March 2, 2023 • 20 mins
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(00:00):
Chapter fourteen. The shock made meutter an exclamation. What is the matter.
What is the matter, she askedin a strange voice. She was
looking pale, and her eyes weredim. What is the matter? I
re echoed, Why the fact thatyou are here? If I am here,
I have come with all that Ihave to bring, She said,
(00:22):
Such has always been my way,as you shall presently see. Please light
a candle. I did so,whereupon she rose, approached the table and
laid upon it an open letter.Read it. She added. It is
de Grie's handwriting, I cried asI seized the document. My hands were
(00:42):
so tremulous that the lines on thepages danced before my eyes. Although at
this distance of time I have forgottenthe exact phraseology of the missive, I
append, if not the precise words, at all events, the general sense,
mademoiselle, the document ran certain untowardcircumstances compel me to depart in haste.
(01:03):
Of course, you have of yourselfremarked that hitherto I have always refrained
from having any final explanation with you, for the reason that I could not
well state the whole circumstances. Andnow to my difficulties. The advent of
the aged grandmother, coupled with hersubsequent proceedings, has put the final touch
also the involved state of my affairs, forbids me to write with any finality
(01:26):
concerning those hopes of ultimate bliss uponwhich for a long while past I have
permitted myself to feed. I regretthe past, but at the same time
hope that in my conduct you havenever been able to detect anything that was
unworthy of a gentleman and a manof honor. Having lost, however,
almost the whole of my money indebts incurred by your stepfather, I find
(01:49):
myself driven to the necessity of savingthe remainder. Wherefore I have instructed certain
friends of mine in Saint Petersburg toarrange for the sale of all the property
which has been mortgaged to myself.At the same time, knowing that in
addition, your frivolous stepfather has squanderedmoney which is exclusively yours, I have
decided to absolve him from a certainmoiety of the mortgages on his property,
(02:15):
in order that you may be ina position to recover of him what you
have lost by suing him in legalfashion. I trust therefore that as matters
now stand, this action of minemay bring you some advantage. I trust
also that this same action leaves mein the position of having fulfilled every obligation
which is incumbent upon a man ofhonor and refinement. Rest assured that your
(02:38):
memory will forever remain graven in myheart. All this is clear enough,
I commented, Surely you did notexpect aught else from him? Somehow I
was feeling annoyed. I expected nothingat all from him, She replied,
quietly enough to all outward seeming,yet with a note of irritation in her
(02:58):
tone. Law Ago, I madeup my mind on the subject, for
I could read his thoughts and knewwhat he was thinking. He thought that
possibly I should sue him, thatone day I might become a nuisance.
Here Paulina halted for a moment andstood biting her lips. So of set
purpose, I redoubled my contemptuous treatmentof him, and waited to see what
(03:19):
he would do if a telegram tosay that we had become legatees had arrived
from Saint Petersburg. I should haveflung at him acquaintance for my foolish stepfather's
debts, and then dismissed him fora long time. I have hated him,
even in earlier days he was nota man. And now, oh,
how gladly I could throw those fiftythousand roubles in his face and spit
(03:42):
in it, and then rubbed thespittle in. But the document returning the
fifty thousand rouble mortgage? Has theGeneral got it? If so possessed yourself
of it and send it to deGrier? No? No, the General
has not got it, just asI expected. Well, what is the
General going to do? Then?An idea suddenly occurred to me. What
(04:06):
about the grandmother? I asked.Paulina looked at me with impatience and bewilderment.
What makes you speak of her?Was her irritable inquiry. I cannot
go and live with her, nor, she added hotly, will I go
down upon my knees to anyone?Why should you, I cried, yet,
to think that you should have lovedde Griers? The villain? The
(04:27):
villain, But I will kill himin a duel. Where is he now
in Frankfurt, where he will bestaying for the next three days, Well
bid me do so, and Iwill go to him by the first train
tomorrow, I exclaimed with enthusiasm.She smiled. If you were to do
that, she said, he wouldmerely tell you to be so good as
to first return him the fifty thousandfrancs. What then, would be the
(04:48):
use of having a quarrel with him? You talk, sheer nonsense. I
ground my teeth. The question Iwent on is how to raise the fifty
thousand francs. We cannot expect tofind them lying about on the floor.
