Three, seven, ace: the basic numbers of Jewish metaphysics - Eli Bar-Yaalom - LJ. Three seven ace - what is this game connected with, and what is its meaning? I bet a seven and an ace on three

My husband and I lived together for many years. There was everything: both good and bad. They were never particularly luxurious, but they were not poor either. True, my husband was always unlucky with work. As soon as he gets involved in the business, finds, so to speak, a profitable place, something will definitely happen... It has always been like this. Once my Vasya got a job at a construction site, he received good money, and here it is for you! - breaks his leg. Not at work, but at home: on the weekend I fell from a stepladder. Times were harsh then, the labor code was not held in high esteem, so the owner of the construction company threw my husband out onto the street even without severance pay: they say, we have a business, not an almshouse.

There was another episode... My husband served as a bartender on a cruise river ship. The income is also good, plus tips from tourists. But soon food and drinks suddenly began to disappear from the buffet. Of course it's a scandal. The first mate came at my husband and said, “Where are you going to throw the good stuff?” Vasily got upset, couldn’t bear the insults, and got into a fight. They almost imprisoned him then, but a thunderstorm passed by. But Vasya still had to quit. And a couple of years later we learn from the newspapers about the exposure of a whole gang of robbers who operated in that shipping company. By the way, the senior mate also appeared in the note. Once again Vasya suffered through no fault of his own.

However, the case I want to tell you about is of a different kind. Here the husband is entirely to blame. I won’t lie and I won’t whitewash my husband either... Vasily was already fifty when he was hired for a good job - as a cashier-manager in a trading organization. Outbound trade, a whole network. Do you know the so-called weekend fairs? They probably visited. Allegedly, farmers sell their products there. So... These are not farmers. These are sellers from various large trading companies who supply goods to stores and are engaged in sales in such markets. Vasily was responsible for market trade. In the morning, he handed out goods to the sellers at the warehouse, and in the evening he accepted the balances and proceeds. It’s a responsible task, but not too troublesome: my husband managed it quite well and always had money, and he also took food at the purchase price and brought it home.

It should be noted that he never had any bad habits: Vasya didn’t even smoke. At the same time, he was always very responsible. I lived as if behind a stone wall, but time, as it turned out, changes people...

One evening, my husband called home and said that he would be late at work. This had happened before, so I, very tired during the day, calmly went to bed. That night I had a terrible dream: my husband, sitting at a wide table covered with green cloth, plays cards with several strangers. He is very angry, worried, sweat flows in streams down his face - it is clear that he is losing. One stranger coolly raises the bet, the other two fold. My husband reveals his cards, and the next moment his opponent, with a calm smile, grabs all the money from the table. It turns out that instead of an ace, the husband had a queen of spades in his hands - just like Pushkin in the famous story. This was indeed the case - I had a great look at the cards laid out by Vasily. And then I was horrified. I look at my beloved and cannot recognize him. A frantic, uncomprehending look rushes in my direction, he points at me with a shaking finger and screams. “I bet her!” At that moment I woke up. Tears flowed down my cheeks, and a bad feeling tormented my soul.

In the morning my husband returned. He was unrecognizable. At first I decided that he was drunk, he behaved so inappropriately. However, he did not smell of alcohol. Yes, I repeat, he never drank at all. He told me that once in his youth he and his comrades cheated and got so poisoned that from then on he couldn’t even think about alcohol. In general, I didn’t understand what was happening to Vasily... And he flatly refused to talk. Locked yourself in the bathroom, turned on the water - think what you want. I knocked all my fists down while I was knocking, demanding to come out.

A few hours later, Vasily appeared from the bathroom, sat down in the kitchen under the window, sighed and admitted to me that he had lost a huge amount of government money at cards. Of course, there was no queen of spades instead of an ace. I think my husband just ran into professional gamblers, or even cheaters. But the fact remains: the colossal amount collected that evening from the sellers, the husband had to give to complete strangers. Vasily cried, said that he was under hypnosis, and I sat in silence, numb with horror. In the evening some scary men arrived, as I understood - from the company where my husband worked. A conversation took place between them and their husband in a raised voice. I didn’t hear him completely, but I remembered the phrase uttered by one of the visitors: “Do what you want, but in a week you return every penny of the money.”

We sold the apartment, but the proceeds were still not enough to pay off the debt. Then the owner of the company involved the police in the case. Vasily was arrested, and a few months later he was convicted and sent to prison. Now I think that it was for the better: after all, they could have killed - you yourself know what morals were like in the late nineties! No wonder they are called dashing. This is how my terrible dream completely came true: my husband betrayed me, putting his family well-being at stake.

It's finished! I haven’t used the services of a travel agency for almost six months, due to my workload with home and school affairs, and it’s finally summer, and I can forget about everything, especially since the vacation came suddenly. And now I’m already in the forefront of signing up for the excursion “The Noble Estate of Maryino”.

