Where is the wood? Fire burnt it. Where is the fire? Water quenched it. Where is the water? Ducks have drunk it. Where are the ducks? Butcher killed them. Where is the butcher? Behind the churchyard, cracking nuts, and leaving you the shells. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). III. Please, mother, may we go out to play? Yes, if you don t frighten the chickens. No, mother, we won t frighten the chickens. [They all go out and say, Hush! hush! to pretended chickens.
Title: The Game of Rat and Dragon Author: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger Release date: August 5, 2009 [eBook #29614] Language: English Credits: Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Adam Buchbinder, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAME OF RAT AND DRAGON *** Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Adam Buchbinder, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber s Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1955. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. The Game of Rat and Dragon By CORDWAINER SMITH _Only partners could fight this deadliest of wars--and the one way to dissolve the partnership was to be personally dissolved!_ Illustrated by HUNTER * * * * * THE TABLE [Illustration] Pinlighting is a hell of a way to earn a living. Underhill was furious as he closed the door behind himself.
The dealer then gives four cards to each player, beginning on his left; then four more, and finally five, no trump being turned. In many places six cards are first dealt to each player, and then seven; but the 4-4-5 system is better, and is the rule in the very similar game of Boston. The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are the same as at Whist; except that a misdeal does not lose the deal. The misdealer must deal again, and with the same pack. _=CAYENNE.=_ After the cards are all dealt, the player to the left of the dealer cuts the still pack, which is shuffled and presented to him by the dealer’s partner, and the top card of the portion left on the table is turned up for Cayenne. This card is not a trump, but is simply to determine the rank of the suits. _=STAKES.=_ In Cayenne the stake is a unit, so much a point. The largest number of points possible to win on a rubber is 24, and the smallest, 1.
Each player in turn to the left shows his hand and the winner gets credit for the pip value of his cards, jacks being worth 11, queens 12, kings 13. It sometimes happens that the stock is exhausted before any player calls out. In this case the discards are turned face down without shuffling them and the pile drawn from as if it were the stock. _=SPLASHES.=_ The game is sometimes played with the condition that if any player chooses to risk holding his hand until he can lay it all down at once, or lay down all but the one which he is allowed to discard, he wins double from each of the others. This prompts a player with a good hand to hold it up for a round or two on the chance of getting down a splash, but the player who sees there is no chance for him should get rid of as many cards as he can before the splash comes, and in many cases some player will get rid of all his cards in two or three rounds, and win without a splash. POKER RUM. _=CARDS.=_ In this variety of the game, the A K Q J are worth ten points each, the ace eleven, and the remaining cards their face value. The ace may be used as the top of a sequence Q K A, or the bottom of A 2 3, but not as part of a round-the-corner, K A 2.
Suppose that with the foregoing cards the elder hand was told that even his point was not good. He would count 29 for the 14 Aces, 14 Kings, and the card led. If the dealer had a sixième in diamonds, and a quinte in clubs, for instance, he would claim a repic, 96 points, in spite of the 29 announced by the elder hand; because point and sequence score before quatorze. Equalities do not save the repic. Take the following hands:-- Elder:--♡ A J 10 9 8; ♣ 10; ♢ 10; ♠ A J 10 9 8. Dealer:--♡ K Q; ♣ A K Q; ♢ A K Q J 7; ♠ K Q. The point is equal. The quatrième to the Jack is not good and the four Tens are not good; so elder hand leads a card, and counts, “One.” The dealer then claims repic, 95 points, which is good, although the elder hand had an equal point. _=PIC.
At the end of a rubber, should admission be claimed by any one, or by two candidates, he who has, or they who have, played a greater number of consecutive rubbers than the others is, or are, out; but when all have played the same number, they must cut to decide upon the outgoers; the highest are out. ENTRY AND RE-ENTRY. 21. A candidate wishing to enter a table must declare such intention prior to any of the players having cut a card, either for the purpose of commencing a fresh rubber or of cutting out. 22. In the formation of fresh tables, those candidates who have neither belonged to nor played at any other table have the prior right of entry; the others decide their right of admission by cutting. 23. Any one quitting a table prior to the conclusion of a rubber may, with consent of the other three players, appoint a substitute in his absence during that rubber. 24. A player cutting into one table, whilst belonging to another, loses his right of re-entry into that latter, and takes his chance of cutting in, as if he were a fresh candidate.
