The Card Game
— J. Chr. de Vries
Years ago, during my research on the source material of Huizinga’s Homo Ludens, I came across an article about Abbé Lyoni, a seventeenth-century monk and scholar. Lyoni turned out to be an avid card player, but not in the usual way. It wasn’t about the element of gameplay against one or more opponents, nor about applying strategies or gambling, nor was it a form of Solitaire. He played only one game: laying out the entire deck face down in four rows of thirteen cards, with their images concealed. Once the complete game was laid out on the table, he would turn over the cards one by one, revealing their color and value. He had been performing this act year after year. He was obsessed with the patterns and connections he believed to discern or, in other words, that he designed.
One particular evening, in the final phase of his life, he once again laid out the card game on the table. After observing the blind deck for a while, he began gradually turning the cards over one by one. The first card he revealed, from the leftmost row, was the Ace of Hearts. Next to it was the Ace of Spades, followed by the Ace of Diamonds, and the first card in the rightmost row turned out to be the Ace of Clubs. He looked at the four revealed cards in front of him, astonished. It had happened once before, he recalled, many years ago, and he remembered being so delighted like a child. It was indeed childish, he admitted to himself, but he had to acknowledge that it brought him joy.
He waited a while and then turned over the second card in the left row, which was the Two of Hearts. Again, he paused, chuckled aloud, and relished the sight. Then he turned over the next card in the adjacent row: the Two of Spades. Once more, he waited briefly and then flipped over the next two cards, first the Two of Diamonds, and then the Two of Clubs. Eight cards stared back at him, the four aces and the four twos. He was dumbfounded; he had never experienced this before. Slowly, his hand moved towards the third card in the left row, and he revealed the Three of Hearts. He no longer laughed; his face wore a serious expression. The following three cards turned out to be the Three of Spades, the Three of Diamonds, and the Three of Clubs. Gradually, a sense of unease replaced the initial joy. Steadily, he began turning over the rest of the cards, and time and again, the cards showed the correct order. After flipping the four sixes, he paused once more. He gazed ahead, lost in thought. He changed tactics and now started flipping the cards in a different order, first the rightmost card, a Seven of Clubs, then the second from the left, the Seven of Spades, and then the two other sevens. He shook his head, and then he randomly started flipping cards in different positions within the rows. No matter which card he turned over, all cards were in order. Eventually, the entire deck turned out to be in sequence. For a while, he remained completely still, staring at the revealed deck.
When the miracle had fully dawned on him, he began to cheer, shouting out, thanking his God, praying, and singing. This had to be a gift from God. But after a while, he calmed down and began to ponder. Was this indeed truly a gift from his Lord? Or was it something completely else? Was Satan behind this event, was he testing him? Had not God forbidden playing cards? Had not he secretly engaged in this forbidden game all these years? Suddenly, he realized the unimaginable tragedy of the situation. He had experienced a miracle, but he wouldn’t be able to share it with anyone. He could invite someone into his room to witness the marvelous sight and tell them about the miracle that had occurred, but how could they believe him? How could they truly comprehend what had transpired here? Someone should have been present during the unfolding of the act to turn the wonder into a Wonder. That opportunity would never be given to him again. The miracle had made him profoundly lonely to the core of his being. The wondrous formation of the image had turned him into the most abandoned man in the world.
In the days that followed his card game, he calculated the probability of how to arrive at the result of this specific sequence, it appeared to be a chance of one in a number consisting of sixty-eight digits, which means: a chance of one in over eighty undecillion. Lyoni created a table from the calculations, which was found among his posthumous writings. After that one fateful evening, Lyoni never touched the card game again.
A week after the incident, Lyoni confessed the event to the abbot of his monaster. Not long after, he passed away at the age of eighty-nine. He was found dead in his bed, the card game untouched on his work table.
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 24 | 4 |
| 120 | 5 |
| 720 | 6 |
| 5.040 | 7 |
| 40.320 | 8 |
| 362.880 | 9 |
| 3.628.800 | 10 |
| 39.916.800 | 11 |
| 479.001.600 | 12 |
| 6.227.020.800 | 13 |
| 87.178.291.200 | 14 |
| 1.307.674.368.000 | 15 |
| 20.922.789.888.000 | 16 |
| 355.687.428.096.000 | 17 |
| 6.402.373.705.728.000 | 18 |
| 121.645.100.408.832.000 | 19 |
| 243.290.200.817.664.000 | 20 |
| 5.109.094.217.170.944.000 | 21 |
| 112.400.072.777.760.768.000 | 22 |
| 2.585.201.673.888.497.664.000 | 23 |
| 62.044.840.173.323.943.936.000 | 24 |
| 1.551.121.004.333.098.598.400.000 | 25 |
| 40.329.146.112.660.563.558.400.000 | 26 |
| 1.088.886.945.041.835.216.076.800.000 | 27 |
| 30.488.834.461.171.386.050.150.400.000 | 28 |
| 884.176.199.373.970.195.454.361.600.000 | 29 |
| 26.525.285.981.219.105.863.630.848.000.000 | 30 |
| 822.283.865.417.792.281.772.556.288.000.000 | 31 |
| 26.313.083.693.369.353.016.721.801.216.000.000 | 32 |
| 868.331.761.881.188.649.551.819.440.128.000.000 | 33 |
| 29.523.279.903.960.414.084.761.860.964.352.000.000 | 34 |
| 1.033.314.796.638.614.492.966.665.133.752.320.000.000 | 35 |
| 37.199.332.678.990.121.746.799.944.815.083.520.000.000 | 36 |
| 1.376.375.309.122.634.504.631.597.958.158.090.240.000.000 | 37 |
| 52.302.261.746.660.111.176.000.722.410.007.429.120.000.000 | 38 |
| 2.039.788.208.119.744.335.864.028.173.990.289.735.680.000.000 | 39 |
| 81.591.528.324.789.773.434.561.126.959.611.589.427.200.000.000 | 40 |
| 3.345.252.661.316.380.710.817.006.205.344.075.166.515.200.000.000 | 41 |
| 140.500.611.775.287.989.854.314.260.624.451.156.993.638.400.000.000 | 42 |
| 6.041.526.306.337.383.563.735.513.206.851.399.750.726.451.200.000.000 | 43 |
| 265.827.157.478.844.876.804.362.581.101.461.589.031.963.852.800.000.000 | 44 |
| 11.962.222.086.548.019.456.196.316.149.565.771.506.438.373.376.000.000.000 | 45 |
| 550.262.215.981.208.894.985.030.542.880.025.489.296.165.175.296.000.000.000 | 46 |
| 25.862.324.151.116.818.064.296.435.515.361.197.996.919.763.238.912.000.000.000 | 47 |
| 1.241.391.559.253.607.267.086.228.904.737.337.503.852.148.635.467.776.000.000.000 | 48 |
| 60.828.186.403.426.756.087.225.216.332.129.537.688.755.283.137.921.024.000.000.000 | 49 |
| 3.041.409.320.171.337.804.361.260.816.606.476.884.437.764.156.896.051.200.000.000.000 | 50 |
| 155.111.875.328.738.228.022.424.301.646.930.321.106.325.972.001.698.611.200.000.000.000 | 51 |
| 80.658.175.170.943.878.571.660.636.856.403.766.975.289.505.440.883.277.824.000.000.000.000 | 52 |
| 68 66 63 60 57 54 51 48 45 42 39 36 33 30 27 24 21 18 15 12 9 6 3 |
— The Hague, April 9, 2016