Belkin's story summary. All Russian works in abbreviation alphabetically
Title of the work: Belkin's stories
Year of writing: 1830
Genre: cycle of stories
To get acquainted with Pushkin's debut in prose, just read the summary of Belkin's stories for the reader's diary, consisting of 5 witty stories.
Plot
Undertaker
Porokhov has been working as an undertaker for many years. He moves to another apartment. On the occasion of meeting, the neighbors invite him to visit. During a noisy feast, someone makes a toast to each other's customers - all those gathered were artisans and customers of each other. Porokhov was offered a drink to the dead, he was extremely offended and left. Porokhov is angry and thinks about having a housewarming party with the dead. At night all his customers come to him and make complaints. Porokhov wakes up in horror. It was a bad dream.
Belkin gets caught in the rain on the way and finds shelter with Samson Vyrin. He allows the traveler to wait out the bad weather. Vyrin has a daughter, Dunya, a beautiful and smart girl. Belkin is glad to meet such pleasant people. A few years later, he again drives along the same road and visits Vyrin, but he is not at home: the servants say that an officer took Dunya away by deception, and the father followed them, found the officer, but he does not allow him to see his daughter. A few years later, Belkin again comes to the house of old acquaintances and learns that Vyrin died, missing his daughter. And recently Dunya came to her father’s grave with her children and cried a lot.
Peasant young lady
Muromsky and Berestov have not gotten along for many years. Muromsky has a daughter - a beautiful and intelligent noblewoman Liza. Berestov's son Alexey comes to see him and becomes an enviable groom. Lisa wants to see her neighbor's son, but due to bad relations between the fathers she cannot visit their estate. She dresses up as a peasant woman, Akulina, and meets with Alexei. He falls in love with a girl. They have been dating for 2 months, when Muromsky and Berestov improve their relationship and decide to marry their children. Alexey is in love with Akulina and does not want to hear about the neighbor's daughter. He goes to Muromsky and finds his Akulina there in a noble form.
Shot
Silvio never misses. He is challenged to a duel by an aristocrat and a count. The first shot is fired by the Count and hits the enemy's cap. It's Silvio's turn. The Count fills his hat with cherries and eats calmly. Silvio refuses to continue the fight. The duelists decide that they will end the duel whenever Silvio wishes. Several years pass. Silvio reads in the newspaper that his opponent got married. He comes to his house and offers to end the fight. The count shoots again by lot. He shoots at the picture on the wall. A young wife comes to the noise. She's terrified. The Count takes off his mask of equanimity; he worries about the condition of his wife. This is what Silvio wanted, he leaves and before leaving he shoots at the same painting and gets hit by the count’s bullet.
Blizzard
Maria is a beautiful and wealthy daughter of a landowner, in love with the poor ensign Vladimir. The girl's parents would never give her up for him. The newlyweds decide to get married secretly. On the appointed night, both go to the church. Due to a strong snowstorm, Vladimir gets lost in the forest at night and gets to the church in the morning - he finds neither the priest nor his beloved. Parents find Maria feverish and delirious. They find out that she is in love with Vladimir and send him a letter. He asks not to remember him and leaves for work. The ensign dies in the war. Years later, Maria meets Burmin, he says that one night in a snowstorm he went into a temple and agreed to marry an unfamiliar girl, who, upon seeing his face, lost consciousness. Maria says it was her.
In one of the remote provinces, on his estate Tugilov, lives a retired guardsman, Ivan Petrovich Berestov, who has been widowed for a long time and has not gone anywhere. He does housework and considers himself “the smartest man in the whole neighborhood,” although he reads nothing except the Senate Gazette. His neighbors love him, although they consider him proud. Only his closest neighbor, Grigory Ivanovich Muromsky, does not get along with him. Muromsky started a house and farm in the English style on his Priluchin estate, while the conservative Berestov does not like innovation and criticizes his neighbor’s Anglomania.
Berestov's son, Alexey, having completed his course at the university, comes to the village to visit his father. The district young ladies are interested in him, and most of all - Muromsky's daughter Liza, but Alexey remained cold to signs of attention, and everyone explained this with his secret love. Lisa's confidante, the serf girl Nastya, goes to Tugilovo to visit her friends, the Berestovs, and Lisa asks her to take a good look at the young Berestov. Returning home, Nastya tells the young lady how young Berestov played burners with the courtyard girls and how he kissed the one he caught every time, how handsome, stately and rosy he was.
Liza is overcome by the desire to see Alexei Berestov, but this cannot be done simply, and Liza comes up with the idea of dressing up as a peasant. The next day she begins to implement the plan, orders a peasant dress to be sewn for herself and, having tried on the outfit, finds that it suits her very well. At dawn the next day, Lisa, dressed as a peasant, leaves the house and heads towards Tugilov. In the grove, a pointer dog rushes at her, barking; a young hunter arrives in time, calls the dog back and calms the girl down. Lisa plays her role perfectly, the young man volunteers to escort her and calls himself young Berestov’s valet, but Lisa recognizes him as Alexei himself and incriminates him. She passes herself off as the daughter of the Priluchinsky blacksmith Akulina. Alexei Berestov really likes the smart peasant woman, he wants to see her again and is going to visit her blacksmith father. The prospect of being caught frightens Lisa, and she invites the young man to meet the next day at the same place.
Returning home, Lisa almost regrets that she gave Berestov a rash promise, but the fear that the determined young man will come to the blacksmith and there will find his daughter Akulina, a fat and pockmarked girl, is even more frightening. Alexey is also inspired by the new acquaintance. He arrives at the meeting place before the appointed time and eagerly awaits Akulina, who is depressed and tries to convince Alexei that the acquaintance should be stopped. But Alexey, enchanted by the peasant woman, does not want this. Lisa makes him promise that he will not look for her in the village and seek other meetings with her, except for those that she herself appoints. Their meetings continued for two months, until one circumstance almost destroyed this idyll. Going out on a horseback ride, Muromsky meets old Berestov, hunting in these places. Thrown by a runaway horse, Muromsky ends up in Berestov’s house. The fathers of the young people parted in mutual sympathy and with Berestov's promise to visit the Muromskys with Alexei. Upon learning of this, Lisa becomes confused, but together with Nastya she develops a plan that, in her opinion, should save her from exposure. Having made her father promise not to be surprised by anything, Lisa comes out to the guests, heavily whitened and made up, absurdly combed and extravagantly dressed. Alexey does not recognize the simple and natural Akulina in this cutesy young lady.
