The Harigga of the Tuchuks

Wagering Addiction of the Plainsmen

"As soon as Kamchak had agreed to Albrecht's proposal the  children and several of the slave girls immediately began to rush toward the  wagons, delightedly crying "Wager! Wager!"
Soon, to my dismay, a large number of Tuchuks, male and  female, and their male or female slaves, began to gather near the worn lane on  the turf. The terms of the wager were soon well known. In the crowd, as well as  Tuchuks and those of the Tuchuks, there were some Kassars, a Paravaci or two,  even one of the Kataii. The slave girls in the crowd seemed particularly  excited. I could hear bets being taken."

---Nomads  of Gor, Pg. 59 - 60.

​

"The Tuchuks, not unlike Goreans in general, are fond of  gambling. Indeed it is not unknown that a Tuchuk will bet his entire stock of  Bosk on the outcome of a single kailla race; as many as a dozen slave girls may  change hands on something as small as the direction that a bird will fly or the  number of seeds in a tospit."

---Nomads of  Gor, Pg. 60.​

​

"We decided to wager to see who would get the second bottle  of Paga. "What about the flight of birds?" asked Kamchak.
"Agreed," I said, "but I have first choice." 
"Very well," he said.
I knew, of course, that it was spring and, in this  hemisphere, most birds, if there were any migrating, would be moving south.  "South," I said. "North," he said. We then waited about a minute, and I saw  several birds, river gulls, flying north.
"Those are Vosk gulls," said Kamchak, "In the spring, when  the ice breaks in the Vosk, they fly north." I fished some coins out of my pouch  for the Paga. "The first southern migrations of meadow kites," he said, "have  already taken place. The migrations of the forest herlit and the horned gaim do  not take place until later in the spring. This is the time that the Vosk gulls  fly." 
"Oh," I said."

---Nomads of  Gor, Pg. 137 - 138

​

"Odd or even?" he asked. 
I had resolved not to wager with Kamchak, but this was  indeed an opportunity to gain a certain amount of vengeance which, on my part,  would be sorely appreciated. Usually, in guessing tospit seeds, one guesses the  actual number, and usually both guessers opt for an odd number. The common  tospit almost invariable has an odd number of seeds. On the other hand the rare,  long-stemmed tospit usually has an even number of seeds. Both fruits are  indistinguishable outwardly. I could see that, perhaps by accident, the tospit  which Kamchak had thrown me had had the stem twisted off. It must be then, I  surmised, the rare long stemmed-tospit.
"Even," I said.
Kamchak  looked at me as though pained. "Tospits almost always have an odd number of  seeds," he said. 
"Even," I said. "Very well," said he, "eat the tospit and  see." 
"Why should I eat it?" I asked. The tospit, after all, is quite  bitter. And why shouldn’t Kamchak eat it? He had suggested the wager.
"I am a Tuchuk, said Kamchak, "I might be tempted to  swallow seeds." 
"Lets cut it up." I proposed. 
"One might miss a  seed that way," said Kamchak. 
"Perhaps we could mash the slices." I  suggested. 
"But would that not be a great deal of trouble," asked  Kamchak, "and might one not stain the rug?" 
"Perhaps we could mash them  in a bowl," I suggested. 
"But then a bowl would have to be washed," said  Kamchak. 
"That is true." I admitted. 
"All things considered,"  said Kamchak, "I think the fruit should be eaten."
"I guess you are  right," I said. I bit into the fruit philosophically. It was indeed  bitter.
"Besides," said Kamchak, "I do not much care for tospits." 
"I am not surprised," I said. 
"They are quite bitter," said  Kamchak. 
"Yes," I said. I finished the fruit and, of course, it had  seven seeds. 
"Most tospits," Kamchak informed me, "have an odd number of  seeds." 
I know," I said. 
"Then why did you guess even?" he  asked. 
"I supposed," I grumbled, "that you would have found a  long-stemmed tospit."
"But they are not available," he said, "until late  in the summer."
"Oh," I said."

---Nomads of  Gor, Pg. 149 - 150.

​

(Wagon Girls wager as well.  With other slaves as well as with the Free.)

The girl laughed. Then, to my surprise, she looked at me boldly, though wearing the Turian collar; though she wore the nose ring; though she were only a branded slave clad Kajir. "I wager," she said, "that I will reach the lance."
This irritated me. Moreover, I was not insensitive to the fact that though she were slave and I a free man, she had not addressed me, as the custom is, by the title of Master. I had no objection to the omission itself, but I did object to the affront therein implied. For some reason this wench seemed to me rather arrogant, rather contemptuous.
"I wager that you do not," I said. 
"Your terms!" she challenged.
"What are yours?" I asked.
She laughed. "If I win," she said, "you give me your bola, which I will present to my master."
"Agreed," I said. "And if I should win?"
"You will not," she said.
"But if so?"
"Then," said she, "I will give you a golden ring and a silver cup."
"How is it that a slave has such riches?" I asked.
She tossed her head in the air, not deigning to respond. 
"I have given her several such things," said Albrecht.
I now gathered that the girl facing me was not a typical slave, and that there must be a very good reason why she should have such things. "I do not want your golden ring and silver cup," I said.
"What then could you want?" asked she.
"Should I win," I said, "I will claim as my prize the kiss of an insolent wench."
"Tuchuk sleen!" she cried, eyes flashing.
Conrad and Albrecht laughed. Albrecht said to the girl, "It is permitted."
"Very well, he-tharlarion," said the girl, "your bola against a kiss." Her shoulders were trembling with rage. 
"I will show you how a Kassar girl can run!'

---Nomads of Gor, Pg. 68 - 78

​