The Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin
Encyclopedia
The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin is a series of 5 short stories and a fictional editorial introduction by Russia
n author
Aleksandr Pushkin
. The collection is opened with the editorial, in which Pushkin pretends to be the publisher of Belkin's tales. The tales themselves are not related to one another, except that they are all said in the introduction to be stories told by various people to a recently deceased landowner, Ivan Petrovich Belkin. The introduction continues to say that Belkin was an interesting and mysterious man, even to the point that the woman he left his estate to had never met him. It is also mentioned that Belkin's favorite pastime was to collect and hear stories, several of which are to be presented to the reader.
I.L.P., who in the early days of his military career was stationed at a country outpost. The soldiers always visited a peculiar man named Silvio to play cards
. Silvio is always practicing shooting, and the walls of his house are full with bullet
holes. On one occasion the host is insulted by one of his guests, but he won't challenge his guest to a duel
, as was considered proper. He is then considered to be a coward by most of the soldiers, but he is able to explain his situation: years ago he engaged in a duel, in which his opponent was eating cherries
while waiting for him to shoot. He decided that as life apparently was meaningless to his opponent, and that he would not shoot, but rather asked to postpone the duel. If he were to now engage the soldier in a duel over the card game, he would most certainly have killed him, but also that the small risk of dying before being able to exact revenge was not worth it. However, Silvio soon learns that his former opponent is engaged
to be married, and Silvio believes that he is now less indifferent towards life. This is the moment Silvio has been waiting for, and he leaves to get revenge.
After several years, the narrator resigns from active duty and leaves for his country estate. After a while, his neighbors arrive and the narrator visits them soon after. On the wall he notices a painting of a Swiss
landscape
with two bullet holes very close together. The narrator, seeing this, tells his neighbor about a man he knew in the army who was an extraordinary shot, and tells the count of Silvio. The count is overcome with fear, and informs the narrator that he was Silvio's opponent, and shortly before his wedding Silvio claimed his right to a duel. The neighbor draws the right to shoot first, but misses, and the bullet ends up in the painting. As Silvio aims to shoot, the neighbor's bride enters the room. Silvio takes pity on her and then without aiming, shoots the painting in almost exactly the same spot as the count, thereby both sparing the count's life and demonstrating how easily he could have ended it.
, Marya Gavrilovna, and her young lover, a lieutenant named Vladimir. The reason for their relationship is not specifically given, but the story states "Marya Gavrilovna was raised on French
novel
s and consequently was in love." Marya Gavrilovna's parents do not approve of the relationship due to the difference in social status between the two lovers, and Marya Gavrilovna and her attendant conspire with Vladimir to elope
and marry
in a secret midnight
ceremony in a nearby village. At first, Marya Gavrilovna agrees to the plan, but as the ceremony approaches, she feels more and more anxious. On the night the ceremony is to take place, she almost doesn't go as in addition to her growing anxiety, a terrible snowstorm is occurring, but her attendant persuades her to.
Meanwhile, Vladimir sets out from his military encampment on his way to the church. However, he becomes lost in severe blizzard
conditions and cannot find his way. He stops at a small hamlet to obtain directions from locals only to find that he has been going the wrong direction the entire night and is too far from the church to make it to the ceremony on time. The next morning, Marya Gavrilovna returns home and goes to sleep as if nothing has happened, but she soon grows gravely ill and becomes delirious
with fever
. During her semiconscious state, she mumbles many things, one of which is her plan to elope with Vladimir. Upon hearing this, Marya Gavrilovna's parents grant permission for her to marry Vladimir, but they attempt to contact him, they receive a letter from him stating that he is off with the army, and the narrator informs the reader that Vladimir is killed in the Battle of Borodino
soon after.
