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Zen Curb Marbles:
The Teachings of Seymour Glass
By John James

Teachings of the Zen tradition are often found in the works of J. D. Salinger. Throughout his novella Seymour: An Introduction (more of a fictional memoir, really), we find references to the T'ang dynasty (7th century), as well as Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching (Chinese, 4th century BCE). The teachings of such Zen masters are proliferated through the teachings of the character Seymour Glass, and the writings of his brother (also our humble narrator), Buddy.

In this piece we find a rather lengthy description of Seymour (now deceased) and his passion and abilities in gaming. Buddy tells us the Seymour was rather unpredictable. He would be awful at certain sports such as tennis and ping pong, yet would excel at other games such as stoopball or curb marbles which others tend to find difficult or challenging. It is in his approach to these games that we find Seymour's attitude of enlightenment.
Buddy provides us with an anecdote concerning Seymour's abilities. He gives an account of an evening during which he and a neighbor are playing a game of curb marbles. This game, Salinger explains, is one in which a marble is thrown twenty to twenty-five feet along the edge of a curb. The next person throws another marble a similar distance, trying to hit the other's. If he is able to hit the other marble, he wins.
He explains that this game is very difficult. Most cannot hit the marble, and when they do it is simply by luck. The neighborhood boys, with their experience in other games and sports, use the skills they have gained to carefully aim, and with a quick, rightward motion of the hand, send the marble to the curb avoiding gutters, cracks, and any other obstacles which may be in their way. Still, even the best rarely hit their mark.
Seymour on the other hand, is able to throw the ball just right. Almost every time he is able to hit the other person's marble. As Buddy has explained, Seymour is terrible at most sports. He has little hand-eye coordination, and Buddy is even embarrassed to play tennis with him in some public places. Strangely, Seymour is exceptionally good at curb ball.
This evening, while Buddy and his companion are playing curb ball, Seymour approaches the two of them. Buddy, apparently has been losing, and is becoming frustrated. Not wanting to disappoint Seymour, or be embarrassed in from of his older brother, Buddy elects to end the game. Then Seymour

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