Американские боги

           "Now,asgriftsgo,"saidWednesday,"theFiddleGamegoesbackthreehundredyearsormore.AndifyoupickyourchickencorrectlyyoucouldstillplayittomorrowanywhereinAmerica."

           "Ithoughtyousaidthatyourfavoritegriftwasnolongerpractical,"saidShadow.

           "Ididindeed.However,thatisnotmyfavorite.Itwasfineandenjoyable,butnotmyfavorite.No,myfavoritewasonetheycalledtheBishopGame.Ithadeverything:excitement,subterfuge,portability,surprise.Perhaps,Ithinkfromtimetotime,perhapswithalittlemodification,itmight…"Hethoughtforamoment,thenshookhishead."No.Itstimehaspassed.Itis,letussay,1920,inacityofmediumtolargesize—Chicago,perhaps,orNewYork,orPhiladelphia.Weareinajeweler’semporium.Amandressedasaclergyman—andnotjustanyclergyman,butabishop,inhispurple—entersandpicksoutanecklace,agorgeousandgloriousconfectionofdiamondsandpearls,andpaysforitwithadozenofthecrispesthundred-dollarbills.

           "There’sasmudgeofgreeninkonthetopmostbillandthestoreowner,apologeticallybutfirmly,sendsthestackofbillstothebankonthecornertobechecked.Soonenough,thestoreclerkreturnswiththebills.Thebanksaystheyarenoneofthemcounterfeit.