The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (read 50 shades of grey .txt) đ
- Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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I had scarcely set foot in the hotel when the commissionaire and the landlord (the latter issuing from his room for the purpose) alike informed me that I was being searched for high and lowâthat three separate messages to ascertain my whereabouts had come down from the General. When I entered his study I was feeling anything but kindly disposed. I found there the General himself, De Griers, and Mlle. Blanche, but not Mlle.âs mother, who was a person whom her reputed daughter used only for show purposes, since in all matters of business the daughter fended for herself, and it is unlikely that the mother knew anything about them.
Some very heated discussion was in progress, and meanwhile the door of the study was openâan unprecedented circumstance. As I approached the portals I could hear loud voices raised, for mingled with the pert, venomous accents of De Griers were Mlle. Blancheâs excited, impudently abusive tongue and the Generalâs plaintive wail as, apparently, he sought to justify himself in something. But on my appearance every one stopped speaking, and tried to put a better face upon matters. De Griers smoothed his hair, and twisted his angry face into a smileâinto the mean, studiedly polite French smile which I so detested; while the downcast, perplexed General assumed an air of dignityâthough only in a mechanical way. On the other hand, Mlle. Blanche did not trouble to conceal the wrath that was sparkling in her countenance, but bent her gaze upon me with an air of impatient expectancy. I may remark that hitherto she had treated me with absolute superciliousness, and, so far from answering my salutations, had always ignored them.
âAlexis Ivanovitch,â began the General in a tone of affectionate upbraiding, âmay I say to you that I find it strange, exceedingly strange, thatâIn short, your conduct towards myself and my familyâIn a word, your-er-extremelyâ
â Eh! Ce nâest pas ca,â interrupted De Griers in a tone of impatience and contempt (evidently he was the ruling spirit of the conclave). âMon cher monsieur, notre general se trompe. What he means to say is that he warns youâhe begs of you most eamestlyânot to ruin him. I use the expression becauseââ
âWhy? Why?â I interjected.
âBecause you have taken upon yourself to act as guide to this, to thisâhow shall I express it?âto this old lady, a cette pauvre terrible vieille. But she will only gamble away all that she hasâgamble it away like thistledown. You yourself have seen her play. Once she has acquired the taste for gambling, she will never leave the roulette-table, but, of sheer perversity and temper, will stake her all, and lose it. In cases such as hers a gambler can never be torn away from the game; and thenâand thenââ
âAnd then,â asseverated the General, âyou will have ruined my whole family. I and my family are her heirs, for she has no nearer relatives than ourselves. I tell you frankly that my affairs are in greatâvery great disorder; how much they are so you yourself are partially aware. If she should lose a large sum, or, maybe, her whole fortune, what will become of usâof my childrenâ (here the General exchanged a glance with De Griers)â or of me? â(here he looked at Mlle. Blanche, who turned her head contemptuously away). âAlexis Ivanovitch, I beg of you to save us.â
âTell me, General, how am I to do so? On what footing do I stand here?â
âRefuse to take her about. Simply leave her alone.â
âBut she would soon find some one else to take my place?â
âCe nâest pas ca, ce nâest pas ca,â again interrupted De Griers. âQue diable! Do not leave her alone so much as advise her, persuade her, draw her away. In any case do not let her gamble; find her some counter-attraction.â
âAnd how am I to do that? If only you would undertake the task, Monsieur de Griers! â I said this last as innocently as possible, but at once saw a rapid glance of excited interrogation pass from Mlle. Blanche to De Griers, while in the face of the latter also there gleamed something which he could not repress.
âWell, at the present moment she would refuse to accept my services,â said he with a gesture. âBut if, laterââ
Here he gave Mlle. Blanche another glance which was full of meaning; whereupon she advanced towards me with a bewitching smile, and seized and pressed my hands. Devil take it, but how that devilish visage of hers could change! At the present moment it was a visage full of supplication, and as gentle in its expression as that of a smiling, roguish infant. Stealthily, she drew me apart from the rest as though the more completely to separate me from them; and, though no harm came of her doing soâfor it was merely a stupid manoeuvre, and no moreâI found the situation very unpleasant.
The General hastened to lend her his support.
âAlexis Ivanovitch,â he began, âpray pardon me for having said what I did just nowâfor having said more than I meant to do. I beg and beseech you, I kiss the hem of your garment, as our Russian saying has it, for you, and only you, can save us. I and Mlle. de Cominges, we all of us beg of youâ But you understand, do you not? Surely you understand?â and with his eyes he indicated Mlle. Blanche. Truly he was cutting a pitiful figure!
At this moment three low, respectful knocks sounded at the door; which, on being opened, revealed a chambermaid, with Potapitch behind herâcome from the Grandmother to request that I should attend her in her rooms. âShe is in a bad humour,â added Potapitch.
The time was half-past three.
âMy mistress was unable to sleep,â explained Potapitch; âso, after tossing about for a while, she suddenly rose, called for her chair, and sent me to look for you. She is now in the verandah.â
âQuelle megere!â exclaimed De Griers.
