He reminds me of the young gambler in Zweig's novella Twenty-four Hours in a Woman's Life, which can be said to be the most vivid and accurate work describing gamblers in the history of world literature.
The author looks at the young gambler from the perspective of an aristocratic woman in her forties-"When he talks about the passion of gambling, the light makes his face twitch like an electric shock."
"With a nameless horror, I clearly see that this man has been poisoned too deeply. His passion for gambling has poisoned all his blood until the last drop."
Especially the description of gamblers is very classic and vivid.
"I looked at these hands all night-yes, staring at these unusual and almost unique hands-but first of all, what surprised me was their passion, their passionate expressions, and they intertwined and resisted each other like spasms. I suddenly realized that there is an energetic person here who is squeezing all his passion to the fingertips to avoid being blown to pieces by this passion. Now, now ... when the marble fell into the yard with a soft and crisp sound for the second time, the person in charge of the table reported the number ... these two hands suddenly separated, just like two wild animals were hit by bullets at the same time. They fell, both of them fell, and they were really dead, not just exhausted. They fell down, so vividly showing weakness and disappointment. If they are struck by lightning, they will die. I can't describe it in words. " -"Twenty-four hours in a woman's life"
He Fei in The Lost Him is quite similar to the young gambler in Zweig's novels.
How did He Fei become a gambler?
He Fei was born in a small town by the sea. His father is an alcoholic and his mother likes playing cards. He Fei did well in school, but his family couldn't afford to send him to college.
He left his hometown and went to a big city like Shanghai. He did various jobs, delivered takeout food and mixed wine. Later, I became a diver, earning 5,000 yuan a month, with almost no balance except rent and meals.
He lives in a small room in the basement. In such a tight life, he accidentally came into contact with gambling, perhaps because of the luck of a novice. He was lucky at first and made a lot of money.
In this neon-lit metropolis, gambling gave him a taste of money and gave him a short-lived dignity and charm. This made him addicted to gambling, but gambling on this kind of thing, as long as you don't leave the casino, will one day cost you everything.
He Fei began to borrow and gamble, owed debts that he could not repay, and was chased by creditors.
It was in this situation that He Fei met Li Muzi, found that she was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, and began to pursue her according to his liking.
Isn't this another round of gambling by He Fei?
This time, he was lucky. Like a white wolf, he won the bet. Li Muzi didn't mind his past, helped him pay off his gambling debts and married him. He also vowed to quit gambling in front of her.
However, he soon broke his word and Li Muzi stopped helping him pay his gambling debts. Why did he design a plan to kill his wife this time?
He Fei is young and handsome, handsome in appearance and clean in eyes, but his family is poor and he can't earn much money in big cities by his own ability. It is said that his typical ability is not worthy of ambition, which is also the reason why He flew away to gamble.
He Fei has many similarities with the young gambler in Zweig's novels. They are all handsome young people with sincerity and enthusiasm that can impress women.
But interestingly, the young gamblers in Zweig's novels are not poor and can't find a way out to gamble.
He was born in a wealthy aristocratic family, and his family paved the way for him. He will be a diplomat in the future. He successfully entered the university in Vienna and got excellent results in the exam. To celebrate, his uncle invited him to play and his father rewarded him with a sum of money. Living in my uncle's house, he went to the racetrack with his uncle. He was very lucky and made a lot of money. Since then, he has been addicted to gambling.
Later, he also lost all his gambling money and began to borrow usury. His married sister helped him pay off his debts. He continued to hang around racetracks, casinos and clubs. The madness of gambling swept through him and exhausted his time, thoughts and nerves. His studies have long been neglected and his future has been forgotten.
In order to gamble, he began to steal, stole his aunt's expensive jewelry and sold a lot of money. He was very lucky. Soon, his gambling money quadrupled, but he didn't stop there, continued to bet, lost everything, pawned all his possessions, leaving only a suit and a pistol.
At this time, he met an aristocratic woman, who was like a virgin and pulled him back when he was dying. They had a very romantic and happy day. The young man swore to give up gambling in the church, and the lady gave him a sum of money to redeem his jewelry, bought a ticket for that day and left this run-down place.
Because the young man was so sincere and touching, the lady moved her heart. She packed her bags, thinking that as long as the young man didn't refuse, she was willing to travel around the world with him and give him everything she had. She didn't care about her money or her reputation.
The result is extremely ironic. The lady missed the train. She regretted it and lost her mind. She wanted to revisit the place where they used to be together, and then she saw the young man in the casino.
Instead of redeeming the jewels and leaving, he returned to the casino to continue gambling. When the lady asked him to leave, the young man shouted at her, "Go away! You bring me bad luck. Every time you are here, I lose! You made me lose money yesterday, and that's it today. Go away! "
You see, this is a typical gambler. When the crazy gambling addiction broke out, he couldn't see his vows, his relatives, his benefactors and even himself.
He just wants to hold the money in his hand and win a big one. After winning, he wants to win again. When he lost his shorts, he fell into the abyss and the valley of despair. At this time, you should be the virgin to save him, help him, let him wait for a while, take another sum of money, stand in the casino, your eyes shining, and no one will recognize you.
This is a gambler, whether he is rich or poor.
Gambling addiction eroded his humanity and drowned everything, so why not go crazy and kill his wife?