The Gamblers by Nikolai Gogol. Short summary

5 seconds

The story of how three cheaters cheated the fourth one out of his eighty-thousand-dollar winnings.

1 minute

The cheater Ikharev, who recently won eighty thousand, stopped at a provincial inn. Three other cheaters, dreaming of beating someone for a large sum, learn of this. They meet Ikharev and propose to act together.

The swindlers tell Ikharev that landlord Glov lives in the same tavern and that he has sold his estate. He is to receive two hundred thousand soon.

The landowner leaves and leaves his son to wait for the money. The gamblers beat the young man for two hundred thousand, and he signs a bill of exchange.

An official comes looking for Glov. He tells them that the money is delayed for two weeks. But the three cheaters need the money urgently, they are leaving for the big game. They offer Ikharev to give them his eighty thousand, and in return they will give him a bill of exchange.

Ikharev agrees. It turns out that the whole situation is rigged and there is no Glov, his son, or the official.