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The History of Chess. H. J. R. Murray
Читать онлайн.Название The History of Chess
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isbn 4064066383275
Автор произведения H. J. R. Murray
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The meaning of the word is established by Patañjali in his great commentary on the grammar of Pāṇini, the Mahābhāshya, which, according to Macdonell (Skr. Lit., 431), was written between the latter half of the 2nd c. B.C. and the beginning of the Christian era. It is here19 defined as ‘a board in which each line has 8 squares’. In the absence of any reference to any alternate colouring or chequering of the squares, we may assume that it was unchequered, like all other native Asiatic game-boards. Two early comparisons suggest that the ashṭāpada was a familiar object. In the first book of the Rāmāyaṇa,20 according to Jacobi added after the 2nd c. B.C., the city of Ayodhyā (Oudh) is spoken of as ‘charming by reason of pictures consisting of ashṭāpada squares, as it were painted’. The regular plan of the city is probably intended, and the passage may be compared with later ones from Muslim historians. Thus Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī (c. 300/912), writing of the building of Jundī Shāpūr by the Sāsānian king Shāhpūr (240–270 A.D.), says: ‘the plan of this city was after the fashion of a chessboard; it was intersected by 8 times 8 streets,’ to which a later Persian historian adds the pertinent comment, ‘the figure was after this fashion, but chess had not yet been invented at that time.’ The later geographer Mustawfī (740/1340)21 has a similar statement about the plan of Nīshāpūr in Khurāsān: ‘In the days of the Chosroes, as it was reported, the old town of Naysābūr had been originally laid out on the plan of a chessboard with 8 squares to each side,’ There is also a passage in a Northern Buddhist work, cited by Burnouf in his Lotus de la bonne loi, Paris, 1852–4, 383, in which the world is described as ‘the earth on which ashṭāpadas were fastened with cords of gold’—probably alluding to the division by roads, seas, and mountains, or to the succession of field, forest, and desert.22
Of more importance is a passage in the Pali23 Brahma-jāla Sutta, or Dialogues of the Buddha,24 according to Rhys Davids one of the earliest of Buddhist documents, purporting to record the actual words of Gotama himself, and dating back to the 5th c. B.C. The Buddha is contrasting the conversation and thoughts of the unconverted man with those of the disciple:
It (sect. 7, p. 3) is in respect only of trifling things, of matters of little value, of mere morality, that an unconverted man when praising the Tathāgata, would speak. And what are such trifling, minor details of mere morality that he would praise?
He then proceeds to enumerate all the many trifles which occupy the thoughts of the unconverted man, and finally comes to games, and gives us a most interesting and valuable list of games—quite the oldest known—which from its interest I quote entire:
Or (sect. 14, p. 9) he might say, ‘Whereas some recluses and Brahmans while living on food provided by the faithful continue addicted to games and recreations; i.e. to say—
1. Games on boards with boards with 8 or 10 rows of squares.
2. The same games played by imagining such boards in the air (Pāli, ākāsaṃ).
3. Keeping going over diagrams drawn on the ground, so that one steps only where one ought to go.
4. Either removing the pieces or men from a heap with one’s nail, or putting them in a heap, in each case without shaking it. He who shakes the heap loses.
5. Throwing dice (Pāli, khalikā).
6. Hitting a short stick with a long one.
7. Dipping the hand with the fingers stretched out in lac, or red dye, or flour water, and striking the wet hand on the ground, or on a wall, calling out ‘What shall it be?’ and showing the form required—elephants, horses, &c.
8 Games with balls (Pāli, akkhaṃ).
9. Blowing through toy pipes made of leaves.
10. Ploughing with toy ploughs.
11. Turning somersaults.
12. Playing with toy windmills made of palm leaves.
13. Playing with toy measures made of palm leaves.
14, 15. Playing with toy carts, or toy bows.
16. Guessing at letters traced in the air, or on a playfellow’s back.
17. Guessing the playfellow’s thoughts.
18. Mimicking of deformities.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such games and recreations.’
This passage is quoted at length in many other early Buddhist works, e.g. in Vinaya, ii. 10, and iii. 180. The translation naturally depends considerably on early native commentaries, and it must be remembered that the earliest commentators are considerably later than the original; indeed they only appeared when changes in the spoken language made the written work archaic and unintelligible to the ordinary reader. The commentator was often in a worse position than the modern scholar for interpreting the text, and we often find his explanation absurd or impossible. We are accordingly compelled to accept the above translation with some reserve.25
We are only concerned now with the first two of the games named. These are the ashṭāpada—here in its Pali form aṭṭhapada—and the dasapada. One of the two commentators used by Rhys Davids, the Sinhalese Sanna, who belongs to the 10th C. A.D. or even later, says that each of these games was played with dice and pieces (poru, from purisa = men), such as Kings and so on.26 His evidence is far too late to be of any value as to the nature of the games in question, but is important as showing that these boards were still used for dice games in his day in Ceylon. Yet, if the second sentence is accurately translated, the games must have been of a character which permitted ‘blindfold’ play without the use of material boards.
The game on the ashṭāpada also falls into condemnation in an early Brahman work, the Sutrakrilānga.27 The devout Brahman, we are told,
should not learn to play ashṭāpada, he should not speak anything forbidden by the law, a wise man should abstain from fights and quarrels.
A more illuminating reference is to be found in the Harivaṃsa, or Family of Vishṇu, a supplementary book to the Mahābhārata, and generally recognized as a later addition. Macdonell (Skr. Lit., 287) has, however, shown that the Mahābhārata, including the Harivaṃsa, must have attained to its present form by at least 500 A.D. The passage28 recounts a meeting for dice-play between Rūkmin and Balarāma. The former had the reputation of being an expert at dice, the latter was fond of it, but not very skilled in play. Enormous stakes were laid, and Rūkmin won thrice in succession. Finally, sorely provoked by Rūkmin’s expressions of triumph, Balarāma exclaimed, ‘Prince, I wager the vast sum of 100,000 millions, do you accept it? Let us throw the black and red dice on this splendid ashṭāpada.’ Rūkmin made no reply, but threw and lost. Then only did Rūkmin reply, ‘I refuse the wager.’ Neither this, nor Rūkmin’s continued references to his victory, upset Balarāma’s self-control, but when a voice from the skies awarded the victory to him on the ground that ‘silence gives consent’, Balarāma’s long-restrained wrath blazed forth, and seizing the large golden ashṭāpada, he struck Rūkmin to the ground. A second blow broke the teeth of the King of Kalinga. Then, tearing up one of the golden pillars of the hall, Balarāma strode forth, wielding it as a club.29
We may probably find in this story a reason for the condemnation which Buddhist and Brahman alike pronounce upon the game ashṭāpada. Neither religion countenanced dicing, but neither has been able at any time to suppress it in India. Too great stress has been placed upon the efficacy of legislation, such as is to be found in the Code of Manu, against the use of the dice.30 It is abundantly evident from the whole extent of Sanskrit literature that gambling with dice has been at all times the chief recreation in India. One of the very few secular poems in the