《大富翁》游戏的前世今生

David Greene （Host）： Weve got quite a story for you to listen to about a certain board game—Monopoly. It can be pretty addictive once you start playing it， right？ Well， it turns out finding the true origins of the game is even more addictive. Its consumed author and journalist Mary Pilon， who has a new book out called “The Monopolists.”She describes the history of the game as weve known it. It was the Great Depression. A salesman named Charles Darrow was out of work， desperate to support his family. And in his dark， damp basement， he toiled and tinkered with a board game， inventing what would become an American icon.

Mary Pilon： I think that Darrows story， from a publicity standpoint， is a beautiful story. Who doesnt want to believe that they can go into their basement in one of the nations darkest hours and create something that will change， you know， their own fate and make everybody rich and make you beloved？ I mean， I think thats a great story. I cant even tell you how many times in the last few years people say， oh， right， youre doing a book about Monopoly. It was invented in the Great Depression， right？ I mean， this thing has stuck like nobodys business. And I actually think the true storys more interesting.

Greene： The true story of Monopoly begins long before Charles Darrow rolled the dice—a few decades， actually—with a woman named Lizzie Magie， who lived in Washington， D.C. and patented something called The Landlords Game， which was， in some great irony， an argument against the concentration of wealth. Her game， though， had an incredible resemblance to modern-day Monopoly.

Pilon： So Lizzie Magie was a pretty astonishing woman. She was an outspoken feminist. She had acted. Shed done some performing. She had written some poetry. And she was a game designer. And at the time that she patented her game， it was before women had the right to vote. And I was very surprised. I thought， you know， female game designers—theyre getting more traction today. But its still unusual. And at the time she put her patent application in， fewer than 1 percent of patents in the United States came from women.

Greene： But Lizzie was a rare case. She got the patent， and her game began to spread around the country， including to the Quakers of Atlantic City， N.J.， who added all the Atlantic City street names—Atlantic Avenue， Kentucky Avenue， Park Place. It was through a Quaker friend that Charles Darrow got his hands on the game board and sold it as his own to Parker Brothers. The company， like much of America， went with the tale of this down-onhis-luck Depression-era salesman.

Pilon： I think theres something about us psychologically that just makes us really wired to loving the Darrow story.

Greene： Well Mary， tell me about this very important lawsuit. It was an economics professor from California named Ralph Anspach who spent years in a legal battle with Parker Brothers over Monopoly.

Pilon： Sure. So in the early 1970s， Ralph Anspach， who was a professor at San Francisco State University—he was living in Berkeley. He had two young boys. And he had played Monopoly， of course， and thought that the world needed a more philosophically pleasing version of the game. He felt like Monopoly the game was teaching people things that were bad in real life. And at the time， the OPEC oil cartels were really big news. There was a lot of cynicism because of Watergate. So he creates this game called Anti-Monopoly. And it isnt long before he hears from Parker Brothers lawyers， who said， you know， you need to stop making this game.

Greene： You cant do that.

Pilon： Yeah. You cant make Anti-Monopoly. And that kicks off a legal battle that ends up going on for 10 years. And in the course of that argument， which is， you know， whether Monopoly and Anti-Monopoly could be confused—and theyd rip apart trademark law and copyright law and all these other things as it winds through the court system. Ralph finds out about Lizzie， and he gets all these documents. He starts traveling around the country， interviewing the Quakers and some of the early players. He starts finding these pre-Parker Brothers boards. And he becomes a detective， trying to unravel the true story of Monopoly—and some of his fate hinging on that story and that the game had this whole life before Parker Brothers entered the picture.

Greene： What has kept Monopoly so popular for so many years？

Pilon： Monopoly， specifically—I think now its so wrapped up in nostalgia for people. I mean， one of my favorite debates to have is with game designers who say， you know， the game stinks and heres why. And I think they bring up valid points， but I feel like thats， like， critiquing the Model T for not being a good car. Its like， well， it was good for what it was， but it was also created a century ago. And I think that we could appreciate it for what it was.

But， like， I love Settlers of Catan. Like， we can have multiple games. Thats OK. And I think that when you talk to people about Monopoly， they love talking about their memories associated with it. And for me， Im the same way. I mean， when I think Monopoly， I think of my family playing at the holidays. And so I think now people have projected so much of their own memories and moments onto it that that will keep it going for a long time because its just this multi-generational thing that everybody can share.

Greene： Mary， thank you so much for coming in and talking about Monopoly and the book. We really appreciate it.

Pilon： Thanks so much for having me.

