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The Gaming Table-Vol.2-Part25_Andrew Steinmetz(1816-1877)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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sharper managed to fleece him and others to a considerable



amount, contriving a dexterous escape when detected. Houdin

afterwards fell in with him at Spa, where he found him in the



greatest poverty, and lent him a small sum--to practise his grand

theories as just explained--but which he lost--whereupon Houdin



advised him 'to take up a less dangerous occupation.' He then

appears to have revealed to Houdin the entertaining particulars



which form the bulk of his book, so dramatically written. A year

afterwards Houdin unexpectedly fell in with him again; but this



time the fellow was transformed into what he called 'a demi-

millionnaire,' having succeeded to a large fortune by the death



of his brother, who died intestate. According to Houdin the

following was the man's declaration at the auspicious meeting:--



'I have,' said Raymond, 'completely renounced gaming. I am rich

enough, and care no longer for fortune. And yet,' he added



proudly, 'if I now cared for the thing, how I could BREAK those

bloated banks in their pride, and what a gloriousvengeance I



could take of BAD LUCK and its inflexible agents! But my heart

is too full of my happiness to allow the smallest place for the



desire of vengeance.'

A very proper speech, unquestionably, and rendered still more



edifying by M. Houdin's assurance that Raymond, at his death

three years after, bequeathed the whole of his fortune to various



charitable institutions at Paris.

With regard to the man's gaming theories, however, it may be just



as well to consider the fact, that very many clever people, after

contriving fine systems and schemes for ruining gaming banks,



have, as M. Houdin reminds us, only succeeded in ruining

themselves and those who conformed to their precepts.



Et s'il est un joueur qui vive de son pain, On en voit tous les

jours mille mourir de faim.



'If ONE player there be that can live by his gain, There are

thousands that starve and strive ever in vain!'



CHAPTER IX.

THE HISTORY OF DICE AND CARDS.



The knights of hazard and devotees of chance, who live in and by

the rattle of the box, little know, or care, perhaps, to whom



they are indebted for the invention of their favourite cube.

They will solace themselves, no doubt, on being told that they



are pursuing a diversion of the highest antiquity, and which has

been handed down through all civilized as well as barbarous



nations to our own times.

The term 'cube,' which is the figure of a die, comes originally



from the Arabic word 'ca'b,' or 'ca'be,' whence the Greeks

derived their cubos, and cubeia, which is used to signify any



solid figure perfectly square every way--such as the geometrical

cube, the die used in play, and the temple at Mecca, which is of



the same figure. The Persic name for 'die' is 'dad,' and from

this word is derived the name of the thing in Spanish,



Portuguese, and Italian, namely, dado. In the old French it is

det, in the plural dets; in modern French de and dez, whence our



English name 'die,' and its plural 'dies,' or 'dice.'

Plato tells us that dice and gaming originated with a certain



demon, whom he calls Theuth, which seems very much like the

original patronymic of our Teutonic races, always famous for



their gambling propensity. The Greeks generally, however,

ascribed the invention of dice to one of their race, named



Palamedes, a sort of universalgenius, who hit upon many other

contrivances, among the rest, weights and measures. But this



worthy lived in the times of the Trojan war, and yet Homer makes

no mention of dice--the astragaloi named by the poet being merely



knuckle-bones. Dice, however, are mentioned by Aristophanes in

his comedies, and so it seems that the invention must be placed



between the times of the two poets, that is, about 2300 years

ago. At any rate the cube or die has been in use as an



instrument of play, at least, during that period of time.

The great antiquity, therefore, of the die as an instrument of



pastime is unquestionable, and the general reason assigned for

its invention was the amusement and relaxation of the mind from



the pressure of difficulties, or from the fatigues and toils of

protracted war. Indeed, one conjecture is, that gaming was






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