The Gambler (Dostoevsky)/Chapter 9

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Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Gambler. Chapter 9

The Grandmother Arrives to Claim Her Place

1866

Summary of a Chapter
from the Collection “The Gambler”

The original takes about 19 minutes to read

Microsummary

The supposedly dying Grandmother arrived unexpectedly, exposed the family’s hopes for her fortune, humiliated the General and his allies, withheld her money, and demanded to visit the casino.

Chapter Summary

Alexis Ivanovitch returned from the casino and discovered Antonida Vassilievna Tarassevitcha, the wealthy elderly relative known as the Grandmother, seated on the hotel veranda. Although her family had believed her close to death, she had unexpectedly travelled from Moscow with servants and a large quantity of luggage.

Unable to walk, the Grandmother was carried in an armchair, but she appeared healthy, upright, commanding, and as verbally aggressive as ever. She immediately recognized Alexis and mocked everyone who had sent telegrams asking whether she had died.

After questioning Alexis about the General, Polina, and the other guests, she ordered her servant Potapitch to secure an elegant suite on a lower floor. She also met Mr. Astley, learned that he was English, and declared that she liked Englishmen.

The Grandmother was carried through the luxurious hotel while aristocratic guests stopped to stare. The landlord described her as an influential Russian countess, and her imposing procession created a sensation. Alexis privately rejoiced because he anticipated the shock her arrival would cause the General.

Alexis led her directly into the General’s study, where the entire party was gathered. The General, Polina, De Griers, Mlle. Blanche, her mother, the children, a prince, and a German scholar all witnessed her entrance.

The General froze in terror, while De Griers and Blanche showed visible uneasiness. Polina first remained composed but soon turned pale and then flushed. The Grandmother silently surveyed them with triumph before announcing that she had come in person instead of sending a telegram.

She accused the General of expecting her death and inheritance. She dismissed his expressions of concern as lies, insulted De Griers as an untrustworthy mountebank, and questioned Alexis bluntly about Blanche, whose elaborate manners she ridiculed.

The Grandmother explained that an apothecary’s remedy had improved her health after doctors failed to cure her. Acting on advice to take the waters abroad, she had arranged a railway compartment and travelled with bearers to assist her at each station.

She then challenged the General about his expensive accommodations, debts, treatment of his children’s property, and supposed roulette playing. When he protested, she announced that she intended to visit the casino that very day and ordered Alexis to show her the town and its attractions.

After praising Polina’s beauty and strength of character and responding warmly to Astley’s formal greeting, the Grandmother rejected the General’s offer to escort her. She explicitly refused to give him any money and had herself carried to her rooms, leaving the General stunned, De Griers thoughtful, and Blanche reluctantly following the procession.

Characters

Antonida Vassilievna Tarassevitcha (the Grandmother) — wealthy 75–76-year-old Russian landowner, the General’s formidable elderly relative, unable to walk but healthy, imperious, observant, blunt, suspicious, and fiercely independent.

Alexis Ivanovitch — narrator, young Russian man employed in the General’s household, Polina’s devoted associate and Astley’s friend, observant, impulsive, candid, and secretly delighted by the General’s humiliation.

The General — middle-aged Russian widower, head of the household and guardian of his children, financially distressed, status-conscious, defensive, dependent on expectations of the Grandmother’s inheritance, and terrified by her arrival.

Monsieur De Griers — adult Frenchman, the General’s creditor and associate, socially polished and flattering but distrusted as a schemer by the Grandmother, whose arrival made him visibly uneasy.

Polina Alexandrovna — young Russian woman also called Prascovia, the General’s stepdaughter, poised, attractive, intelligent, and strong-willed, though visibly shaken by the Grandmother’s unexpected appearance.

Quotes

“Well, here I am—and instead of a telegram, too!” the Grandmother at last ejaculated, to dissipate the silence. “What? You were not expecting me?”

“But you thought that I had turned up my toes and left my property to the lot of you. Oh, I know *all* about the telegrams which you have been dispatching.”

“I am not going to let you have any of my money. I must be off to my rooms now, to see what they are like. Afterwards we will look round a little. Lift me up.”

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.