Listen, what of mister Astley?Even as I spoke, a new and
strange idea formed itself in my brain. Her eyes flashed fire. What you
(05:14):
yourself wished me to leave you forhim, she cried, with a scornful
look and a proud smile. Neverbefore had she addressed me thus. Then
her head must have turned dizzy withemotion, for suddenly she seated herself upon
the sofa, as though she werepowerless any longer to stand. A flash
of lightning seemed to strike me.As I stood there, I could scarcely
(05:35):
believe my eyes or my ears.She did love me. Then it was
to me, and not to misterAstley, that she had turned. Although
she, an unprotected girl, hadcome to me in my room, in
an hotel room, and had probablycompromised herself thereby I had not understood.
(05:56):
Then a second mad idea flashed intomy brain. Billina, I said,
give me but an hour wait here, just one hour until I return.
Yes, you must do so,Do you not see what I mean?
Just stay here for that time?And I rushed from the room without so
much as answering her look of inquiry. She called something after me, but
I did not return. Sometimes ithappens that the most insane thought, the
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most impossible conception, will become sofixed in one's head that at length one
believes the thought or the conception tobe reality. Moreover, if with the
thought or the conception there is combineda strong, a passionate desire, one
will come to look upon the saidthought or conception as something fated, inevitable,
(06:42):
and fore ordained, something bound tohappen. Whether by this there is
connoted something in the nature of acombination of presentiments, or a great effort
of will, or a self annumentof one's true expectations, and so on,
I do not know. But atall events that night saw happen to
me, a night which I shallnever forget. Something in the nature of
(07:02):
the miraculous. Although the occurrence caneasily be explained by arithmetic, I still
believe it to have been a miracle. Yet, why did this conviction take
such a hold upon me at thetime and remain with me ever since?
Previously I had thought of the ideanot as an occurrence which was ever likely
to come about, but as somethingwhich never could come about. The time
(07:25):
was a quarter past eleven o'clock whenI entered the casino in such a state
of hope, though at the sametime of agitation as I had never before
experienced. In the gaming rooms,there were still a large number of people,
but not half as many as hadbeen present in the morning at eleven
o'clock. There usually remained behind onlythe real the desperate gamblers, persons for
(07:46):
whom at spas there existed nothing beyondroulette, and who went thither for that
alone. These gamesters took little noteof what was going on around them,
and were interested in none of theoppurtinences of season, but played from morning
till night, and would have beenready to play through the night until dawn,
had there been possible. As itwas, they used to disperse unwillingly
(08:09):
when at midnight roulette came to anend. Likewise, as soon as ever
Roulette was drawing to a close,and the head croupier had called les trois
dernier coup. Most of them wereready to stake on the last three rounds
all that they had in their pockets, and for the most part lost it.
For my own part, I proceededtowards the table at which the grandmother
(08:31):
had lately sat, and since thecrowd around it was not very large,
I soon obtained standing room among thering of gamblers. While directly in front
of me, on the green cloth, I saw mark. The word pass
Pass was a row of numbers fromnineteen to thirty six inclusive, while a
row of numbers from one to eighteeninclusive was known as monk. But what
(08:54):
had that to do with me?I had not noticed. I had not
so much as heard the numbers uponwhich the previous coup had fallen, and
so took no bearings when I beganto play, as in my place any
systematic gambler would have done. No. I merely extended my stock of twenty
ten Gulden pieces and threw them downupon the space pass, which happened to
(09:16):
be confronting me. Vende called thecroupier. I hit one. I staked
upon the same again, both myoriginal stake and my winnings. Rante Ton
called the croupier again. I hadwon and was now in possession of eighty
ten gulden pieces. Next, Imoved the whole eighty on to twelve middle
(09:37):
numbers, a stake which if successfulwould bring me in a triple profit,
but also involved a risk of twochances to one. The wheel revolved and
stopped at twenty four. Upon thisI was paid out notes and gold,
until I had by my side atotal sum of two thousand gulden. It
was as in a fever that Imoved the pile on block the red.