There was a slight glitch when boarding the bus; the bus arrived less than expected. But in the end, this worked to my advantage, since I was riding in the first seat, although I don’t like the first half of the bus because there is no way to stretch my legs, but there were no options.

Why am I writing all this and because, thanks to this event, I involuntarily began to keep an eye on the road and mentally pretend to be the driver. And since I am responsible for driving (although not everyone is aware of this), then, accordingly, I read all the road signs, look where I need to turn, who to let pass or, on the contrary, not to let pass, in general there are so many things to do - so many things to do.

And so we were driving along a long road in a bright day and white signs with the names of settlements flashed in front of us and literally a couple of kilometers before Maryino the inscription “Usadishche” flashed.

At that moment when I was looking for the difference between Arkhangelsk and Tsaritsyno, I was extremely worried about this question and it was then that I read that “Usadishche” is the old Russian name for an estate, or rather a synonym that had a similar meaning: estate, estate, estate, estate.

It’s funny, I thought, having encountered such a coincidence on the eve of visiting the Maryino estate. And since there is a sign, it means that today you will be lucky in everything. 60 kilometers flew by even faster in business and worries, and now we are already in place, and the open gates of the estate are beckoning us to them.

At noon, at noon

The summer air is still.

Let's go, let's go

Around Paris, around Paris.

If only, if only... © Igor Kornelyuk

Even if not in Paris, the air was also still, and meanwhile we walked along the territory of the estate, towards the house. The excursion began a little hectic, we were divided into groups, put on shoe covers and all this action took place in a very cramped hallway, sorry reception (although why all Russian hotels use this word is not clear). But now everyone was counted and handed over to the guides and our first group followed a very impressive lady of Balzac’s age, dressed in a chic pink dress, the second group was luckier: they got a young man. Why are you luckier? Yes, because the first issue of the excursion program was an invitation to proceed to the rooms. Agree, in our enlightened age, hearing such a proposal from a woman is complete bad manners.

But we had no choice and we quickly walked in orderly rows through the Portrait Gallery along copies of paintings by the Romanov family (not all portraits were included in the collection, there are more of them).

The guide noted that all the paintings were copies and were donated to the estate by the Russian Museum. And before us is actually the number of the Queen of Spades. This room and similar rooms with other literary names are offered for everyone to stay. The services provided by the estate include the use of all premises. In addition, in the estate's wardrobe there are about 60 outfits from the era we need - also for public access, which will certainly allow you to pierce not only time, but also to become part, for a brief moment, of this space, parading in an exotic outfit and in the old halls. Well, for all the mundane questions about the fee and other conditions, the guide immediately sent them to the cashier to find out, that is, to the entrance room.

The old Countess *** was sitting in her dressing room in front of the mirror. Three girls surrounded her. One was holding a jar of rouge, another a box of hairpins, the third a tall cap with fiery-colored ribbons. The Countess did not have the slightest pretension to beauty, which had long since faded, but retained all the habits of her youth, strictly followed the fashions of the seventies and dressed just as long, just as diligently, as sixty years ago...© Queen of Spades.

It is to her, the prototype of the main character of this work - Princess Natalya Golitsyna, that essentially everything in this estate is subordinated. In the issue of the Queen of Spades, the portrait of her is at a younger age and is not as terrible as the description made by our poet-writer.

What is the Queen of Spades? These are our cards - three, seven, ace! three, seven, queen! And maps are everywhere, on the territory, in the house.

Pay attention to the table.
After visiting the standard room, we proceeded to the White Hall (formerly the Golden Hall).

But first of all, you need to get to know the owners. While we were on the bus, there was a series of names, events, and I got a little confused, but with the visuals, everything fell into place. Natalya Golitsyna, our “Queen of Spades”, is Sophia’s mother. And the portrait of Sophia is below.

Golitsyna Sofya Vladimirovna (1775-1845) at the age of 17 meets

Count - Stroganov Pavel Alexandrovich (1774-1817), also Lieutenant General, also a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812. The marriage produces 1 son - Alexander and 4 beautiful daughters. And although there was a rule in Russia not to send the only successor of the family to war, he went there and died in battle. The grief of the parents was immeasurable, the relationship between them worsened and in 1817 Pavel himself died, at the age of 43.

The eldest daughter, Natalya Pavlovna, marries Sergei Grigoryevich Stroganov’s second cousin and the count’s title passes to him in order not to lose the family line.

After the death of her husband, having gathered all her strength into a fist, Sophia begins to deal with all the financial issues of the family, and there are many of them, these include estates and factories, and in different cities. What can I say, apparently she took after her mother in character, a very strong and strong-willed woman, who in the history of even this estate sounds more than her immediate owner.

But while we were told about each member of the family, whose portraits hang in the white hall, my attention was drawn to the paintings on the ceilings.

