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A Soldier's Prayer |
What is the story connecting a deck of cards with the Bible?
The earliest printed source I have seen is that of
the Rev. Taylor, reproduced below. This story is also well known
in the form of a song, called "Deck of Cards", which has been
performed by many people (Tex Ritter and Ernest Tubb, among
others) but is particularly associated with the singer
Wink Martindale.
Here is a scan of a copy of a tract, which was found
sandwiched between the sheets of an 1811 bible. Clicking on its
image will bring up a larger copy of the tract in a separate
window; it is large (613K).
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Deck of Cards |
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As Narrated by
Wink Martindale
During the North African campaign, a bunch of soldier boys
had been on a long hike and they arrived in a little town called
Casino.
The next morning being Sunday, several of the boys went to Church.
A sergeant commanded the boys in Church and after the Chaplain had read
the prayer, the text was taken up next. Those of the boys
who had a prayer book took them out, but this one boy had only
a deck of cards, and so he spread them out.
The Sergeant saw the cards and said, "Soldier, put away
those cards."
After the services was over, the soldier was taken
prisoner and brought before the Provost Marshall. The Marshall
said, "Sergeant, why have you brought this man here?"
"For playing cards in church, Sir."
"And what have you to say for yourself, son?"
"Much, Sir," replied the soldier.
The Marshall said, "I hope so, for if not I shall punish you
more than any man was ever punished."
The soldier said, "Sir, I have been on the march for about six
days.
I have neither a Bible nor a prayer book, but I hope to satisfy
you, Sir, with the purity of my intentions." And with that, the
boy started his story:
"You see Sir,
when I look at the Ace, it reminds me that there is but
one God.
And the Deuce
reminds me that the Bible
is divided into two parts, the Old and the New Testaments.
When I see the
Trey, I think of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
And when I see
the Four, I think of the four Evangelists who
preached the Gospel; there was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And when I see the Five, it reminds me of the five wise
virgins who trimmed their lamps; there were ten of them: five
were wise and were saved, five were foolish and were shut out.
When I see the
Six, it reminds me that in six days, God made this great
heaven and earth.
When I see the
Seven, it reminds me that on the seventh day, God rested
from His great work.
And when I
see the Eight, I think of the eight righteous
persons God saved when He destroyed this earth; there was Noah,
his wife, their sons and their wives.
And when I see
the Nine, I think of the lepers our Savior cleansed, and
nine out of the ten didn't even thank Him.
When I see the Ten, I think of the Ten Commandments God
handed down to Moses on a table of stone.
When I see the
King, it reminds me that there is but one King of Heaven, God
Almighty.
And when I see
the Queen, I think of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is
Queen of Heaven.
And the Jack
or Knave is the Devil.
When I count the number of spots on a deck of cards,
I find 365, the number of days in a year. There are 52 cards,
the number of weeks in a year. There are 4 suits, the number
of weeks in a month.
There are 12
picture cards, the number of months in
a year.
There are 13
tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter.
So you see, Sir,
my pack of cards serves me as a Bible, an Almanac and a Prayer
Book."
"And friends, the
story is true. I know, I was that soldier." |
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The Origin? |
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Origins:
Although recent events have inspired an e-mail-circulated
version featuring a soldier serving in Afghanistan, the tale about a serviceman using a deck of ordinary playing cards as an
aid to prayer and meditation dates at least to at least 1788.
The popular song Deck of Cards (sometimes known as "A Soldier's Prayer Book")
was written in 1948 by "T." Texas Tyler and was
recorded by (among others) Tex Ritter in 1948, Wink Martindale
in 1959, and Bill Anderson in 1991.
In that 1948 musical offering, the story is set
during World War II and stars a soldier whose
outfit, which has been fighting in North Africa, is newly
arrived at Casino. One Sunday morning, some of the soldiers in
that unit go to church; those who have prayer books read them
during the service, but one soldier pulls out a deck of cards,
prompting his sergeant to haul this apparent blasphemer before
the provost marshal. In the e-mailed version of
fifty-five years later, certain details about this
prologue to the cards' meanings have been updated to better fit
the current climate: the soldier sits alone in a bunkhouse
rather than with his buddies in church because he's in a
non-Christian country, and he turns to his deck of
playing cards not because of a shortage of prayer books for the
congregation but because Bibles are supposedly banned in
Afghanistan. Once those scene-setting details are out of the
way, the two versions dovetail, with the meanings of each of the
cards agreeing from one version to the other.
Differences between the two versions aside, is
it an account of an actual event? The 1948 song concludes with
"Friends, I know this story is true, because I knew that
soldier," a statement that on the surface would seem to confirm
the veracity of the narrative. However, tellers of tales do
sometimes add flourishes of such nature to their offerings,
especially those of an inspirational or tear-jerking nature.
Moreover, a broadsheet titled "The Soldier's
Prayer-Book" which recounts the same story as the 1948 song
"Deck of Cards" appears in an 1865 book about the history of
playing cards. French versions of the tale were printed in 1778
and 1809. Throughout the years the story about the soldier, his
playing cards, and his explanation of their meanings to a
superior he's been brought before has gone by many names: Deck
of Cards, The Soldier's Prayer Book, Cards Spiritualized. Some
of the meanings assigned to the pasteboards have changed too:
the queen symbolized the Queen of Sheba instead of Mary, and the
jack was a knave. The older versions also mention the deck being
divided into thirteen ranks, one for each (lunar) month, a
detail dropped from more contemporary versions in recognition of
modern society having moved away from the lunar calendar.
Some point out that if you count up all the
spots on the cards, you come up with only 364, not the 365
claimed. The 1865 version contained an explanation for that,
which has also been dropped from newer accounts:
When I count how many spots there are in a pack of cards,
I find there are three hundred and sixty-five, there are so
many days in the year.
Stop, said the mayor that is a
mistake. I grant it, said the soldier, but as I have never
yet seen an Almanack that was teoroughly [sic] correct in
all points it would have been impossible for me to have
imitated an Almanack exactly without a mistake. Your
observations are very correct said the mayor. Go on.
Given that the tale has been in print since
1778, if the author of the 1948 song "knew that soldier," as he
claimed in the final line of the song, he was very long-lived
indeed.
What a wonderful, 300 year old piece of history! |
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The above items are compiled from various places on the
internet and other written information. What I have
learned is that much of it is hearsay. Let's face it, the
story is really old. |
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