(10:00):
Then suddenly I came to myself,though that was the only time during the
evening's play when fear cast its coldspell over me and showed itself in a
trembling of the hands and knees.For with horror I had realized that I
must win, and that upon thatstake there depended all my life. Rouge
called the croupier. I drew along breath and hot shivers when coursing over
(10:24):
my body. I was paid outmy winnings in bank notes, amounting,
of course, to a total offour thousand florins eight hundred gulden. I
could still calculate the amounts. Afterthat, I remember I again staked two
thousand florins upon twelve middle numbers,and lost. Again. I staked the
whole of my gold with eight hundredgulden in notes, and lost. Then
(10:46):
madness seemed to come upon me,and seizing my last two thousand florins,
I staked them upon twelve of thefirst numbers, wholly by chance and at
random, and without any sort ofreckoning. Upon my doing so, there
followed a moment of suspense only comparableto that which Madame Blanchard must have experienced
when in Paris she was descending earthwardsfrom a balloon. KAT called the croupier.
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Once more, with the addition ofmy original stake, I was in
possession of six thousand florins. Oncemore, I looked around me like a
conqueror. Once more I feared nothingas I threw down four thousand of these
florins upon the black. The croupiersglanced around them and exchanged a few words.
The bystanders murmured expectantly. The blackturned up. After that I do
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not exactly remember either my calculations orthe order of my stakings. I only
remember that, as in a dream, I one in one round sixteen thousand
florins, that in the three followingrounds I lost twelve thousand, that I
moved the remainder four thousand on topass, though quite unconscious of what I
(11:56):
was doing. I was merely waiting, as it were, mechanically and without
reflect election for something and one,and that finally, four times in succession
I lost. Yes, I canremember raking in money by thousands, but
most frequently on the twelve middle numbers, to which I constantly adhered, and
which kept appearing in a sort ofregular order, first three or four times
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running, and then, after aninterval of a couple of rounds, in
another break of three or four appearances. Sometimes this astonishing regularity manifested itself in
patches, a thing to upset allthe calculations of note taking gamblers, who
play with a pencil and a memorandumbook in their hands. Fortune perpetrates some
terrible jests at roulette. Since myentry not more than half an hour could
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have elapsed. Suddenly, a croupierinformed me that I had one thirty thousand
florins, as well as that,since the latter was the limit for which
at any one time the bank couldmake itself responsible, Roulette at that table
must close for the night. Accordingly, I caught up my pile of goal,
stuffed it into my pocket, and, grasping my sheaf of bank notes,
moved to the table in an adjoiningsalon, where a second game of
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roulette was in progress. The crowdfollowed me in a body and cleared a
place for me at the table,after which I proceeded to stake as before,
that is to say, at random, and without calculating what saved me
from ruin. I do not know. Of course, there were times when
fragmentary reckonings did come flashing into mybrain. For instance, there were times
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when I attached myself for a whileto certain figures and coups, though always
leaving them again before long, withoutknowing what I was doing. In fact,
I cannot have been in possession ofall my faculties, for I can
remember the croupiers correcting my play morethan once, owing to my having made
mistakes of the gravest order. Mybrows were damp with sweat, and my
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hands were shaking. Also, polescame around me to proffer their services,
but I heeded none of them,nor did my luck fail me. Now
suddenly there arose around me a louddin of talking and laughter. Bravo,
bravo was the general shout, andsome people even clapped their hands. I
had raked in thirty thousand florins,and again the bank had had to close
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for the night. Go away,now, go away now, A voice
whispered to me on my right.The person who had spoken to me was
a certain jew of Frankfort, aman who had been standing beside me the
whole while and occasionally helping me inmy play. Yes, for God's sake,
go, whispered a second voice inmy left ear. Glancing around,
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I perceived that the second voice hadcome from a modestly, plainly dressed lady
of rather less than thirty, awoman whose face, though pale and sickly
looking, bore also very evident tracesof former beauty. At the moment,
I was stuffing the crumpled bank notesinto my pockets and collecting all the gold
that was left on the table.Seizing up my last note for five hundred
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gulden, I contrived to insinuate it, unperceived into the hand of the pale
lady, and over touring impulse hadmade me do so, And I remember
how her thin little fingers pressed minein token of her lively gratitude. The
whole affair was the work of amoment. Then, collecting my belongings,
I crossed to where Trante Corant wasbeing played, a game which could boast
(15:16):
of a more aristocratic public, andwas played with cards instead of with a
wheel. At this diversion, thebank made itself responsible for a hundred thousand
dollars as the limit, but thehighest stake allowable was, as in roulette,
four thousand florins. Although I knewnothing of the game, and I
scarcely knew the stakes except those onblack and red, I joined the ring
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of players, while the rest ofthe crowd massed itself around me. At
this distance of time, I cannotremember whether I ever give a thought to
Paulina. I seemed only to beconscious of a vague pleasure in seizing and
raking in the bank notes, whichkept massing themselves in a pile before me.