The estate was originally built by Andrei Voronikhin (1759-1814), using the previous house as a basis; in 1817, a global reconstruction of the estate began by A. Voronikhin’s student, the architect Ivan Kolodin.

To them, Kolodin, in the Pompeian style, the ceilings of the hall were painted, they were made on canvas and pasted onto the surface.

And we have already encountered the Pompeian style in the description.

From the White Hall we pass through a small room, dubbed the green room, into the Library Hall. In the passage the parrots sang songs to us loudly.

The walls of the “Green” room are covered with what appears to be silk. Both the furniture and the fabric on the walls combine very beautifully, moreover, in other rooms we will then see upholstery made from this fabric. When we hear the word “green,” we remember that Sophia’s mother (our Queen of Spades) loved to come to Maryino and a green stroller was prepared for her arrival, in which she took walks around the estate. The Stroganovs were famous for their extensive library, over 25 thousand books in seven languages, and we, by the way, are already in the library hall.

Now the bookshelves are empty and I think the day will come when they too will be completely filled.

From the library hall we proceeded to the Raspberry living room.

Each section of the living room is conducive to a leisurely pastime, the sofa beckons invitingly to itself, and says - “sit on me, drink some tea, there’s no need to rush anywhere.”

The chairs by the fireplace echo him, interrupting him - “light the fire, take a glass of cognac and enjoy.” But we do not hear the secret words and rush forward and higher.

The road leads to the second floor, where the family’s private chambers are located through the Gothic hall. And here I didn’t understand why it was Gothic, rather Greek, antique (although there is an antique one, but it is empty and not worth attention at the moment) or something else.

I was even struck by the marble design, it seems that the veins are showing through, I just want to send the girl to the doctor - “You, my dear, need to be treated! run to the phlebologist, and extremely urgently!”

We go up a small staircase to the second floor and pass through a series of rooms that are among the personal chambers of the Queen of Spades (whether this is true or not, I think is not important).

Many drawings and photographs were transferred to the Russian Museum and restoration work was carried out on them.

It’s somehow not very comfortable to walk on the floor - where are the skins, the heads are clearly superfluous.

But the Red Living Room is not only so bright, but also the most beautiful, in my opinion, in the series of halls of the estate and fully lives up to its name. Although in Rus', the red corner was considered the most elegant corner in the house, all the best, paintings, images were hung there.

I also liked the giant vases painted with different themes; somehow they fit very appropriately into the interiors of all the rooms.

After visiting the second floor we went down to the basement. During the restoration, all the paint and other details were stripped down to the bricks, which are more than a hundred years old. It was decided to leave them that way. By the way, previously there were factories on the territory of the estate: brick, tile and adobe. It is surprising that despite the presence of a tile factory, in those photographs and drawings that have been preserved, there are no marks about rooms in the style of tiles, like in the Menshikov Palace, for example.

Previously, in the basement there were pantries, a kitchen, wine cellars, glaciers for storing food, and people lived.

Today there are small collections of household items, small banners, stove dampers, etc., partially functional premises that were previously located.

And along the side stairs we go up to the Hunting Hall, animal faces brazenly look at us from all sides and the most pleasant part of the excursion begins - tea drinking.

Cup, saucer, jam - that’s what awaited us all as a simple tea party. A little later the pies were served, slightly warm.

Although not a simple tea party, but with pies. To be honest, I really wanted to act out, pour tea into a saucer and snort noisily, but it’s a pity I didn’t do anything like that, the decency of this century, however. But this hooliganism would not have been like that, I’ll tell you, because tea traditions among the nobles had also developed by that time.

It was getting dark; on the table, shining,

The evening samovar hissed,

Chinese teapot heating;

Light steam swirled beneath him.

Spilled by Olga's hand,

Through the cups in a dark stream

Already the fragrant tea was running,

And the boy served the cream © Evgeniy Onegin.

And according to tradition, there should be a samovar on the table (there wasn’t), jam (there was), a variety of pastries (there were 2 pies with cabbage, 1 with meat and 1 with apples) and attention - drinking tea from a saucer. Tea drinking was long, but not in our case, since the limit of teapots was limited; during it, up to several dozen cups were drunk.

Among the nobility, the English tea tradition was used: tea was drunk at a set table, from a porcelain or silver service, often with milk. The main thing was communication, but here we were each on our own. Moreover, each family could have its own special conditions for drinking tea, especially since the 18th century, tea drinking became a fashionable hobby. The wife or eldest daughter poured the tea, but did not pour it to the brim and always served the cup on a saucer. And with us it was like this - if you want to drink, if you don’t want to, don’t drink. And if you want, then pour it yourself.

And of course, there was a short walk around the estate. During which we visited a destroyed church before the owners got their hands on it. By the way, a few words about the owner - since 2008, Maryino has been owned by Galina Stepanova, who bought it and is now restoring it to the best of her ability, simultaneously purchasing neighboring lands so that the construction of cottages does not block historical sites.