=_ In this variety of the game, the A K Q J are worth ten points each, the ace eleven, and the remaining cards their face value. The ace may be used as the top of a sequence Q K A, or the bottom of A 2 3, but not as part of a round-the-corner, K A 2. _=DEALING.=_ Ten cards are always given to each player, no matter how many are in the game. If there are more than three at the table, the double pack must be used, so as to leave cards enough for the stock. _=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The aim of the player is to draw cards from the stock or discard pile until the pip value of the unmatched cards in his hand amounts to 15 or less. Sequences may run to any length, and four, five, or six of a kind is in order. The cards in hand that do not fit any combination of three or more are deadwood, and the object is to reduce this deadwood to less than fifteen. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.
Beginners usually have some difficulty in following the moves of the Knights, because it frequently happens that the same square can be reached by either of them. The Bishops cannot be confused in this way, because they never change the colour of the square they stand upon. In some sets of chessmen the Knights are distinguished by putting a small crown on the King’s Knight, but this is never done in the regulation Staunton model. The beginner will find it very convenient, when following out the play of published games, to screw off the bottom of one white and one black Knight, and to exchange the bases. The white King’s Knight will then have a black base, and the black King’s Knight will have a white base, and they can be easily identified at any period of the game. _=GERMAN NOTATION.=_ Many of our standard chess books, and some of the best edited chess columns, are in German, and the student should be familiar with the German notation, which is much simpler than the English. The white men are always considered as the side nearer the player; the vertical columns are designated from left to right by the letters a b c d e f g h; and the horizontal rows by the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, beginning at the bottom, or white side. The pieces are designated by one capital letter only, as follows:-- K for König, or King. D for Dame, or Queen.
The more hysterical healers, some really creepy witches, had given me some signs of relief, but none could ever find the real weak place, as she called it. She was mumbling to herself. I guess you could call it an incantation. I got a picture of a nubile waif, too freakish to fit where she d been raised. What had her Hegira been like? In what frightful places had she found herself welcome? From her talk, it could have been an Ozark backwater. I didn t want to know what backwoods crone had taught her some mnemonic rendition of the Devil s Litany. Her hands passed up beyond my shoulder, to my neck. It s in yore haid, she said. In yore darlin haid! Fingers worked over my scalp. Oh, there! she gasped.
This we contrived by playing not for the game but for points, scoring the result of each game and counting the points towards the decision of a campaign. Our campaign was to our single game what a rubber is to a game of whist. We made the end of a war 200, 300, or 400 or more points up, according to the number of games we wanted to play, and we scored a hundred for each battle won, and in addition 1 for each infantry-man, 1-1/2 for each cavalry-man, 10 for each gun, 1/2 for each man held prisoner by the enemy, and 1/2 for each prisoner held at the end of the game, subtracting what the antagonist scored by the same scale. Thus, when he felt the battle was hopelessly lost, he had a direct inducement to retreat any guns he could still save and surrender any men who were under the fire of the victors guns and likely to be slaughtered, in order to minimise the score against him. And an interest was given to a skilful retreat, in which the loser not only saved points for himself but inflicted losses upon the pursuing enemy. At first we played the game from the outset, with each player s force within sight of his antagonist; then we found it possible to hang a double curtain of casement cloth from a string stretched across the middle of the field, and we drew this back only after both sides had set out their men. Without these curtains we found the first player was at a heavy disadvantage, because he displayed all his dispositions before his opponent set down his men. And at last our rules have reached stability, and we regard them now with the virtuous pride of men who have persisted in a great undertaking and arrived at precision after much tribulation. There is not a piece of constructive legislation in the world, not a solitary attempt to meet a complicated problem, that we do not now regard the more charitably for our efforts to get a right result from this apparently easy and puerile business of fighting with tin soldiers on the floor. And so our laws all made, battles have been fought, the mere beginnings, we feel, of vast campaigns.