But as ever, fortune seemed tobe at my back, as though
(16:00):
of set purpose. There came tomy aid a circumstance which not infrequently repeats
itself in gaming, the circumstances thatnot infrequently luck attaches itself to say the
red, and does not leave itfor a space of say ten or even
fifteen rounds in succession. Three daysago I had heard that during the previous
week there had been a run oftwenty two coups on the Red, and
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occurrence never before known at roulette,so that men spoke of it with astonishment.
Naturally enough, many deserted the Redafter a dozen rounds, and practically
no one could now be found tostake upon it. Yet upon the Black,
also the antithesis of the Red,no experienced gambler would stake anything,
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for the reason that every practiced playerknows the meaning of capricious fortune. That
is to say, after the sixteenthor so success of the Red, one
would think that the seventeenth coup wouldinevitably fall upon the Black. Wherefore novices
would be apt to back the latterin the seventeenth round, and even to
double or trouble their stakes upon it, only in the end to lose.
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Yet some whim or other led meon remarking that the red had come up
consecutively for seven times, to attachmyself to that color. Probably this was
mostly due to self conceit, forI wanted to astonish the bystanders with the
riskiness of my play. Also,I remember that, oh strange sensation,
I suddenly, and without any challengefrom my own presumption, became obsessed with
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a desire to take risks. Ifthe spirit has passed through a great many
sensations, possibly it can no longerbe stated with them, but grows more
excited and demands more sensations and strongerand stronger ones, until at length it
falls exhausted. Certainly, if therules of the game had permitted even of
my staking fifty thousand florins at atime, I should have staked them.
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All of a sudden I heard exclamationsarising that the whole thing was a marvel.
Since the red was turning up forthe fourteenth time, Monsieur Argagna sump
mia florin a voice exclaimed beside me, I awoke to my senses what I
had won a hundred thousand florins?If so, what more did I need
(18:15):
to win? I grasped the banknotes stuffed them into my pockets, raked
in the gold without counting it,and started to leave the casino. As
I passed through the salons, peoplesmiled to see my bulging pockets an unsteady
gait, for the weight which Iwas carrying must have amounted to half a
pood. Several hands I saw stretchout of my direction, and as I
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passed, I filled them with allthe money that I could grasp in my
own. At length, two jewsstopped me near the exit. You are
a bold, young fellow, onesaid, but mind you depart early tomorrow,
as early as you can, forif you do not, you will
lose everything that you have won.But I did not heed them. The
avenue was so dark that it wasbarely possible to distinguish one's hand before one's
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face, while the distance to thehotel was half averst or so. But
I feared neither pickpockets nor highwaymen.Indeed, never since my boyhood have I
done that. Also, I cannotremember what I thought about on the way.
I only felt a sort of fearfulpleasure, the pleasure of success,
of conquest of power. How canI best express it? Likewise? Before
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me there flitted the image of Paulina, and I kept remembering and reminding myself
that it was to her I wasgoing, that it was in her presence
I should soon be standing, thatit was she to whom I should soon
be able to relate and show everything. Scarcely once did I recall what she
had lately said to me, orthe reason why I had left her,
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or all those varied sensations which Ihad been experiencing a bare hour and a
half ago. No, those sensationsseemed to be things of the past,
to be things which had righted themselvesand grown old, to be things concerning
which we needed to trouble ourselves nolonger, since for us life was about
to begin anew. Yet I hadjust reached the end of the avenue when
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there did come upon me a fearof being robbed or murdered. With each
step, the fear increased, untilin my terror I almost started to run.
Suddenly, as I issued from theavenue, there burst upon me the
lights at the hotel, sparkling witha myriad lamps. Yes, thanks be
to God, I had reached home. Running up to my room, I
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flung open the door of it.Paulina was still on the sofa, with
a lighted candle in front of herand her hands clasped. As I entered,
she stared at me in astonishment,for at the moment I must have
presented a strange spectacle. All Idid, however, was to halt before
her, and fling upon the tablemy burden of wealth. End of Chapter fourteen.
Chapter fourteen. The shock made meutter an exclamation. What is the matter.
