The Queen of Spades

By Alexander Pushkin

The classic short story of gambling and obsessive greed by the celebrated Russian author and poet.

An engineer with the Imperial Russian Army, Hermann never gambles with the other officers. But then he overhears the story of a countess who won a fortune using the secret of three magic cards. Obsessed with learning the secret, Hermann locates the elderly woman and poses as a suitor to her young ward. But when his deceitful plan takes a tragic turn, the consequences will haunt him to the point of madness.

Alexander Pushkin wrote “The Queen of Spades” in 1833. One of the most famous short stories in Russian literature, it was the inspiration for Tchaikovsky’s opera of the same name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Media
• Release date: Nov 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781504080262

Book preview

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THE QUEEN OF SPADES

Alexander Sergueievitch Pushkin

CHAPTER I.

There was a card party at the rooms of Narumoff, a lieutenant in the Horse Guards. A long winter night had passed unnoticed, and it was five o’clock in the morning when supper was served. The winners sat down to table with an excellent appetite; the losers let their plates remain empty before them. Little by little, however, with the assistance of the champagne, the conversation became animated, and was shared by all.

How did you get on this evening, Surin? said the host to one of his friends.

Oh, I lost, as usual. I really have no luck. I play mirandole. You know that I keep cool. Nothing moves me; I never change my play, and yet I always lose.

Do you mean to say that all the evening you did not once back the red? Your firmness of character surprises me.

What do you think of Hermann? said one of the party, pointing to a young Engineer officer.

That fellow never made a bet or touched a card in his life, and yet he watches us playing until five in the morning.

It interests me, said Hermann; but I am not disposed to risk the necessary in view of the superfluous.

Hermann is a German, and economical; that is the whole of the secret, cried Tomski. But what is really astonishing is the Countess Anna Fedotovna!

How so? asked several voices.

Have you not remarked, said Tomski, that she never plays?

Yes, said Narumoff, a woman of eighty, who never touches a card; that is indeed something extraordinary!

You do not know why?

No; is there a reason for it?

"Just listen. My grandmother, you know, some sixty years ago, went to Paris, and became the rage there. People ran after her in the streets, and called her the ‘Muscovite Venus.’ Richelieu made love to her, and my grandmother makes out that, by her rigorous demeanour, she almost drove him to suicide. In those days women used to play at faro. One evening at the court she lost, on parole, to the Duke of Orleans a very considerable sum. When she got home, my grandmother removed her beauty spots, took off her hoops, and in this tragic costume went to my grandfather, told him of her misfortune, and asked him for the money she had to pay. My grandfather, now no more, was, so to say, his wife’s steward. He feared her like fire; but the sum she named made him leap into the air. He flew into a rage, made a brief calculation, and proved to my grandmother that in six months

Reviews for The Queen of Spades

[la2bkk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An entertaining short story with twists and turns to hold your interest.Well I enjoyed this work, and appreciate that Pushkin can write so straightforwardly, I think many critics overate the significance of the work. While indeed it is a story of the travails of greed, I personally thought the work was quite simplistic.

[theidlewoman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One night, while playing cards, a group of idle young officers are entertained by the stories of their colleague Tomsky. He tells them a legend about his grandmother, the Countess X, who as a young woman lost a great deal of money at cards at Versailles. When her husband refused to pay her debts, she sought out the aid of her friend, the Count of Saint-Germain, who told her a secret technique by which, with only three cards, she could be sure of winning back her money. The officers are delighted by this story, but none more so than young Hermann. His financial caution has prevented him from ever joining in with the gambling, but if he could be sure of winning... why, he could set himself up for life! As time passes, the idea grows on Hermann and gradually he becomes obsessed with it. If only he could find a way to get into the Countess's presence! And then he spots the virtuous Lizaveta Ivanovna, the Countess's ward, sitting sewing in her window, and a cunning plan begins to take shape in his mind.This is another classic short story and, like Gogol's Nose (below), inspired an opera. Written in 1833, it's a delicious blend of unscrupulous ambition, avarice, immortality and eerie ghost story, and its message is clear: you get what you deserve. I hadn't read any Pushkin before and was delighted by his witty turn of phrase. For example, when asked why he doesn't play cards, Hermann explains that he is 'not in a position to risk the necessary in the hope of acquiring the superfluous'. And, when Lizaveta shyly asks Tomsky about Hermann, the young officer ebulliently replies: 'he has the profile of a Napoleon and the soul of a Mephistopheles. I think there must be at least three crimes on his conscience'. It was a real pleasure and I'll have to seek out some more of his work. Maybe one day, when I'm feeling brave, it'll be time for Eugene Onegin...

[thecrow2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A short story form Pushkin about a gambler, the `winning cards` and a revenge beyond the grave.

[reinadecopiaypega · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it - great ending. Karma !!!!

[hadriantheblind · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fine and haunting short story. Card games and cheating fate.

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very funny and bittersweet short story.