After this, Marya Gavrilovna and her family move to a new estate, and after some time, suitors come to seek Marya Gavrilovna's hand in marriage. Marya Gavrilovna, still in love with Vladimir, turns them all away except for a hussar
named Bermin. Their relationship progresses, until one day, Marya Gavrilovna is reading by a lake
, and knows that when Bermin comes to visit her that day, he will ask to marry her. He proceeds to tell her that though he loves her, he cannot marry her because one night, several years ago, he was traveling during a snowstorm when he became lost. Pulling into a small town, he is met by a priest, who tells him he is late for the wedding. He is brought into the hall where Marya Gavrilovna had been awaiting Vladimir. The ceremony is carried out, but as Bermin turns to kiss the bride, Marya Gavrilovna faints. Upon concluding this story, Bermin tells Marya Gavrilovna that he still feels faithful to his wife, even though he does not know who she is. Marya Gavrilovna asks him why he does not recognize her, and each realizing the other's identity, they collapse into one another's arms.
, Adrian Prokhorov, who moves to a new village. Prokhorov, who is depicted as cold and regimented, never deviating from his routine, soon sets up shop in his new village. Soon after, he becomes acquainted with his neighbors, also merchants, who come to visit him. They invite him to a dinner
with all of the village's other merchants, where after a long night of card games and other entertainment, several toasts
are proposed. Prokhorov is offended after someone offers toast to the health of their collective customers, and leaves suddenly, claiming that he could host a better party with own customers. Drunk
, he goes to bed and has a dream
where he imagines that all of his customers, now in the form of reanimated corpses
, and even one, revealed to be Prokhorov's first customer, who returns as a skeleton
. The corpses accuse him of cheating, overcharging, and numerous other offenses, when Prokhorov wakes up. Realizing it was all a dream, he calls for his servant to fetch his daughters and to make a cup of tea
. Whether or not Prokhorov has actually changed his ways is left up to the reader.
civil service
, who run posting stations along the country's roads, providing such services as fresh horse
s, beds, and food to travelers. The narrator derides collegiate registrars as power-drunk, unreasonable, and asking the reader who hasn't cursed them, and asked to see their "vile ledger book." After this opening tirade, however, the narrator relents, and states that he will tell us a story about one particular station master he met during his extensive travels on official business.
The narrator begins by telling us of one of his travels, which brought him to an infrequently used road very far out in the country. Stopping at the local posting station, he is captivated by the station's order and decoration, among which is an illustrated version of the biblical
story of the Prodigal Son. When asked by the station master if he would like some tea
, as all of the horses are out and he will be required to wait for some time until new horses can be prepared, the narrator accepts and stays a while. Shortly after, the tea is brought out by the station master's daughter
, Dunya, who is described as being beautiful and very adult
in demeanor and mannerisms. Dunya and the narrator converse as if they were good friends, and the narrator, who initially expressed his disapproval of having to wait, is sorry to leave the posting station.
The narrator goes on his way, but the posting station where he met Dunya remains in the back of his head. Three years later, the narrator decides to visit Dunya and her father. Upon reaching the station, which is no longer on an official imperial road, he finds the station in disrepair and the old station master a broken man. When the narrator inquires as to the state of his daughter, the old station master concedes that he has no idea where she is or what condition she is in. Although the old station master will not tell the story of his daughter's disappearance at first, when the narrator offers the old station master something to drink
, the old station master relents and begins to tell the story.
Some time after the narrator's first visit, an important official of the sixth rank came to the posting station, and like many other visitors, was required to wait until new horses could be prepared. The official was initially enraged that someone of his rank would be forced to wait by a fourteenth-grade civil servant, and the station master calls Dunya in to calm the man. Dunya begins to talk to the official, and just like the narrator, the official takes a great liking to her and forgets his annoyance at being forced to stay at the station. However, soon after, the official falls gravely ill and remains at the station for several days, during which time Dunya cares for him day and night. When the official gets better, as a token of gratitude he offers to take Dunya on a ride across the village in his fancy carriage
. Dunya hesitates, but her father tells her that she may go, and she gets in the carriage. The official then proceeds to kidnap Dunya, who is never seen by her father again, even though he tracks the official down and even tries to barge into the official's home in Saint Petersburg
. The station master is unsuccessful in his attempts to see Dunya, and he returns to his nearly defunct posting station.