The next day, Lisa rushes to the meeting place. She can’t wait to find out what impression the Priluchinskaya young lady made on Alexey. But Alexey says that the young lady, compared to her, is a freak. Meanwhile, the acquaintance of the old men Berestov and Muromsky develops into friendship, and they decide to marry their children. Alexey greets his father’s message about this with a spiritual shudder. A romantic dream of marrying a simple peasant woman arises in his soul. He goes to the Muromskys to decisively explain to them. Entering the house, he meets Lizaveta Grigorievna and believes that this is his Akulina. The misunderstanding is resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
Shot
The army regiment is stationed in the town of ***. Life passes according to the routine established in the army, and the garrison boredom is dispelled only by the officers’ acquaintance with a certain man named Silvio, who lives in this place. He is older than most of the regiment's officers, gloomy, has a tough temper and an evil tongue. There is some secret in his life that Silvio does not reveal to anyone. It is known that Silvio once served in a hussar regiment, but the reason for his resignation is unknown to anyone, as well as the reason for living in this outback. Neither his income nor his fortune are known, but he keeps an open table for the officers of the regiment, and at dinners champagne flows like a river. For this, everyone is ready to forgive him. The mystery of Silvio's figure sets off his almost supernatural skill in shooting with a pistol. He does not take part in the officers’ conversations about fights, and when asked if he has ever fought, he answers dryly that he has. Among themselves, the officers believe that some unfortunate victim of his inhuman art lies on Silvio’s conscience. One day, several officers gathered at Silvio’s as usual. Having drunk a fair amount, they started a card game and asked Silvio to sweep the bank. During the game, as usual, he was silent and wordlessly corrected the punters’ mistakes in the notes. One young officer, who had recently joined the regiment and did not know Silvio’s habits, thought that he had made a mistake. Enraged by Silvio's silent stubbornness, the officer threw a shandal at his head. Silvio, pale with anger, asked the officer to leave. Everyone considered the fight inevitable and had no doubt about its outcome, but Silvio did not call the officer, and this circumstance ruined his reputation in the eyes of the officers, but gradually everything returned to normal and the incident was forgotten. Only one officer, with whom Silvio sympathized more than the others, could not come to terms with the idea that Silvio had not washed away the insult.
One day, at the regimental office, where mail arrived, Silvio received a package, the contents of which greatly excited him. He announced his unexpected departure to the assembled officers and invited everyone to a farewell dinner. Late in the evening, when everyone was leaving Silvio's house, the owner asked the officer he liked most to stay and revealed his secret to him.
Several years ago Silvio received a slap in the face, and his offender is still alive. This happened during the years of his service, when Silvio had a violent temper. He was the leader in the regiment and enjoyed this position until “a young man of a rich and noble family” joined the regiment. He was the most brilliantly lucky man, who was always fabulously lucky in everything. At first he tried to achieve Silvio’s friendship and affection, but, not succeeding in this, he moved away from him without regret. Silvio's championship wavered, and he began to hate this favorite of fortune. Once, at a ball held by a Polish landowner, they quarreled, and Silvio received a slap in the face from his enemy. At dawn there was a duel, to which the offender Silvio came with a cap full of ripe cherries. By lot, he got the first shot, having fired it and shot through Silvio’s cap, he stood calmly at the point of his pistol and happily feasted on the cherries, spitting out the seeds, which sometimes flew to his opponent. His indifference and equanimity infuriated Silvio, and he refused to shoot. His opponent indifferently said that Silvio would have the right to use his shot whenever he pleased. Soon Silvio retired and retired to this place, but not a day passed that he did not dream of revenge. And finally his time has come. They inform him “that a famous person will soon enter into a legal marriage with a young and beautiful girl.” And Silvio decided to see “whether he will accept death as indifferently before his wedding as he once waited for it behind the cherries!” The friends said goodbye and Silvio left.
A few years later, circumstances forced the officer to resign and settle in his poor village, where he died of boredom until Count B*** came to a neighboring estate with his young wife. The narrator goes to visit them. The Count and Countess charmed him with their social manners. On the wall of the living room, the narrator's attention is drawn to a painting riddled with "two bullets embedded in one another." He praised the successful shot and said that he knew in his life a man whose shooting skill was truly amazing. When asked by the Count what the shooter's name was, the narrator named Silvio. At this name, the Count and Countess were embarrassed. The Count asks if Silvio told his friend about a strange story, and the narrator guesses that the Count is the same old offender of his friend. It turns out that this story had a continuation, and the shot-through picture is a kind of monument to their last meeting.
It happened five years ago in this very house, where the Count and Countess spent their honeymoon. One day the count was informed that a certain person was waiting for him, who did not want to give his name. Entering the living room, the count found Silvio there, whom he did not immediately recognize and who reminded him of the shot left behind him and said that he had come to unload his pistol. The countess could come in any minute. The Count was nervous and in a hurry, Silvio hesitated and finally forced the Count to draw lots again. And again the count got the first shot. Against all the rules, he fired and shot through the picture hanging on the wall. At that moment the frightened countess ran in. The husband began to assure her that they were just joking with an old friend. But what was happening did not look too much like a joke. The Countess was on the verge of fainting, and the enraged Count shouted at Silvio to shoot quickly, but Silvio replied that he would not do this, that he saw the main thing - the Count’s fear and confusion, and he had had enough. The rest is a matter of conscience for the count himself. He turned and walked towards the exit, but stopped right at the door and, almost without aiming, fired and hit exactly the place in the painting shot through by the count. The narrator did not meet Silvio again, but heard that he died while participating in the Greek uprising led by Alexander Ypsilanti.
