An hour later, the two Poles who earlier in the day had been thrown out of the casino, made a reappearance behind the old lady’s chair and renewed their offers of service, even if only to be sent on errands; but Potapych told me these rascals exchanged winks with the said “gentleman of honour”, and the latter handed something to them. Next, since Grandmother had not yet had lunch – she had scarcely left her chair for a moment – one of the two Poles ran to the casino restaurant and brought her a bowl of soup and afterwards some tea. In fact both Poles hastened to run errands for her. Eventually, at the end of the day there were no fewer than six natives of Poland who had never been seen or heard before: and as soon as the old lady staked the coin in question, they took no further notice of her, but pushed their way past her chair to the table, grabbed the money and staked it, shouting and arguing all the while, and squabbling with “the gentleman of honour” (who had also forgotten Grandmother’s existence) as though he was their equal. Even when Grandmother had lost everything and was returning to the hotel, some three or four Poles could not bring themselves to leave her, but continued running beside her chair and protesting volubly that Grandmother had cheated them and that she ought to be made to hand over what was not hers. Thus the party arrived at the hotel, from which the rogues were unceremoniously ejected.
Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Gambler”, 1866
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