The church was full. It was with difficulty that Hermann made his way through the crowd of people. The coffin6 was placed upon a rich catafalque beneath a velvet8 baldachin. The deceased Countess lay within it, with her hands crossed upon her breast, with a lace cap upon her head and dressed in a white satin robe. Around the catafalque stood the members of her household: the servants in black caftans, with armorial ribbons upon their shoulders, and candles in their hands; the relatives—children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren—in deep mourning.
Nobody wept; tears would have been une affectation. The Countess was so old, that her death could have surprised nobody, and her relatives had long looked upon her as being out of the world. A famous preacher pronounced the funeral sermon. In simple and touching9 words he described the peaceful passing away of the righteous, who had passed long years in calm preparation for a Christian10 end. “The angel of death found her,” said the orator11, “engaged in pious12 meditation13 and waiting for the midnight bridegroom.”
The service concluded amidst profound silence. The relatives went forward first to take farewell of the corpse14. Then followed the numerous guests, who had come to render the last homage15 to her who for so many years had been a participator in their frivolous16 amusements. After these followed the members of the Countess’s household. The last of these was an old woman of the same age as the deceased. Two young women led her forward by the hand. She had not strength enough to bow down to the ground—she merely shed a few tears and kissed the cold hand of her mistress.
Hermann now resolved to approach the coffin. He knelt down upon the cold stones and remained in that position for some minutes; at last he arose, as pale as the deceased Countess herself; he ascended17 the steps of the catafalque and bent18 over the corpse... At that moment it seemed to him that the dead woman darted19 a mocking look at him and winked20 with one eye. Hermann started back, took a false step and fell to the ground. Several persons hurried forward and raised him up. At the same moment Lizaveta Ivanovna was borne fainting into the porch of the church. This episode disturbed for some minutes the solemnity of the gloomy ceremony. Among the congregation arose a deep murmur21, and a tall thin chamberlain, a near relative of the deceased, whispered in the ear of an Englishman who was standing22 near him, that the young officer was a natural son of the Countess, to which the Englishman coldly replied: “Oh!”
During the whole of that day, Hermann was strangely excited. Repairing to an out-of-the-way restaurant to dine, he drank a great deal of wine, contrary to his usual custom, in the hope of deadening his inward agitation23. But the wine only served to excite his imagination still more. On returning home, he threw himself upon his bed without undressing, and fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up it was already night, and the moon was shining into the room. He looked at his watch: it was a quarter to three. Sleep had left him; he sat down upon his bed and thought of the funeral of the old Countess.
At that moment somebody in the street looked in at his window, and immediately passed on again. Hermann paid no attention to this incident. A few moments afterwards he heard the door of his ante-room open. Hermann thought that it was his orderly, drunk as usual, returning from some nocturnal expedition, but presently he heard footsteps that were unknown to him: somebody was walking softly over the floor in slippers24. The door opened, and a woman dressed in white, entered the room. Hermann mistook her for his old nurse, and wondered what could bring her there at that hour of the night. But the white woman glided25 rapidly across the room and stood before him—and Hermann recognised the Countess!
“I have come to you against my wish,” she said in a firm voice: “but I have been ordered to grant your request. Three, seven, ace7, will win for you if played in succession, but only on these conditions: that you do not play more than one card in twenty-four hours, and that you never play again during the rest of your life. I forgive you my death, on condition that you marry my companion, Lizaveta Ivanovna.”
With these words she turned round very quietly, walked with a shuffling26 gait towards the door and disappeared. Hermann heard the street-door open and shut, and again he saw some one look in at him through the window.
For a long time Hermann could not recover himself. He then rose up and entered the next room. His orderly was lying asleep upon the floor, and he had much difficulty in waking him. The orderly was drunk as usual, and no information could be obtained from him. The street-door was locked. Hermann returned to his room, lit his candle, and wrote down all the details of his vision.
VI
Two fixed27 ideas can no more exist together in the moral world than two bodies can occupy one and the same place in the physical world. “Three, seven, ace,” soon drove out of Hermann’s mind the thought of the dead Countess. “Three, seven, ace,” were perpetually running through his head and continually being repeated by his lips. If he saw a young girl, he would say: “How slender she is! quite like the three of hearts.” If anybody asked: “What is the time?” he would reply: “Five minutes to seven.” Every stout28 man that he saw reminded him of the ace. “Three, seven, ace” haunted him in his sleep, and assumed all possible shapes. The threes bloomed before him in the forms of magnificent flowers, the sevens were represented by Gothic portals, and the aces29 became transformed into gigantic spiders. One thought alone occupied his whole mind—to make a profitable use of the secret which he had purchased so dearly. He thought of applying for a furlough so as to travel abroad. He wanted to go to Paris and tempt30 fortune in some of the public gambling-houses that abounded31 there. Chance spared him all this trouble.
There was in Moscow a society of rich gamesters, presided over by the celebrated32 Chekalinsky, who had passed all his life at the card-table and had amassed33 millions, accepting bills of exchange for his winnings and paying his losses in ready money. His long experience secured for him the confidence of his companions, and his open house, his famous cook, and his agreeable and fascinating manners gained for him the respect of the public. He came to St. Petersburg. The young men of the capital flocked to his rooms, forgetting balls for cards, and preferring the emotions of faro to the seductions of flirting34. Narumov conducted Hermann to Chekalinsky’s residence.
