"The Gambler and the Swordsman, the Gambler and the Duelist" by Boris Vasiliev, summary Automatic translate

This 1998 historical novel is written in the form of discovered family memoirs. It recounts the life of a young Russian nobleman in the first third of the nineteenth century. The pages of his diary entries bring to life the difficult post-World War II era. The reader encounters echoes of the Senate Square uprising. The author describes the poet Alexander Pushkin’s exile in Bessarabian and the brutal fighting in the Caucasus. The story is told from the perspective of the brave combat officer Alexander Oleksin. The young hero’s personal dramas are closely intertwined with the fate of a vast country.

This work opens the extensive family series "Oleksins." Chronologically, it is the first book in the cycle. It sets the stage for the events of the other volumes. This series also includes the well-known novels "True Stories and Untold Tales," "The House That Grandfather Built," and "Assuage My Sorrows." This literary cycle traces the origins of the character development of the Russian service intelligentsia.

Youth and a fatal duel

A young guards ensign, Alexander Oleksin, returns to his family estate. He is passionately in love with Annette, who is the daughter of a neighboring count. The proud neighbor categorically refuses the young man entry into his home. Insulted, Alexander tries to forget his sorrows at the card table. He loses heavily in Veliky Novgorod. Then, miraculously, he wins back a huge debt from some hardened card sharpers. Rumors of the debts quickly reach Alexander’s father. Brigadier Ilya Ivanovich sternly reprimands his son.

At the ball, the old count publicly calls Alexander a scoundrel. A neighbor resoundingly slaps the officer. The count has learned from his wife about his daughter’s secret encounters with the young neighbor. The insulted rivals meet at the barrier. Alexander nobly fires into the air. The count coolly aims at the young man’s forehead. At the last moment, the old man pulls the heavy pistol away. A whistling bullet tears off Oleksin’s scalp. A gray scar remains for life. After a loud scandal, Annette’s father is hastily taken abroad.

Bessarabian exile and gypsy fortune telling

Alexander is transferred from the brilliant guards to a simple army regiment. Due to past duels, he temporarily finds himself in southern Chisinau. He meets the poet Alexander Pushkin and Major Vladimir Raevsky. Pushkin is deeply bored in exile. He fences extensively with Oleksin in the local hall. The new friends visit a noisy gypsy camp. An old gypsy woman confidently predicts prison, a soldier’s greatcoat, and great love for Alexander.

The young man soon learns of a escalating conflict between the poet and the renowned duelist Rufin Dorokhov. Alexander intends to deflect trouble from Pushkin. He deliberately provokes the dangerous Dorokhov into a fight. The duel takes place with sharp swords. Dorokhov proves to be a superb swordsman, inflicting several serious wounds on the young man. With his last strength, Alexander lunges forward. The officer seriously wounds his experienced opponent. The brutal conflict is resolved, and Pushkin is saved from death.

Secrets and seditious verses

Major Raevsky draws Alexander into a dangerous adventure. The friends intend to help the noble bandit Ursul escape from a secure fortress. Oleksin secretly enters the guarded casemate disguised as a simple fisherman. The young man possesses incredible physical strength. He pushes aside the thick, rusty prison bars with his bare hands. Meanwhile, Pushkin distracts the old commandant with long conversations and strong punch. Ursul makes a daring and successful escape.

Soon, Alexander Sergeyevich gave the young man a complete copy of the poem "Andrei Chenier." Censors strictly prohibited the publication of forty-four lines of this famous work. Pushkin personally transcribed the seditious verses for Oleksin. The great poet soon left the sweltering heat of Chisinau. Alexander also returned to his permanent post in the Pskov province.

The hero’s new love

Back home, the hero deeply misses his lost Annette. He soon meets her sweet cousin, Polina. The girl is staying at the spacious estate of her grandfather, the general. Polina is fragile and possesses a profound, insightful mind. She genuinely empathizes with young Alexander’s heartache. She understands his secret suffering better than anyone else. Gradually, a strong, tender attachment develops between the young people.

The young man formally proposes to Polina. In a burst of pure emotion, he shows his bride the poem "Andrei Chenier" he gave her. Polina immediately grasps the hidden meaning of Pushkin’s dangerous lines. She takes a light pen and quickly writes the heading "For December 14th" above the text. The lovers joyfully prepare for their upcoming wedding. Alexander feels a long-awaited sense of family peace.

