The Tambov Treasurer’s Wife by Mikhail Lermontov. Short summary

5 seconds

Ulan Garin falls in love with the wife of the treasurer, an inveterate gambler. One day he invites Ulan to play cards, expecting him to lose, but ends up losing his wife to him himself.

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There was a shortage of suitors in Tambov, and the beautiful Avdotya was betrothed to the elderly treasurer Bobkovsky. The husband was a fortunate gambler. When ponters from all the counties look at his wife, he does not prevent this. For the more a ponter falls in love, the quicker he loses his fortune.

One day when Dunya was embroidering at the window, she spots Garin the lancer in the window of the house opposite. A «peek-a-boo romance» begins between the characters. Soon the man’s mere glances become insufficient.

Waiting for the treasurer to leave, he visits his wife. Ulan attempts to win the woman’s sympathy by threatening to kill himself. When this does not work, Garin falls to his knees and begins to beg. At this time, the treasurer returns and the frustrated lover has to leave.

In the evening Bobkovsky organizes a card game in his house, where he invites his rival, expecting him to lose. But this time the treasurer is out of luck. Trying to win back, he bets his wife and loses her to Garin.