B. Gomme. A probable explanation of this game is that it illustrates some of the practices and customs connected with fire-worship and the worship of the hearth, and that the pot is a magical one, and would only boil over when something wrong had occurred and the Mother s presence was necessary. The pot boils over directly a child is taken away, and appears to cease doing this when the Mother comes in. It is remarkable, too, that the Witch should want to borrow a light from the fire; the objection to the giving of fire out of the house is a well-known and widely-diffused superstition, the possession of a brand from the house-fire giving power to the possessor over the inmates of a house. The mention of the spitting on the hearth in the Sheffield version, and dirtying the hearth in the London version, give confirmation to the theory that the desecration of the fire or hearth is the cause of the pot boiling over, and that the spirit of the hearth or fire is offended at the sacrilege. The Witch, too, may be unable to get possession of a child until she has something belonging to the house. The journey of the Mother to the Witch s house in search of her children, the obstacles put in her path, and the mention of the spilling of blood on the threshold, are incidents which have great significance. Why the keeling or skimming of the contents of the pot should be so difficult a task for the eldest daughter that the Mother is obliged to come herself, is not so clear; the skimming is of course to prevent the pot boiling over, and the pot may be supposed to take the place of the Mother or Guardian of the hearth, and tell when misfortune or trouble is at hand. Or the boiling over (which, if continued, would extinguish the fire and sully the stone) may be an offence to the hearth spirit, who ceases then to protect the inmates of the house.
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. It didn t make much sense to wear a uniform and look like a soldier if people didn t appreciate what you did.
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When five play, each for himself, the lowest cut deals, and has the first choice of seats and cards. The next lowest has the next choice of seats, and so on. When six play, they cut for partners, the two lowest pairing together; the two highest together; and the two intermediates together. The player cutting the lowest card of the six has the choice of seats and cards, and deals the first hand. If the six play, three on a side, the three lowest play against the three highest; the lowest cut of the six taking the deal, and choice of seats and cards. When seven play, each for himself, the lowest deals, and has the choice of seats and cards; the others choosing their seats in the order of their cuts. When eight play, they may form two sets of four each, or four sets of two each. In either case the partnerships are decided by cutting, and the lowest cut of the eight has the deal, with choice of seats and cards. _=TIES=_ are decided in the manner already described in connection with Whist. _=POSITION OF THE PLAYERS.
A lone hand should be played with both bowers and the ace, no matter how worthless the other cards; or with five trumps to the ace without either bower; or two high trumps and three aces in plain suits; or three good trumps and two aces. The theory of this is that while the march might possibly be made with partner’s assistance, if partner has the cards necessary to make a march, the adversaries have little or nothing, and there is a very good chance to make a lone hand if three tricks of it are certain. Both bowers and the ace, with only the seven and eight of a plain suit have made many a lone hand. If the lone player is not caught on the plain suit at the first trick, the adversaries may discard it to keep higher cards in the other suit; or they may have none of it from the first. There is always a chance, and it should be taken. The dealer’s partner, and the pone, should be very careful in playing lone hands, and should never risk them except with three certain tricks, no matter what suit is led first. With three sure tricks, some players make it a rule to play alone, provided the two other cards are both of the same suit. _=MAKING THE TRUMP.=_ When the trump is turned down, the general rule is for the eldest hand to make it next. The exceptions are when he has nothing in the next suit, but has at least two certain tricks in the cross suit, and a probable trick in a plain suit.
STUD POKER. The arrangements for the cards, seats, antes, buck, etc., are precisely as at Straight Poker; but in dealing, only the first card is dealt face down, the remaining four being turned up by the dealer as he gives them out. Each player in turn then looks at his _=down card=_, and the betting proceeds as in Straight Poker, each player having the privilege of passing once before a bet is made. A much more popular method is to stop the deal at two cards, each player having received one face down, and another face up. The best card showing then makes the first bet, and each player in turn must meet it, raise it, or pass out of that pool. If no one will call, the player making the bet takes the pool, and the next deal. If a bet is made and called, those in the call do not show their down cards, but are each given another card, face up, and the same betting process is gone through, the best hand showing face up making the first bet in each round. As long as two or more players remain in the pool they are given more cards until they have five. Then the final betting is done, and if a call is made, the down cards are shown, and the best poker hand wins the pool.
Holywood Miss C. N. Patterson. DUBLIN-- Dublin Mrs. Lincoln. LOUTH-- Annaverna, Ravendale Miss R. Stephen. QUEEN S COUNTY-- Portarlington { G. H. Kinahan (_Folk-lore Journal_, { vol.
If A plays the 4-0 on the blank end, he will have to play again with his 4-5; but if he plays it on the 4 end he blocks himself. Whether to block the game or not depends on the probable comparative value of the dominoes held by A and B. If A blocks the game by making both ends blank, both players show their remaining dominoes, and the one with the greater number of pips loses as many points as he has pips in excess of the other player. In order to judge whether to block or play, it should be remembered that as there are 147 pips in the entire set, the average value of each domino will be 5¼. If A blocks the game, he will have 17 pips left in his hand, which is above the average value of two dominoes; but his adversary will have four dominoes to count, and it is probable that they will be worth about 21 points. The fact that the seven dominoes already played are 13 pips above the average will reduce the probable value of B’s dominoes to about 20. On the other hand, A knows that B has no blanks, which would slightly increase the weight of B’s dominoes. If A blocks the game, as he should do with the odds in his favour, he will win 7 points, the difference between his 17 and B’s 24. If he does not block, he must follow the 4-0 with the 5-4. This will bring in B’s ace suit, bringing him back to his long suit of 6’s.