Several years after having heard the old station master's story, the narrator returns to the remote village once again. The town has now been off the imperial road for several years, and upon arriving in the town, he visits the old station master's house, he learns that the old station master has died, most likely from alcoholism
. The family who now lives in the house, however, offer to have one of their children show the narrator to the old post master's grave. The narrator remarks that the graveyard is the most desolate place he has ever seen, and feels that he has wasted his time and money in visiting the village another time. Shortly after, the child who brought the narrator to the graveyard
tells the narrator that not long before he arrived, a woman came to the village in a fancy carriage with several children, a governess
, footmen
, and wearing an expensive dress. She also asked to see the postmaster's grave, but also saying that she knew the way to the graveyard and did not need to be shown. The child continues by saying that the woman bowed down on the station master's grave and wept. Realizing that Dunya returned to her father's grave, the narrator feels at peace and no longer thinks that the trip had been a waste.
The story opens with one of Lizaveta Muromsky's servants informing her mistress that she is going to the Berestov's estate to celebrate a name day
party being held there for one of her friends, a servant on the Berestov estate. Later in the evening, Lizaveta's servant returns, and tells tales of the goings-on at the Berestov's name day festival. The servant tells Lizaveta of Alexei's behavior at the name day festival, relating how energetic and entertaining he was, even joining in the peasants' games. Lizaveta questions her servant about this further. Lizaveta already knew Alexei through society, and held a most negative opinion of him, namely because he acted in a melancholy manner, as was common among young, upper-class early 19th century Russians. Lizaveta considered this to be a shame, as she found him quite attractive. After hearing that he acted in such a manner at the name-day festival, she resolved to meet him in a peasant's costume collecting mushroom
s in a forest Alexei frequents while hunting
.
Lizaveta meets Alexei in the forest as planned, and begins to talk to him in the guise of the peasant girl Akulina. Berestov is enchanted with the girl, and soon teaches her to write
so the two may correspond, and Berestov is amazed when Akulina learns reading and writing in two weeks. This continued for some time, until one morning, the elder Muromsky is injured in a hunting accident and is taken in by Berestov. The two reconcile their differences, and the Berestovs are invited over to the Muromsky estate for dinner
. Lizaveta is terrified by this prospect and begs her father to allow her to conceal her identity during the dinner. Because Lizaveta has a reputation as a prankster, her father allows her to do so, and the dinner passes without her identity being revealed. A short time after, the Berestov family encounters financial difficulties, and Berestov commands Alexei to marry Lizaveta Muromsky, the only suitable heiress in the area. At first, he is hesitant, and runs to the Muromsky's house to explain to Lizaveta that his father wishes that they marry, but he cannot marry her because he loves the peasant girl Akulina. Alexei enters the Muromsky's kitchen
, only to find Lizaveta reading one of Alexei's letters to Akulina. Realizing each other's identity simultaneously, the story ends.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Aleksandr Pushkin
Aleksandr Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature....
. The collection is opened with the editorial, in which Pushkin pretends to be the publisher of Belkin's tales. The tales themselves are not related to one another, except that they are all said in the introduction to be stories told by various people to a recently deceased landowner, Ivan Petrovich Belkin. The introduction continues to say that Belkin was an interesting and mysterious man, even to the point that the woman he left his estate to had never met him. It is also mentioned that Belkin's favorite pastime was to collect and hear stories, several of which are to be presented to the reader.
The Shot
This story was told to Belkin by colonelColonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
I.L.P., who in the early days of his military career was stationed at a country outpost. The soldiers always visited a peculiar man named Silvio to play cards
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
. Silvio is always practicing shooting, and the walls of his house are full with bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...
holes. On one occasion the host is insulted by one of his guests, but he won't challenge his guest to a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
, as was considered proper. He is then considered to be a coward by most of the soldiers, but he is able to explain his situation: years ago he engaged in a duel, in which his opponent was eating cherries
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
while waiting for him to shoot. He decided that as life apparently was meaningless to his opponent, and that he would not shoot, but rather asked to postpone the duel. If he were to now engage the soldier in a duel over the card game, he would most certainly have killed him, but also that the small risk of dying before being able to exact revenge was not worth it. However, Silvio soon learns that his former opponent is engaged
Engagement
An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...
to be married, and Silvio believes that he is now less indifferent towards life. This is the moment Silvio has been waiting for, and he leaves to get revenge.
