Moral snakes and ladders

My children (or at least some of them) were playing a game of snakes and ladders this afternoon and I joined in. The game set itself is self-consciously old-fashioned, and I'm not sure whether it's a replica or a parody, but as i played it I noticed that the snakes and the ladders all had a moral dimension to them - a sort of muscular christianity, all cold showers and good works.

For example, some of the more notable snakes are:
conceit ----> friendlessness
indulgence ----> illness
indolence -----> poverty
disobedience ---> disgrace (and isn't that a word we need again?)

The ladders are a bit less fun, but some of the better ones are:
thrift -------> fulfilment
industry -----> success
patience -----> attainment

Each one has a lovely little picture, but I can't figure out how to use the scanner here so you'll just have to imagine it.

What I love about this (and if you read this blog with any sort of regularity you won't be surprised) is the certainty of it all. Industry, thrift and patience will surely be rewarded, indolence and conceit will bear a poisoned fruit and so on. If I'm going on a long plane ride I often stock up on conservative magazines so I can thrill to this sort of thing even though I disagree with it.