The Gambler

THE GAMBLER
by FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY

Translated by CJ Hogarth

I
At length I returned from two weeks leave of absence to find that my
patrons had arrived three days ago in Roulettenberg. I received from
them a welcome quite different to that which I had expected. The
General eyed me coldly, greeted me in rather haughty fashion, and
dismissed me to pay my respects to his sister. It was clear that from
SOMEWHERE money had been acquired. I thought I could even detect
a certain shamefacedness in the General's glance. Maria Philipovna, too,
seemed distraught, and conversed with me with an air of detachment.
Nevertheless, she took the money which I handed to her, counted it,
and listened to what I had to tell. To luncheon there were expected that
day a Monsieur Mezentsov, a French lady, and an Englishman; for,
whenever money was in hand, a banquet in Muscovite style was always
given. Polina Alexandrovna, on seeing me, inquired why I had been so
long away. Then, without waiting for an answer, she departed.
Evidently this was not mere accident, and I felt that I must throw some
light upon matters. It was high time that I did so.
I was assigned a small room on the fourth floor of the hotel (for you
must know that I belonged to the General's suite). So far as I could see,
the party had already gained some notoriety in the place, which had
come to look upon the General as a Russian nobleman of great wealth.
Indeed, even before luncheon he charged me, among other things, to
get two thousand-franc notes changed for him at the hotel counter,
which put us in a position to be thought millionaires at all events for a
week! Later, I was about to take Mischa and Nadia for a walk when a
summons reached me from the staircase that I must attend the General.
He began by deigning to inquire of me where I was going to take the
children; and as he did so, I could see that he failed to look me in the
eyes. He WANTED to do so, but each time was met by me with such a

fixed, disrespectful stare that he desisted in confusion. In pompous
language, however, which jumbled one sentence into another, and at
length grew disconnected, he gave me to understand that I was to lead
the children altogether away from the Casino, and out into the park.
Finally his anger exploded, and he added sharply:
"I suppose you would like to take them to the Casino to play roulette?
Well, excuse my speaking so plainly, but I know how addicted you are
to gambling. Though I am not your mentor, nor wish to be, at least I
have a right to require that you shall not actually compromise me."
"I have no money for gambling," I quietly replied.
"But you will soon be in receipt of some," retorted the General,
reddening a little as he dived into his writing desk and applied himself
to a memorandum book. From it he saw that he had 120 roubles of
mine in his keeping.
"Let us calculate," he went on. "We must translate these roubles into
thalers. Here--take 100 thalers, as a round sum. The rest will be safe in
my hands."
In silence I took the money.
"You must not be offended at what I say," he continued. "You are too
touchy about these things. What I have said I have said merely as a
warning. To do so is no more than my right."
When returning home with the children before luncheon, I met a
cavalcade of our party riding to view some ruins. Two splendid
carriages, magnificently horsed, with Mlle. Blanche, Maria Philipovna,
and Polina Alexandrovna in one of them, and the Frenchman, the
Englishman, and the General in attendance on horseback! The
passers-by stopped to stare at them, for the effect was splendid--the
General could not have improved upon it. I calculated that, with the
4000 francs which I had brought with me, added to what my patrons
seemed already to have acquired, the party must be in possession of at
least 7000 or 8000 francs--though that would be none too much for
Mlle. Blanche, who, with her mother and the Frenchman, was also
lodging in our hotel. The latter gentleman was called by the lacqueys
"Monsieur le Comte," and Mlle. Blanche's mother was dubbed
"Madame la Comtesse." Perhaps in very truth they WERE "Comte et
Comtesse."
I knew that "Monsieur le Comte" would take no notice of me when we

met at dinner, as also that the General would not dream of introducing
us, nor of recommending me to the "Comte." However, the latter had
lived awhile in Russia, and knew that the