What is the matter, she askedin a strange voice. She was
looking pale, and her eyes weredim. What is the matter? I
re echoed, Why the fact thatyou are here? If I am here,
I have come with all that Ihave to bring, She said,
(00:22):
Such has always been my way,as you shall presently see. Please light
a candle. I did so,whereupon she rose, approached the table and
laid upon it an open letter.Read it. She added. It is
de Grie's handwriting, I cried asI seized the document. My hands were
(00:42):
so tremulous that the lines on thepages danced before my eyes. Although at
this distance of time I have forgottenthe exact phraseology of the missive, I
append, if not the precise words, at all events, the general sense,
mademoiselle, the document ran certain untowardcircumstances compel me to depart in haste.
(01:03):
Of course, you have of yourselfremarked that hitherto I have always refrained
from having any final explanation with you, for the reason that I could not
well state the whole circumstances. Andnow to my difficulties. The advent of
the aged grandmother, coupled with hersubsequent proceedings, has put the final touch
also the involved state of my affairs, forbids me to write with any finality
(01:26):
concerning those hopes of ultimate bliss uponwhich for a long while past I have
permitted myself to feed. I regretthe past, but at the same time
hope that in my conduct you havenever been able to detect anything that was
unworthy of a gentleman and a manof honor. Having lost, however,
almost the whole of my money indebts incurred by your stepfather, I find
(01:49):
myself driven to the necessity of savingthe remainder. Wherefore I have instructed certain
friends of mine in Saint Petersburg toarrange for the sale of all the property
which has been mortgaged to myself.At the same time, knowing that in
addition, your frivolous stepfather has squanderedmoney which is exclusively yours, I have
decided to absolve him from a certainmoiety of the mortgages on his property,
(02:15):
in order that you may be ina position to recover of him what you
have lost by suing him in legalfashion. I trust therefore that as matters
now stand, this action of minemay bring you some advantage. I trust
also that this same action leaves mein the position of having fulfilled every obligation
which is incumbent upon a man ofhonor and refinement. Rest assured that your
(02:38):
memory will forever remain graven in myheart. All this is clear enough,
I commented, Surely you did notexpect aught else from him? Somehow I
was feeling annoyed. I expected nothingat all from him, She replied,
quietly enough to all outward seeming,yet with a note of irritation in her
(02:58):
tone. Law Ago, I madeup my mind on the subject, for
I could read his thoughts and knewwhat he was thinking. He thought that
possibly I should sue him, thatone day I might become a nuisance.
Here Paulina halted for a moment andstood biting her lips. So of set
purpose, I redoubled my contemptuous treatmentof him, and waited to see what
(03:19):
he would do if a telegram tosay that we had become legatees had arrived
from Saint Petersburg. I should haveflung at him acquaintance for my foolish stepfather's
debts, and then dismissed him fora long time. I have hated him,
even in earlier days he was nota man. And now, oh,
how gladly I could throw those fiftythousand roubles in his face and spit
(03:42):
in it, and then rubbed thespittle in. But the document returning the
fifty thousand rouble mortgage? Has theGeneral got it? If so possessed yourself
of it and send it to deGrier? No? No, the General
has not got it, just asI expected. Well, what is the
General going to do? Then?An idea suddenly occurred to me. What
(04:06):
about the grandmother? I asked.Paulina looked at me with impatience and bewilderment.
What makes you speak of her?Was her irritable inquiry. I cannot
go and live with her, nor, she added hotly, will I go
down upon my knees to anyone?Why should you, I cried, yet,
to think that you should have lovedde Griers? The villain? The
(04:27):
villain, But I will kill himin a duel. Where is he now
in Frankfurt, where he will bestaying for the next three days, Well
bid me do so, and Iwill go to him by the first train
tomorrow, I exclaimed with enthusiasm.She smiled. If you were to do
that, she said, he wouldmerely tell you to be so good as
to first return him the fifty thousandfrancs. What then, would be the
(04:48):
use of having a quarrel with him? You talk, sheer nonsense. I
ground my teeth. The question Iwent on is how to raise the fifty
thousand francs. We cannot expect tofind them lying about on the floor.
