fortunes chinoises

Last night, as a gift for a friend's birthday, I gave her a "parlour game" I had discovered in a Silverlake shop. The game is called Fortunes Chinoises and it's more fun than a manufacturer of antibilious pills. This type of quirky, archaic language is reproduced from the nineteenth century version of these cards, and let me tell you: they're magic. Each Card of Destiny has a title such as "The Qualities for Which You Are Beloved" or "What Will Cause Your Death." Beneath each title are 12 predictions or characterizations. You choose a number from another deck of 12 cards, and your fortune is revealed. My friend and I had to stop playing when the revelation I received was an exact reiteration of what we had been discussing less than an hour earlier. Here's a sample card (for fun, pick a number before you read on):

Will You Marry?

1. Sooner than you think.
2. If you do not tire with waiting.
3. When you are wiser.
4. Yes, unfortunately for you.
5. You will make an interested marriage.
6. Never; so console yourself.
7. Upon your first opportunity.
8. At forty.
9. In three months.
10. If you change your conduct.
11. Yes, with a person you do not love.
12. You will marry young or not at all.