“A Hero of Our Time” was written in 1838-1840. In 1838, the writer was in exile in the Caucasus, where the idea of the novel was born. Then the work was published in parts in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, and, seeing the interest of readers, the author combined the individual chapters into one large novel.
In addition, readers had a number of questions, and in connection with this, a preface appeared in the 1841 edition, providing answers to them.
If you are a schoolchild or student and are studying Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time,” summary the work will help you familiarize yourself with the text in the shortest possible time, understand the main conflicts and the creative intent of the author.
The novel includes five chapters, or short stories:
The chapter begins with us meeting the narrator. This Russian officer traveling in the Caucasus. He meets Maxim Maksimych, a staff captain. They quickly become friends. Then a snowstorm begins, and the heroes, having nothing else to do, begin to remember various events of their lives. The staff captain tells a story about another officer, Grigory Pechorin, whom he knew a little over four years ago.
Pechorin is a young nobleman, rich, handsome and stately, and at the same time an intelligent and well-educated person. However, Pechorin’s character is somewhat confusing: he can ride a horse over the rocks, as if feeling absolutely no fear, or he can, like a girl, complain about complete trifles. At the time the story is about, Pechorin served in a military fortress, where Maxim Maksimych was the commandant at that time.
After some time, the captain noticed that his subordinate was sad in the wilderness, and, being a sensitive boss, decided to help him. At that moment, he was just invited to a wedding: the eldest daughter of a Circassian prince who lived near the fortress, who tried to support with the officers, was getting married a good relationship. However, the prince also had a younger daughter, Bela, a beautiful and graceful girl, who attracted Pechorin.
At a wedding, the room becomes stuffy, and the captain comes out to Fresh air, where he accidentally witnesses a conversation. Azamat, Bela's brother, and Kazbich, a Circassian with a robber appearance, are talking about the latter’s horse. Azamat wants to buy a horse at any price, he is even ready to steal his sister for Kazbich, to whom he is not indifferent, but Kazbich only brushes off the young man.
The captain retells this conversation to Pechorin, not imagining what tragedy it could end. Pechorin subsequently offers Azamat a similar exchange: he will steal his sister for him, and the officer, in turn, will ensure that the young man receives the horse Kazbich. Azamat fulfills his part of the agreement and brings Bela to the fortress. When Kazbich drives sheep into the fortress, Pechorin distracts him, and at this time Azamat steals Karagez’s horse.
Kazbich swears revenge, and later rumors reach the fortress: he killed the father of Azamat and Bela, because he suspected that he was an accomplice in the theft of the horse.
Bela at this time lives with Pechorin in the fortress. With careful treatment, he manages to win her heart, but after that he quickly loses interest in her, which is why the girl is very worried. The elderly captain, trying to console Bela, invites her, in the absence of Pechorin, to take a walk outside the walls of the fortress, where they see Kazbich - he is riding the horse of Bela’s father.
After some time, Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin are forced to leave, and on the way back they see Kazbich carrying some kind of bag. They realize that Bela is in the bag and give chase, but Kazbich wounds her with a dagger and throws her. They don't have time to catch up with him.
The girl is brought to the fortress, where she remains delirious for two more days, talks about her love for Pechorin and regrets that due to different faiths they will not be able to meet in heaven. After the funeral, Maxim Maksimych no longer talks about the girl with his subordinate. Gradually, he begins to think that this was the best way out of the situation: after all, Pechorin would have left Bela anyway, and she did not survive the betrayal. Subsequently, Grigory Alexandrovich leaves for Georgia to continue his service and gives no further news about himself.
The heroes part, but after a while they meet again. The staff captain says that he unexpectedly met a former subordinate - he retired and is now going to Persia. Pechorin does not strive to communicate with his former boss, he shows indifference and coldness, which greatly saddens the old staff captain.
In addition, the narrator sees Pechorin in person and conveys his impressions of him. He notes a beautiful, expressive face that women like, good, non-provocative clothes. But the main thing in his entire appearance is his cold, heavy and penetrating gaze. The narrator also notes the absence of gestures - a sign of distrust and secrecy.
The old staff captain sees that the narrator is interested in Pechorin’s personality and gives him Grigory Alexandrovich’s diary. After Pechorin’s death at the age of 28, the narrator decides to publish some parts of the diary, asking readers for leniency towards the personality of Grigory Alexandrovich: after all, despite his vices, he was sincere in his description. Subsequent chapters of the novel are excerpts from Pechorin's diary.
In this chapter, Pechorin talks about a “funny” adventure that happened to him in Taman. Arriving in this town, he stops for the night in the house of a blind boy, but soon begins to suspect that the boy is hiding something. At night, he decides to follow him and sees that the boy is dating a girl - Pechorin calls her Undine, which means “mermaid”. They wait for a man named Yanko, who soon appears carrying some bags.
