—'Surely you must have some kinds of cards played more seriously,' said one.
—'We have another game called "flower cards."'
—'What's that like?'
—'Well, the flower cards is a more difficult and serious game. In times gone by no game of cards having any resemblance to gambling was played among the gentry; moral discipline forbade such. Since the introduction of European ideas, the rigidity of discipline has somewhat slackened and cards are now played to some extent. Nevertheless, people do not consider card-playing good taste. If they play they do so with some diffidence, somewhat in a similar way as smoking is done by ladies in European society nowadays. The "flower-cards" is a game thus played; our name of it is Hana-karuta. The term "Karuta" is, as I said before, of European derivation. The principle is taken from your cards, but so altered and improved, that scarcely any similarity can be detected in its present form. To begin with: the pictures represented on your whist cards appear to us rather incongruous and vulgar; ours are more poetical and consistent. With ours some significant objects of each month, mostly flowers, such as the blossom of the cherry and plum, the iris, wisteria, and peonies, are represented, variegated by birds, the moon, or falling rain. There are four cards for each month, and, therefore, the number of the cards is forty-eight in all. There is a different value assigned to each card. Naturally there are several methods of playing the cards, as is the case with your whist cards, but the method which is used most is very intricate and interesting. I do not care for playing at cards, but I know the methods. I am also acquainted with various European games from whist to bridge as far as the methods are concerned, but none of them equal in intricacy and variation our game of "flower cards," though there is a certain resemblance between flower cards and bridge. But please, I repeat, do not think I am saying all this from any sense of vanity, because such a thing is scarcely worth boasting of; I am merely stating a fact as I see it.'
—'What is, then, the method of playing?'
—'Well, to describe it in full would require at least a pamphlet, but I will give you an outline of the game. The proper number of players engaged at one time is three; the game can be played by two, but it is as slow as playing dummy whist. The advantage of our game lies in that a party could consist of up to six players. The limits of the players engaged at a time, as I have just said, is three, and therefore the number exceeding three is obliged to stand out for one game, namely, for the play of one deal. But no particular person is obliged to stand out, so that one must either be bought off or allowed to play by the resignation of any other player, unless he himself prefers to stand out. This takes place after the cards have been dealt. Here, therefore, comes in much consideration and often "bluff." Naturally, each one plays for himself and for his own advantage, therefore there is no partnership as in whist; and yet in the course of playing one has often to form a sort of alliance for a moment with a second player in order to prevent the common calamity against the probable stratagem of the third player. I may also add, that as each one plays on his own account, he has the option of standing out for one game, as I have already indicated, in which case, however, he has to pay a certain penalty. Should all players but two thus stand out, those remaining two would play the game. One deal sometimes finishes without any play at all, when all the players but one throw up their hands and pay penalty rather than play with bad cards, in which case, of course, the penalties go to the one who remains. The penalty paid varies according to the relative positions of the payers to the dealer, as well as the kinds of the six cards which are thrown out on the table at the beginning of the game, and therefore paying penalty and standing out from the play for one game requires much consideration. The prices for buying up the surplus number of the players also differ according to the six cards on the table and to the cards the seller holds. Similar to bridge, certain rewards are given to the player who holds certain sets of cards and also to the player who gets in certain sets of cards. It is the latter point which requires, as is natural, the greatest skill, inasmuch as one who aims at getting in one such set loses much when he fails, and it often happens that while he is striving to get in a certain set, another player gets in a far better set; therefore one has often to sacrifice his own chance in order to hinder an opponent. Twelve games make a rubber. The method of counting the issue is as follows: Each player must have in his hand in the case of quit one hundred and twenty points at the end of the rubber, and therefore it would seem that each receives one hundred and twenty points in counters at the beginning, but, as a matter of fact, he only receives seventy-two points or sixty, as the players agree upon. The counting in this game generally goes by dozens, though odd numbers also come in. Thus counters are made of two kinds, one is a dozen points and the other single points. The balance between the points which one actually receives when starting and ten dozens which he has to make good in his hand at the end of the rubber goes to the person who is the greatest winner of the rubber, and therefore the more players, the greater the rewards for the winner of the rubber. Of course it is most difficult to play in such a way as just to quit oneself, because there are so many tricks, and one often has to float a loan in the course of the game, or in other words, to borrow a requisite number of counters from the banker, which must be repaid at the end of the rubber.
'The "rain" cards are another source of fluctuation in the game, because every one of them, whatever value it possess, may be counted as a single point card somewhat similar to what you sometimes do with your aces. I almost think the invention of your bridge is in some way based upon our flower cards.'
—'It is dreadful: one could never get a clear idea only by hearing the explanation. You have, after all, wasted your time in trying to make us understand, though I asked you for the explanation,' said one cunningly.
'Thank you very much,' I said.
—'You say your social atmosphere in respect of such matters was far better in times gone by,' said another.