Marque, F., a score which is kept upon the table by means of counters. Martingale, any system which controls the amounts wagered on a series of events. (See chapter on Chance and Probability.) Massé, a shot made with the cue held nearly perpendicular. Master Card, the best card remaining of a suit which has been played. Matsch, G., to win all the tricks, a slam. Mechanic, a dealer who can make the cards come any way he pleases at Faro. Melden, G.
Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind. The pin-sets in turn were electronically geared into small dirigible light bombs. Light did it. Light broke up the Dragons, allowed the ships to reform three-dimensionally, skip, skip, skip, as they moved from star to star. The odds suddenly moved down from a hundred to one against mankind to sixty to forty in mankind s favor. This was not enough. The telepaths were trained to become ultrasensitive, trained to become aware of the Dragons in less than a millisecond. But it was found that the Dragons could move a million miles in just under two milliseconds and that this was not enough for the human mind to activate the light beams. Attempts had been made to sheath the ships in light at all times. This defense wore out.
The one-spade bid simply means, “I pass,” but it does not signify that he will not be willing to bid on the second round. It has nothing whatever to do with the spade suit. The dealer should never call any suit on the first round of bids unless he has two sure tricks in it. If it is a losing suit, he may have just those two tricks and nothing else, and the shorter the suit the better, but the tricks must be A K, or K Q J, or A Q J. If it is a winning suit he must have at least five cards of it and a trick or two in some other suit to back it up. If the dealer bids two spades, he shows two sure tricks in a short spade suit and a sure trick outside. If he bids three spades he shows five or more spades and strength enough outside for royals, but denies two sure tricks in the spade suit itself. The dealer should bid no trumps when he has not length enough to bid hearts or royals, but has a hand as good as three aces, well protected in three suits. _=The Second Hand=_ should declare just as if he were the dealer when the dealer starts with one spade. He may even go no trump on a lighter hand.
The major tenace is the best and third best cards remaining, or unplayed, in any suit, such as A Q. The minor tenace is the second and fourth best, such as K J. Têtes, Kings, Queens and Jacks. Three-card Monte. A game in which three cards are dexterously thrown on the table by a gambler, and the victim is induced to bet that he can pick out one which has been previously named and shown. Three-echo, an echo on a trump lead when holding three only. Three-on-a-side, a system of playing Faro, in which cards are bet to win or lose an odd number of times. Tournée, F., see Round. Trailing, playing a card which accomplishes nothing.
_=The Revoke.=_ If a player revokes, and he is one of the adversaries of the single player, the game is lost for the player in error; but he may count the points in his tricks up to the time the revoke occurred, in order to save schneider or schwarz. In Nullos, the game is lost the moment the revoke is discovered. _=Seeing Tricks.=_ The tricks must be kept separate as they are taken in, and any player is allowed to look at the last trick turned and quitted. Any player looking at any other trick but the last may be penalized ten points. _=Playing Ouverts.=_ The rules of the game require Ouverts to be exposed face upward on the table before a card is played. _=SCORING.=_ The score should always be kept by the player sitting on the right of the first dealer.
We will go and tell the Queen, Go and tell the Queen of Barbaree. Don t care for the Queen, don t care for the Queen, The Queen of Barbaree. Good morning, young Queen, good morning, young Queen, I have a complaint to thee. Pray what is your complaint to me? They won t surrender, they won t surrender The Tower of Barbaree. Take one of my brave soldiers. --Lady Camilla Gurdon s _Suffolk County Folk-lore_, p. 63. IV. You must surrend me, you must surrend me To the Queen of Barbaloo. No, we ll not surrend you, no, we ll not surrend you To the Queen of Barbaloo.
In Tournée, but not in Solo, Grand, or Nullo, the player may, in order to avoid the possibility of being made schneider, abandon his game as lost before playing to the second trick. The adversaries are then bound to score it as a “game” lost, even if they could have made the player schneider. 45. No matter who is the single player, Vorhand shall always lead for the first trick. The winner of one trick leads for the next, and so on, and each player in turn must follow suit if he can. 46. If, during the play of the hand, any player is found to have a wrong number of cards, the others having their right number, only those who have their right number can win the game. If it is the player who has a wrong number, his game is lost. If it is one of his adversaries, the player’s game is won. 47.
When they have finished singing they cease running, whilst the one in the centre, pointing with his stick, asks them in turn to spell Bingo. If they all spell it correctly they again move round singing; but should either of them make a mistake, he or she has to take the place of the middle man (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 58). In the Hexham version they sing a second verse, which is the same as the first with the name spelt _backwards_. The Berks version is practically the same as the Tean version. The Eckington (Derbyshire) version is played as follows:--A number of young women form a ring. A man stands within the ring, and they sing the words. He then makes choice of a girl, who takes his arm. They both walk round the circle while the others sing the same lines again. The girl who has been chosen makes choice of a young man in the ring, who in his turn chooses another girl, and so on till they have all paired off.
_=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.=_ Each player in turn to the left of the dealer draws a card from the stock or the discard pile and discards one in its place, face up. No player is allowed to lay down anything until he can show his whole hand, and then only when his deadwood is fifteen or less, and he is not obliged to lay down even then if he prefers to wait until he can reduce his deadwood still further. _=THE SHOW-DOWN.=_ As soon as any player can show down his hand, the game is at an end. He lays out his combinations and pushes them aside.
| -- | -- |What has this poor | | | | |prisoner done? | |30.| -- | -- |Stole my watch and | | | | |broke my chain. | |31.| -- | -- | -- | |32.|Give him a pipe of | -- | -- | | |tobacco to smoke. | | | |33.|Suppose the pipe | -- | -- | | |should fall and break.| | | |34.|We ll give him a bag | -- | -- | | |of nuts to crack. | | | |35.