Undertaker
Undertaker Adrian Prokhorov moves from Basmannaya Street to Nikitskaya to a house he has long loved, but does not feel joy, since the newness scares him a little. But soon order is established in the new home, a sign is attached above the gate, Adrian sits by the window and orders the samovar to be served.
While drinking tea, he plunged into a sad thought, since he was of a gloomy disposition by nature. Everyday worries confused him. The main concern was that the heirs of the wealthy merchant Tryukhina, who was dying on Razgulyai, would remember him at the last minute, and not come to an agreement with their neighbors.
the best contractor. While Adrian was indulging in these thoughts, his neighbor, a German craftsman, came to visit him. He introduced himself as shoemaker Gottlieb Schultz, announced that he lived across the street, and invited Adrian to his place the next day on the occasion of his silver wedding. Having accepted the invitation, Adrian offered Schultz tea. The neighbors started talking and quickly became friends.
At noon the next day, Adrian and his two daughters went to visit the shoemaker. Friends of Gottlieb Schultz, German craftsmen and their wives, gathered in the house. The feast began, the host proclaimed the health of his wife Louise, and then the health of his guests. Everyone drank a lot, the fun became noisier, when suddenly one of the guests, a fat baker, offered to drink to the health of those for whom they worked. And all the guests began to bow to each other, for everyone was each other’s clients: the tailor, the shoemaker, the baker... The baker Yurko invited Adrian to drink to the health of his dead. There was general laughter, which offended the undertaker.
We parted ways late. Adrian returned home drunk and angry. It seemed to him that the incident was a deliberate mockery of the Germans at his craft, which he revered no worse than others, because the undertaker is not the executioner’s brother. Adrian even decided that he would invite not his new acquaintances to the housewarming party, but those for whom he works. In response to this, his employee suggested that he cross himself. But Adrian liked this idea.
They woke up Adrian while it was still dark, as the clerk of the merchant Tryukhina rode up with the message that she had died that night.
Adrian went to Razgulay, troubles and negotiations began with the relatives of the deceased. Having finished his business, he went home on foot in the evening. Approaching the house, he noticed that someone had opened his gate and entered it. While Adrian was wondering who it could be, another person approached. His face appeared to Adrian. acquaintances Entering the house, the undertaker saw that the room was full of dead people, illuminated by the moon shining through the window. With horror, the undertaker recognized them as his former clients. They greeted him, and one of them even tried to hug Adrian, but Prokhorov pushed him away, he fell and crumbled. The rest of the guests surrounded him with threats, and Adrian fell and fainted.
Opening his eyes in the morning, Adrian remembered yesterday's events. The worker said that neighbors came in to inquire about his health, but she did not wake him up. Adrian asked if they had come from the deceased Tryukhina, but the worker was surprised at the words about the death of the merchant and said that the undertaker, when he returned from the shoemaker drunk and fell asleep, was asleep until that very moment. It was only then that the undertaker realized that all the terrible events that frightened him so much happened in a dream, and he ordered the samovar to be set up and his daughters to be called.
Blizzard
In 1811, Gavrila Gavrilovich R. lived on his estate with his wife and daughter Masha. He was hospitable, and many took advantage of his hospitality, and some came for the sake of Marya Gavrilovna. But Marya Gavrilovna was in love with a poor army warrant officer named Vladimir, who was spending his vacation in his neighboring village. The young lovers, believing that the will of their parents was preventing their happiness, decided to do without a blessing, that is, to get married secretly, and then throw themselves at the feet of their parents, who, of course, would be touched by the constancy of the children, forgive and bless them. This plan belonged to Vladimir, but Marya Gavrilovna finally succumbed to his persuasion to escape. A sleigh was supposed to come for her to take her to the neighboring village of Zhadrino, in which it was decided to get married and where Vladimir was already supposed to be waiting for her.
On the evening appointed for the escape, Marya Gavrilovna was very excited, refused dinner, citing a headache, and went home early. At the appointed time she went out into the garden. Her coachman Vladimir was waiting on the road with a sleigh. A snowstorm was raging outside.
Vladimir himself spent the whole day in trouble: he needed to persuade the priest, and also find witnesses. Having settled these matters, he, driving a small one-horse sleigh, set off for Zhadrino, but as soon as he left the outskirts, a snowstorm arose, because of which Vladimir lost his way and wandered all night in search of the road. At dawn he only reached Zhadrin and found the church locked.
And Marya Gavrilovna left her room in the morning, as if nothing had happened, and answered her parents’ questions about her well-being calmly, but in the evening she developed a severe fever. In a delirium, she repeated Vladimir’s name, talked about her secret, but her words were so incoherent that the mother understood nothing except that her daughter was in love with a neighboring landowner and that love must have been the cause of the illness. And the parents decided to give Masha to Vladimir. Vladimir responded to the invitation with a chaotic and unintelligible letter, in which he wrote that he would never set foot in their house and asked them to forget about him. A few days later he left for the army. This happened in 1812, and after some time his name was published among those who distinguished themselves and were wounded at Borodino. This news saddened Masha, and Gavrila Gavrilovich soon died, leaving her as his heir. Suitors circled around her, but she seemed to be faithful to Vladimir, who died in Moscow from his wounds.
