Chapter 6 06. Lottery

Ivan Dmitritch, a well-to-do man whose family spent twelve hundred rubles a year, had always been quite satisfied with his lot.One day after dinner, he sat down on the sofa and began to read the newspaper. "I forgot to read the newspaper today," said his wife as she cleared the dining table. "Look, is there a lottery number on it?" "Ah, yes," answered Ivan Dmitritch, "is your lottery ticket not mortgaged?" "No, I took interest on Tuesday." "What number?" "Group 9499, number 26." "Okay ma'am...let me look it up...9499...26."

Ivan Dmitrich never believed that the lottery brought good luck, and would never have checked the lottery list at any other time, but at the moment he had nothing to do, and besides, the newspaper was right in front of him, so He stretched out his index finger and checked the group numbers of the lottery tickets one by one from top to bottom.As if laughing at his lack of confidence, the number 9499 jumped into view in the second line from above!He was not in a hurry to check the ticket number, and without checking it again, he immediately put the newspaper on his knees, and, as if someone had poured cold water on his stomach, he felt a pleasant chill in his heart: Itchy, crunchy, trembling, sweet!

"Martha, there's number 9499!" he said in a muffled voice. Looking at his astonished face, his wife understood that he was not joking. "Is it number 9499?" She turned pale and asked hastily, putting the folded tablecloth on the table again. "That's right, that's right...there really are!" "What about the ticket number?" "Ah, that's right! There's also the ticket number. But don't be too busy...wait a minute. How about not looking at it? Anyway, our group numbers match! Anyway, you understand..." Ivan Dmitritch looked at his wife, grinning foolishly, like a child looking at something shiny.The wife was also smiling: she was as happy as he was to see that he only read out the group number, but was not in a hurry to find out the number of the ticket that brought good luck.How sweet and thrilling it is to torment and stimulate yourself in the hope of good fortune!

"With our group number," Ivan Dmitritch said after a long silence, "it seems that we may win the lottery. Although it is only possible, it is still very promising!" "Okay, let's look at the ticket number!" "What are you busy with? I'll be very disappointed later! This number is the second line from top to bottom, so the prize money is 75,000. It's not money, it's strength, it's capital! Wait for me to check the number, see There's—twenty-six! Huh? Look, what if we really hit the lottery?" The couple began to smile, and looked at each other silently for a long time.The idea of ​​a possible chance of luck so bewildered them that they could not even imagine or tell what they both wanted the seventy-five thousand rubles for, what they wanted to buy, where they were going to travel.They were preoccupied with only two numbers: 9499 and 75000, and pictured them in their respective imaginations, and as for the possibility of happiness itself, they somehow did not think of it.

Ivan Dmitritch, with the paper in his hand, walked up and down the corners of the room several times, until he had calmed down from the first feelings, and began to dream a little. "What if we do win the lottery?" he said. "It's a new life, and it's a fortune! The lottery is yours, and if it's mine, I'll first, of course, spend twenty thousand Wu bought a piece of real estate similar to a manor; spent 10,000 on one-time expenses: buying new furniture, going out for a trip, repaying debts, etc. The remaining 45,000 was deposited in the bank for interest..."

"Yes, it's a good idea to buy a manor house," said the wife, sitting down and putting her hands on her lap. "Choose a good place in Tula Province or Orlov Province... Firstly, there is no need to buy a summer house; secondly, the estate will always be profitable." So he began to think about it, and each picture became more attractive and poetic.In all these images he found himself paunchy, calm, strong, warm, even hot.Look at him, just after drinking a plate of cold potpourri, he is lying on the hot sand beside the stream, or under the linden tree in the garden... so hot... A pair of little children crawled beside him Climb, dig a sand trap, or catch small beetles in the grass.He dozed off comfortably, thinking about nothing, feeling with his whole body and mind that he didn't have to go to work whether today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow.When he got tired of lying down, he went to mow the grass, or went to the forest to pick mushrooms, or went to see how the farmers used the big nets to catch fish.When the sun went down, he took a towel and soap and walked slowly into the changing room on the shore, where he unhurriedly took off his clothes, rubbed his bare chest with his palms for a long time, and then jumped into the water .And in the water, around those dark silver soapy ripples, small fish swam and green weeds swayed.After taking a bath, drink milk tea, eat some butter and egg sweetbread... go for a walk in the evening, or play Went with the neighbors.