In the morning, Pechorin tries to find out from the blind man what kind of bags they were, but he pretends that he does not understand. Ondine tries to flirt with him, and Pechorin pretends to give in. In the evening he goes on a date, asking a Cossack friend to be on the alert and come to the rescue if something happens.
Pechorin and Ondine board the boat, but soon the girl tries to push him into the water(he doesn’t know how to swim). She guessed that the officer understood: she, Yanko and the blind boy were smugglers. To prevent him from reporting to the police, she decides to drown him, but he is stronger and throws her into the water. She swims to Yanko's boat, who takes her on board and they disappear into the darkness.
Upon his return, Pechorin realizes that the blind boy stole all his things. He is annoyed that he could have died, although he admits that these adventures entertained him. In the morning he leaves Taman forever.
In this chapter, Grigory Alexandrovich talks about his life in Kislovodsk. Living there is very boring for him, he is looking for entertainment - and finds it.
In Kislovodsk he meets Grushnitsky- a young cadet, an ardent youth, in love with a princess named Mary Ligovskaya. The officer laughs at feelings young man, speaks about Mary in his presence as if she were a racehorse, and not a girl, evaluates her shortcomings and advantages. He annoys Mary, and he even likes to anger the girl: he is the first to buy the carpet that she wanted to buy, and allows himself unpleasant hints addressed to her. He is trying to prove to Grushnitsky that this girl is from the breed of those who flirt with everyone, and at the behest of her mother marries a worthless man.
At the same time, in the city, the officer meets the local doctor Werner. This is an intelligent, but bilious person, around whom various rumors circulate, he is even called local Mephistopheles. However, the doctor likes such exotic fame, and he supports it with all his might. He foresees that drama may occur in the current “triangle”, but does not talk about it too much.
Meanwhile, Vera, a relative of Princess Mary, arrives in Kislovodsk. Once upon a time, Grigory Alexandrovich was passionately in love with her, and she also retained her feelings for him. They meet, and a completely different hero appears before us: not an evil cynic, but a living person who is no stranger to pain and suffering. Vera is already married and cannot be with Gregory; After meeting her, out of frustration, he throws himself into the saddle and gallops through the mountains, almost torturing his horse. He meets Mary by chance, which frightens her very much.
Grushnitsky begins to prove to the officer that he will no longer be accepted in the Ligovsky house after all his antics. Pechorin argues with a friend, suggesting the opposite. Soon he goes to a ball at the Ligovskys, where he is unusually courteous with Mary, and her mother invites him to her house as a close friend.
Now Grigory Alexandrovich is interested in Mary as a woman, but Vera is still important to him. However, on one of the dates, Vera admits that she is terminally ill - she has consumption, and asks them to take care of her reputation. She also adds that she always understood and accepted Gregory with all his vices.
Pechorin gets along with Mary and tries to make her fall in love with him. He himself doesn’t understand why he needs this: to have fun, to annoy Grushnitsky, to make Vera jealous? However, he achieves his goal. Vera is worried. She asks Gregory not to marry Mary, and in return promises to meet him at night. Grushnitsky is jealous, turns away when Pechorin appears, and stops greeting him.
Grigory Alexandrovich himself is bored with them all. He behaves defiantly, makes Mary cry, and seems immoral and crazy to people. At the same time, there is talk in the city that he will soon propose to her, Princess Ligovskaya is waiting for a matchmaker from him. And he himself is waiting for the first confession from Mary. While walking, he kisses the girl on the cheek, the next day he waits for her confession and coldly remarks that he feels nothing for her. Mary feels humiliated and understands that they only laughed at her.
Describing this scene, Gregory discusses the reasons for his behavior. He writes that he highly values his own freedom, is afraid to be noble, and is afraid to seem funny to others. He also believes that he is not capable of bringing happiness to anyone.
A famous magician comes to the city, and everyone gathers at his performance except Vera and Mary. In the evening, Pechorin, worried about Vera, goes to the Ligovskys’ house, where she lives. Grushnitsky thinks that he has a date with Mary here, tracks down the officer and challenges him to a duel. Werner and another dragoon become seconds.
Before the duel, Pechorin talks for a long time about his life, about the fact that he did not bring good to anyone, for many he became an executioner, killing by word or deed. And he couldn’t find a single person who could understand him and forgive him everything. And now he can die in a duel, and only memories will remain of him.
The next morning, Werner tries to reconcile his opponents, Pechorin wants to show generosity, but Grushnitsky is offended and angry. Grushnitsky dies in a duel. The duel must be hidden, and all participants say that he was killed by the Circassians.
Vera understands everything, admits to her husband that she still has feelings for Pechorin, and he takes her away from the city. Pechorin realizes that he has no one more dear than Vera, he tries to catch up with her, but only drives the horse to death. Upon returning to the city, he learns that there are rumors in society about a duel and he has been assigned a new duty station. He goes to say goodbye to the Ligovskys’ house. The old princess offers him her daughter's hand in marriage, but he himself refuses the offer.