“Meanwhile, the war with glory was over.” The regiments were returning from abroad. A wounded hussar colonel Burmin appeared on Marya Gavrilovna's estate, who had come on vacation to his estate, which was located nearby. Marya Gavrilovna and Burmin felt that they liked each other, but something kept each from taking a decisive step. One day Burmin came on a visit and found Marya Gavrilovna in the garden. He announced to Marya Gavrilovna that he loved her, but could not become her husband, since he was already married, but did not know who his wife was, where she was or whether she lived. And he told her an amazing story about how at the beginning of 1812 he was traveling from vacation to his regiment and during a strong snowstorm he lost his way. Seeing a light in the distance, he headed towards it and drove into an open church, near which there were sleighs and people walking around impatiently. They acted as if they were waiting for him. A young lady was sitting in the church, with whom Burmin was placed in front of the lectern. He was motivated by unforgivable frivolity. When the wedding ceremony was over, the newlyweds were offered to kiss, and the girl, looking at Burmin, shouted “not him, not him,” and fell unconscious. Burmin left the church unhindered and left. And now he doesn’t know what happened to his wife, what her name is, and doesn’t even know where the wedding took place. The servant who was with him at the time died, so there is no way to find this woman.
“Oh my God, my God! - said Marya Gavrilovna, grabbing his hand, “so it was you!” And you don’t recognize me?”
Burmin turned pale... and threw himself at her feet...
There are no more unhappy people than stationmasters, for travelers invariably blame the stationmasters for all their troubles and seek to take out their anger on them about bad roads, unbearable weather, bad horses, and the like. Meanwhile, the caretakers are mostly meek and unresponsive people, “real martyrs of the fourteenth class, protected by their rank only from beatings, and even then not always.” The caretaker's life is full of worries and troubles; he sees no gratitude from anyone; on the contrary, he hears threats and screams and feels the pushes of irritated guests. Meanwhile, “one can glean a lot of interesting and instructive things from their conversations.”
In 1816, the narrator happened to be driving through the *** province, and on the way he was caught in the rain. At the station he hurried to change clothes and drink tea. The caretaker's daughter, a girl of about fourteen named Dunya, who amazed the narrator with her beauty, put the samovar on and set the table. While Dunya was busy, the traveler examined the decoration of the hut. On the wall he noticed pictures depicting the story of the prodigal son, on the windows there were geraniums, in the room there was a bed behind a colorful curtain. The traveler invited Samson Vyrin - that was the name of the caretaker - and his daughter to share a meal with him, and a relaxed atmosphere arose that was conducive to sympathy. The horses had already been supplied, but the traveler still did not want to part with his new acquaintances.
Several years passed, and again he had the opportunity to travel along this route. He was looking forward to meeting old acquaintances. “Having entered the room,” he recognized the previous situation, but “everything around showed disrepair and neglect.” Dunya was not in the house either. The aged caretaker was gloomy and taciturn; only a glass of punch stirred him up, and the traveler heard the sad story of Dunya’s disappearance. This happened three years ago. A young officer arrived at the station, who was in a hurry and angry that the horses had not been served for a long time, but when he saw Dunya, he softened and even stayed for dinner. When the horses arrived, the officer suddenly felt very unwell. The doctor who arrived found him with a fever and prescribed complete rest. On the third day, the officer was already healthy and prepared to leave. It was Sunday, and he offered Duna to take her to church. The father allowed his daughter to go, not expecting anything bad, but he was still overcome by anxiety, and he ran to the church. Mass had already ended, the worshipers were leaving, and from the words of the sexton, the caretaker learned that Dunya was not in the church. The driver who was carrying the officer returned in the evening and reported that Dunya had gone with him to the next station. The caretaker realized that the officer’s illness was feigned, and he himself fell ill with a severe fever. Having recovered, Samson begged for leave and went on foot to St. Petersburg, where, as he knew from the road, Captain Minsky was going. In St. Petersburg he found Minsky and came to him. Minsky did not immediately recognize him, but when he did, he began to assure Samson that he loved Dunya, would never leave her and would make her happy. He gave the caretaker some money and took him outside.
Samson really wanted to see his daughter again. Chance helped him. On Liteinaya he noticed Minsky in a smart droshky, which stopped at the entrance of a three-story building. Minsky entered the house, and the caretaker learned from a conversation with the coachman that Dunya lived here, and entered the entrance. Once in the apartment, through the open door of the room he saw Minsky and his Dunya, beautifully dressed and looking at Minsky with uncertainty. Noticing her father, Dunya screamed and fell unconscious on the carpet. An angry Minsky pushed the old man onto the stairs, and he went home. And now for the third year he knows nothing about Duna and is afraid that her fate is the same as the fate of many young fools.
After some time, the narrator happened to pass through these places again. The station no longer existed, and Samson “died about a year ago.” The boy, the son of a brewer who settled in Samson’s hut, took the narrator to Samson’s grave and said that in the summer a beautiful lady came with three young ladies and lay for a long time on the caretaker’s grave, and the kind lady gave him a silver nickel.
SHOT
The army regiment is stationed in the town of ***. Life passes according to the routine established in the army, and the garrison boredom is dispelled only by the officers’ acquaintance with a certain man named Silvio, who lives in this place. He is older than most of the regiment's officers, gloomy, has a tough temper and an evil tongue. There is some secret in his life that Silvio does not reveal to anyone. It is known that Silvio once served in a hussar regiment, but the reason for his resignation is unknown to anyone, as well as the reason for living in this outback. Neither his income nor his fortune are known, but he keeps an open table for the officers of the regiment, and at dinners champagne flows like a river. For this, everyone is ready to forgive him. The mystery of Silvio's figure sets off his almost supernatural skill in shooting with a pistol. He does not take part in the officers’ conversations about fights, and when asked if he has ever fought, he answers dryly that he has. Among themselves, the officers believe that some unfortunate victim of his inhuman art lies on Silvio’s conscience. One day, several officers gathered at Silvio’s as usual. Having drunk a fair amount, they started a card game and asked Silvio to sweep the bank. During the game, as usual, he was silent and wordlessly corrected the punters’ mistakes in the notes. One young officer, who had recently joined the regiment and did not know Silvio’s habits, thought that he had made a mistake. Enraged by Silvio's silent stubbornness, the officer threw a shandal at his head. Silvio, pale with anger, asked the officer to leave. Everyone considered the fight inevitable and had no doubt about its outcome, but Silvio did not call the officer, and this circumstance ruined his reputation in the eyes of the officers, but gradually everything returned to normal and the incident was forgotten. Only one officer, with whom Silvio sympathized more than the others, could not come to terms with the idea that Silvio had not washed away the insult.