After several years, the narrator resigns from active duty and leaves for his country estate. After a while, his neighbors arrive and the narrator visits them soon after. On the wall he notices a painting of a Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
with two bullet holes very close together. The narrator, seeing this, tells his neighbor about a man he knew in the army who was an extraordinary shot, and tells the count of Silvio. The count is overcome with fear, and informs the narrator that he was Silvio's opponent, and shortly before his wedding Silvio claimed his right to a duel. The neighbor draws the right to shoot first, but misses, and the bullet ends up in the painting. As Silvio aims to shoot, the neighbor's bride enters the room. Silvio takes pity on her and then without aiming, shoots the painting in almost exactly the same spot as the count, thereby both sparing the count's life and demonstrating how easily he could have ended it.
The Blizzard
This story was told to Belkin by Miss K.I.T., who herself is not involved in the story. The Blizzard, also translated as "The Snowstorm," concerns a young noblewomanNobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
, Marya Gavrilovna, and her young lover, a lieutenant named Vladimir. The reason for their relationship is not specifically given, but the story states "Marya Gavrilovna was raised on French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s and consequently was in love." Marya Gavrilovna's parents do not approve of the relationship due to the difference in social status between the two lovers, and Marya Gavrilovna and her attendant conspire with Vladimir to elope
Elope
To elope, most literally, merely means to run away with a girl and to not come back to the point of origination. More specifically, elopement is often used to refer to a marriage conducted in sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving hurried flight away from one's place of residence together...
and marry
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
in a secret midnight
Midnight
Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
ceremony in a nearby village. At first, Marya Gavrilovna agrees to the plan, but as the ceremony approaches, she feels more and more anxious. On the night the ceremony is to take place, she almost doesn't go as in addition to her growing anxiety, a terrible snowstorm is occurring, but her attendant persuades her to.
Meanwhile, Vladimir sets out from his military encampment on his way to the church. However, he becomes lost in severe blizzard
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...
conditions and cannot find his way. He stops at a small hamlet to obtain directions from locals only to find that he has been going the wrong direction the entire night and is too far from the church to make it to the ceremony on time. The next morning, Marya Gavrilovna returns home and goes to sleep as if nothing has happened, but she soon grows gravely ill and becomes delirious
Delirium
Delirium or acute confusional state is a common and severe neuropsychiatric syndrome with core features of acute onset and fluctuating course, attentional deficits and generalized severe disorganization of behavior...
with fever
Fever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
. During her semiconscious state, she mumbles many things, one of which is her plan to elope with Vladimir. Upon hearing this, Marya Gavrilovna's parents grant permission for her to marry Vladimir, but they attempt to contact him, they receive a letter from him stating that he is off with the army, and the narrator informs the reader that Vladimir is killed in the Battle of Borodino
Battle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia and all Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...
soon after.
After this, Marya Gavrilovna and her family move to a new estate, and after some time, suitors come to seek Marya Gavrilovna's hand in marriage. Marya Gavrilovna, still in love with Vladimir, turns them all away except for a hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
named Bermin. Their relationship progresses, until one day, Marya Gavrilovna is reading by a lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
, and knows that when Bermin comes to visit her that day, he will ask to marry her. He proceeds to tell her that though he loves her, he cannot marry her because one night, several years ago, he was traveling during a snowstorm when he became lost. Pulling into a small town, he is met by a priest, who tells him he is late for the wedding. He is brought into the hall where Marya Gavrilovna had been awaiting Vladimir. The ceremony is carried out, but as Bermin turns to kiss the bride, Marya Gavrilovna faints. Upon concluding this story, Bermin tells Marya Gavrilovna that he still feels faithful to his wife, even though he does not know who she is. Marya Gavrilovna asks him why he does not recognize her, and each realizing the other's identity, they collapse into one another's arms.
The Undertaker
This story was told to Belkin by the shop employee B.V, who like the character who told Belkin "The Blizzard," is not involved in the story. The tale concerns an undertakerFuneral director
A funeral director , also known as a mortician or undertaker, is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony...
