The Gambler (Dostoevsky)/Chapter 12

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Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Gambler. Chapter 12

The Grandmother gambles away her fortune and returns for more

1866

Summary of a Chapter
from the Collection “The Gambler”

The original takes about 26 minutes to read

Microsummary

The Grandmother repeatedly tries to recover her roulette losses, rejects every warning, alarms her expectant heirs, plans to return to Moscow, then goes back and loses another fortune that same day.

Chapter Summary

The Grandmother returned to the Casino in an impatient and distracted state. Roulette had absorbed all her attention, and she dismissed Potapitch and Martha, declaring that Alexis Ivanovitch was the only escort she needed.

She repeatedly ordered Alexis to stake money on zero. After many failures, she abandoned it and placed four thousand gülden on red. Zero then appeared, taking the large red stake just after she had stopped betting on the winning number.

Furious, the Grandmother blamed Alexis, dismissed him, and immediately called him back. Refusing responsibility for her choices, he agreed only to place whatever bets she explicitly ordered. She continued staking heavily in an attempt to recover her losses.

After losing twelve thousand gülden, she discovered that she had no usable cash left. Determined to continue, she had Alexis take her securities to a money-changer, where she angrily bargained with a clerk and accepted a costly exchange for twelve thousand florins.

The General, De Griers, and Mlle. Blanche tried to divert her from the Casino with offers of a carriage ride, pleasant scenery, and refreshments. Their efforts failed, while Alexis privately informed them of the scale of her losses.

Back at roulette, the Grandmother briefly won small bets and again wanted to risk thousands. De Griers proposed a complicated system of numbered bets, but zero appeared and wiped them out. She insulted him and continued until all the exchanged money was gone.

At the hotel, she denounced herself as a fool and ordered her luggage packed for the next train to Moscow. Her decision alarmed the General and his companions because they depended on her expected inheritance and feared that Blanche would abandon the General.

The Grandmother drove them from her room, accused them of waiting for her death, and summoned Polina. She condemned the General's intended marriage to Blanche and offered Polina a home in Moscow, but Polina would not leave immediately unless her younger brother and sister could accompany her.

After giving Alexis five hundred gülden, the Grandmother prepared to depart. Alexis reflected on her revelation about Polina and De Griers and tried unsuccessfully to find Mr. Astley. Shortly before the train, she summoned Alexis and announced that she was returning to roulette.

Alexis refused to witness or assist her gambling and returned the money she had given him. Guided first by Potapitch and then by a dishonest Polish gambler, the Grandmother lost another ten thousand roubles. Exhausted, she returned, prayed, and fell asleep while Potapitch mourned their foreign journey.

Characters

The Grandmother — elderly Russian noblewoman, wealthy relative of the General, physically infirm but imperious, sharp-tongued, impulsive, proud, and consumed by roulette.

Alexis Ivanovitch — narrator, young Russian man employed by the General, devoted to Polina, observant and conflicted, who places the Grandmother's bets before refusing further involvement.

Polina Alexandrovna (Prascovia) — young Russian woman, the General's stepdaughter and Alexis's beloved, grave and careworn, protective of her younger siblings, and secretly connected with De Griers.

De Griers — adult Frenchman, creditor and associate of the General, linked privately to Polina, calculating and patronizing as he tries to restrain the Grandmother's gambling.

The General — middle-aged retired Russian general, Polina's stepfather and Blanche's anxious suitor, financially dependent on the Grandmother's expected inheritance.

Quotes

“Very well. Stake another four thousand gülden upon the red. Take this banknote to do it with. I have still got twenty thousand roubles in actual cash.” ... “I cannot rest until I have won back my losses. Stake!”

“Now, will you leave everything here, and come away with me? Otherwise, I do not know what is to become of you, and it is not right that you should continue living with these people.”

“Pardon me, but I have nothing to reproach myself with. I merely will not go. I merely intend neither to witness nor to join in your play. I also beg to return you your five hundred gülden. Farewell.”

This summary is based on the translation by C. J. Hogarth, first published in Poor Folk; The Gambler (London: J. M. Dent & Sons; New York: E. P. Dutton, 1915). Illustrations were created using AI.