Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Talk Wargames

Here's an amusing bit from issue 1 of The Dragon: an article by Fritz Leiber in which he engages in a brief discussion about wargames with his creations.

I tried to explain to Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser about wargamers and the game of Lankhmar.

“You mean they’re using our territory to fight in?” the Mouser demanded. “We ought to charge ‘em toll or tariff, ambushing those who refuse to pay.”

I tried some more.

“Oh, so they fight only with their minds?” Fafhrd said.

“That sounds sick to me. I keep my mind solely for enshrining the images of beautiful women.”

“A sort of penny peep-show, eh?” the Mouser observed to him. “Frix and her tricks, et cetera.”

“Say rather a temple,” Fafhrd replied decorously, with admirable self-control.

“But about these wargamers or mind-fighters,” the Mouser said, turning back to me. “I’ll wager some of ‘em aren’t above using a real knife under the table, especially if the games goes against ‘em.”

“A man could keep on playing a table game, though hamstrung,” Fafhrd put in.

“Still, it would probably upset his judgment, don’t you think?” the Mouser pointed out to him.

Pretty insightful fellows for fictional characters.