One day, at the regimental office, where mail arrived, Silvio received a package, the contents of which greatly excited him. He announced his unexpected departure to the assembled officers and invited everyone to a farewell dinner. Late in the evening, when everyone was leaving Silvio's house, the owner asked the officer he liked most to stay and revealed his secret to him.
Several years ago Silvio received a slap in the face, and his offender is still alive. This happened during the years of his service, when Silvio had a violent temper. He was the leader in the regiment and enjoyed this position until “a young man of a rich and noble family” joined the regiment. He was the most brilliantly lucky man, who was always fabulously lucky in everything. At first he tried to achieve Silvio’s friendship and affection, but, not succeeding in this, he moved away from him without regret. Silvio's championship wavered, and he began to hate this favorite of fortune. Once, at a ball held by a Polish landowner, they quarreled, and Silvio received a slap in the face from his enemy. At dawn there was a duel, to which the offender Silvio came with a cap full of ripe cherries. By lot, he got the first shot, having fired it and shot through Silvio’s cap, he stood calmly at the point of his pistol and happily feasted on the cherries, spitting out the seeds, which sometimes flew to his opponent. His indifference and equanimity infuriated Silvio, and he refused to shoot. His opponent indifferently said that Silvio would have the right to use his shot whenever he pleased. Soon Silvio retired and retired to this place, but not a day passed that he did not dream of revenge. And finally his time has come. They inform him “that a famous person will soon enter into a legal marriage with a young and beautiful girl.” And Silvio decided to see “whether he will accept death as indifferently before his wedding as he once waited for it behind the cherries!” The friends said goodbye and Silvio left.
A few years later, circumstances forced the officer to resign and settle in his poor village, where he died of boredom until Count B*** came to a neighboring estate with his young wife. The narrator goes to visit them. The Count and Countess charmed him with their social manners. On the wall of the living room, the narrator's attention is drawn to a painting riddled with "two bullets embedded in one another." He praised the successful shot and said that he knew in his life a man whose shooting skill was truly amazing. When asked by the Count what the shooter's name was, the narrator named Silvio. At this name, the Count and Countess were embarrassed. The Count asks if Silvio told his friend about a strange story, and the narrator guesses that the Count is the same old offender of his friend. It turns out that this story had a continuation, and the shot-through picture is a kind of monument to their last meeting.
It happened five years ago in this very house, where the Count and Countess spent their honeymoon. One day the count was informed that a certain person was waiting for him, who did not want to give his name. Entering the living room, the count found Silvio there, whom he did not immediately recognize and who reminded him of the shot left behind him and said that he had come to unload his pistol. The countess could come in any minute. The Count was nervous and in a hurry, Silvio hesitated and finally forced the Count to draw lots again. And again the count got the first shot. Against all the rules, he fired and shot through the picture hanging on the wall. At that moment the frightened countess ran in. The husband began to assure her that they were just joking with an old friend. But what was happening did not look too much like a joke. The Countess was on the verge of fainting, and the enraged Count shouted at Silvio to shoot quickly, but Silvio replied that he would not do this, that he saw the main thing - the Count’s fear and confusion, and he had had enough. The rest is a matter of conscience for the count himself. He turned and walked towards the exit, but stopped right at the door and, almost without aiming, fired and hit exactly the place in the painting shot through by the count. The narrator did not meet Silvio again, but heard that he died while participating in the Greek uprising led by Alexander Ypsilanti.
BLIZZARD
In 1811, Gavrila Gavrilovich R. lived on his estate with his wife and daughter Masha. He was hospitable, and many took advantage of his hospitality, and some came for the sake of Marya Gavrilovna. But Marya Gavrilovna was in love with a poor army warrant officer named Vladimir, who was spending his vacation in his neighboring village. The young lovers, believing that the will of their parents was preventing their happiness, decided to do without a blessing, that is, to get married secretly, and then throw themselves at the feet of their parents, who, of course, would be touched by the constancy of the children, forgive and bless them. This plan belonged to Vladimir, but Marya Gavrilovna finally succumbed to his persuasion to escape. A sleigh was supposed to come for her to take her to the neighboring village of Zhadrino, in which it was decided to get married and where Vladimir was already supposed to be waiting for her.
On the evening appointed for the escape, Marya Gavrilovna was very excited, refused dinner, citing a headache, and went home early. At the appointed time she went out into the garden. Her coachman, Vladimir, was waiting on the road with a sleigh. A snowstorm was raging outside.
Vladimir himself spent the whole day in trouble: he needed to persuade the priest, and also find witnesses. Having settled these matters, he, driving a small one-horse sleigh, set off for Zhadrino, but as soon as he left the outskirts, a snowstorm arose, because of which Vladimir lost his way and wandered all night in search of the road. At dawn he only reached Zhadrin and found the church locked.
And Marya Gavrilovna left her room in the morning as if nothing had happened and answered her parents’ questions about her well-being calmly, but in the evening she developed a severe fever. In her delirium, she repeated Vladimir's name and talked about her secret, but her words were so incoherent that the mother did not understand anything except that her daughter was in love with a neighboring landowner and that love must have been the cause of the illness. And the parents decided to give Masha to Vladimir. Vladimir responded to the invitation with a chaotic and unintelligible letter, in which he wrote that he would never set foot in their house and asked them to forget about him. A few days later he left for the army. This happened in 1812, and after some time his name was published among those who distinguished themselves and were wounded at Borodino. This news saddened Masha, and Gavrila Gavrilovich soon died, leaving her as his heir. Suitors circled around her, but she seemed to be faithful to Vladimir, who died in Moscow from his wounds.