Observe that the dealer may bid or pass, and each player after him in turn may bid or pass. The highest bidder must abide by his announcement both as to the number of tricks and the suit. _=The Play.=_ No matter who dealt the cards, the player to the left of the highest bidder always leads for the first trick. Each player in turn must follow suit if he can, and the highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, trumps winning all other suits. The winner of one trick leads for the next, and so on. There is no Dummy hand as in bridge. _=Scoring.=_ Although the bidding is for so many “odd” tricks, or tricks over the book, every trick taken is counted when it comes to the scoring; but it is the number of tricks bid, and not the rank of the suit, that determines the value. Every trick won by the same partners-- In a bid of “one” is worth 10 In a bid of “two” is worth 20 In a bid of “three” is worth 30 In a bid of “four” is worth 40 In a bid of “five” is worth 50 In a bid of “six” is worth 60 In a bid of “seven” is worth 70 Both sides score.
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Each player should sort his dominoes into suits, and either leave them standing on their edges on the table with their faces toward him, or hold them in his hand. Few persons can hold more than six dominoes in this way, so the seventh is left upon the table, or is the first one set. [Illustration] _=Matching.=_ All games of dominoes are based upon the principle of matching, or following suit; which requires that each domino played shall belong to the same suit as one of the exposed ends of the line of dominoes already played, and exposed upon the table. In playing a domino, it must be so placed that the end of it shall match and adjoin the exposed end of the line; a six being played to a six, a four to a four, and so on. Each domino, as played, is laid face upward on the table, the ends abutting, and doublets being laid across, or at right angles to the line. The principal games are divided into two classes; those in which the object is to _=block=_ a player, so that he cannot follow suit, and those in which the object is to make the ends of the line some multiple of _=five=_ or _=three=_. The Block Game will be described first. _=THE BLOCK GAME.=_ Each player draws seven dominoes, and the one whose turn it is to set lays down any domino he pleases.
We believe that the nearer that Kriegspiel approaches to an actual small model of war, not only in its appearance but in its emotional and intellectual tests, the better it will serve its purpose of trial and education. *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE WARS; A GAME FOR BOYS FROM TWELVE YEARS OF AGE TO ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY AND FOR THAT MORE INTELLIGENT SORT OF GIRL WHO LIKES BOYS GAMES AND BOOKS. *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed. Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.
Curly Locks. Currants and Raisins. Cushion Dance. Cutch a Cutchoo. Cutters and Trucklers. DAB. Dab-an-thricker. Dab-at-the-hole. Dalies. Davie-drap.
[To the Queen of Barbaloo.] --Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott). (_b_) Two children stand together joining hands tightly, to personate a fortress; one child stands at a distance from these to personate the King of Barbarie, with other children standing behind to personate the soldiers (fig. 1). Some of the soldiers go to the fortress and surround it, singing the first verse (fig. 2). The children in the fortress reply, the four first verses being thus sung alternately. The soldiers then go to the King singing the fifth verse (fig. 3), the remaining verses being thus sung alternately.
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Betting Out of Turn.=_ Should any player bet out of his turn, he cannot take down his counters again if he has removed his hand from them. Should the player whose proper turn it was raise the bet, the player who bet out of turn must either meet the raise or abandon his hand, and all interest in that pool. _=33. Mouth Bets.=_ Any player stating that he bets a certain amount, but failing to put up the actual counters in the pool, cannot be called upon to make the amount good after the hands are shown, or the pool is won. If the players opposed to him choose to accept a mouth bet against the counters they have already put up, they have no remedy, as no value is attached to what a player says; his cards and his counters speak for themselves. Any player wishing to raise a mouth bet has the privilege of raising by mouth, instead of by counters; but he cannot be called upon to make the amount good after the hands are shown, or the pool has been won. _=34. Showing Hands.