Old buildings have been restored on the territory of the estate; I looked, of course, to see what losses they suffered, but I couldn’t find them. At different points of the estate there are easels with copies of paintings by Ermolai Yesakov - the estate in drawings. True, not all angles are consistent.

There are also new objects, located at some distance from the historical part of the estate and look quite original.

The estate had five main exits and each exit was guarded by lions. Some in the back were a little lazy and slept more than they were on duty.

If we talk about other owners of the estate, then there is a big connection with hunting. It is as a symbol of this part that we see images of greyhound dogs everywhere in the estate. But time passes, and the “Silent Hunt” project has been implemented in the present. Carp are bred in the pond.

And what else did I remember? The Maryino estate has been constantly participating in annual events held by the Russian Museum since 2011. Thus, in 2015, their Magic Carpet won the Audience Award. I missed 2016 and 2018, but in 2017 I couldn’t find their composition, again dedicated to Hermann and Dame (although I found information about it on the Russian Museum website).

There are past works on the territory of the estate:

As part of the exhibition “Imperial Gardens of Russia” 2013 (photo below from the Internet).

The composition took 1st place in the category “Shelter dressed in the radiance of muses.”

As part of the exhibition “Imperial Gardens of Russia” 2016 (photo below from the Internet).

In the “Flower Arrangement” category, the estate project received the Grand Prix, as well as a special festival award – the Audience Award.

Now the truth doesn’t look very good at all (bare frame) and I didn’t even take a photo of it, I was surprised at such a strange presence in the park. And on this rosy note associated with prizes and gifts, I end my walk around the estate, because I have to take the bus back, and on weekends there are a lot of traffic jams on the highway. It’s better to go with music and we turn on the music and quietly sing along:

Queen of Spades
She's always a mystery
Doom hangs over her
And freezes sweetly
The player who gave it all

Destroys other people's destinies
Will not save you from grief
She loves to laugh
When we are unlucky © Vyacheslav Dobrynin

(This article is not the ultimate truth, but just an assumption).

Do you remember, friends, the story of A. S. Pushkin “The Queen of Spades”? A young military engineer, Hermann, leads a modest life and saves money; he never picks up cards and limits himself only to watching the game. His friend Tomsky tells a story about how his grandmother, the countess, while in Paris, lost a large sum in a card game. She tried to borrow from the Count of Saint-Germain, but instead of money, he revealed to her the secret of three winning cards. The Countess, thanks to the secret, completely won back. Hermann was shocked by this story to such an extent that he decided to take a desperate step. The young man seduces the countess's pupil, Lisa, enters the old woman's bedroom, and begins to pry out her cherished secret with pleas and threats. Seeing Hermann armed with a pistol, the Countess dies of a heart attack. At the funeral, Hermann imagines that the late countess sometimes looks at him. In the evening, her ghost appears to Hermann and says that three cards (“three, seven, ace”) will bring him a win, but he should not bet more than one card per day. Three cards become an obsession for a man.

The plot of “The Queen of Spades” was suggested to Pushkin by the young Prince Golitsyn, who, having lost, regained the lost money by betting, on the advice of his grandmother, on three cards that had once been suggested to her by Saint Germain himself. Golitsyn claimed that this actually happened!

It's getting more and more interesting! Isn't it true, my dear readers? After the first secret, the next one immediately opens, and I promise it will not be the last mystery in this topic. How many times, reading the story of A. S. Pushkin, have we wondered what the cards mean: three, seven, ace, queen of spades? What terrible secret is hidden in the story of the great writer? But, indeed, Pushkin encrypted a message in these treasured game cards for the people. Which? Yes, it's very simple. He set the date of his death in advance. See for yourself:

1) Ace is the first card in the deck, which means we write 1

2) Three - 3

3) Seven - 7

The last card is a queen, that is, the death of the poet. Here, I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to be smart and designate a woman with your own hands. You see, you draw an oval of a guitar in the air, or the number 8 in another way. And what do we end up with? The brilliant Russian writer and poet A. S. Pushkin in his work “The Queen of Spades” predicted the date of his death - 1837! Q.E.D. “Why didn’t anyone guess you before, you ask me?” Do you really think so? Many guessed it, but a secret should always remain a secret, and people reading the story “The Queen of Spades”, like it or not, would think about what these treasured cards in Pushkin’s story actually mean? Maybe, indeed, the writer knew a lucky card combination in which the player was guaranteed to win?

In addition to the encrypted information with cards, there is a second semantic series of “The Queen of Spades”, which I understand like this! Lucky cards (three, seven and ace) are a literary gift that Pushkin owned, and the queen of spades is a secret (information), the writer gave it to his readers, and for this, he was killed in a duel in 1837, but he could live in abundance for many years.