“Meanwhile, the war with glory was over.” The regiments were returning from abroad. A wounded hussar colonel Burmin appeared on Marya Gavrilovna's estate, who had come on vacation to his estate, which was located nearby. Marya Gavrilovna and Burmin felt that they liked each other, but something kept each from taking a decisive step. One day Burmin came on a visit and found Marya Gavrilovna in the garden. He announced to Marya Gavrilovna that he loved her, but could not become her husband, since he was already married, but did not know who his wife was, where she was or whether she lived. And he told her an amazing story about how at the beginning of 1812 he was traveling from vacation to his regiment and during a strong snowstorm he lost his way. Seeing a light in the distance, he headed towards it and drove into an open church, near which there were sleighs and people walking around impatiently. They acted as if they were waiting for him. A young lady was sitting in the church, with whom Burmin was placed in front of the lectern. He was motivated by unforgivable frivolity. When the wedding ceremony was over, the newlyweds were offered to kiss, and the girl, looking at Burmin, shouted “not him, not him,” and fell unconscious. Burmin left the church unhindered and left. And now he doesn’t know what happened to his wife, what her name is, and doesn’t even know where the wedding took place. The servant who was with him at the time died, so there is no way to find this woman.
“My God, my God! - said Marya Gavrilovna, grabbing his hand, “so it was you!” And you don't recognize me? Burmin turned pale... and threw himself at her feet..."
UNDERTAKER
Undertaker Adrian Prokhorov moves from Basmannaya Street to Nikitskaya to a house he has long loved, but does not feel joy, since the newness scares him a little. But soon order is established in the new home, a sign is attached above the gate, Adrian sits by the window and orders the samovar to be served.
While drinking tea, he plunged into a sad thought, since he was of a gloomy disposition by nature. Everyday worries confused him. The main concern was that the heirs of the wealthy merchant Tryukhina, who was dying on Razgulyai, would remember him at the last minute, and not come to an agreement with the nearest contractor. While Adrian was indulging in these thoughts, his neighbor, a German craftsman, came to visit him. He introduced himself as shoemaker Gottlieb Schultz, announced that he lived across the street, and invited Adrian to his place the next day on the occasion of his silver wedding. Having accepted the invitation, Adrian offered Schultz tea. The neighbors started talking and quickly became friends.
At noon the next day, Adrian and his two daughters went to visit the shoemaker. Friends of Gottlieb Schultz, German craftsmen and their wives, gathered in the house. The feast began, the host proclaimed the health of his wife Louise, and then the health of his guests. Everyone drank a lot, the fun became noisier, when suddenly one of the guests, a fat baker, offered to drink to the health of those for whom they worked. And all the guests began to bow to each other, for everyone was each other’s clients: the tailor, the shoemaker, the baker... The baker Yurko invited Adrian to drink to the health of his dead. There was general laughter, which offended the undertaker.
We parted ways late. Adrian returned home drunk and angry. It seemed to him that the incident was a deliberate mockery of the Germans at his craft, which he revered no worse than others, because the undertaker is not the executioner’s brother. Adrian even decided that he would invite not his new acquaintances to the housewarming party, but those for whom he works. In response to this, his employee suggested that he cross himself. But Adrian liked this idea.
They woke up Adrian while it was still dark, as the clerk of the merchant Tryukhina rode up with the message that she had died that night. Adrian went to Razgulay, troubles and negotiations began with the relatives of the deceased. Having finished his business, he went home on foot in the evening. Approaching the house, he noticed that someone had opened his gate and entered it. While Adrian was wondering who it could be, another person approached. His face seemed familiar to Adrian. Entering the house, the undertaker saw that the room was full of dead people, illuminated by the moon shining through the window. With horror, the undertaker recognized them as his former clients. They greeted him, and one of them even tried to hug Adrian, but Prokhorov pushed him away, he fell and crumbled. The rest of the guests surrounded him with threats, and Adrian fell and fainted.
Opening his eyes in the morning, Adrian remembered yesterday's events. The worker said that neighbors came in to inquire about his health, but she did not wake him up. Adrian asked if they had come from the deceased Tryukhina, but the worker was surprised at the words about the death of the merchant and said that the undertaker, when he returned from the shoemaker drunk and fell asleep, was asleep until that very moment. It was only then that the undertaker realized that all the terrible events that frightened him so much happened in a dream, and he ordered the samovar to be set up and his daughters to be called.
STATION GUARD
There are no more unhappy people than stationmasters, for travelers invariably blame the stationmasters for all their troubles and seek to take out their anger on them about bad roads, unbearable weather, bad horses, and the like. Meanwhile, the caretakers are mostly meek and unresponsive people, “real martyrs of the fourteenth class, protected by their rank only from beatings, and even then not always.” The caretaker's life is full of worries and troubles; he sees no gratitude from anyone; on the contrary, he hears threats and screams and feels the pushes of irritated guests. Meanwhile, “one can glean a lot of interesting and instructive things from their conversations.”
In 1816, the narrator happened to be driving through the *** province, and on the way he was caught in the rain. At the station he hurried to change clothes and drink tea. The caretaker's daughter, a girl of about fourteen named Dunya, who amazed the narrator with her beauty, put the samovar on and set the table. While Dunya was busy, the traveler examined the decoration of the hut. On the wall he noticed pictures depicting the story of the prodigal son, on the windows there were geraniums, in the room there was a bed behind a colorful curtain. The traveler invited Samson Vyrin - that was the name of the caretaker - and his daughter to share a meal with him, and a relaxed atmosphere arose that was conducive to sympathy. The horses had already been supplied, but the traveler still did not want to part with his new acquaintances.