They passed through a suite35 of magnificent rooms, filled with attentive36 domestics. The place was crowded. Generals and Privy37 Counsellors were playing at whist; young men were lolling carelessly upon the velvet-covered sofas, eating ices and smoking pipes. In the drawing-room, at the head of a long table, around which were assembled about a score of players, sat the master of the house keeping the bank. He was a man of about sixty years of age, of a very dignified38 appearance; his head was covered with silvery-white hair; his full, florid countenance39 expressed good-nature, and his eyes twinkled with a perpetual smile. Narumov introduced Hermann to him. Chekalinsky shook him by the hand in a friendly manner, requested him not to stand on ceremony, and then went on dealing40.
The game occupied some time. On the table lay more than thirty cards. Chekalinsky paused after each throw, in order to give the players time to arrange their cards and note down their losses, listened politely to their requests, and more politely still, put straight the corners of cards that some player’s hand had chanced to bend. At last the game was finished. Chekalinsky shuffled41 the cards and prepared to deal again.
“Will you allow me to take a card?” said Hermann, stretching out his hand from behind a stout gentleman who was punting.
Chekalinsky smiled and bowed silently, as a sign of acquiescence42. Narumov laughingly congratulated Hermann on his abjuration43 of that abstention from cards which he had practised for so long a period, and wished him a lucky beginning.
“Stake!” said Hermann, writing some figures with chalk on the back of his card.
“How much?” asked the banker, contracting the muscles of his eyes; “excuse me, I cannot see quite clearly.”
“Forty-seven thousand rubles,” replied Hermann.
At these words every head in the room turned suddenly round, and all eyes were fixed upon Hermann.
“He has taken leave of his senses!” thought Narumov.
“Allow me to inform you,” said Chekalinsky, with his eternal smile, “that you are playing very high; nobody here has ever staked more than two hundred and seventy-five rubles at once.”
“Very well,” replied Hermann; “but do you accept my card or not?”
Chekalinsky bowed in token of consent.
“I only wish to observe,” said he, “that although I have the greatest confidence in my friends, I can only play against ready money. For my own part, I am quite convinced that your word is sufficient, but for the sake of the order of the game, and to facilitate the reckoning up, I must ask you to put the money on your card.”
Hermann drew from his pocket a bank-note and handed it to Chekalinsky, who, after examining it in a cursory44 manner, placed it on Hermann’s card.
He began to deal. On the right a nine turned up, and on the left a three.
“I have won!” said Hermann, showing his card.
A murmur of astonishment45 arose among the players. Chekalinsky frowned, but the smile quickly returned to his face.
“Do you wish me to settle with you?” he said to Hermann.
“If you please,” replied the latter.
Chekalinsky drew from his pocket a number of banknotes and paid at once. Hermann took up his money and left the table. Narumov could not recover from his astonishment. Hermann drank a glass of lemonade and returned home.
The next evening he again repaired to Chekalinsky’s. The host was dealing. Hermann walked up to the table; the punters immediately made room for him. Chekalinsky greeted him with a gracious bow.
Hermann waited for the next deal, took a card and placed upon it his forty-seven thousand roubles, together with his winnings of the previous evening.
Hermann showed his seven.
There was a general exclamation47. Chekalinsky was evidently ill at ease, but he counted out the ninety-four thousand rubles and handed them over to Hermann, who pocketed them in the coolest manner possible and immediately left the house.
The next evening Hermann appeared again at the table. Every one was expecting him. The generals and Privy Counsellors left their whist in order to watch such extraordinary play. The young officers quitted their sofas, and even the servants crowded into the room. All pressed round Hermann. The other players left off punting, impatient to see how it would end. Hermann stood at the table and prepared to play alone against the pale, but still smiling Chekalinsky. Each opened a pack of cards. Chekalinsky shuffled. Hermann took a card and covered it with a pile of bank-notes. It was like a duel48. Deep silence reigned49 around.
Chekalinsky began to deal; his hands trembled. On the right a queen turned up, and on the left an ace.
“Ace has won!” cried Hermann, showing his card.
“Your queen has lost,” said Chekalinsky, politely.
Hermann started; instead of an ace, there lay before him the queen of spades! He could not believe his eyes, nor could he understand how he had made such a mistake.
At that moment it seemed to him that the queen of spades smiled ironically and winked her eye at him. He was struck by her remarkable50 resemblance...
“The old Countess!” he exclaimed, seized with terror.
Chekalinsky gathered up his winnings. For some time, Hermann remained perfectly51 motionless. When at last he left the table, there was a general commotion52 in the room.
“Splendidly punted!” said the players. Chekalinsky shuffled the cards afresh, and the game went on as usual.
Hermann went out of his mind, and is now confined in room Number 17 of the Obukhov Hospital. He never answers any questions, but he constantly mutters with unusual rapidity: “Three, seven, ace!” “Three, seven, queen!”
Lizaveta Ivanovna has married a very amiable53 young man, a son of the former steward54 of the old Countess. He is in the service of the State somewhere, and is in receipt of a good income. Lizaveta is also supporting a poor relative.
Tomsky has been promoted to the rank of captain, and has become the husband of the Princess Pauline.
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1
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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3
stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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ace
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| n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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12
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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14
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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29
aces
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| abbr.adjustable convertible-rate equity security (units) 可调节的股本证券兑换率；aircraft ejection seat 飞机弹射座椅；automatic control evaluation simulator 自动控制评估模拟器n.擅长…的人( ace的名词复数 )；精于…的人；（ 网球 ）（对手接不到发球的）发球得分；爱司球 | |
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tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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33
amassed
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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abjuration
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| n.发誓弃绝 | |
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cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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50
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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51
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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52
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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54
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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