“Your lady was killed,” Chekalinsky said affectionately. Hermann shuddered: in fact, instead of an ace, he had a queen of spades. He couldn’t believe his eyes, not understanding how he could have gotten away with it. At that moment it seemed to him that the Queen of Spades squinted and grinned. The extraordinary resemblance struck him..."

His lady is beaten! Herman exchanged Lisa for a deck of cards. He was not going to fulfill the main condition set to him by the old woman: to marry her poor pupil. He deceived an old sick woman and was deceived himself; the cunning man played and lost his own life. For a century now, many people in the world have been puzzling over the main question of Pushkin’s novel “The Queen of Spades”: “Is there a formula for success in a card game or not?” To solve this mystery, you apparently need to become a military engineer, Hermann, and live his difficult life from birth.

I wanted to put a big fat point on this story, but that was not the case. What if we interpret Pushkin’s treasured maps in this way? The poet's death occurred due to a vicious love triangle:

Ace - Emperor of Russia Nicholas 1 (secret lover of Pushkin’s wife).

Lady - Natalya Goncharova.

Seven - A. S. Pushkin.

Troika - Dantes (provocateur of the king).

Paris. 1783 France is passionately in love with its queen, Marie Antoinette, and she is crazy about lavish balls and gambling. Following fashion, on one bitter July night the Duke of Orleans gives a costume ball. In the luxurious deck of his palace living room, a variety of colors were mixed: knights, shepherdesses, courtesans, Egyptian pharaohs, gypsies.

All the ladies are extremely excited, because the most mysterious and desired guest of the high society of his era, the Count of Saint-Germain, is present at the ball. The women eagerly look for him, wanting at all costs to draw the attention of the exalted guest to themselves...

But for several hours in a row he stares without stopping at the one who has eclipsed the beauty of all the women he has ever met. And the count had a lot of them: even Casanova considered Saint-Germain his main rival...

But here and now, in the center of the playing hall at a table with a luxurious green cloth, in the costume of the Queen of Spades, sits the “Moscow Venus” - this is what the Russian princess Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna has recently been called at Versailles. She is about forty, but no one knows about her real age. Stately, graceful, with a tenacious, piercing gaze, this Russian is more beautiful and desirable than all the young French women combined. But being a beauty queen is not enough for her; she longs to be the best at the gambling table. The capricious fingers of her bloodless hands hold several cards in a death grip.

Move. Another move. Move again. The stakes are rising. Reckless even for the Russian princes, not to mention the French. And suddenly - a surprised and disappointed sob from the crowd. This is a verdict: Natalya Petrovna loses an unimaginable sum to the owner of the palace, the Duke of Orleans himself. Prince Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn, Natalya Petrovna’s husband, covers his mouth with his hand so as not to scream in horror - the scale of the loss is catastrophic.

Without losing her majestic arrogance, the “Moscow Venus” gets up and heads towards the exit, shattering the wall of icy silence. The husband, having quickly taken his leave, catches up with her. Count Saint-Germain finally comes out of his stupor and casts a look full of love and hope after the Queen of Spades. Now he knows how to approach this unapproachable beauty.

The appearance of playing cards in Russia dates back to 1600. But at first they did not take root and were an overseas curiosity, incomprehensible to Russian people. Only under Anna Ioannovna did card games penetrate into all homes, at balls, dinners, lunches, and even at services. The Empress, understanding the harmful influence of gambling on the Russian people, categorically forbade it. But it was the court ladies and gentlemen who became the most avid gamblers. They not only mastered the games that came from abroad, but also came up with a number of new ones, no less gambling and exciting.

As a result, card games have become firmly established in the leisure time of all segments of the Russian population. Avid gamblers were required to possess a number of psychological qualities. First of all, it is endurance and the ability to control your emotional state. Loss of self-control was seen as a sign of bad taste. To worry or be indignant about a major loss or, on the contrary, to rejoice at a win was considered unworthy of a nobleman.

By the middle of the 17th century, the entire high society was infected with the “card disease.” Uppercut, fifth, bullet, dark - it seemed that even children knew the card terminology. Gambler Alexander Pushkin also knew about it firsthand. Once he lost most of his novel “Eugene Onegin” at cards, but still managed to win back and regain the rights to his brilliant work. It was the gamblers and their serious passions that prompted the great Russian poet to write the story “The Queen of Spades.” It is no coincidence that he chose the following lines as the epigraph to it:

And on rainy days

They were going
Often;
They bent - God forgive them! —
From fifty
One hundred
And they won
And they unsubscribed
Chalk.
So, on rainy days,
They were studying
Business.

According to legend, Pushkin took as the basis for the plot of “The Queen of Spades” a real story, which he allegedly heard from Prince Sergei Grigorievich Golitsyn, his grandson

nephew of Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna. However, first things first.

The Golitsyns get into the carriage, which slowly drives away from the palace of the Duke of Orleans.

Natalya Petrovna, I demand an explanation! Where are you going to get the money to pay off this disgusting gambling debt unworthy of a decent woman?! - barely restraining his disgusted anger, Vladimir Borisovich whispers, leaning towards his wife.