Several years passed, and again he had the opportunity to travel along this route. He was looking forward to meeting old acquaintances. “Having entered the room,” he recognized the previous situation, but “everything around showed disrepair and neglect.” Dunya was not in the house either. The aged caretaker was gloomy and taciturn; only a glass of punch stirred him up, and the traveler heard the sad story of Dunya’s disappearance. This happened three years ago. A young officer arrived at the station, who was in a hurry and angry that the horses had not been served for a long time, but when he saw Dunya, he softened and even stayed for dinner. When the horses arrived, the officer suddenly felt very unwell. The doctor who arrived found him with a fever and prescribed complete rest. On the third day, the officer was already healthy and prepared to leave. It was Sunday, and he offered Duna to take her to church. The father allowed his daughter to go, not expecting anything bad, but he was still overcome by anxiety, and he ran to the church. Mass had already ended, the worshipers were leaving, and from the words of the sexton, the caretaker learned that Dunya was not in the church. The driver who was carrying the officer returned in the evening and reported that Dunya had gone with him to the next station. The caretaker realized that the officer’s illness was feigned, and he himself fell ill with a severe fever. Having recovered, Samson begged for leave and went on foot to St. Petersburg, where, as he knew from the road, Captain Minsky was going. In St. Petersburg he found Minsky and came to him. Minsky did not immediately recognize him, but when he did, he began to assure Samson that he loved Dunya, would never leave her and would make her happy. He gave the caretaker some money and took him outside.
Samson really wanted to see his daughter again. Chance helped him. On Liteinaya he noticed Minsky in a smart droshky, which stopped at the entrance of a three-story building. Minsky entered the house, and the caretaker learned from a conversation with the coachman that Dunya lived here, and entered the entrance. Once in the apartment, through the open door of the room he saw Minsky and his Dunya, beautifully dressed and looking at Minsky with uncertainty. Noticing her father, Dunya screamed and fell unconscious on the carpet. An angry Minsky pushed the old man onto the stairs, and he went home. And now for the third year he knows nothing about Duna and is afraid that her fate is the same as the fate of many young fools.
After some time, the narrator happened to pass through these places again. The station no longer existed, and Samson “died about a year ago.” The boy, the son of a brewer who settled in Samson’s hut, took the narrator to Samson’s grave and said that in the summer a beautiful lady came with three young ladies and lay for a long time on the caretaker’s grave, and the kind lady gave him a silver nickel.
PEASANT GIRL
In one of the remote provinces, on his estate Tugilov, lives a retired guardsman, Ivan Petrovich Berestov, who has been widowed for a long time and has not gone anywhere. He does housework and considers himself “the smartest man in the whole neighborhood,” although he reads nothing except the Senate Gazette. His neighbors love him, although they consider him proud. Only his closest neighbor, Grigory Ivanovich Muromsky, does not get along with him. Muromsky started a house and farm in the English style on his Priluchin estate, while the conservative Berestov does not like innovation and criticizes his neighbor’s Anglomania.
Berestov's son, Alexey, having completed his course at the university, comes to the village to visit his father. The district young ladies are interested in him, and most of all - Muromsky's daughter Liza, but Alexey remained cold to signs of attention, and everyone explained this with his secret love. Lisa's confidante, the serf girl Nastya, goes to Tugilovo to visit her acquaintances, the Berestovs, and Lisa asks her to take a good look at the young Berestov. Returning home, Nastya tells the young lady how young Berestov played burners with the courtyard girls and how he kissed the one he caught every time, how handsome, stately and rosy he was. Liza is overcome by the desire to see Alexei Berestov, but this cannot be done simply, and Liza comes up with the idea of dressing up as a peasant. The next day she begins to implement the plan, orders a peasant dress to be sewn for herself and, having tried on the outfit, finds that it suits her very well. At dawn the next day, Lisa, dressed as a peasant, leaves the house and heads towards Tugilov. In the grove, a pointer dog rushes at her, barking; a young hunter arrives in time, calls the dog back and calms the girl down. Lisa plays her role perfectly, the young man volunteers to escort her and calls himself young Berestov’s valet, but Lisa recognizes him as Alexei himself and incriminates him. She passes herself off as the daughter of the Priluchinsky blacksmith Akulina. Alexei Berestov really likes the smart peasant woman, he wants to see her again and is going to visit her blacksmith father. The prospect of being caught frightens Lisa, and she invites the young man to meet the next day at the same place.
Returning home, Lisa almost regrets that she gave Berestov a rash promise, but the fear that the determined young man will come to the blacksmith and there will find his daughter Akulina, a fat and pockmarked girl, is even more frightening. Alexey is also inspired by the new acquaintance. He arrives at the meeting place before the appointed time and eagerly awaits Akulina, who is depressed and tries to convince Alexei that the acquaintance should be stopped. But Alexey, enchanted by the peasant woman, does not want this. Lisa makes him promise that he will not look for her in the village and seek other meetings with her, except for those that she herself appoints. Their meetings continued for two months, until one circumstance almost destroyed this idyll. Going out on a horseback ride, Muromsky meets old Berestov, hunting in these places. Thrown by a runaway horse, Muromsky ends up in Berestov’s house. The fathers of the young people parted in mutual sympathy and with Berestov's promise to visit the Muromskys with Alexei. Upon learning of this, Lisa becomes confused, but together with Nastya she develops a plan that, in her opinion, should save her from exposure. Having made her father promise not to be surprised by anything, Lisa comes out to the guests, heavily whitened and made up, absurdly combed and extravagantly dressed. Alexey does not recognize the simple and natural Akulina in this cutesy young lady.
The next day, Lisa rushes to the meeting place. She can’t wait to find out what impression the Priluchinskaya young lady made on Alexey. But Alexey says that the young lady, compared to her, is a freak. Meanwhile, the acquaintance of the old men Berestov and Muromsky develops into friendship, and they decide to marry their children. Alexey greets his father’s message about this with a spiritual shudder. A romantic dream of marrying a simple peasant woman arises in his soul. He goes to the Muromskys to decisively explain to them. Entering the house, he meets Lizaveta Grigorievna and believes that this is his Akulina. The misunderstanding is resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
In one of the remote provinces, on his estate Tugilov, lives a retired guardsman, Ivan Petrovich Berestov, who has been widowed for a long time and has not gone anywhere. He does housework and considers himself “the smartest man in the whole neighborhood,” although he reads nothing except the Senate Gazette. His neighbors love him, although they consider him proud. Only his closest neighbor, Grigory Ivanovich Muromsky, does not get along with him. Muromsky started a house and farm in the English style on his Priluchin estate, while the conservative Berestov does not like innovations and criticizes his neighbor’s Anglomania.
