DEAR SUN SPOTS: A long time ago I heard a tape by Tex Ritter, containing the story about the deck of cards. His explanation of it was for soldiers during battle, needing only this deck of cards to bring them comfort when lacking a priest or a Bible. If anyone has the words for this, I would really appreciate them sharing it with me, or letting me know where I could find it. — P. Curtis, Harrison

ANSWER: According to Wikipedia.com, the “‘Deck of Cards’ is a recitative that was popularized in both the country and popular music fields, first during the late 1940s. This religious . . . tale of a young American soldier arrested and charged with playing cards during a church service first became a hit in the U.S. in 1948 by country musician T. Texas Tyler. Though Tyler wrote the spoken-word piece, the earliest known reference is to be found in an account/common-place book belonging to Mary Bacon, a farmer’s wife, dated 20 April 1762.”

According to other websites, Tex Ritter recorded the song in 1948. Here are the lyrics:

During the North African campaign,

a bunch of soldier boys had been on a long hike,

and they arrived in a little town called Casino.

The next morning, being Sunday, several of the boys went to church.

A sergeant commanded the boys in church,

and after the chaplain had read the prayer,

the text was taken up next.

Those of the boys who had prayer books took them out,

but, this one boy had only a deck of cards,

and so he spread them out.

The sergeant saw the cards and said, “soldier, put away those cards.”

After the services were over, the soldier was taken prisoner,

and brought before the provost marshal.

The marshal said, “sergeant, why have you brought this man here?”

“For playing cards in church sir.”

“And what have you to say for yourself, son?”

“Much, sir,” replied the soldier.

The marshal said, “I hope so, for if not,

I shall punish you more than any man was ever punished.”

The soldier said, “Sir, I have been on the march for about six days,

I have neither Bible nor prayerbook, but I hope to satisfy you, sir,

with the purity of my intentions.”

And with that, the boy started his story.

“You see sir, when I look at the ace,

it reminds me that there is but one God,

and the deuce, reminds me that the Bible is divided

into two parts, the Old and the New Testament.

When I see the trey, I think of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.

And when I see the four, I think of the four evangelists who preached

the Gospel. There was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

And when I see the five, it reminds me of the five wise virgins

who trimmed their lamps, there were 10 of them,

Five were wise and were saved, five were foolish,

and were shut out.

When I see the six, it reminds me that in six days,

God made this great Heaven and Earth.

When I see the seven, it reminds me that on the seventh day,

God rested from His great work.

And when I see the eight, I think of the eight righteous persons

God saved when he destroyed this Earth.

There was Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives.

And when I see the nine, I think of the lepers our Saviour cleansed,

and, nine out of the 10, didn’t even thank him.

When I see the 10, I think of the 10 commandments,

God handed down to Moses on a table of stone.

When I see the king, it reminds me that there is but one King of Heaven,

God Almighty.

And when I see the queen, I think of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

Who is queen of heaven, and the jack of knaves is the devil.

When I count the number of spots in a deck of cards,

I find 365, the number of days in a year.

There are 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year.

There are four suits, the number of weeks in a month.

There are 12 picture cards, the number of months in a year.

There are 13 tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter.

So, you see, sir, my pack of cards serves me as a Bible,

an Almanac, and a prayerbook.

And friends, the story is true, I know,

I was that soldier.

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