（Soundbite of Song， “Under the Boardwalk”）

大卫·格林（主持人）：我们来给大家讲述的是关于一款棋盘游戏——《大富翁》的精彩的起源故事。这款游戏让人一开始玩就容易上瘾，对吧？其实，这款游戏的真实起源故事更是引人入胜。对此非常着迷的是作家兼记者玛丽·皮隆，她出版了一本新书叫《垄断者》。她对这个故事的描述正如我们所知的一样。那是美国经济大萧条时期，一位名为查尔斯·达罗的销售员失业了，迫切需要养家糊口。他在他那又黑又潮的地下室里，埋头研发一款棋盘游戏，这款游戏将成为美国的一个标志。

玛丽·皮隆：从公众的视角来看，我认为达罗的故事是美好的。你懂的，谁会不愿意相信他们能够在国家某个最黑暗的时期里扎身地下室并创造出能改变自己命运、让每个人都大富大贵并功成名就的作品呢？我是说，我觉得这是个伟大的故事。我甚至无法数清在过去几年里多少次有人对我说：“噢，对了，你在创作的书是关于《大富翁》游戏的。”这游戏是在经济大萧条时期开发出来的，对吧？我的意思是，这个故事已经家喻户晓。而实际上我认为现实的故事更有意思。

格林：《大富翁》游戏的真实故事早在查尔斯·达罗“掷骰子”之前就发生——实际上是几十年前—一位住在华盛顿哥伦比亚特区、名为莉齐·玛吉的女士为一款名为《地产大亨》的游戏申请了专利，该游戏是对财富的集中垄断的一个巨大讽刺。不过她的这款游戏和当今版本的《大富翁》游戏有着极大的相似。

皮隆：所以说莉齐·玛吉是位相当惊人的女性。她是直言不讳的女权主义者。她当过演员，参加过一些表演，曾创作过一些诗歌，还是一名游戏设计师。她为她的游戏申请专利的时候，女性还无投票权。我对此非常吃惊。我想啊，你知道，女游戏设计师——她们现在正变得越来越有牵引力。但是仍是不寻常。而且在她申请专利那会儿，在美国只有不到百分之一的专利权属于女性。

格林：但莉齐还是一个罕见的例子。她拥有专利权，而且她的游戏开始风靡全国各地，包括新泽西州大西洋城的贵格会，教徒们把所有大西洋城的街道名字都加进游戏里——大西洋大道、肯塔基州大道、公园广场。查尔斯·达罗通过他的一位贵格会教徒朋友首次接触了这款棋盘游戏并把它当作自己的作品出售给了帕克兄弟公司。像很多美国人一样，该公司将游戏与这个大萧条时期运气不佳的销售员的故事搭配起来。

皮隆：我想我们的某种心理总是促使我们迷恋达罗的故事。

格林：那么玛丽，跟我讲讲那个非常重要的官司吧，那是一位来自加利福尼亚州的名为拉尔夫·安斯波的经济学教授，他多年来与帕克兄弟公司在《大富翁》游戏官司上纠缠不清。

皮隆：当然可以。那是在20世纪70年代早期，拉尔夫·安斯波是旧金山州立大学的一名教授——他住在伯克利。他膝下育有二子。他自然也玩过《大富翁》游戏，觉得这个世界需要一个更为哲学的讨人喜欢的游戏版本。他感觉《大富翁》游戏是在教人们一些在现实生活中不好的東西。当时，欧佩克（石油输出国组织）石油科特尔（同业联盟）是重磅新闻。水门事件引发了潮水般的冷嘲热讽。于是他开发了名为《反垄断》的游戏。不久之后，他便被帕克兄弟公司的律师告诫说，“你必须停止制作这款游戏”。

格林：你不能那么做。

皮隆：对！你不能制作《反垄断》游戏。从此便开启了长达十年的官司纠纷。你知道，在这场关于《大富翁》和《反垄断》这两款游戏是否会被混淆的争辩过程中——他们周旋于《商标法》和《专利法》，还有其他法律，贯穿了法庭系统。拉尔夫发现了创始人莉齐，手头掌握了相关文件。他开始周游全国，采访那些贵格会教徒们和一些早期玩家。他开始寻找这些在帕克兄弟公司买下游戏之前的棋盘。之后他变成了一名侦探，试图弄清楚《大富翁》的真实故事和他与那个故事相关的某种宿命，以及还原这款游戏在被帕克兄弟公司买下之前的所有经历。

格林：《大富翁》游戏何以能风靡那么多年呢？

皮隆：《大富翁》，确切来讲——我觉得现在的人们是如此地钟爱怀旧。我的意思是，我最喜欢的辩论之一是跟那些游戏设计师，你知道，因为他们说：“这游戏已经过时发臭了，这就是原因。”我觉得他们提出了有用的观点，但我感觉这就好比是在批评T型车不是好的车一样，其实，它的价值就体现在它的那个年代，它也是诞生在一个世纪以前。所以我认为我们可以欣赏它的历史价值。

但就好像我喜爱《卡坦岛》这个游戏。就像我们可以有很多不同类型的游戏。这没问题啊。我觉得当你跟人们聊起《大富翁》这个游戏，他们喜欢谈论与之相关的记忆。而对于我来说，我也是这样。我是说，当我想起《大富翁》这个游戏，我就想起我的家人们在假日里一起玩游戏的情景。所以我想现在人们投射了很多自己的回忆和经历在游戏中，这足以让它维持风光很长一段时间，因为这是一件维系多代人共同回忆的产品。

格林：玛丽，非常感谢你来做客本节目并与我们分享《大富翁》的起源和你的新书。真的很感谢。

皮隆：非常感谢你的邀请。