ledge, the present volume is the most
comprehensive anthology of the Russian short story in the English
language, and gives a fair notion of the achievement in that field.
All who enjoy good reading, I have no reason to doubt, will get
pleasure from it, and if, in addition, it will prove of assistance to
American students of Russian literature, I shall feel that the task
has been doubly worth the while.

Korolenko's _Shades_ and Andreyev's _Lazarus_ first appeared in
_Current Opinion_, and Artzybashev's _The Revolutionist_ in the
_Metropolitan Magazine_. I take pleasure in thanking Mr. Edward J.
Wheeler, editor of _Current Opinion_, and Mr. Carl Hovey, editor of
the _Metropolitan Magazine_, for permission to reprint them.

[Signature: Thomas Seltzer]

"Everything is subordinated to two main requirements--humanitarian
ideals and fidelity to life. This is the secret of the marvellous
simplicity of Russian literary art."--THOMAS SELTZER.

BEST RUSSIAN SHORT STORIES

THE QUEEN OF SPADES

BY ALEXSANDR S. PUSHKIN

I

There was a card party at the rooms of Narumov of the Horse Guards.
The long winter night passed away imperceptibly, and it was five
o'clock in the morning before the company sat down to supper. Those
who had won, ate with a good appetite; the others sat staring absently
at their empty plates. When the champagne appeared, however, the
conversation became more animated, and all took a part in it.

"And how did you fare, Surin?" asked the host.

"Oh, I lost, as usual. I must confess that I am unlucky: I play
mirandole, I always keep cool, I never allow anything to put me out,
and yet I always lose!"

"And you did not once allow yourself to be tempted to back the red?...
Your firmness astonishes me."

"But what do you think of Hermann?" said one of the guests, pointing
to a young Engineer: "he has never had a card in his hand in his life,
he has never in, his life laid a wager, and yet he sits here till five
o'clock in the morning watching our play."

"Play interests me very much," said Hermann: "but I am not in the
position to sacrifice the necessary in the hope of winning the
superfluous."

"Hermann is a German: he is economical--that is all!" observed Tomsky.
"But if there is one person that I cannot understand, it is my
grandmother, the Countess Anna Fedotovna."

"How so?" inquired the guests.

"I cannot understand," continued Tomsky, "how it is that my
grandmother