Berestov's son, Alexey, having completed his course at the university, comes to the village to visit his father. The district young ladies are interested in him, and most of all - Muromsky's daughter Liza, but Alexey remained cold to signs of attention, and everyone explained this with his secret love. Lisa's confidante, the serf girl Nastya, goes to Tugilovo to visit her acquaintances, the Berestovs, and Lisa asks her to take a good look at the young Berestov. Returning home, Nastya tells the young lady how young Berestov played burners with the courtyard girls and how he kissed the one he caught every time, how handsome, stately and rosy he was.
Liza is overcome by the desire to see Alexei Berestov, but this cannot be done simply, and Liza comes up with the idea of dressing up as a peasant. The next day she begins to implement the plan, orders a peasant dress to be sewn for herself and, having tried on the outfit, finds that it suits her very well. At dawn the next day, Lisa, dressed as a peasant, leaves the house and heads towards Tugilov. In the grove, a pointer dog rushes at her, barking; a young hunter arrives in time, calls the dog back and calms the girl down. Lisa plays her role perfectly, the young man volunteers to escort her and calls himself young Berestov’s valet, but Lisa recognizes him as Alexei himself and incriminates him. She passes herself off as the daughter of the Priluchinsky blacksmith Akulina. Alexei Berestov really likes the smart peasant woman, he wants to see her again and is going to visit her blacksmith father. The prospect of being caught frightens Lisa, and she invites the young man to meet the next day at the same place.
Returning home, Lisa almost regrets that she gave Berestov a rash promise, but the fear that the determined young man will come to the blacksmith and there will find his daughter Akulina, a fat and pockmarked girl, is even more frightening. Alexey is also inspired by the new acquaintance.
He arrives at the meeting place before the appointed time and eagerly awaits Akulina, who is depressed and tries to convince Alexei that the acquaintance should be stopped. But Alexey, enchanted by the peasant woman, does not want this. Lisa makes him promise that he will not look for her in the village and seek other meetings with her, except for those that she herself appoints. Their meetings continued for two months, until one circumstance almost destroyed this idyll. Going out on a horseback ride, Muromsky meets old Berestov, hunting in these places. Thrown by a runaway horse, Muromsky ends up in Berestov’s house. The fathers of the young people parted in mutual sympathy and with Berestov's promise to visit the Muromskys with Alexei. Upon learning of this, Lisa becomes confused, but together with Nastya she develops a plan that, in her opinion, should save her from exposure. Having made her father promise not to be surprised by anything, Lisa comes out to the guests, heavily whitened and made up, absurdly combed and extravagantly dressed. Alexey does not recognize the simple and natural Akulina in this cutesy young lady.
The next day, Lisa rushes to the meeting place. She can’t wait to find out what impression the Priluchinskaya young lady made on Alexey. But Alexey says that the young lady, compared to her, is a freak. Meanwhile, the acquaintance of the old men Berestov and Muromsky develops into friendship, and they decide to marry their children. Alexey greets his father’s message about this with a spiritual shudder. A romantic dream of marrying a simple peasant woman arises in his soul. He goes to the Muromskys to decisively explain to them. Entering the house, he meets Lizaveta Grigorievna and believes that this is his Akulina. The misunderstanding is resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
Already the epigraph taken by Pushkin to all Belkin’s stories from Fonvizin’s “Minor” is essentially parodic:
Mrs. Prostakova: Well, my father, he’s still a story hunter.
Skotinin: Mitrofan for me.
"Tales" are 5 short stories united by one common title. The narration is told on behalf of a certain Ivan Petrovich Belkin, who submitted these stories to the publishing house. The stories are preceded by the article “From the Publisher,” in which a response letter from a person who knew Belkin was printed. In it, he briefly outlines the meager life of Ivan Petrovich and his stupid character.
Further, “from the publisher,” information is given about Ivan Petrovich Belkin, which was collected “with great difficulty” from his acquaintances.
Describing the character of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin, the author follows the same path as before: he describes in detail the life's ups and downs of a completely, emphatically unremarkable person, who lived his life on an estate, immersed in everyday life. Belkin was born in the village of Goryukhin from “honest and noble” parents. He received his initial education from a village sexton. As the author notes through the mouth of his acquaintance, the late Belkin, “it seems that he owed his desire to read and study Russian literature to this respectable husband.” For eight years the deceased served in the Jaeger infantry regiment (from 1815 to 1823), i.e., without taking part in hostilities), but after the death of his parents he returned to the estate. He managed the household poorly, any business made him sleepy, the headman stole from him, things were left “to the will of the Lord.” In other words, Belkin was a “kind fellow” whose kindness was used by all and sundry.
A completely unremarkable man, as it turns out, left behind a large number of works that are as ingenuous and simple as he himself. These ingenuous works are treated just as ingenuously: “... Ivan Petrovich left a lot of manuscripts, some of which are in my possession, some of which were used by his housekeeper for various household needs. Thus, last winter, all the windows of her wing were sealed with the first part of the novel, of which he didn't finish." Belkin’s death is also ordinary: “Ivan Petrovich in the fall of 1828 fell ill with a cold fever that turned into a fever, and died, despite the tireless efforts of our district doctor, a very skilled man, especially in the treatment of deep-rooted diseases, such as calluses, and the like.” Finally, Ivan Petrovich’s neighbor reports his external, “special” features, the main feature of which is precisely that there is nothing special about them: “Ivan Petrovich was of average height, had gray eyes, light brown hair, a straight nose; his face was white and thin." At the end of the letter, the neighbor calls on the author to publish these simple works, believing that the public should appreciate the kindness and sincerity of the late Ivan Petrovich.