Natalya Petrovna turns away from the prince and doesn’t say a word the whole way. Only after crossing the threshold of her luxurious apartment in the center of Paris, she, poorly hiding her disgust at everything that is happening, quietly says:

“I’m very tired and don’t want to explain anything, do me a favor, go... to sleep.”

Vladimir Borisovich blushes deeply, perspiration appears on his forehead. Hissing like a samovar, he stamps his foot:

- Yes I! Yes you... Yes, this is unheard of! Your games are already in my throat! Not only do you get confused at night with someone unknown, but you’re also wasting my entire fortune!

“It’s not a big fortune,” Natalya Petrovna ironically remarks, taking off her coat.

- I won’t give you money this time, do you hear?! I'm not giving it! If you want, put your reputation on the line! - the prince shouts and, grinning, adds: “But I’m afraid they’ll give it cheap!”

Natalya Petrovna slaps her husband in the face. And one more. Then he says in an icy tone:

- If you please, go to bed in another room today! I don't want to see you.

Only when she finds herself in her bedroom does Natalya Petrovna begin to cry and bite her elbows. Well, how could she lose, because luck was in her hands... A knock on the door brought her back to reality. The maid reported an unexpected visit from the Count of Saint-Germain. Natalya Petrovna's heart sank. A plan for further action instantly formed in her head... Going out to the count, who looked at her with a gaze blazing with love, she already knew that she was saved from the shame of a gambling debt.

In the 18th century, the whole of Paris went crazy for Saint-Germain. They said that he was more than a thousand years old, and he himself claimed that he witnessed historical events long before our era. Charlatan, sorcerer, swindler - whatever men called him, women went crazy over the mysterious character. Those who were lucky enough to see the count were amazed by his extraordinary beauty, stature and aristocracy.

Saint Germain was an honored guest at the courts of kings and emperors of different countries. Claiming to be able to predict the future, he achieved great fame. In particular, Louis XV regularly used the predictions and advice of Saint Germain. Madame Pompadour also resorted to the services of the mysterious count, and Catherine II’s lover, Count Orlov, paid Saint-Germain colossal sums of money for the opportunity to look into the future and see Russia’s military victories in certain battles.

Many remember him for his dazzling diamonds, luxurious watches and incredibly expensive shoe buckles. Saint-Germain played all known musical instruments, spoke dozens of languages ​​and dialects, had a phenomenal memory, could write with both hands at the same time and even read sealed letters. Like his predecessors and followers, he worked to uncover the secret of eternal youth and gave women mind-blowing gifts in the form of creams with a secret composition.

And now, in the pre-dawn hour in the center of Paris, he stands in front of the one at whose feet he is ready to throw everything he has achieved in life. Princess Golitsyna is all he needs for complete happiness! However, after a couple of minutes of conversation with his goddess, he understands: this is a fiasco. She only needs money... Well, fine. He will repay her in the same coin.

- I will reveal to you a secret combination of cards. “You will not only win back, but also hit the jackpot,” says Saint-Germain in a weak, colorless voice.

Inspired, Natalya Petrovna rushes to him with hugs, but he abruptly stops her.

“Not a single living soul should ever know this secret.” Otherwise... It’s better for you not to know the horror that you will experience every second, both in your dreams and in reality.

In exchange for his secret and in revenge for a broken heart, the count demanded a very specific payment from the “Moscow Venus”, becoming Golitsyna’s first lover. After the first night, Saint-Germain disappeared from the princess’s life, only to appear shortly before her death.

The secret combination of cards told by Saint-Germain worked one hundred percent. Golitsyna performed brilliantly and returned in triumph from Paris to St. Petersburg. Covered with glory, she turns her mansion at the intersection of Gorokhovaya and Malaya Morskaya into the first secular salon of St. Petersburg. The first is not in order, but in sophistication, luxury and excitement. There is a queue to see the princess. To appear at Golitsyna’s house means to enter a narrow circle of the most respected people in St. Petersburg.

Before the girl is brought out into the world for the first time, she is always shown to the princess, and she nods, approving the candidate, or, on the contrary, “rejects” the frightened guest with a secret gesture of her fan. In her house, famous dinners throughout St. Petersburg are held with enviable regularity, which are attended even by members of the royal family. In their presence, the table is set with silver donated by Peter I himself.

The imperial family did not see anything wrong with visiting the house on Gorokhovaya. And all thanks to Golitsyna’s origins. She, if not the equal of the kings, is from the first circle of those close to her.

Natalya Petrovna’s grandfather was Chief General Ushakov, head of the Office of Secret Affairs under Anna Ioannovna. The chief intelligence officer of those years had a stern, almost ruthless disposition. His decree of April 10, 1730 ordered to inform on one’s neighbor “without any fear or fear of the same days” and proclaimed: “It is better to make a mistake by reporting than by silence.” Knowing the hard-hearted character of the princess, they whispered in society: “Everything like the murderer grandfather.”

