They Lived Joined Together... and Fathered Children!!

All of us, no doubt, have heard tell of the "Siamese twins," the most famous of the wonders the nineteenth century produced. Yet most of us do not know that these twins settled in North Carolina, and that they married and had children...

The original Chang and Eng died in 1874; the last of the children they fathered — twenty-two in all — died last year. These have left behind them descendants scattered through every corner of the globe: among them the president of the Union Pacific lines, a commander of the United Nations air forces, and many other ordinary citizens besides. They were all known for their energy and open-handedness, and for their endearing Oriental stamp.

An American press correspondent wished to gather serious information about these two strange twins, who were joined one to the other at the chest by a short, thick band; so he made for the edge of the "Ari" mountains, setting his face toward a tobacco field where the twins' grandchildren and great-grandchildren were working...

And there, where these folk dwell, this press correspondent was able to come upon many memories and relics that the twins had left behind. He learned that they were skilled at breaking horses and oxen and at riding them, and that they excelled at all kinds of sport. They were also masters of the jest and shone at it. Among the amusing stories told of them: one of them once wanted to dodge the price of a train ticket, so his brother bought a ticket while he did not; and when the inspector asked him for his ticket, he told him he was not carrying one, whereupon the inspector naturally ordered him to get off the train. But no sooner had he begun to stir from his place than his brother, who held a ticket, objected, saying that he had every right to remain on the train, since he carried a ticket entitling him to do so. The inspector fell into a predicament from which he found no way out except to bow to the facts and leave the twins alone...

They worked skillfully and excellently with their hands... and despite their small size, they possessed a strength granted to no man before them... It once happened that a builder whom they were helping to build a house insulted one of them, so they both fell upon him and gave him his fill of slaps and blows, saying: whoever tries to attack one of us must answer to us both...

One of those descended from their line says that they belonged to a noble family. Their mother was thirty-five years of age when she conceived them, and her delivery was quite easy, exactly like the births of their ten brothers and sisters. At birth the head of one lay between the legs of his brother, and it was noticed that they were joined at the chest by that short, thick band. The Siamese world rang at the time with that marvel, and news of it was carried to countries spread over every corner of the globe. The king of that day wished to kill them, for he took them as an evil omen; the doctors, likewise, advised the mother to burn or destroy the band that bound them together — but she refused...! Afterward she encouraged them toward an ordinary life — swimming, running, hunting, and play, exactly like other children... What they needed was harmony in their movements, and the two children managed to reach that goal early... Yet their mother observed that they were two different persons... for whenever they disagreed, Eng would always yield to the will of the domineering Chang, and their mother sometimes had to step in.

When they were 8 years old their father died, and they had to work to support their mother and their ten brothers and sisters...

When they reached the age of ten, the new king, Rama III, sent for them, and their mother schooled them in the protocol observed in audiences with kings. There the king put to them a few questions about their upbringing and their family. Suddenly the curtains were drawn back, the veils were lifted, and several faces peered out from behind them to gaze at the twins; they started, seized with fear and alarm, but the king soothed them and sent them to his 70 wives so that they might see them, and there the wives lavished precious gifts upon them.

A few years later, when the king sent a special mission to Indochina, Chang and Eng were among its members, and they conducted themselves well.

In 1824 "Robert Hunter" saw them swimming and was persuaded that they were some strange sea-creature; but after learning the truth about them, he set about convincing their mother to let them travel abroad to trade and make money. The mother refused — yet he traveled with them to Europe, and there he began exhibiting them to spectators, amassing ample money thereby... Everyone marveled at their free, natural movements: they could lie back to back, and they could run and jump, ride horses, and turn over in bed...

And they were content with themselves and with others...

When a psychologist examined them, he announced to the public that the twins' dreams were different, and so were their nervous systems. The one thing they had in common was this band that joined them: if the band was pricked with a pin, each of them felt the pain of the prick...

Despite their immersion in the business of the show, they remained good-natured, exceedingly alert and quick-witted. They proposed that a one-eyed spectator should pay half the price, since he could not see and behold exactly what the others saw and beheld!!... As for the crippled and the lame, they used to give them gifts and money, thanking God for having given them, the twins, four feet and four arms...

The twins never returned to Siam after their tour. They spent the remainder of their lives in America, apart from a few passing journeys abroad... And it remained beyond many people to grasp their inner nature and sound their depths, for they looked upon them only as a marvel, and not as two reasoning, perceptive human beings...