Leo Tolstoy

“ Nekhliudof woke up about eleven, and called me in.
"They haven't sent me any money yet," says he, "But it isn't my fault. Shut the door," says he.
I shut the door.
"Here," says he, "take my watch or this diamond pin, and pawn it. They will give you more than one hundred and eighty rubles for it, and when I get my money I will redeem it," says he.
"No matter, sir," says I. "If you don't happen to have any money, it's no consequence; let me have the watch, if you don't mind. I can wait for your convenience." ”

“ Now, just look here! Evenings, he and the prince plays for fifty silver rubles a game; and here he only lost a bottle of Makon wine, and got mad. That's the kind of a character he is.
Another time he and the prince plays till two o'clock. They don't bank down any cash; and so I know neither of them's got any cash, but they are simply playing a bluff game.
"I'll go you twenty-five rubles," says he.
"All right."
Just yawning,--and not even stopping to place the ball,--you see, he was not made of stone,--now just notice what he said. "We are playing for money," says he, "and not for chips." ”

“ He learned to play French carom and pyramid pool,--everything, in fact. He became less bashful, got acquainted with everybody, and played tolerably well. Of course, being a young man of a good family, with money, everybody liked him. The only exception was the "tall visitor"; he quarreled with him.
And the whole thing grew out of a trifle.
They were playing pool,--the prince, the " tall visitor," Nekhliudof, Oliver, and some one else. Nekhliudof was standing near the stove talking with some one. When it came the big man's turn to play, it happened that his ball was just opposite the stove. ”

“ And so we began to play. Well, when I won ten half-rubles of him, I says:--
"Don't you want to make it double or quit, sir?"
He said nothing. Formerly, if you remember, he would call me durak, fool, for such a boldness. But now we went to playing "quit or double."
I won eighty rubles of him.
Well, what would you think? Since that first time he used to play with me every day. He would wait till there was no one about, for of course he would have been ashamed to play with a mere marker in presence of others. ”

“ I keep my eyes open. "What," thinks I, "will come of it?"
"Come," says the prince, "come with me now."
"No; not for anything," was his answer.
"Now, that is absurd," says the prince. "Come along!"
They went out.
They came back at one o'clock. They sat down to supper; quite a crowd of them were assembled. Some of our very best customers,--Atanof , Prince Razin, Count Shustakh, Mirtsof. And all congratulated Nekhliudof, laughing as they did so. They called me in; I saw that they were pretty jolly.
"Congratulate the barin," they shout. ”

“ He sort of sidled up to the table, caught his pocket on the edge, began to chalk his cue, dropped his chalk.
Whenever he hit the ball, he always glanced around, and reddened. Not so the prince. He was used to it; he chalked and chalked his hand, tucked up his sleeve; he goes and sits down when he pockets the ball, even though he is such a little man.
They played two or three games; then I notice the prince puts up the cue, and says, "Would you mind telling me your name?"
"Nekhliudof," says he. ”

“ I made a stroke so as to knock the ball off of the billiard-table. No so luck would have it. Do what I might, he even missed the doublet. I had won again.
"Listen," says he. "Piotr,"--he did not call me Petrushka then,--"I can't pay you the whole on the spot. In a couple of months I can pay three thousand even, if it were necessary."
And there he stood just as red, and his voice kind of trembled.
"Very good, sir," says I.
With this he laid down the cue. Then he began to walk up and down, up and down, the sweat running down his face. ”

“ When men get going that way, there's no good in anything; nothing comes to any good... E-ekh! we are going to the dogs, and no mistake The late mistress (the kingdom of heaven be hers!) left us a rich inheritance: no less than a thousand souls, and about three hundred thousand rubles worth of timber lands. He has mortgaged it all, sold the timber, let the estate go to rack and ruin, and still no money on hand. When the master is away, of course, the overseer is more than the master. What does he care? He only cares to stuff his own pockets. ”

“ I, Petrushka the marker, was pretty well known to everybody.
Only, of course, I did not care to show my hand yet. I lost my second game.
"It does not become me at all to play with you, sir," says I.
He laughed. Then, as I was playing the third game, he stood forty-nine and I nothing. I laid the cue on the billiard-table, and said, "Barin, shall we play off?"
"What do you mean by playing off?" says he. "How would you have it?"
"You make it three rubles or nothing," says I.
"Why," says he, "have I been playing with you for money?" The fool! ”

“ He even went so far at times as to borrow a ruble of me to pay a hack-driver; and yet he would still play with the prince for a hundred rubles' stake.
He grew gloomy, thin, sallow. As soon as he came he used to order a little glass of absinthe, take a bite of something, and drink some port wine, and then he would grow more lively.
He came one time before dinner; it happened to be carnival time, and he began to play with a hussar. ”

“ And so he won six rubles from each of them. God knows how many games he had won from the prince, yet I never knew them to pay each other any money; but Nekhliudof took out two greenbacks, and handed them over to him.
"No," says he, "I don't want to take your money. Let's square it: play `quits or double,' [4] --either double or nothing."
I set the balls. Fedotka began to play the first hand. Nekhliudof seemed to play only for fun; sometimes he would come very near winning a game, yet just fail of it. Says he, "It would be too easy a move, I won't have it so." ”

“ The prince was there,--the two are always together. The mustached barin was there; also the little hussar, Oliver, who was an actor; there was the Polish pan. [1] It was a pretty good crowd.
The tall visitor and the prince were playing together. Now, here I was walking up and down around the billiard-table with my stick, keeping tally,--ten and forty-seven, twelve and forty-seven.
Everybody knows it's our business to score. You don't get a chance to get a bite of anything, and you don't get to bed till two o'clock o' nights, but you're always being screamed at to bring the balls. ”

“ Come," says Fedot; "let's go up-stairs; there you shall have your revanche."
Up-stairs with us meant the place where the gentlemen used to play cards.
From that very day, Fedotka wound his net round him so that he began to come every day. He would play one or two games of billiards, and then proceed up-stairs, every day up-stairs. ”

“ I suppose they were talking about family affairs.
"Au revoir" says the prince. "I am very glad to have made your acquaintance."
He washed his hands, and went to get a lunch; but the other stood by the billiard-table with his cue, and was knocking the balls about.
It's our business, you know, when a new man comes long, to be rather sharp; it 's the best way. ”