Another grandfather of Princess Golitsyna was Peter I’s orderly Grigory Chernyshev. The same one who later rose to the rank of Moscow Governor-General. The emperor, at his discretion, married his assistant to a young lady - Avdotya Rzhevskaya. According to legend, at the age of fifteen she became the king's mistress. At sixteen, Peter, probably trying to hide the consequences of the affair, married her to Chernyshev. But according to rumors, he did not break ties with his mistress until the end of his life.

There is a version that Evdokia had four daughters and three sons from the tsar - at least, on the sidelines, paternity was attributed to Peter I. But, given Evdokia’s overly frivolous disposition, many could lay claim to paternity. One way or another, having given his mistress in marriage, the founder of St. Petersburg gave her a rich dowry: the newly-made family was given estates, four thousand peasants and titles.

The granddaughter of great descendants Natalya Golitsyna became the most titled lady of state in St. Petersburg. Catherine II herself helped her in preparing for her wedding with the handsome, but completely characterless Prince Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn. Natalya Petrovna was not against this union - most of all in life she valued titles and titles, so she married a man who was almost ruined, but with a big name.

The Golitsyns became the parents of five children - three sons and two daughters. However, the couple’s life together has become unbearable since the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, personally taught Natalya Petrovna how to play card games. The Russian princess began to spend all nights in gaming halls, coming home in the morning drunk with excitement.

The brilliant Natalya Petrovna knew neither grief, nor melancholy, nor boredom. For decades, she played a successful game and was at the center of all social events in St. Petersburg. Her visits to Europe were also a resounding success. But a few years before her death, one day she turned from a lucky, spoiled princess into a mystical old woman - the Queen of Spades.

According to legend, on one of the dank gray days, Sergei Grigorievich Golitsyn, Natalya Petrovna’s great-nephew, asked for an audience. In the circle of St. Petersburg youth he was called nothing less than Firs - for his absurd character and unbridled craving for the game. But that day there was no trace of his polish and self-confidence left. From the threshold, he threw himself at the princess’s feet with a plea for help.

- Have mercy on me, Mother Natalya Petrovna! I lost everything, I died! I beg you, save me from shame! - he shouted, bursting into tears, hotly kissing her icy hand.

At that moment, Golitsyna’s whole life flashed before her eyes. She remembered that pre-dawn morning in Paris, Saint-Germain, his eyes that looked at her pleadingly... Then she only needed what this boy was asking for now.

“She didn’t give him any money, but told him three cards assigned to her in Paris by Saint-Germain. The grandson bet the cards and won back,” says the diary entry of Pavel Nashchokin, a close friend of Pushkin.

The grandson wiped away his tears, bowed and was like that. Along with her relative, the princess’s luck also left her forever.

Petersburg. January 1837. In one of the rooms of a huge mansion at the intersection of Malaya Morskaya and Gorokhovaya streets, an old princess sleeps restlessly. A month ago she turned 95 years old, or maybe 93. No one knows the exact age of the princess.

“I’ll pay you back tomorrow, no matter what it costs me!” — she groans in her sleep, lying on a bulky antique bed with carved balusters.

For several years now, the symbol of the social life of St. Petersburg, a formerly self-confident and influential woman in society, cannot get rid of the obsessive fear of impending misfortune. Outside the window she constantly sees a mysterious black officer, whom she calls “the angel of death.” The old woman is sure that it was Saint Germain himself who came for her, but she is afraid to say the name of her lover out loud.

“He came to punish me for the sins of my youth,” Golitsyna moans in horror, covering her face with wrinkled hands...

Close relatives, concerned about Natalya Petrovna’s behavior, suggest that the old woman has lost her mind. Servants are strictly prohibited from opening curtains. Having turned to their physician Arendt for help, they receive a diagnosis: persecution mania. The princess is receiving intensive round-the-clock care, but no one feels pity for this arrogant, uncompromising and once powerful lady.

But only now, at the turn of the last year of her life, she is more sincere than ever. And only now the princess, who became the prototype of Pushkin’s Queen of Spades, is ready to tell the secret that has been weighing heavily on her heart for many years. Of course, she paid for her unbridled love of cards, for her heartlessness and for betraying him twice - the great Count of Saint-Germain...

According to legend, Saint Germain's secret combination consisted of three cards: three, seven, and ace. It was she who became a winner for Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna, about whose triumph in the story “The Queen of Spades” Pushkin will write: “That evening, grandmother came to Versailles, to a card game with the queen. Duke of Orleans metal; Grandma slightly apologized for not bringing her debt, weaved a little story to justify it and began to pontificate against him. She chose three cards, played them one after another: all three won her Sonic, and the grandmother completely won back.”