Don’t grip the ball too tight. Don’t loft the ball. Don’t play the side ball until you have mastered the centre delivery. Don’t swing the ball more than once before delivering it. Don’t start with a jump; walk one and run two steps. Don’t deliver the ball with the right foot in front. Don’t step on or over the foul line. Don’t think you can change the course of the ball after it has left your hand. Don’t expect a “strike” every time you hit the head pin. Don’t blame the pin boys if you get a split.
Wood says there is a rougher game played at country feasts and fairs in which a pig takes the place of the boy with the bell, but he does not give the locality (p. 7). Strutt also describes it (_Sports_, p. 317). Blind Bucky-Davy In Somersetshire the game of Blind Man s Buff. Also in Cornwall (see Couch s _Polperro_, p. 173). Pulman says this means Blind buck and have ye (Elworthy s _Dialect_). Blind Harie A name for Blind Man s Buff. --Jamieson.
Or this. Six.] When counters are not used, one of the standard forms of whist-marker is employed, the most legible and convenient being the “Foster Whist Marker,” in which the counting keys are always level with the surface and can be seen equally well from any position at the table. [Illustration: The Foster Whist Marker.] The four large keys on one side are used to count single points, the single large key on the opposite side being reckoned as five. The three small keys are used for counting rubber points, or games. In ten point games, the scoring to four points is the same; but beyond four, a single counter placed _=below=_ two or more others, is reckoned as three; and _=above=_ two or more others, as five. [Illustration: Five. Six. Seven.
The deal passes to the left. 10. There must be a new deal by the same dealer if the pack is proved to be incorrect, either during the deal or during the play of a hand; or if any card is faced in the pack, or is found to be so marked or mutilated that it can be named. In the last case a new pack must be used. 11. If a card is exposed during the deal, the player to whom it is dealt may demand a new deal, provided he has not touched any of his cards. If the deal stands, the exposed card cannot be called. 12. Any one dealing out of turn may be stopped before the last card is dealt. After that the deal must stand, and the packs, if changed, must so remain.
The chief difference in the game is that the other players do not know whether the winner of the first trick is loaded or not, and he is the only player who knows how many or what hearts are still to be played. _=DOMINO HEARTS.=_ In this variation, six cards only are dealt to each player, the remainder of the pack being left face down on the table. When a player is unable to follow suit, he must draw cards from the stock, one at a time, until he can. The last player with any cards left in his hand must take what is left of the stock, if any. The hearts taken in are then counted as usual. Thirty-one points is game, and the winner is the player who has the least hearts scored when some other player reaches thirty-one. SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. A good player, after sorting his hand, carefully estimates its possibilities. The hand may be such that it is evidently impossible to avoid taking some hearts.
=_ Should the striker pocket the ball he plays at, and by the same stroke pocket his own or force it over the table, _he_ loses a life and not the person whose ball he pocketed. _=8.=_ Should the player strike the wrong ball, he pays the same forfeit to the person whose ball he should have played at as he would have done if he had pocketed it himself. _=9.=_ If the striker miss the ball he ought to play at, and by the same stroke pocket another ball, _he_ loses a life, and not the person whose ball he pocketed; in which case the striker’s ball must be taken up, and both balls remain in hand until it be their several turns to play. _=10.=_ If the player inquire as to which is his ball, or if it be his turn to play, the marker or the players must give him the information sought. _=11.=_ If the striker, while taking aim, inquire which is the ball he ought to play at, and should be misinformed by the marker or by any of the company, he does not lose a life. His ball must in this case be replaced and the stroke played again.
_=COUNTERS=_ are used as in Boston, their value being a matter of agreement before play begins. _=THE POOL=_ is made up by the dealer’s contributing ten counters for the first eight rounds, and twenty for the last two. It is increased from time to time by penalties, and is won or lost by the players, just as in Boston. There is no limit to the pool. If any player objects to dividing it at the end of the game, it must be played for until some player wins it. _=PLAYERS.=_ The number of players, their arrangement at the table, etc., is precisely the same as at Boston. _=CUTTING.=_ Instead of cutting for the first deal, any one of the players takes a pack of cards, and gives thirteen to each player in succession, face up.