25/02: Indian Rope Trip Part II
Category: Art
Posted by: Frank Moraes
Check out Part I of this Article.
As promised, I am going to explain the Indian Chain Trick, the magical illusion that is most like the Indian Rope Trick, but which probably had nothing to do with the creation of the myth because John Elbert Wilkie probably knew nothing about it.
The Mogul Emperor Jahangir reported on the Chain Trick some time around 1600. What he wrote was not translated into English until 1829, and what I quote here is Peter Lamont quoting from this English translation. It seems that the conjurers
produced a chain of 50 cubits in length [roughly 23 meters], and in my presence threw one end of it towards the sky, where it remained as if fastened to something in the air. A dog was then brought forward, and being placed at the lower end of the chain, immediately ran up, and reaching the outer end, immediately disappeared in the air. In the same manner a hog, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were successively sent up the chain and all equally disappeared at the upper end of the chain. At last they took down the chain and put it into a bag, no one ever discovering in what way the different animals were made to vanish into the air in the mysterious manner described.
This sounds amazing, but actually, Jahangir was not that impressed with this particular effect; the conjurers did much more amazing things like make fruit trees grow and produce ripe mangoes. But let's forget the mango trick; it is well-know (to those in the know) and it's secret can be learned from a variety of books. As far as I know, no one has explained the Chain Trick. (And most likely, no one has cared.)
The biggest problem with explaining this trick is the hog. Regardless of how you look at it, hogs can't climb up chains. The other animals—well, I could imagine they could be trained. But given that hogs can't climb, I assume that none of the animals actually climbed up the chain. And yet, Jahangir claims they did. Leaving aside the fact that he was almost certainly wasted out of his mind on booze and opium, there are reasons to doubt his description of the effect.
The Problem with Eye-Witnesses
In my experience, when people see magic tricks they have seen (without the help of booze and opium), they are not very accurate. For example, when someone sees the color changing deck, he will say, "He had me select a card from a blue deck of cards; then he fans out the deck and all the cards are red, except for the one I picked that is blue." I don't want to go into details here but the trick started where it ended: with a red deck of cards and two blue cards.
What's even more important is that magicians are liars. They talk and are generally entertaining and then they start their act. But... They already started it; during all that chitchat, they were doing the "trick"; in fact, in most cases, by the time the audience thinks the effect is starting, it is over from the magician's standpoint. Ricki Jay's Four Queen Routine is a good example of this, even though it may not be clear to the uninitiated—which is the whole point, after all. This isn't always the case, of course; as an example, I would refer you to Daryl's Rope Routine where he is doing straight sleight-of-hand throughout a six minute effect. But this is the exception, not the rule.
The Method
I can think of a few ways that the Chain Effect could have been done. First the chain: most likely it was simply held up with thread—either from a single strand directly overhead, or two strands running off to each side (the way a tennis net is held up). Obviously, this would likely not even be strong enough to allow a rat to climb up the chain, so we move on to part two: the animal climb.
My guess is that the conjurers had a box that they performed on. It is from this box that the chain rose. On the top of this box was a trap door that allowed the hog (etc.) to disappear into. But how would it do this without being seen? How would Jahangir (other than the drug effects) see the hog climb the chain? The answer is simpler than you would think: he didn't.
Instead, one of the conjurers would put the hog on top of the box. He would then surround it with something like a cardboard box with its top and bottom cut off and one of the sides cut. This would allow him to place it around the hog and chain. At this point, the hog would fall through the trap door, without Jahangir noticing; he would think the hog was still there.
Now the conjurer would raise this "screen" up to the top of the chain at the same time he said something along the lines of, "See how the hog climbs the chain!" And then, when he gets to the top of the chain, he opens the screen and the hog has vanished!
The emperor goes wild! And forgets that he didn't actually see the hog climb; he just thought he did.
Ditto for the dog, panther, lion, and tiger. There are other possible methods of doing it, but I bet it was something very similar to this. My only question is how did they keep the animals from eating one another? (Just kidding; that's an easy one.)
