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Now me, I would have been too embarrassed after losing over 40 bucks, to show my face in that town, let alone that carnival or that very same quick-buck booth. So Dicky walks straight up to the concessionaire and asks him for a free try. He obliges --- no problem. He stands it up the first time.
I didn't think of this event or game as having any particular significance at the time except as a lesson in how to lose money. It was not until some years later when I got into Chinese philosophy, that I came to understand the ramifications of this simple carnival con-game. Contained in the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching is the concept of Wu Wei, or the harder you try the harder it is. The object of the game was to keep you playing, and the hook was the 'all your money back guarantee'. But the more money you put in the greater was the pressure to get it back, and thus the more tense one would become and the harder it would get.
It was some years more when I realized that this concept had still further ramifications and was found in the mythology of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone. There are various versions of the story but the principle is that the sword is sheaved into a rock or anvil in such a way that only a very gentle light pull will remove it. The legend was that whosoever shall pull this sword from the stone would be king of England. The shear magnitude of the reward would provide ample reason and motive for the strongest and mightiest in England to attempt to accomplish the feat. And of course with such a prize they would try mightily.
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