, Adrian Prokhorov, who moves to a new village. Prokhorov, who is depicted as cold and regimented, never deviating from his routine, soon sets up shop in his new village. Soon after, he becomes acquainted with his neighbors, also merchants, who come to visit him. They invite him to a dinner
Dinner
Dinner is usually the name of the main meal of the day. Depending upon culture, dinner may be the second, third or fourth meal of the day. Originally, though, it referred to the first meal of the day, eaten around noon, and is still occasionally used for a noontime meal, if it is a large or main...
with all of the village's other merchants, where after a long night of card games and other entertainment, several toasts
Toast (honor)
A toast is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, the drink taken, or the verbal expression accompanying the drink. Thus, a person could be "the toast of the evening," for whom someone "proposes a toast"...
are proposed. Prokhorov is offended after someone offers toast to the health of their collective customers, and leaves suddenly, claiming that he could host a better party with own customers. Drunk
Drunkenness
Alcohol intoxication is a physiological state that occurs when a person has a high level of ethanol in his or her blood....
, he goes to bed and has a dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
where he imagines that all of his customers, now in the form of reanimated corpses
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
, and even one, revealed to be Prokhorov's first customer, who returns as a skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
. The corpses accuse him of cheating, overcharging, and numerous other offenses, when Prokhorov wakes up. Realizing it was all a dream, he calls for his servant to fetch his daughters and to make a cup of tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
. Whether or not Prokhorov has actually changed his ways is left up to the reader.
The Station Master
This story was told to Belkin by titular counsellor A.G.N, and is a first-hand account. The story opens with the narrator complaining to the reader in a humorous fashion about collegiate registrars, the lowest of the fourteen ranks in Imperial RussianRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
, who run posting stations along the country's roads, providing such services as fresh horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, beds, and food to travelers. The narrator derides collegiate registrars as power-drunk, unreasonable, and asking the reader who hasn't cursed them, and asked to see their "vile ledger book." After this opening tirade, however, the narrator relents, and states that he will tell us a story about one particular station master he met during his extensive travels on official business.
The narrator begins by telling us of one of his travels, which brought him to an infrequently used road very far out in the country. Stopping at the local posting station, he is captivated by the station's order and decoration, among which is an illustrated version of the biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
story of the Prodigal Son. When asked by the station master if he would like some tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
, as all of the horses are out and he will be required to wait for some time until new horses can be prepared, the narrator accepts and stays a while. Shortly after, the tea is brought out by the station master's daughter
Daughter
A daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements.-Etymology:...
, Dunya, who is described as being beautiful and very adult
Adult
An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
in demeanor and mannerisms. Dunya and the narrator converse as if they were good friends, and the narrator, who initially expressed his disapproval of having to wait, is sorry to leave the posting station.
The narrator goes on his way, but the posting station where he met Dunya remains in the back of his head. Three years later, the narrator decides to visit Dunya and her father. Upon reaching the station, which is no longer on an official imperial road, he finds the station in disrepair and the old station master a broken man. When the narrator inquires as to the state of his daughter, the old station master concedes that he has no idea where she is or what condition she is in. Although the old station master will not tell the story of his daughter's disappearance at first, when the narrator offers the old station master something to drink
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
, the old station master relents and begins to tell the story.
Some time after the narrator's first visit, an important official of the sixth rank came to the posting station, and like many other visitors, was required to wait until new horses could be prepared. The official was initially enraged that someone of his rank would be forced to wait by a fourteenth-grade civil servant, and the station master calls Dunya in to calm the man. Dunya begins to talk to the official, and just like the narrator, the official takes a great liking to her and forgets his annoyance at being forced to stay at the station. However, soon after, the official falls gravely ill and remains at the station for several days, during which time Dunya cares for him day and night. When the official gets better, as a token of gratitude he offers to take Dunya on a ride across the village in his fancy carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
. Dunya hesitates, but her father tells her that she may go, and she gets in the carriage. The official then proceeds to kidnap Dunya, who is never seen by her father again, even though he tracks the official down and even tries to barge into the official's home in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. The station master is unsuccessful in his attempts to see Dunya, and he returns to his nearly defunct posting station.