The game Pharaoh, incredibly popular among ladies, which Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna played, was as simple as possible. It didn't require any analytical skills. The deck was divided into two parts - the right pile of cards was considered the banker's side, and the left was the player's side. The player chose any card from his deck at random (the suit does not matter), after looking at it first, and placed it face down in front of him. Then he indicated with chalk on the cloth of the card table the amount that he bet against the banker.

The banker, having agreed with the bet, began to throw his deck into two parts. If the same card that the player bet on fell to the right, he took the player’s money for himself. If the card fell to the left, then the winnings went to the player, and the banker counted his loss to him.

The simplicity and accessibility of the game contributed to the ladies completely losing their heads and betting all the family property. Pharaoh was actually the prototype of slot machines. Nothing depended on the player. The winner was determined only by luck. The fashion of ponting (choosing) three, seven or ace became widespread in St. Petersburg after the publication of Pushkin’s “Queen of Spades”. But this secret brought luck only to Golitsyna, because she learned it from Saint Germain himself.

The story of Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna’s total loss and sensational card win is so overgrown with legends that it is no longer clear what is truth and what is fiction. One thing is known: the story “The Queen of Spades” was published during the princess’s lifetime, and Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was very worried that the “mustachioed princess,” as Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna was called behind her back, would not get angry and curse him.

Whether she regretted that she could not restrain herself and betray Saint-Germain’s secret is not known for certain. But by a fateful coincidence, Pushkin and Golitsyna died in the same year: the great poet died on January 29, 1837, and Natalya Petrovna passed away on December 20.

The princess was buried in the cemetery of the Donskoy Monastery in the Golitsyn tomb. But even after death she had no peace. Her grave became a cult place for all gamblers. Before the revolution, gamblers came here to ask the princess to appear in their dreams and reveal a secret win-win combination of cards. And the intersection where the Golitsyn mansion stands today is still called the “Crossroads of the Queen of Spades.”

A.S. Pushkin’s wonderful story “The Queen of Spades”, as soon as it appeared in 1833, immediately puzzled the entire Russian reading world! She did not fit into any usual framework. The mystical plot was confusing.

Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century was not surprising with ghosts, secrets and bloody events. Romanticism, creepy, cruel, surreal, having come to Russia from England and Germany, in the 30s had already largely lost the charm of novelty.

A very similar situation is in our cinema and literature, which are trying in vain to invent new, fresh, uglier monsters. And in vain! The reader is used to it, the viewer is used to it. Everything goes in a circle that has already been passed a hundred times.

“The Queen of Spades” amazed readers with its emphasized everydayness, which only 30-40 years later will come to our literature under the name of critical realism. There is nothing of a romantic heroine in the old princess’s pupil, young lady Lizaveta Ivanovna, who so understandably and familiarly suffers due to the catastrophic lack of suitors. There is nothing of a romantic hero in Hermann, who dreams of only one thing: to get rich at any cost. But this any price for him is limited to fairly strict limits: he is ready for fraud and meanness, but not for murder!

And suddenly, against such a super-down-to-earth background, with an unusually local, colloquial language for literature of the beginning of the century, the story about the ghost of the old countess and her three cards unfolds.

Moreover, Hermann was lucky twice! Both three and seven won! Only unlucky with the ace! Absolutely mysteriously unlucky! Suddenly the queen of spades appeared instead of the ace! Why? Where?

And most importantly, what did Pushkin want to say with this whole story? For the author himself, what happened here? Did the late countess take revenge on Hermann for not fulfilling the conditions and not marrying Lizaveta Ivanovna? And how does all this fit in with the realistic setting of the story?

There was even an article about this in the 80s. The author put forward a completely realistic explanation for what happened as a hypothesis; apparently, he has extensive experience in card games.

For gambling, a new, unopened deck was used each time to eliminate the possibility of fraud. And every time before the start of the game, this deck was thoroughly kneaded to separate the sticky cards. And the author of the article puts forward a hypothesis that Hermann simply did not stretch his deck enough and therefore put the queen and ace stuck together.

But this, of course, is a rather curious hypothesis.

But there is an interesting detail at the very beginning of the story, in the second chapter. Hermann has not yet seen the old countess and does not know Lizaveta Ivanovna. He was simply present at a card game, where the joker Tomsky told an anecdote about the intimate relationship between the “Venus of Moscow” and the famous magician Count Saint-Germain. The theme emerges of the mysterious three cards that always win when dealt under certain mysterious conditions.

Herman returns home and lies awake at night, thinking about this amazing opportunity to get rich. And at the same time he does not allow himself to believe in such fantastic things, he convinces himself not to believe it.

Stop! Yes, they sounded right in front of us: three, seven. And as an ace - peace and independence!

What happens? Pushkin warned us that the mysterious three cards, three-seven-ace, were sitting in Herman’s head even before meeting the old countess! And this whole story with the ghost is just an approximation of his madness.

But why did three and seven win? Well, there are such coincidences!