Sun and the Planet Taw
This is an entirely new game, and consists of the Sun in the centre, which may be represented by a bullet, because the sun is the most ponderous body of the system, and will in this game be required to move slowly. The planets moving round him, with their satellites, I represent by marbles. Now, each boy must take the place of a planet; and having taken it, he is required to put down as many marbles as there are satellites belonging to it. The boy who plays Mercury, puts down only one for his planet; the boy who plays Venus does the same; he who plays the Earth, has to put down one for the Earth, and one for the Moon, its satellite; the boy who plays Mars puts down Mars and the four satellites that lie between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter; the boy who plays Saturn puts down one for the planet, and draws a ring round it, outside of which he puts the seven satellites in any position he chooses; the boy who plays the planet Herschel, puts down one for the planet, and six for the satellites. Each boy, having taken his place in this manner, lays down his taw on any part of the orbit of his planet he pleases, being the point from which he must make his first shot.
The rules of the game are very easy; but it is necessary to be perfectly acquainted with them, as it saves much trouble, and prevents disputes; and no one ought to play till he understands them tolerably well.
1. The players must each put his marble into a hat, and turn down the hat over the sun; then, as the marbles fall near or far from the sun, the planets are taken.
2. The player who puts in Mercury has the first shot.
3. No planet can be taken till the Sun has been struck beyond the orbit of Mercury.
4. The player who strikes the Sun beyond the orbit of Mercury, receives from the person who holds the orbit, as many marbles as there are planets or satellites in the orbit in which it stops.
5. The orbits are,—for Mercury, all the space between the Sun and him; for Venus, the space between Venus and Mercury; for the Earth, the space between the Earth and Venus; for Mars, the space between Mars and the Earth; for Jupiter, the space between Jupiter and Mars; for Saturn, the space between Saturn and Jupiter; for Herschel, the space between Herschel and Saturn.
6. If a player succeeds in knocking the Sun on the line of his own orbit, he receives one from every shooter so long as it remains there.
7. If the Sun is knocked against a planet, the player doing so has to pay two to the owner of the planet.
8. If the Sun be struck within the orbit of a planet, the player striking it receives one if for Herschel, two for Saturn, three for Jupiter, four for Mars, five for the earth, six for Venus, and seven for Mercury.
9. The player who succeeds in knocking the Sun beyond the orbit of Herschel, wins the game; that is, he receives one from each player, and all the marbles on the stake in the inner circle.
Motions of the Planets and Their Satellites
10. When a planet is knocked out of the outer ring (the orbit of Herschel), it belongs to him who strikes it out: the loser must replace it by putting a marble down in its original place.
11. When a planet is struck within the orbit of any other planet, the player striking it there has to pay him to whom the orbit belongs, as many marbles as there are satellites.
12. Should a player’s taw, after it has struck another taw, a planet, or a satellite, fall into its own orbit, he has to put one in the inner ring as stakes for the winner of the game.
13. If a player gets his taw within the inner ring, it must remain there for the winner, and he cannot play any more.
14. If a player has all his satellites taken, he then becomes a Comet, and can shoot from any part of any of the orbits every time the Sun is struck.
15. No player can shoot at his own planet or satellite.
16. Any player who strikes a planet or satellite within Saturn’s ring, forfeits three to the inner circle. If he strikes the Sun, then he may take up Saturn and all his satellites remaining within his orbit.
17. After the first shot, every player must shoot from the place at which his taw rests.
Such are the laws of Sun and Planet Taw, and it will be found that in playing the game, some degree of thought is requisite, and a little calculation respecting the moves. It may be judicious for a good shooter to keep the Sun within the orbits as long as possible; or till such time as the inner ring gets fat with the forfeitures, or he may drive him from orbit to orbit where the forfeitures are large. He will endeavour to place him on the line of his own orbit. He may also strive to place his adversaries’ taws within the inner ring, and to be careful in striking planets that they fall into the orbits where the forfeitures are small. By thus thinking of what he is about and exercising forethought and prudence, he will soon become expert, and by paying attention to the game he will make it his own.