rtain to win."

They live in a state of wild hope after buying their tickets until the
numbers are declared and, the odds being enormously in favour of the
government, the gamblers usually lose. Then they live in a state of
miserable despair until the possession of a few soldi, the happening of
something remarkable, or merely the recollection of the departed joys of
hope compared with present actual depression, urges them to try their
luck again. So that the gambler's life consists of alternations of
feverish expectation and maddening dejection. "This is not a good
thing"; but it is a worse thing for the gambler who wins. He sees how
easy it is and is encouraged to believe he can do it every time; in his
exaltation he stakes again and loses all his winnings, instead of only a
few soldi. If he does not do this he spends the money in treating his
friends and getting into debt over it and has to pawn his watch. So that
the Genovese, by way of wishing his enemy ill-luck, while appearing to
observe the proprieties, says to him--

"Ti auguro un' ambo." ("I hope you may win an ambo.")

Peppino does not approve of the lottery, yet he has not made up his mind
that it ought to be abolished. It certainly does harm, but so deep is
the natural instinct for gambling that innumerable private lotteries
would spring up to replace it, and they would do far more mischief,
because they would be in the hands of rogues, whereas the government
manages the affair quite honestly. The government pays no attention to
dreams or ladies in white dresses or anything that happens during the
week; it bases its calculations on the mathematical theory of chances,
and gathers in the soldi week after week, so that it makes an annual
profit of about three million sterling. Besides, if people are willing
to pay for the pleasure of a week of hope, why should they not be allowed
to do so? The uneducated as a class ought to contribute to the expenses
of governing their country, and the lottery is a sure and convenient way
of collecting their contributions. It is literally what it is often
called--La tassa sull' ignoranza. (The tax upon ignorance.)

Peppino even uses the lottery himself, but in a way of his own. He
chooses two numbers every week, according to what occurs to him as though
he were going in for an ambo and, instead of buying a ticket, puts four
soldi into an earthenware money-box. The numbers he has chosen do not
come out and he c