Listen, what of mister Astley?Even as I spoke, a new and
strange idea formed itself in my brain. Her eyes flashed fire. What you
(05:14):
yourself wished me to leave you forhim, she cried, with a scornful
look and a proud smile. Neverbefore had she addressed me thus. Then
her head must have turned dizzy withemotion, for suddenly she seated herself upon
the sofa, as though she werepowerless any longer to stand. A flash
of lightning seemed to strike me.As I stood there, I could scarcely
(05:35):
believe my eyes or my ears.She did love me. Then it was
to me, and not to misterAstley, that she had turned. Although
she, an unprotected girl, hadcome to me in my room, in
an hotel room, and had probablycompromised herself thereby I had not understood.
(05:56):
Then a second mad idea flashed intomy brain. Billina, I said,
give me but an hour wait here, just one hour until I return.
Yes, you must do so,Do you not see what I mean?
Just stay here for that time?And I rushed from the room without so
much as answering her look of inquiry. She called something after me, but
I did not return. Sometimes ithappens that the most insane thought, the
(06:21):
most impossible conception, will become sofixed in one's head that at length one
believes the thought or the conception tobe reality. Moreover, if with the
thought or the conception there is combineda strong, a passionate desire, one
will come to look upon the saidthought or conception as something fated, inevitable,
(06:42):
and fore ordained, something bound tohappen. Whether by this there is
connoted something in the nature of acombination of presentiments, or a great effort
of will, or a self annumentof one's true expectations, and so on,
I do not know. But atall events that night saw happen to
me, a night which I shallnever forget. Something in the nature of
(07:02):
the miraculous. Although the occurrence caneasily be explained by arithmetic, I still
believe it to have been a miracle. Yet, why did this conviction take
such a hold upon me at thetime and remain with me ever since?
Previously I had thought of the ideanot as an occurrence which was ever likely
to come about, but as somethingwhich never could come about. The time
(07:25):
was a quarter past eleven o'clock whenI entered the casino in such a state
of hope, though at the sametime of agitation as I had never before
experienced. In the gaming rooms,there were still a large number of people,
but not half as many as hadbeen present in the morning at eleven
o'clock. There usually remained behind onlythe real the desperate gamblers, persons for
(07:46):
whom at spas there existed nothing beyondroulette, and who went thither for that
alone. These gamesters took little noteof what was going on around them,
and were interested in none of theoppurtinences of season, but played from morning
till night, and would have beenready to play through the night until dawn,
had there been possible. As itwas, they used to disperse unwillingly
(08:09):
when at midnight roulette came to anend. Likewise, as soon as ever
Roulette was drawing to a close,and the head croupier had called les trois
dernier coup. Most of them wereready to stake on the last three rounds
all that they had in their pockets, and for the most part lost it.
For my own part, I proceededtowards the table at which the grandmother
(08:31):
had lately sat, and since thecrowd around it was not very large,
I soon obtained standing room among thering of gamblers. While directly in front
of me, on the green cloth, I saw mark. The word pass
Pass was a row of numbers fromnineteen to thirty six inclusive, while a
row of numbers from one to eighteeninclusive was known as monk. But what
(08:54):
had that to do with me?I had not noticed. I had not
so much as heard the numbers uponwhich the previous coup had fallen, and
so took no bearings when I beganto play, as in my place any
systematic gambler would have done. No. I merely extended my stock of twenty
ten Gulden pieces and threw them downupon the space pass, which happened to
(09:16):
be confronting me. Vende called thecroupier. I hit one. I staked
upon the same again, both myoriginal stake and my winnings. Rante Ton
called the croupier again. I hadwon and was now in possession of eighty
ten gulden pieces. Next, Imoved the whole eighty on to twelve middle
(09:37):
numbers, a stake which if successfulwould bring me in a triple profit,
but also involved a risk of twochances to one. The wheel revolved and
stopped at twenty four. Upon thisI was paid out notes and gold,
until I had by my side atotal sum of two thousand gulden. It
was as in a fever that Imoved the pile on block the red.
(10:00):
Then suddenly I came to myself,though that was the only time during the
evening's play when fear cast its coldspell over me and showed itself in a
trembling of the hands and knees.For with horror I had realized that I
must win, and that upon thatstake there depended all my life. Rouge
called the croupier. I drew along breath and hot shivers when coursing over
(10:24):
my body. I was paid outmy winnings in bank notes, amounting,
of course, to a total offour thousand florins eight hundred gulden. I
could still calculate the amounts. Afterthat, I remember I again staked two
thousand florins upon twelve middle numbers,and lost. Again. I staked the
whole of my gold with eight hundredgulden in notes, and lost. Then
(10:46):
madness seemed to come upon me,and seizing my last two thousand florins,
I staked them upon twelve of thefirst numbers, wholly by chance and at
random, and without any sort ofreckoning. Upon my doing so, there
followed a moment of suspense only comparableto that which Madame Blanchard must have experienced
when in Paris she was descending earthwardsfrom a balloon. KAT called the croupier.
