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The Gaming Table-Vol.2-Part26_Andrew Steinmetz(1816-1877)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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of the other, 'it is a present of which you must take care,'

namely, 'a little stranger' at hand.



Two singular facts throw light on the kind of dice used some 100

and 150 years ago. In an old cribbage card-box, curiously



ornamented, supposed to have been made by an amateur in the reign

of Queen Anne, and now in my possession, I found a die with one



end fashioned to a point, evidently for the purpose of spinning--

similar to the modern teetotum. With the same lot at the sale



where it was bought, was a pack of cards made of ivory, about an

inch and a half in length and one inch in width--in other



respects exactly like the cards of the period.

Again, it is stated that in taking up the floors of the Middle



Temple Hall, about the year 1764, nearly 100 pairs of dice were

found, which had dropped, on different occasions, through the



chinks or joints of the boards. They were very small, at least

one-third less that those now in use. Certainly the benchers of



those times did not keep the floor of their magnificent hall in a

very decent condition.



A curious fact relating to dice may here be pointed out. Each of

the six sides of a die is so dotted or numbered that the top and



bottom of every die (taken together) make 7; for if the top or

uppermost side is 5, the bottom or opposite side will be 2; and



the same holds through every face; therefore, let the number of

dice be what it may, their top and bottom faces, added together,



must be equal to the number of dice multiplied by 7. In throwing

three dice, if 2, 3, and 4 are thrown, making 9, their



corresponding bottom faces will be 5, 4, and 3, making 12, which

together are 21--equal to the three dice multiplied by 7.



CARDS.

The origin of cards is as doubtful as that of dice. All that we



know for certain is that they were first used in the East. Some

think that the figures at first used on them were of moral



import: the Hindoo and Chinese cards are certainly emblematic in

a very high degree; the former illustrate the ten avatars, or



incarnations of the deity Vishnu; and the so-called 'paper-

tickets' of the Chinese typify the stars, the human virtues, and,



indeed, every variety of subject. Sir William Jones was

convinced that the Hindoo game of Chaturaji--that is, 'the Four



Rajahs or Kings'--a species of highly-complicated chess--was the

first germ of that parti-coloured pasteboard, which has been the



ruin of so many modern fortunes. A pack of Hindoostani cards, in

the possession of the Royal Asiatic Society, and presented to



Captain Cromline Smith in 1815, by a high caste Brahman, was

declared by the donor to be actually 1000 years old: 'Nor,' said



the Brahman, 'can any of us now play at them, for they are not

like our modern cards at all.' Neither, indeed, do they bear any



remarkable resemblance to our own--the pack consisting of no less

than eight sorts of divers colours, the kings being mounted upon



elephants, and viziers, or second honours, upon horses, tigers,

and bulls. Moreover, there are other marks distinguishing the



respective value of the common cards, which would puzzle our

club-quidnuncs not a little--such as 'a pine-apple in a shallow



cup,' and a something like a parasol without a handle, and with

two broken ribs sticking through the top. The Chinese cards have



the advantage over those of Hindoostan by being oblong instead of

circular.



It was not before the end of the 14th century that cards became

known in Europe; and it is a curious fact that the French clergy



took greatly to card-playing about that time--their favourite

game being the rather ungenteel 'All Fours,' as now reputed; for



they were speciallyforbidden that pastime by the Synod of

Langres in 1404.



The ancient cards of both Spain and France, particularly the

'court-cards,' exhibit strong marks of the age of chivalry; but



here we may observe that the word is written by some ancient

writers, 'coate-cards,' evidently signifying no more than figures



in particular dresses. The giving pre-eminence or victory to a

certain suit, by the name of 'trump,' which is only a corruption



of the word 'triumph,' is a strong trait of the martial ideas of

the inventors of these games. So that, if the Chinese started



the idea, it seems clear that the French and Spanish improved

upon it and gave it a plain significance; and there is no reason



to doubt that cards were actually employed to amuse Charles VI.

in his melancholy and dejection.



The four suits of cards are supposed to represent the four




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