Recollections of a Scorer (Tolstoy)
Short summary
19th century Russia. A billiard hall scorer recalled the tragic story of a young nobleman who came to their establishment.
Nekhliudof first appeared at the billiard hall dressed elegantly and behaving modestly. He played with a prince who befriended him, learning they had family connections.
The prince introduced him to women and gambling. Nekhliudof began playing cards upstairs with Fedotka, a parasitic gambler who systematically exploited him. Within two years, Nekhliudof lost his entire fortune, mortgaging his thousand-soul estate and squandering three hundred thousand rubles worth of timber-lands. He became a different person - gloomy, disheveled, borrowing rubles for cab fare while still gambling for hundreds. Once he couldn't even pay for a bottle of wine during dinner with a hussar. In desperation, he exclaimed:
O my God! what has it come to?
One carnival Friday, Nekhliudof returned to the billiard hall and shot himself. He left a suicide note lamenting how he had destroyed his feelings, intellect, and youth, falling into a "filthy net" from which he couldn't escape.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The billiard room and its regular patrons
The story unfolded around three o'clock in the afternoon at a billiard hall where gentlemen gathered to play. Petrushka worked as the scorer, walking around the billiard table with his stick, keeping tally of the games.
The regular patrons included the big stranger and the prince, who always played together.
Other regulars included the whiskered gentleman, Oliver the little hussar who was an actor, and a Polish man known as the Pan. Petrushka observed all these men with the practiced eye of someone accustomed to dealing with various types of people.
Nekhliudofs arrival and first impressions
A new gentleman entered the billiard room and sat down on the sofa. Petrushka immediately noticed his neat appearance - checkered tricot pants, stylish short coat, plush vest, and gold chain with trinkets. The young man was slim, tall, with fashionably brushed hair and a fair, ruddy complexion.
When the big stranger lost a game and left in anger, the prince invited the newcomer to play. The young man accepted with pleasure but appeared nervous and embarrassed. He seemed uncomfortable, glancing around after each shot and reddening. During their conversation, the prince learned his name was Nekhliudof and that his father had been commander in the corps of cadets. They spoke in French about family matters before the prince left for lunch.
Left alone, Nekhliudof asked Petrushka to play with him. The scorer agreed and suggested playing for odds, explaining his unusual custom of crawling under the table when he lost. Nekhliudof found this amusing and agreed to the game.
Petrushka deliberately lost the first two games, crawling under the table and entertaining the onlookers. On the third game, when Nekhliudof led forty-nine to nothing, Petrushka suggested playing off for three rubles. Nekhliudof was surprised to learn they had been playing for money and paid from his well-stuffed wallet containing only hundred-ruble notes.
The confrontation and Nekhliudofs growing reputation
Nekhliudof began visiting the billiard hall regularly, becoming less bashful and learning various games. Being a young man of good family with money, everyone liked him except the big stranger, with whom he eventually quarreled over a trifle during a pool game.
The incident occurred when the big stranger, needing elbow room for his shot, struck Nekhliudof in the chest with his cue. Instead of apologizing, the boorish man complained about being jostled and missing his shot. When Nekhliudof politely asked for an apology, the big stranger refused and turned away dismissively.
Nekhliudof took him by the arm and called him a boor. Though slender like a girl, the young man was ready for a fight, his eyes flashing fire. The big stranger raised his hand to strike, but others rushed to separate them. Nekhliudof demanded satisfaction, but his opponent dismissed him as merely a boy. The matter died out, but the big stranger stopped coming to the establishment.
This confrontation established Nekhliudof's reputation as someone quick to take offense, though he remained naive about many other matters.
Corruption begins: gambling and moral decline
The prince and others discovered Nekhliudof's innocence in matters of women and took him out for what they called his initiation or enlightenment. When they returned at one o'clock, a crowd had assembled for supper, and everyone congratulated the young man while laughing. Nekhliudof sat red-faced but smiling as they had their fun with him.
Later in the billiard room, Nekhliudof leaned on the table and expressed his regret.
It's amusing to you, gentlemen, but it's sad for me. Why did I do it? Prince, I shall never forgive you or myself as long as I live.
He burst into tears, not knowing what he was saying. This marked the beginning of his moral decline as he continued visiting the establishment regularly.
Nekhliudof became entangled with Fedotka, the prince's homely crony with prominent cheekbones.
During a three-handed pool game, Fedotka systematically won money from both Nekhliudof and the prince. When Nekhliudof owed six rubles, Fedotka suggested playing double or nothing. Through careful manipulation, Fedotka increased Nekhliudof's debt to over five hundred rubles before suggesting they continue upstairs where card games were played.
From that day forward, Nekhliudof became a changed man, visiting daily to play billiards and cards upstairs. His appearance deteriorated - no longer stylish and neat, he would only look like himself in the morning, but after visiting upstairs, he became entirely different.
Deepening debts and desperation
Petrushka began taking advantage of Nekhliudof's gambling addiction, playing him regularly when no one else was around. Through double-or-nothing games, the scorer won several hundred rubles from the young nobleman. When Nekhliudof couldn't pay immediately, he pawned his valuable watch to Petrushka for one hundred rubles.
Nekhliudof's servant Demyanitch revealed the extent of his master's decline.
He's squandered all his property... here we are, running about from one tavern to another as bad off as we could be!
The old servant explained that Nekhliudof had inherited a thousand souls and three hundred thousand rubles worth of timber-lands, but had mortgaged everything and sold the timber. Despite having wealthy relatives like Princess Rtishcheva and Prince Borotintsef, Nekhliudof avoided them, preferring the tavern life.
The final humiliation came during carnival time when Nekhliudof lost a bet for a bottle of wine to a hussar but couldn't pay. The landlord refused to serve wine unless Nekhliudof settled his enormous bill of over ten thousand rubles. Unable to borrow even six rubles from Petrushka, Nekhliudof fled in shame, leaving the hussar bewildered.
The final tragedy and suicide note
The next evening, Nekhliudof returned with a box, played a game with Petrushka, then asked for pen and paper to write a letter. He appeared agitated, calling for his carriage, then changing his mind and asking for another game. When Petrushka went to check on the carriage, he heard a thud and found Nekhliudof lying in a pool of blood with a pistol beside him.
In his suicide note, Nekhliudof reflected on his wasted life:
God gave me all that a man can desire—wealth, name, intellect, noble aspirations. I wanted to enjoy myself, and I trod in the mire all that was best in me.