RANGE: This creature can be found or, with patience, acquired, wherever less-than-fine wines are sold. It sometimes can actually be ordered by name in unfashionable liquor stores. Like the worm in the mescal bottle or the bison grass in Polish vodkas or the snake in certain French spirits, Djinn Rummies are more often talked of than actually sighted by Americans. Tramps and hobos are said to be most familiar with their whereabouts. HABITS: The Djinn (pronounced “gin”) Rummy has a great and famous power. It can take away three wishes from whoever is lucky enough to find it. The wish for a job, clean clothes, and a place to sleep are the three most commonly removed wishes. The Djinn Rummy can be most entertaining to those who come to know it well and can make them laugh at things other people can’t hear or see and thus don’t think are funny. In payment for its services, this most sartorially splendid of fairy folk exacts a price: in exchange for gifts conferred, it demands every vestige of human dignity. HISTORY: The Djinn Rummy originated in the Middle East, where merchants longed to export their herbal opiates to the lucrative European market. But the French were happy with their wine, the Germans with their beer, the English with their mead, etc. An Arab wizard, Akbar the Unspeakable, conjured the Djinn Rummy and infused the demon (and a very rum demon he is) into a butt of sack with which Richard Coeur de Lion was returning from his crusade. This single act of supernatural treachery accounts for the hangovers which we suffer to this day and for the increasing number of dope-sucking morons to be found everywhere in the non-Arab world, SPOTTER’S TIPS: One of the easiest of fairy folk to spot in private, the Djinn Rummy can be found at the bottom of one’s third bottle of domestic off-brand port. It is usually preceded by a circuslike procession, often featuring stately elephants of unusual colors and giant spiders. It is most commonly sighted in depressed urban surroundings. Djinn Rummy of Kentucky might be aristocratic—Bourbon Blood, y’know!
棲息地 ジン・ラミーとは,ト
ランプのゲームの一種ではな
く, 安くて強い酒ジンの愛飲家
たちのことである。 彼らにとり
ついているのが,ジン・ラミー
の妖精たちなのだ。 安物の酒を
売っている店ならどこにでも出
没し、チビチビ飲んでいる人間
の肩にのっかって遊んでいる。
習性 この妖精たちは人間から
3つの大きなしあわせを奪い取
ってしまう力をもっている。
その3つとは, 仕事を見つけ
て働くこと, 清潔な衣服を着る
こと, 寝る場所を手に入れるこ
と, である。 このことを悟った
人間たちには, ジン・ラミーは
じつに楽しくて愉快な相棒なの
である。
しかし、 なにぶんにも強いお
酒なので、この妖精たちと仲よ
くなりすぎると、 毎晩会いたく
なってしまう。
歴史 ジン・ラミーの出身地は
中東である。 中東の商人たち
は,ヨーロッパへこのお酒を売
って金儲けをしようとしたのだ
が、フランスにはすでにワイン
ドイツにはビールがあ
があり,
り, イギリスにはウィスキーが
あったので, しかたなくアメリ
カへ売ることにしたのである。
私立探偵の情報 浮浪者と呼ば
れる優雅な暮しをしている人た
空にしてしまったボトル
ちの,
の底にいる。
166
Habitat
Djinn Rummy is not a card game — it refers to devotees of gin, that cheap and potent spirit. The sprites that possess them turn up anywhere cheap liquor is sold, perching on the shoulders of people nursing their drinks.
Behavior
These sprites have the power to strip three great sources of happiness from a person: finding work, wearing clean clothes, and having a place to sleep. For those who have come to terms with losing these three things, Djinn Rummy makes for a genuinely fun and delightful companion.
However, being such a strong drink, getting too friendly with these sprites means wanting to see them again every single night.
History
Djinn Rummy originates from the Middle East. Middle Eastern merchants tried to sell this drink in Europe for profit — but France already had wine, Germany had beer, and England had whisky, so they had no choice but to sell it to America instead.
Field Intelligence
Found at the bottom of an emptied bottle belonging to those living the elegant lifestyle known as vagrancy.
166
The original print of the Djinn Rummy was given as a gift to a member of the podcast team. The note is a reminder of a wonderful quote from Andy Abrams