheet is stretched on which the shadows of the
puppets are thrown and seen through by the audience; the latter sit or stand in the
open air.
PLATE 22.—KUDA SĔMBRANI.Magic flying horse (kuda sĕmbrani) used in the shadow-play by ’Che ʿAbas. It is said to be
able to swim through the water as well as to fly through the air.Page 514.“The show seems to be of Hindu origin, if we may judge from the strong
resemblance the figures bear to the representations of gods and goddesses
worshipped by the Hindus of India; it is probably obtained from Java.
“The figures are made of buffalo hide, and the arms alone are movable; they are
moved by slips of wood attached to them, which are very clumsily contrived,
and as their shadows are seen with the puppets the effect is very much destroyed.
Various scenes of a domestic nature are exhibited, and they take the shape of a
play, but with no definite plot running through or connecting the different