Several years after having heard the old station master's story, the narrator returns to the remote village once again. The town has now been off the imperial road for several years, and upon arriving in the town, he visits the old station master's house, he learns that the old station master has died, most likely from alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. The family who now lives in the house, however, offer to have one of their children show the narrator to the old post master's grave. The narrator remarks that the graveyard is the most desolate place he has ever seen, and feels that he has wasted his time and money in visiting the village another time. Shortly after, the child who brought the narrator to the graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
tells the narrator that not long before he arrived, a woman came to the village in a fancy carriage with several children, a governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
, footmen
Footman
A footman is a male servant, notably as domestic staff.-Word history:The name derives from the attendants who ran beside or behind the carriages of aristocrats, many of whom were chosen for their physical attributes. They ran alongside the coach to make sure it was not overturned by such obstacles...
, and wearing an expensive dress. She also asked to see the postmaster's grave, but also saying that she knew the way to the graveyard and did not need to be shown. The child continues by saying that the woman bowed down on the station master's grave and wept. Realizing that Dunya returned to her father's grave, the narrator feels at peace and no longer thinks that the trip had been a waste.
The Squire's Daughter
This story was told to Belkin by miss K.I.T, who again does not play a part in the story. The story is also translated under the name "Mistress into Maid." The story involves two young people, Lizaveta Muromsky and Alexei Berestov, whose fathers are both wealthy landowners who dislike each because of the way each other runs their estate. Berestov accuses Muromsky of being an anglophile, and ignoring the traditional Russian way of doing things. Muromsky levels accusations against Berestov of not realizing how inefficient the traditional ways are.The story opens with one of Lizaveta Muromsky's servants informing her mistress that she is going to the Berestov's estate to celebrate a name day
Name day
A name day is a tradition in many countries in Europe and Latin America that consists of celebrating the day of the year associated with one's given name....
party being held there for one of her friends, a servant on the Berestov estate. Later in the evening, Lizaveta's servant returns, and tells tales of the goings-on at the Berestov's name day festival. The servant tells Lizaveta of Alexei's behavior at the name day festival, relating how energetic and entertaining he was, even joining in the peasants' games. Lizaveta questions her servant about this further. Lizaveta already knew Alexei through society, and held a most negative opinion of him, namely because he acted in a melancholy manner, as was common among young, upper-class early 19th century Russians. Lizaveta considered this to be a shame, as she found him quite attractive. After hearing that he acted in such a manner at the name-day festival, she resolved to meet him in a peasant's costume collecting mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s in a forest Alexei frequents while hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
.
Lizaveta meets Alexei in the forest as planned, and begins to talk to him in the guise of the peasant girl Akulina. Berestov is enchanted with the girl, and soon teaches her to write
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
so the two may correspond, and Berestov is amazed when Akulina learns reading and writing in two weeks. This continued for some time, until one morning, the elder Muromsky is injured in a hunting accident and is taken in by Berestov. The two reconcile their differences, and the Berestovs are invited over to the Muromsky estate for dinner
Dinner
Dinner is usually the name of the main meal of the day. Depending upon culture, dinner may be the second, third or fourth meal of the day. Originally, though, it referred to the first meal of the day, eaten around noon, and is still occasionally used for a noontime meal, if it is a large or main...
. Lizaveta is terrified by this prospect and begs her father to allow her to conceal her identity during the dinner. Because Lizaveta has a reputation as a prankster, her father allows her to do so, and the dinner passes without her identity being revealed. A short time after, the Berestov family encounters financial difficulties, and Berestov commands Alexei to marry Lizaveta Muromsky, the only suitable heiress in the area. At first, he is hesitant, and runs to the Muromsky's house to explain to Lizaveta that his father wishes that they marry, but he cannot marry her because he loves the peasant girl Akulina. Alexei enters the Muromsky's kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
, only to find Lizaveta reading one of Alexei's letters to Akulina. Realizing each other's identity simultaneously, the story ends.