(11:13):
Once more, with the addition ofmy original stake, I was in
possession of six thousand florins. Oncemore, I looked around me like a
conqueror. Once more I feared nothingas I threw down four thousand of these
florins upon the black. The croupiersglanced around them and exchanged a few words.
The bystanders murmured expectantly. The blackturned up. After that I do
(11:35):
not exactly remember either my calculations orthe order of my stakings. I only
remember that, as in a dream, I one in one round sixteen thousand
florins, that in the three followingrounds I lost twelve thousand, that I
moved the remainder four thousand on topass, though quite unconscious of what I
(11:56):
was doing. I was merely waiting, as it were, mechanically and without
reflect election for something and one,and that finally, four times in succession
I lost. Yes, I canremember raking in money by thousands, but
most frequently on the twelve middle numbers, to which I constantly adhered, and
which kept appearing in a sort ofregular order, first three or four times
(12:18):
running, and then, after aninterval of a couple of rounds, in
another break of three or four appearances. Sometimes this astonishing regularity manifested itself in
patches, a thing to upset allthe calculations of note taking gamblers, who
play with a pencil and a memorandumbook in their hands. Fortune perpetrates some
terrible jests at roulette. Since myentry not more than half an hour could
(12:43):
have elapsed. Suddenly, a croupierinformed me that I had one thirty thousand
florins, as well as that,since the latter was the limit for which
at any one time the bank couldmake itself responsible, Roulette at that table
must close for the night. Accordingly, I caught up my pile of goal,
stuffed it into my pocket, and, grasping my sheaf of bank notes,
moved to the table in an adjoiningsalon, where a second game of
(13:07):
roulette was in progress. The crowdfollowed me in a body and cleared a
place for me at the table,after which I proceeded to stake as before,
that is to say, at random, and without calculating what saved me
from ruin. I do not know. Of course, there were times when
fragmentary reckonings did come flashing into mybrain. For instance, there were times
(13:28):
when I attached myself for a whileto certain figures and coups, though always
leaving them again before long, withoutknowing what I was doing. In fact,
I cannot have been in possession ofall my faculties, for I can
remember the croupiers correcting my play morethan once, owing to my having made
mistakes of the gravest order. Mybrows were damp with sweat, and my
(13:50):
hands were shaking. Also, polescame around me to proffer their services,
but I heeded none of them,nor did my luck fail me. Now
suddenly there arose around me a louddin of talking and laughter. Bravo,
bravo was the general shout, andsome people even clapped their hands. I
had raked in thirty thousand florins,and again the bank had had to close
(14:11):
for the night. Go away,now, go away now, A voice
whispered to me on my right.The person who had spoken to me was
a certain jew of Frankfort, aman who had been standing beside me the
whole while and occasionally helping me inmy play. Yes, for God's sake,
go, whispered a second voice inmy left ear. Glancing around,
(14:31):
I perceived that the second voice hadcome from a modestly, plainly dressed lady
of rather less than thirty, awoman whose face, though pale and sickly
looking, bore also very evident tracesof former beauty. At the moment,
I was stuffing the crumpled bank notesinto my pockets and collecting all the gold
that was left on the table.Seizing up my last note for five hundred
(14:54):
gulden, I contrived to insinuate it, unperceived into the hand of the pale
lady, and over touring impulse hadmade me do so, And I remember
how her thin little fingers pressed minein token of her lively gratitude. The
whole affair was the work of amoment. Then, collecting my belongings,
I crossed to where Trante Corant wasbeing played, a game which could boast
(15:16):
of a more aristocratic public, andwas played with cards instead of with a
wheel. At this diversion, thebank made itself responsible for a hundred thousand
dollars as the limit, but thehighest stake allowable was, as in roulette,
four thousand florins. Although I knewnothing of the game, and I
scarcely knew the stakes except those onblack and red, I joined the ring
(15:37):
of players, while the rest ofthe crowd massed itself around me. At
this distance of time, I cannotremember whether I ever give a thought to
Paulina. I seemed only to beconscious of a vague pleasure in seizing and
raking in the bank notes, whichkept massing themselves in a pile before me.
