Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c15.s3.42

c15.s3.42

Then we come across various people who earned their bread by exhibiting various performances. There were acrobats, dancers, rope-walkers, etc. already mentioned above. We hear of pole-dancer's tricks. At the top of the pole there was a horizontal wooden attachment on which were nails which attached themselves to the shoes. When the acrobat holding the sword and shield started walking, the nails attached themselves to the already prepared sockets in the shoes. Very carefully at every step he engaged and disengaged the nails, because a slight carelessness meant death. Even the kings in the company of their queens attended such performances.¹⁸²