Alexei Ivanovich, a 25-year-old home teacher, lives with her family, an elderly general Zagoryansky, stepdaughter Polina and two young children, in a luxury hotel in the German resort of Ruletenburg. Back in Russia, the general mortgaged his estate to a certain Marquise De Grieux and has been looking forward to hearing from Moscow for six months about the death of a sick aunt Antonida Vasilyevna Tarasevicheva. Then De Grieux will take over the property of the general, and the latter will receive a large inheritance and marry the young beautiful Frenchwoman Mademoiselle Blanche, whom she has a crush on. The French, in anticipation of a lot of money, are constantly near the general, a man who is short-sighted and simple-minded, and also subject to strong passions. They all relate to Alexei Ivanovich, almost like a servant, which greatly affects his pride. In friendship, the Russian teacher consists only of the Englishman Astlei, an aristocrat and a rich man, an extremely honest, noble and chaste person. Both of them are in love with Pauline.
About two months ago, this beautiful and proud girl wished to make Alexei Ivanovich his friend. Between them, a kind of relationship was established between the “slave” and the “torturer”. An educated nobleman, but without money, Alexei Ivanovich is vulnerable to his dependent position - that’s why Pauline’s love for arrogant and arrogant with him is often mixed with hatred. The young teacher is convinced that only money can arouse the respect of others, including his beloved girl: “Money is everything!” The only way to gain them is to win at roulette. Polina also needs money, but for purposes that are still incomprehensible to Alexei Ivanovich. She does not believe in the seriousness of the hero’s love, perhaps because pride is too developed in him, sometimes reaching the desire to kill a cruel scorn. Nevertheless, at the whim of her master, the teacher makes an absurd act: he offends the Prussian baronial couple of the Wurmergelm during a walk.
In the evening, a scandal breaks out. The Baron demanded that the general deprive the place of the impudent "servant". He rudely crucifies Alexei Ivanovich. For his part, the latter is indignant at the fact that the general undertook to be responsible for his act: he himself was "a person legally competent." Struggling for his human dignity, even in the "lowered position" of the teacher, he behaves defiantly, and the matter really ends with his dismissal. However, for some reason the general was frightened by the intention of the former teacher to communicate with the baron himself. He is sending to Alexei Ivanovich De-Grieux now with a request to leave his venture. Seeing Alexey’s stubbornness, the Frenchman proceeds to threats, and then passes a note from Polina: “<...> stop and calm down <...> I need you <...>” “Slave” obeys, but is puzzled by De Grieux’s influence on Polina.
Met on the "boardwalk" Astley, to whom the hero talks about what happened, explains the case. It turns out that two years ago Mademoiselle Blanche had already spent the season in Ruletenburg. Abandoned by lovers, without money, she unsuccessfully tried fate on roulette. Then she decided to charm the baron, for which, according to the complaint of the baroness to the police, she was expelled from the city. Now, in an effort to become general, Blanche must avoid the attention of the Wurmergelm. Continuation of the scandal is undesirable.
Returning to the hotel, Alexei Ivanovich in amazement sees on the porch the “grandmother” who has just arrived from Russia, whose death the general and the French are in vain waiting for. This is a 75-year-old “formidable and wealthy <...> landowner and Moscow lady”, in an armchair, with paralyzed legs, with imperatively rude manners. Her arrival is “a disaster for everyone”: direct and sincere, the old woman immediately refuses the general money for his attitude to himself. She judges the "history" of Alexei Ivanovich with the Prussian baron from the standpoint of Russian national dignity: "you do not know how to support your fatherland." She cares about the unenviable fate of Polina and the children of generals; the servant for the patriarchal lady is also a "living person". Having disliked the French, she praised Astley.
Wanting to explore local sights, the grandmother tells Alexey Ivanovich to take himself to roulette, where he begins to place bets “in a frenzy” and wins a significant amount.
The general and the French fear that their grandmother will lose their future inheritance: they beg Alexei Ivanovich to distract the old woman from the game. However, that very evening she was again in the Voxal. This time, the eccentric Muscovite “profershpila” all cash and part of the securities. Repenting of frivolity, she intends to build a church in the Moscow Region and orders her to immediately gather in Russia. But twenty minutes before the train departs, it changes its plans: “I don’t want to be alive, I will win back!” Alexey Ivanovich refuses to accompany her to roulette. During the evening and the next day, the grandmother loses almost all of her fortune.
De Grieux leaves the city; Blanche "flings" the general away from himself, even ceasing to recognize him at a meeting. From despair, he almost loses his mind.
Finally, the old woman leaves for Russia with the money borrowed from Astley. She still has real estate, and she calls to her Polina in Moscow with her children. Having convinced himself of the power of passions, he speaks softer of the general: “Yes, and that unfortunate <...> it is a sin to blame me now."
In the evening, in the dark, Alexey Ivanovich finds Pauline in his room. She shows him a farewell letter to De Grieux. There was a connection between her and the Frenchman, but without her grandmother’s inheritance the prudent Marquis refused to marry. However, he returned to the general mortgages for fifty thousand francs — Polina's “own” money. Proud to passion, she dreams of throwing these fifty thousand into De Grieux 'sneaky face. Get them should Alexei Ivanovich.
The hero rushes into the gambling hall. Happiness smiles at him, and he soon brings a huge sum to the hotel - two hundred thousand francs. Even in the Voxal, the former teacher felt the “terrible pleasure of good luck, victory, power.” The game from the means of self-affirmation and "service" of the beloved turns for him into an independent, all-consuming passion. Even in the presence of Polina, the player cannot take his eyes off the “pile of tickets and gold packages” that he brought. The girl is hurt by the fact that for Alexei Ivanovich, as for De Grieux, other interests are more important than love for her. The proud woman refuses to accept fifty thousand for free and spends the night with the hero. In the morning with hatred he throws banknotes in the face of his lover and runs away.
The selfless friend Astley, sheltered ailing Polina, blames Alexei Ivanovich for misunderstanding her inner drama and inability for true love. “I swear I felt sorry for Pauline,” the hero echoes him, “but <...> from <...> the minute I touched the gambling table yesterday and began to rake in wads of money,” my love receded into the background, as it were. ”
On the same day, Blanche easily seduces a rich Russian and takes with him to Paris. Having taken possession of his money, she, in order to acquire a name and title, is married to a general who has arrived here. He completely "lost" and agrees to the most miserable role in the prudent and dissolute Frenchwoman. Three weeks later, Alexei Ivanovich, without regret about the wasted money, leaves his mistress and goes to roulette in Hamburg.
For more than a year and a half, he has been wandering around the "gambling" cities of Germany, sometimes dropping down to serve in lackeys and imprisonment for unpaid debt. Everything in him was “numb”.
And then - an unexpected meeting in Hamburg with Astlei, who was tracked down by Alexei Ivanovich on behalf of Polina, who lives in Switzerland with relatives of the Englishman. The hero learns about the death of his grandmother in Moscow and the general in Paris, and most importantly - about Pauline's unquenchable love for himself. It turns out that he was mistaken in thinking that she loved De Grieux. Astley considers his friend "a dead man", unable, due to his Russian character, to resist destructive passions. “Not the first you don’t understand what labor is (I’m not talking about your people). Roulette is primarily a Russian game. ”
“No, he is wrong! He is harsh and quick about the Russians, ”Alexei Ivanovich thinks in the hope of“ resurrecting ”in love with Polina. It is only necessary to "maintain character" in relation to the game. Will it come out?
