One of the most famous humorists in world literature, O. Henry created a unique panorama of American life at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, in grotesque situations, he conveyed the contrasts and paradoxes of his era, which opened up space for people with business acumen, whom the game of chance raises to the top of success, then throws to the very bottom of life. “All sources of inspiration have been criticized, except for one .. We turn to this single source in search of a highly instructive topic .. When we turned to the classics, the Zoeles happily denounced us in plagiarism. When we tried to depict reality, they accused us of imitating Henry George, George Washington, Washington Irving and Irving Bacheller. We wrote about the East and the West, and they accused us of being infatuated with banditry and Henry James. We wrote with the blood of the heart, and they mumbled something about a sick liver. We took the text from Matthew, or from Deuteronomy, but the preachers were against us being inspired by the Scriptures. So, pressed against the wall, we turn for the topic to a tried, tested, instructive, irrefutable source a complete sensible dictionary.