The Rooster Who Would Be Immortal — Chapter 13: The Cloth That Always Won

[ { "type": "reversal", "title": "Six Numbers for You", "hook": "Broker Shen paid double, then wouldn't change sides.", "script": "Broker Shen paid double, then wouldn't change sides. His cloth had six gold numbers for the players, five brown for him, and paid two coppers back for one. The rooster turned the dice and cut marks in the earth, and Ling counted aloud: twelve pairs for the gold, twenty-four for the brown. 'For every three coppers we put down, about two come back.' 'Arithmetic,' said Shen. 'Any man can throw lucky.' 'Any man can,' said Ling. 'For one throw. Not for a year.' Senior Brother Hua looked at the cloth. 'Then change sides with her, Shen. You take the gold, two for one, and give her the brown. If it is a fair game, what does it matter?' Shen's smile stayed exactly where it was. He began to fold the cloth. Somebody laughed. Then the whole gate did. Broker Shen paid double, then wouldn't change sides.", "loopLine": "Broker Shen paid double, then wouldn't change sides.", "images": [ "a small golden-red rooster with one folded wing beside rows of scratch marks cut into packed earth that rise into a little hill shape, a girl in grey robes kneeling to count them, a crowd of disciples leaning in", "two dice lying on a half-folded painted cloth, a bone die and a black wooden die each showing a single dot, a young man's hand in a blue sleeve resting beside them, a small rooster looking on" ], "onScreenText": "For one throw. Not for a year.", "cta": "Full episode: The Cloth That Always Won" }, { "type": "trick", "title": "Two Dice Are Not One Throw", "hook": "Brass the rooster showed five numbers beat six.", "script": "Brass the rooster showed five numbers beat six. Broker Shen's cloth gave the players six gold numbers, two, three, four, ten, eleven and twelve, and kept five brown ones, five to nine. Two dice are not one throw. They are two. Six ways for one die, six for the other: thirty-six pairs, every one as likely as any other. Only one pair makes two. Six pairs make seven. Ling counted: twelve pairs for the gold, twenty-four for the brown. Shen wins about two throws in three. But it only tells you what many throws will do. It says nothing at all about the next one. And whoever paints the cloth chooses the side that wins. Every stall cloth is built to win against you. Brass the rooster showed five numbers beat six.", "loopLine": "Brass the rooster showed five numbers beat six.", "images": [ "a plump moneylender behind a cloth painted with a row of gold and brown numbers on the bench of a little stone gatehouse, one bone die and one black wooden die, a crowd of young disciples in grey robes holding out coppers", "a small golden-red rooster with one folded wing beside rows of scratch marks cut into packed earth that rise into a little hill shape, a girl in grey robes kneeling to count them, a crowd of disciples leaning in" ], "onScreenText": "Whatever it pays, it is built to win against you.", "cta": "Full episode: The Cloth That Always Won" }, { "type": "joke", "title": "The Lucky Chicken", "hook": "Brass the rooster pecked grain. Shen got richer.", "script": "Brass the rooster pecked grain. Shen got richer. Broker Shen came up the mountain himself, with ten silver in a little bag that clinked, for one crooked feather. Brass heard it clink and sat down on his tail. Refused, Shen spread a dice cloth at the gate. Then he saw the rooster, and his smile grew. He tossed a pinch of grain onto the middle of the cloth. Brass had not had breakfast. He pecked before he thought. He usually did. 'The clever rooster of Cloudpine blesses my cloth!' cried Shen. 'Even the bird plays!' Six juniors pushed forward to throw. Six coppers went into the bag. Brass stood very still, and felt exactly like soup. Brass the rooster pecked grain. Shen got richer.", "loopLine": "Brass the rooster pecked grain. Shen got richer.", "images": [ "a plump smiling moneylender in a fine brown coat in a kitchen yard at sunrise, holding up a small money bag, a small golden-red rooster with one folded wing sitting firmly on his own tail on a woodpile", "a plump moneylender behind a cloth painted with a row of gold and brown numbers on the bench of a little stone gatehouse, one bone die and one black wooden die, a crowd of young disciples in grey robes holding out coppers" ], "onScreenText": "He pecked before he thought. He usually did.", "cta": "Full episode: The Cloth That Always Won" }, { "type": "heart", "title": "The Throw He Would Have Needed", "hook": "Hua threw a two. It won him nothing.", "script": "Hua threw a two. It won him nothing. Senior Brother Hua owed Broker Shen sixteen silver. 'I have sat at this cloth before,' Hua said quietly. 'In the valley. On market days, all last year.' 'And one day you will win it all back,' said Shen kindly. 'Every man does, one day.' Hua took the dice. But the rooster showed the whole gate how the cloth was painted: twice as many pairs on Shen's side. Hua picked the dice up and let them fall, with no copper on them. Bone one. Wood one. Two. One of the two rarest throws on the cloth. 'That is the throw I would have needed,' he said. 'Once. And I would have sat here the rest of my life, looking for it again.' Hua threw a two. It won him nothing.", "loopLine": "Hua threw a two. It won him nothing.", "images": [ "a tall proud young man in spotless blue robes sitting at a painted gaming cloth on a gatehouse bench, a bone die and a black wooden die in his open hand, a plump moneylender leaning toward him smiling, a small rooster on the ground staring up", "two dice lying on a half-folded painted cloth, a bone die and a black wooden die each showing a single dot, a young man's hand in a blue sleeve resting beside them, a small rooster looking on" ], "onScreenText": "That is the throw I would have needed.", "cta": "Full episode: The Cloth That Always Won" } ]

New here? Start at Chapter 1 →