The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gambler, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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Title: The Gambler

Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Posting Date: March 1, 2009 [EBook #2197]
Release Date: May, 2000

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE GAMBLER

By

FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY

Translated by C. J. 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