The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-09-10
DRAH-POOUIER.

A5oa AdheH,'s Moral, Dra,gn from a Persian
amusement.
One of the best things in d. r.
Locke's humorous book, the "Morals
of Abou Ben Adhem," is the following
travestie On popular American amuse-
ment:
Abou Ben Adhem, in an unpleasant
frame of mind one morning, was APP
preached by long nosed, sad looking
man, who pTopounded to him the query,
"What is rCmorse ?" To which Abou
replied, "The humiliating sense of an
abiect failure" What y exclaimed
the seeker after truth, els To re no
such thing as sorrow and regret for
wrong doing 2" Frequently, my aged
infant, frequently. There are minds so
susceptible to proper impressions, so
spiritualized, if l may use the express
sion, as to feel pang or two after they
have done wrong thing; but they are
not common. Listen to my own expert
ence. A great many years ago, in Per
STA, / made the acquaintance of party
of men who met frequently to indulge
in a game played with cards, which,
presume, you know nothing of here,
called, in Persia. drah poqUier. 1t is
curious game. The cards dealt one at
a time, till each has five; then those
who are playing put on the center of the
table a coin, such as has been deter
mined upon-say kopeck then they
are allowed to throw as many cards as
they choose, taking from the pack an
equal number, then the man who sets
next to the dealer remarks sarcastically,
& am the aged one, impoverish me,
and the betting begins. 1t is a curious
game-is huctuating, the players being
kept in a pleasant state of uncertainty
as to what the others have, till they
call show down.
Well, / learned this game, and
played it with unvarying success for
some days, winning, on the average,
some four or five dirhems at sitting.
As / gathered in my spoils / saw moth
ing wrong in the game. 1t seemed to
me a most desirable and, in all respects,
a gentlemanly game. am sorry,
said to myself, for HATH, the bellows
maker, and for Nadir, the seller of
shawls, but Allah knows l risk my
substance on the cards as do they, and
had they my luck they would have my
money. Be chesm it is a highly moral
game, and had 1 a hundred children,
L would teach it to them. What is
IneIe WIOuk III II III 10 III 1lOLANy
which l risk. There is no trickery or
cheating in this game. for the cards are
fairly dealt, and we make wagers on
our Judgment of our luck. So doss the
merchant who buys the wheat of Khur-
distan, believing that the crop will be
short, and that it will go up. So does
the merchant who sells tlAe corn of
KOhmul, believing that the crop will
be heavy and the price will go down.
What is this but gambling? If they
play with wheat or corn, why should
not Hafiz and play with cards ? And
then it strengthens the mind, it deVel-
ops the Judgment, quickens the reas-
Oning powers, and broadens, widens
and strengthens the mental man. 1t is
a noble game and q great pursuit.
Thus reasoned ], ioyously. l he'd no
remOrse, nor did It occur to me that /
was gambling.
"But one night it so happened that
I had certainty on Hafiz- had three
cards alike in my hand-that is to say
three aces-and when the cards were
helped, as the phrase Is, L took another.
HATH drew one card to the four he had
in his hand, and the betting b gan.
Now, four aces is a strong hand, there
being but one that can beat 1t, namely,
"A strate phlush. l wagered kopeck
to help HATH on to his ruin. How
gloated over those four aces | saw
nothing wrong in those four aces, nor
IN making ont of Hafiz, the bellows
member, all that he should make by
his trade for year. He saw my mod
est kopeck and said that he wonld wa
ger dirhem in addition. Exulting in
the strength of my four aces, gladly
put up the dirhem, and remarked that
such was my faith in my hand that ]
would impoverish him to the extent OF
ten dirhems more. HatiZ-on whose
head light curses saw the ten dir
hens, and boosted me boosted is q
Persian phrase) one hundred dirhems.
Imade sure that the four aces was not
sn optical illusion, and went him one
thousand dirhems, which he saw, and
came back at me five thousand dirhems.
which, feeling that it would be cruel
to utterly ruin him, 1 called, without
further gymnastics. Smilingly l laid
down my four aces and reached for the
property. SmiEngly he put away my
oUtstretChed and eager hand, and laid
down beside my four aces his accUrsed
hand, which was a strate pblush. u
The property is mine ?" said lie. " 1t
is - said ].
"TGen I experienced feeling of re-
morse. Then l felt that drah-poQuier
was gambling, and that gambling in
any form was SIN of the most heniOus
nature, and that l had been guilty of a
crime. ooh, why 1 exclaimed, did
L ever permit myself to become infat-
mated with the desire for gaming? If
/ win, it is my neighbours dirhens if
/ lose, 1t Is my own. In any case, there
Is nothing of actual value that passes.
While We use capital in gambling, we
produce nothing. One side is richer,
the other poorer, and there has been a
waste of precious time. Besides, it is
terribly iemoraljzing. 1t enfatGates a
man and enfeebles his mind. His mind
dwells ON the game to the exclusion of
everything that Is good it crust es out
everything that is high and noble, and
develops everything that is mean and
small in ones nature. 1t ruins the loser
financially, and ruins the winner NOR
ally. Wretch that L am why did
ever permit myself to play at all Why
did l permit this cursed infatuation to
grip me?' And remorse sat on me, and
beat my breast and pulled my hair.
Bewailing my wickedness, determined
to purge myself of the unholy thing.
Would l had so thought and so done
had held the strate phlush, and the
accursed bellows member the four aces
do not know"
Things which are Cesar,