True enough, I found Madame in the hotel verandah -much put about at my delay, for she had been unable to contain herself until four oâclock.
âLift me up,â she cried to the bearers, and once more we set out for the roulette-salons.
XIIThe Grandmother was in an impatient, irritable frame of mind. Without doubt the roulette had turned her head, for she appeared to be indifferent to everything else, and, in general, seemed much distraught. For instance, she asked me no questions about objects en route, except that, when a sumptuous barouche passed us and raised a cloud of dust, she lifted her hand for a moment, and inquired, â What was that? â Yet even then she did not appear to hear my reply, although at times her abstraction was interrupted by sallies and fits of sharp, impatient fidgeting. Again, when I pointed out to her the Baron and Baroness Burmergelm walking to the Casino, she merely looked at them in an absent-minded sort of way, and said with complete indifference, âAh!â Then, turning sharply to Potapitch and Martha, who were walking behind us, she rapped out:
âWhy have YOU attached yourselves to the party? We are not going to take you with us every time. Go home at once.â Then, when the servants had pulled hasty bows and departed, she added to me: âYou are all the escort I need.â
At the Casino the Grandmother seemed to be expected, for no time was lost in procuring her former place beside the croupier. It is my opinion that though croupiers seem such ordinary, humdrum officialsâmen who care nothing whether the bank wins or losesâthey are, in reality, anything but indifferent to the bankâs losing, and are given instructions to attract players, and to keep a watch over the bankâs interests; as also, that for such services, these officials are awarded prizes and premiums. At all events, the croupiers of Roulettenberg seemed to look upon the Grandmother as their lawful preyâ whereafter there befell what our party had foretold.
It happened thus:
As soon as ever we arrived the Grandmother ordered me to stake twelve ten-gulden pieces in succession upon zero. Once, twice, and thrice I did so, yet zero never turned up.
âStake again,â said the old lady with an impatient nudge of my elbow, and I obeyed.
âHow many times have we lost? â she inquiredâactually grinding her teeth in her excitement.
âWe have lost 144 ten-gulden pieces,â I replied. âI tell you, Madame, that zero may not turn up until nightfall.â
âNever mind,â she interrupted. âKeep on staking upon zero, and also stake a thousand gulden upon rouge. Here is a banknote with which to do so.â
The red turned up, but zero missed again, and we only got our thousand gulden back.
âBut you see, you see â whispered the old lady. âWe have now recovered almost all that we staked. Try zero again. Let us do so another ten times, and then leave off.â
By the fifth round, however, the Grandmother was weary of the scheme.
âTo the devil with that zero!â she exclaimed. Stake four thousand gulden upon the red.â
âBut, Madame, that will be so much to venture!â I remonstrated. âSuppose the red should not turn up?â The Grandmother almost struck me in her excitement. Her agitation was rapidly making her quarrelsome. Consequently, there was nothing for it but to stake the whole four thousand gulden as she had directed.
The wheel revolved while the Grandmother sat as bolt upright, and with as proud and quiet a mien, as though she had not the least doubt of winning.
âZero!â cried the croupier.
At first the old lady failed to understand the situation; but, as soon as she saw the croupier raking in her four thousand gulden, together with everything else that happened to be lying on the table, and recognised that the zero which had been so long turning up, and on which we had lost nearly two hundred ten-gulden pieces, had at length, as though of set purpose, made a sudden reappearanceâwhy, the poor old lady fell to cursing it, and to throwing herself about, and wailing and gesticulating at the company at large. Indeed, some people in our vicinity actually burst out laughing.
âTo think that that accursed zero should have turned up NOW!â she sobbed. âThe accursed, accursed thing! And, it is all YOUR fault,â she added, rounding upon me in a frenzy. âIt was you who persuaded me to cease staking upon it.â
âBut, Madame, I only explained the game to you. How am I to answer for every mischance which may occur in it?â
âYou and your mischances!â she whispered threateningly. âGo! Away at once!â
âFarewell, then, Madame.â And I turned to depart.
âNoâ stay,â she put in hastily. âWhere are you going to? Why should you leave me? You fool! No, no⊠stay here. It is I who was the fool. Tell me what I ought to do.â
âI cannot take it upon myself to advise you, for you will only blame me if I do so. Play at your own discretion. Say exactly what you wish staked, and I will stake it.â
âVery well. Stake another four thousand gulden upon the red. Take this banknote to do it with. I have still got twenty thousand roubles in actual cash.â
âBut,â I whispered, âsuch a quantity of moneyââ
âNever mind. I cannot rest until I have won back my losses. Stake!â
I staked, and we lost.
âStake again, stake againâeight thousand at a stroke!â
âI cannot, Madame. The largest stake allowed is four thousand gulden.â
âWell, then; stake four thousand.â
This time we won, and the Grandmother recovered herself a little.
âYou see, you see!â she exclaimed as she nudged me. âStake another four thousand.â
I did so, and lost. Again, and
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