As promised, I am going to explain the Indian Chain Trick, the magical illusion that is most like the Indian Rope Trick, but which probably had nothing to do with the creation of the myth because John Elbert Wilkie probably knew nothing about it.
The Mogul Emperor Jahangir reported on the Chain Trick some time around 1600. What he wrote was not translated into English until 1829, and what I quote here is Peter Lamont quoting from this English translation. It seems that the conjurers
produced a chain of 50 cubits in length [roughly 23 meters], and in my presence threw one end of it towards the sky, where it remained as if fastened to something in the air. A dog was then brought forward, and being placed at the lower end of the chain, immediately ran up, and reaching the outer end, immediately disappeared in the air. In the same manner a hog, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were successively sent up the chain and all equally disappeared at the upper end of the chain. At last they took down the chain and put it into a bag, no one ever discovering in what way the different animals were made to vanish into the air in the mysterious manner described.
This sounds amazing, but actually, Jahangir was not that impressed with this particular effect; the conjurers did much more amazing things like make fruit trees grow and produce ripe mangoes. But let's forget the mango trick; it is well-know (to those in the know) and it's secret can be learned from a variety of books. As far as I know, no one has explained the Chain Trick. (And most likely, no one has cared.)
The biggest problem with explaining this trick is the hog. Regardless of how you look at it, hogs can't climb up chains. The other animals—well, I could imagine they could be trained. But given that hogs can't climb, I assume that none of the animals actually climbed up the chain. And yet, Jahangir claims they did. Leaving aside the fact that he was almost certainly wasted out of his mind on booze and opium, there are reasons to doubt his description of the effect.
The Problem with Eye-Witnesses
In my experience, when people see magic tricks they have seen (without the help of booze and opium), they are not very accurate. For example, when someone sees the color changing deck, he will say, "He had me select a card from a blue deck of cards; then he fans out the deck and all the cards are red, except for the one I picked that is blue." I don't want to go into details here but the trick started where it ended: with a red deck of cards and two blue cards.
What's even more important is that magicians are liars. They talk and are generally entertaining and then they start their act. But... They already started it; during all that chitchat, they were doing the "trick"; in fact, in most cases, by the time the audience thinks the effect is starting, it is over from the magician's standpoint. Ricki Jay's Four Queen Routine is a good example of this, even though it may not be clear to the uninitiated—which is the whole point, after all. This isn't always the case, of course; as an example, I would refer you to Daryl's Rope Routine where he is doing straight sleight-of-hand throughout a six minute effect. But this is the exception, not the rule.
The Method
I can think of a few ways that the Chain Effect could have been done. First the chain: most likely it was simply held up with thread—either from a single strand directly overhead, or two strands running off to each side (the way a tennis net is held up). Obviously, this would likely not even be strong enough to allow a rat to climb up the chain, so we move on to part two: the animal climb.
My guess is that the conjurers had a box that they performed on. It is from this box that the chain rose. On the top of this box was a trap door that allowed the hog (etc.) to disappear into. But how would it do this without being seen? How would Jahangir (other than the drug effects) see the hog climb the chain? The answer is simpler than you would think: he didn't.
Instead, one of the conjurers would put the hog on top of the box. He would then surround it with something like a cardboard box with its top and bottom cut off and one of the sides cut. This would allow him to place it around the hog and chain. At this point, the hog would fall through the trap door, without Jahangir noticing; he would think the hog was still there.
Now the conjurer would raise this "screen" up to the top of the chain at the same time he said something along the lines of, "See how the hog climbs the chain!" And then, when he gets to the top of the chain, he opens the screen and the hog has vanished!
The emperor goes wild! And forgets that he didn't actually see the hog climb; he just thought he did.
Ditto for the dog, panther, lion, and tiger. There are other possible methods of doing it, but I bet it was something very similar to this. My only question is how did they keep the animals from eating one another? (Just kidding; that's an easy one.)
