And then Simon saw that what she had cradled, that which now dangled from an outflung hand, was a doll… a doll made from reeds and leaves and twining stems of grass.
For years, lots of stories, in English, at least, assumed that boys went out and did adventurous things and girls stayed at home and played with dolls.
They usually build a doll made of old rags and stuffed with fireworks and firecrackers to light them up and symbolize leaving the bad things from the old year behind.