But as ever, fortune seemed tobe at my back, as though
(16:00):
of set purpose. There came tomy aid a circumstance which not infrequently repeats
itself in gaming, the circumstances thatnot infrequently luck attaches itself to say the
red, and does not leave itfor a space of say ten or even
fifteen rounds in succession. Three daysago I had heard that during the previous
week there had been a run oftwenty two coups on the Red, and
(16:22):
occurrence never before known at roulette,so that men spoke of it with astonishment.
Naturally enough, many deserted the Redafter a dozen rounds, and practically
no one could now be found tostake upon it. Yet upon the Black,
also the antithesis of the Red,no experienced gambler would stake anything,
(16:44):
for the reason that every practiced playerknows the meaning of capricious fortune. That
is to say, after the sixteenthor so success of the Red, one
would think that the seventeenth coup wouldinevitably fall upon the Black. Wherefore novices
would be apt to back the latterin the seventeenth round, and even to
double or trouble their stakes upon it, only in the end to lose.
(17:08):
Yet some whim or other led meon remarking that the red had come up
consecutively for seven times, to attachmyself to that color. Probably this was
mostly due to self conceit, forI wanted to astonish the bystanders with the
riskiness of my play. Also,I remember that, oh strange sensation,
I suddenly, and without any challengefrom my own presumption, became obsessed with
(17:32):
a desire to take risks. Ifthe spirit has passed through a great many
sensations, possibly it can no longerbe stated with them, but grows more
excited and demands more sensations and strongerand stronger ones, until at length it
falls exhausted. Certainly, if therules of the game had permitted even of
my staking fifty thousand florins at atime, I should have staked them.
(17:53):
All of a sudden I heard exclamationsarising that the whole thing was a marvel.
Since the red was turning up forthe fourteenth time, Monsieur Argagna sump
mia florin a voice exclaimed beside me, I awoke to my senses what I
had won a hundred thousand florins?If so, what more did I need
(18:15):
to win? I grasped the banknotes stuffed them into my pockets, raked
in the gold without counting it,and started to leave the casino. As
I passed through the salons, peoplesmiled to see my bulging pockets an unsteady
gait, for the weight which Iwas carrying must have amounted to half a
pood. Several hands I saw stretchout of my direction, and as I
(18:36):
passed, I filled them with allthe money that I could grasp in my
own. At length, two jewsstopped me near the exit. You are
a bold, young fellow, onesaid, but mind you depart early tomorrow,
as early as you can, forif you do not, you will
lose everything that you have won.But I did not heed them. The
avenue was so dark that it wasbarely possible to distinguish one's hand before one's
(18:59):
face, while the distance to thehotel was half averst or so. But
I feared neither pickpockets nor highwaymen.Indeed, never since my boyhood have I
done that. Also, I cannotremember what I thought about on the way.
I only felt a sort of fearfulpleasure, the pleasure of success,
of conquest of power. How canI best express it? Likewise? Before
(19:23):
me there flitted the image of Paulina, and I kept remembering and reminding myself
that it was to her I wasgoing, that it was in her presence
I should soon be standing, thatit was she to whom I should soon
be able to relate and show everything. Scarcely once did I recall what she
had lately said to me, orthe reason why I had left her,
(19:44):
or all those varied sensations which Ihad been experiencing a bare hour and a
half ago. No, those sensationsseemed to be things of the past,
to be things which had righted themselvesand grown old, to be things concerning
which we needed to trouble ourselves nolonger, since for us life was about
to begin anew. Yet I hadjust reached the end of the avenue when
(20:07):
there did come upon me a fearof being robbed or murdered. With each
step, the fear increased, untilin my terror I almost started to run.
Suddenly, as I issued from theavenue, there burst upon me the
lights at the hotel, sparkling witha myriad lamps. Yes, thanks be
to God, I had reached home. Running up to my room, I
(20:29):
flung open the door of it.Paulina was still on the sofa, with
a lighted candle in front of herand her hands clasped. As I entered,
she stared at me in astonishment,for at the moment I must have
presented a strange spectacle. All Idid, however, was to halt before
her, and fling upon the tablemy burden of wealth. End of Chapter fourteen.
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