Gendarmerie casemates

The family idyll is shattered by a violent uprising on Senate Square. Major Raevsky is immediately arrested. Soon, grim gendarmes come for Alexander. During a lengthy search, they discover Pushkin’s list with Polina’s dangerous addition. Oleksin is roughly thrown into the damp dungeons of the Moscow fortress. Then he is secretly sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress. In the cold casemate, the young man suffers agonizingly from constant hunger and coughing. He meditatively reads the Bible daily and paces the kilometers around his cramped cell.

During lengthy interrogations, Chief Gendarme Alexander Benckendorff imperiously demands the handing over of the author of the postscript. Alexander clearly understands the impending threat. He is determined to protect his fiancée and the poet at any cost. Oleksin concocts a very coherent story. He stubbornly claims to have won the poems from an unknown horse pioneer in a drunken gambling frenzy. The hero grants official manumission to his loyal serf, Savka. The grateful servant swears to his master’s false story. The gendarmes are unable to break the strong Alexander.

Deprivation of rank and the Caucasus

The officers’ court harshly condemns Oleksin for his free-thinking conversations with soldiers. The officer is brutally demoted to the rank of private and exiled to the distant Caucasus. Alexander is assigned to a combat rifle battalion of the Apsheron Regiment. He serves honorably under the command of the prudent Lieutenant Moller. The battalion is under the undivided command of the cruel, human-like Major Afanasyev. The former youth courageously endures all the unimaginable hardships of a soldier’s harsh lot.

During the bloody assault on the village of Akhulgo, the battalion stealthily advances along a narrow rock ledge. This dangerous mountain path overhangs a raging river. The Russian detachment suffers enormous combat losses. Mountain women furiously drop heavy stones on the helpless soldiers. Chechen women, screaming wildly, throw themselves into the bottomless abyss. Alexander fearlessly fights hand-to-hand. The soldier displays true miracles of bravery. The company commander nominates him for the Order of St. George. Major Afanasyev angrily crosses the name of the demoted nobleman from the award list.

Rescuing the captives

Embittered Chechens suddenly kidnap General Grabbe’s pregnant wife and her young companion, Vera. The companion turns out to be a longtime friend of Alexander’s. The military command strictly orders Moller to free the women without the slightest delay. Oleksin turns to the sharp-shooting abrek, Beslan, for secret assistance. Alexander had previously nobly saved this stern mountaineer’s young son from certain death. The abrek reluctantly agrees to secretly lead the Russian detachment to the remote village of Adzhi-Yurt.

Alexander silently removes the posted sentry. The terrified captives are safely escorted out of the sleepy village. On the difficult return journey, the small detachment overtakes a large mounted force of enraged highlanders. A long, unequal, and bloody battle ensues. Moller’s marksmen heroically repel the enemy’s frantic attacks. The commander suffers a very serious gunshot wound. Oleksin confidently assumes command. The exhausted soldiers hold on with their last strength. Suddenly, long-awaited reinforcements arrive with cannons. The general’s wife and her young companion are miraculously saved.

Losses and Return

General Grabbe personally and warmly thanks Alexander. The rescued Vera becomes the happy bride of the recovering Lieutenant Moller. The general immediately sets off for the distant capital to fervently intercede for the brave soldier. Oleksin lives peacefully in the general’s luxurious home. Soon, the hero receives terrible, tragic news: his elderly father, Ilya Ivanovich, has died suddenly after a second stroke.

Soon, Alexander receives the long-awaited, saving imperial rescript. His lost officer rank is fully and unconditionally restored. The general solemnly presents the young hero with the Order of St. George. Oleksin immediately submits his resignation. He rushes to the Pskov province to visit his gravely ill fiancée. Polina is slowly and painfully dying from severe consumption. Alexander spends his days constantly at her bedside. Before her death, the weakening girl asks her fiancé to find an old silver plate she had once thrown into a pond. She fervently implores him to be sure he finds happiness. Polina dies quietly.

Finding happiness

Devastated by immense grief, Alexander returns to his family estate. He accidentally learns some incredible, joyful news. The proud old count next door has died. The beautiful Annette has long since returned from abroad. His former lover lives secluded on a neighboring estate with her young son. A terrible, unfortunate misunderstanding comes to light. The tongue-tied, persistent suitor shamelessly lied to Alexander about marrying Annette. The girl never married anyone.

Alexander quickly gallops to the neighboring estate. The lovers finally reunite after a long, difficult separation. They fervently forgive each other for the long years of silent suffering. Annette joyfully introduces Alexander to his son, Vanechka. This is Oleksin’s long-awaited child. The happy boy brings his guest fresh éclairs on an old silver platter. Alexander wholeheartedly understands the prophetic, profound wisdom of the late Polina. True love never rusts. It merely acquires a noble, eternal patina.