"Yes, just buy a manor," said the wife, she was also fantasizing, and it was obvious from her face that she was obsessed with thinking about it. Ivan Dmitritch again paints to himself the rainy autumn, the cold evenings, and the fair early autumn.At such times, he should consciously go for a lot of walks in the garden, in the vegetable garden, on the river bank, so that he can cool off well, drink a large glass of vodka, eat some pickled pine mushrooms or gherkins mixed with fennel oil, and then --Continued Cup.The children ran home from the vegetable garden and dragged a lot of carrots and green radishes, which were so fresh that they all smelled of earth... After that, they lay down on the couch, read a pictorial leisurely, and then put He closed the pictorial on his face, unbuttoned his waistcoat, and took a nap comfortably...

After the sunny and early autumn, it is the season of continuous rain.It rained day and night, the bare trees were weeping, and the autumn wind was damp and cold.The dogs, the horses, the hens, were all wet, listless, and cowering.There is nowhere to go for a walk, and I can't go out in this weather, so I have to pace up and down the room all day, looking at the dark windows sadly from time to time, how boring it is! Ivan Dmitritch stopped and looked at his wife. "I, you know, Martha, want to travel abroad," he said, and he began to plan: going abroad in late autumn, going to the south of France, Italy, or India, how wonderful it would be!

"Then I have to go abroad too," the wife said, "Okay, just check the ticket number!" "Don't be busy! Wait a little longer..." He paced up and down the room again, continuing to think to himself.A thought suddenly popped up in my mind: what should I do if my wife really wants to go abroad?It is pleasant to travel abroad alone; or it is also pleasant to travel with a group of women who are easy to get along with, carefree, and enjoy themselves in time; A woman who would be frightened even if she spent a small amount of money went out together.Ivan Dmitrich imagined: his wife entered the carriage with numerous packages and baskets; At the parking station, I had to run down to get boiling water, buy sandwiches and mineral water... She was reluctant to go to the restaurant because the food there was too expensive...

"Look, she will take care of every penny I spend!" Thinking of this, he glanced at his wife, "Because the lottery ticket is hers, not mine! Besides, why should she go abroad? What world can she see there? Resting in the hotel, and not letting me go a step away from her...I know!" Then he noticed for the first time in his life that his wife was old, ugly, and smelled of cooking fumes all over her body.But he is still young, healthy, and full of energy, and even if he gets married again, it will not be a problem. "Of course, these are small things, nonsense," he thought again, "but... what is she going abroad for? Naples is no different than Clynn, to say the least. She just gets in my way. I just have to defer to her. I can imagine that once she gets the money, she puts six locks on it like a bitch... hides the money Don't let me know. She will give money to relatives in her natal family, and care about every penny for me."

Ivan Dmitritch immediately thought of her relations.All these brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts, when they heard that she had won the lottery, would definitely come to her door, beggars begging for money, smiling coquettishly and pretending to be false.Hateful and pitiful people!Give them money, and they want more; don't give it—they'll curse, make a fuss, and wish you bad luck. Ivan Dmitritch thought again of his relatives.He used to be calm when he saw them, but now he thinks they are hideous and annoying. "They're little people!" he thought. At this moment, even his wife felt repulsive and annoying.He was so angry with her that he thought gloatingly: "She doesn't know anything about money, that's why she's so stingy. If she really wins the lottery, she'll give me a hundred rubles at most, and the rest—all locked up. " At this time, he no longer smiled, but looked at his wife with hatred.She looked up at him too, with the same hatred and anger.She had her own colorful dreams, her own plans and her own ideas; she knew very well what her husband dreamed.She knew who would be the first to reach out to grab her winnings. "Using other people's money to make such a dream!" Her eyes clearly said, "No, don't even think about it!" The husband understood her eyes, and hatred rolled in his chest.He wanted to annoy his wife, deliberately against her, quickly glanced at the fourth page of the newspaper, and announced triumphantly: "Group 9499, No. 46! Not No. 26!" Both hope and hatred vanished at once, and Ivan Dmitritch and his wife felt at once that their house was so dark, small, and low, that the dinner they had just had was not full, and their stomachs were very uncomfortable. ; and the autumn nights are long and dreary... "Damn knows how," said Ivan Dmitritch, beginning to show his temper, "wherever you step, there are papers, crumbs, and claw husks under your feet. The house is never cleaned! People just want to run away from home, what the hell! I'll go and hang myself at the first poplar tree I touch."

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