The Gambler | Page 3

out a copy of L'Opinion Nationale, and fell to reading an
extraordinary piece of invective against Russia which it happened to
contain. As I was thus engaged I heard some one enter an adjoining
room and ask for Monsignor; after which I saw the sacristan make a

low bow to the visitor, and then another bow as the visitor took his
leave. I ventured to remind the good man of my own business also;
whereupon, with an expression of, if anything, increased dryness, he
again asked me to wait. Soon a third visitor arrived who, like myself,
had come on business (he was an Austrian of some sort); and as soon as
ever he had stated his errand he was conducted upstairs! This made me
very angry. I rose, approached the sacristan, and told him that, since
Monsignor was receiving callers, his lordship might just as well finish
off my affair as well. Upon this the sacristan shrunk back in
astonishment. It simply passed his understanding that any insignificant
Russian should dare to compare himself with other visitors of
Monsignor's! In a tone of the utmost effrontery, as though he were
delighted to have a chance of insulting me, he looked me up and down,
and then said: "Do you suppose that Monsignor is going to put aside his
coffee for YOU?" But I only cried the louder: "Let me tell you that I
am going to SPIT into that coffee! Yes, and if you do not get me my
passport visaed this very minute, I shall take it to Monsignor myself."
"What? While he is engaged with a Cardinal? screeched the sacristan,
again shrinking back in horror. Then, rushing to the door, he spread out
his arms as though he would rather die than let me enter.
Thereupon I declared that I was a heretic and a barbarian--"Je suis
heretique et barbare," I said, "and that these archbishops and cardinals
and monsignors, and the rest of them, meant nothing at all to me. In a
word, I showed him that I was not going to give way. He looked at me
with an air of infinite resentment. Then he snatched up my passport,
and departed with it upstairs. A minute later the passport had been
visaed! Here it is now, if you care to see it,"--and I pulled out the
document, and exhibited the Roman visa.
"But--" the General began.
"What really saved you was the fact that you proclaimed yourself a
heretic and a barbarian," remarked the Frenchman with a smile. "Cela
n'etait pas si bete."
"But is that how Russian subjects ought to be treated? Why, when they
settle here they dare not utter even a word--they are ready even to deny
the fact that they are Russians! At all events, at my hotel in Paris I
received far more attention from the company after I had told them
about the fracas with the sacristan. A fat Polish nobleman, who had

been the most offensive of all who were present at the table d'hote, at
once went upstairs, while some of the Frenchmen were simply
disgusted when I told them that two years ago I had encountered a man
at whom, in 1812, a French 'hero' fired for the mere fun of discharging
his musket. That man was then a boy of ten and his family are still
residing in Moscow."
"Impossible!" the Frenchman spluttered. "No French soldier would fire
at a child!"
"Nevertheless the incident was as I say," I replied. "A very respected
ex-captain told me the story, and I myself could see the scar left on his
cheek."
The Frenchman then began chattering volubly, and the General
supported him; but I recommended the former to read, for example,
extracts from the memoirs of General Perovski, who, in 1812, was a
prisoner in the hands of the French. Finally Maria Philipovna said
something to interrupt the conversation. The General was furious with
me for having started the altercation with the Frenchman. On the other
hand, Mr. Astley seemed to take great pleasure in my brush with
Monsieur, and, rising from the table, proposed that we should go and
have a drink together. The same afternoon, at four o'clock, I went to
have my customary talk with Polina Alexandrovna; and, the talk soon
extended to a stroll. We entered the Park, and approached the Casino,
where Polina seated herself upon a bench near the fountain, and sent
Nadia away to a little distance to play with some other children. Mischa
also I dispatched to play by the fountain, and in this fashion we--that is
to say, Polina and myself--contrived to find ourselves alone.
Of course, we began by talking on business matters. Polina seemed
furious when I handed her only 700 gulden, for she had thought to
receive