In the final part of the novel, Pechorin finds himself in a Cossack village on official business. One evening, a debate arises among the officers about whether a person chooses his own destiny, or whether everything is predetermined. One of the heroes, Serb Vulich, says that he is a fatalist - a person who believes in fate. And if tonight he is not destined from above to die, then no matter how much he strives for it, he will not die.
To prove his words, he offers a bet: he will shoot himself in the temple, and if he is wrong, he will die. Only Pechorin agrees to such terrible conditions. He looks his interlocutor in the eyes and says that today he is destined to die. Vulich shoots himself in the temple, but the pistol misfires. The next shot is to the side - a combat shot. However, Pechorin continues to insist that Vulich will die, and he, annoyed, leaves.
On his way home, Pechorin sees a pig cut in half by a saber. They tell him that a certain Cossack acts “strangely” when he drinks. And the next morning they tell him that the same Cossack hacked Vulich to death at night. Pechorin decides to try his luck and goes in search of the Cossack along with other officers. The Cossack, having sobered up, understands what happened, but does not want to give up. He locks himself in the hut and promises to kill anyone who gets inside. Pechorin, risking his life, climbs into the hut through the window, but remains alive; the officers manage to tie up the Cossack.
It would seem that after this Pechorin is destined to become a fatalist. However he is in no hurry to draw conclusions, believing that not everything in life is so simple. Maxim Maksimych, to whom he retold this story, also does not strive for fatalism. This is where the novel ends.
The novel “Hero of Our Time” is one of the most significant creations of M.Yu. Lermontov. The compositional originality of the work is such that each chapter and its location in the narrative contain a certain meaning for revealing the image of the main character. And the novel opens with the chapter “Bela” by Lermontov, a brief summary of which we will consider.
The novel was published in parts. The first to see the light was the chapter “Bela”, published in the journal “Otechestvennye zapiski” (1839). Then “Fatalist” and “Taman” came out. Mikhail Yuryevich’s new work was received ambiguously by critics. Belinsky and his supporters openly admired the novel, but there were those who found it a cruel caricature of modern society. The only character who did not cause protests from the opposition was Maxim Maksimych. It was he who was initially mistaken for the “hero of our time” by Nicholas I and was greatly annoyed, realizing that he was mistaken. This controversy forced Lermontov to write a preface to the next edition of the novel, where he refutes the idea of irony and ridicule of modernity.
In the article we will not consider the entire novel, but only the first chapter - “Bela” (Lermontov), its summary and analysis.
The main task of the unusual compositional structure of the novel is to reveal the image of Pechorin. When reading the work, it seems as if with each chapter, like frame by frame, Lermontov brings the “camera” closer to his character, and at the end the reader hears Pechorin’s voice. A brief retelling will help you get a good feel for this unusual structure.
Lermontov, Bela and other characters for whom were only a way to explain the character of Pechorin, approaches the creation of images of his heroes very seriously. And they appear not as empty templates, but as people with their own thoughts and experiences. That is why it makes sense to analyze not only the image of the main character, but also the images of other characters in the novel.
Who are the characters in the first chapter? Its main characters are as follows:
On one of the mountain roads of the Caucasus, the paths of the narrator, traveling from Tiflis, and staff captain Maxim Maksimych converge. The new acquaintance is a man of fifty years or so, knows the area well and is well acquainted with the language and traditions of the highlanders. The narrator immediately understands that this is someone who has lived in the Caucasus for a long time and perfectly understands the peculiarities of this region. In the evening, at a halt, Maxim Maksimych recalls his service in the fortress near Terek. There, a fascinating story happened with his friend, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin.
The image of Pechorin first appears before the reader precisely in the chapter “Bela” by Lermontov. A summary of Maxim Maksimych’s story can begin with the trip of Pechorin and the staff captain to the wedding of the eldest daughter of the Chechen prince. Here the fateful meeting of the main character with the youngest daughter of the owner of the house, Bela, takes place. Pechorin is struck by her beauty and cannot take his eyes off her. But he was not the only one who noticed the charm of the young princess. Kazbich, a bandit and dashing rider, whose horse (Karagez) is known throughout Kabarda, also does not take his fiery eyes off the girl.
During the holiday, Maxim Maksimych goes outside to get some air and hears Azamat’s conversation with Kazbich. The prince's son wants to get the robber's horse and is even ready to steal Bela for him. But the bandit does not agree. But Pechorin, who learned about this conversation, invites Azamat to steal a horse for him in exchange for a girl. The young man agrees and brings Bela to Pechorin at night. The next morning, Kazbich brings the sheep to the fortress for sale. And while they are talking with the staff captain, Azamat leads the horse away.
Maxim Maksimych appeals to Pechorin’s honor, but the main character replies that if he now returns Bela, the prince will sell her into slavery or kill her. And the staff captain agrees with this argument.
The image of Bela begins to reveal itself the moment she appears in the fortress. The girl finds herself locked in a room, only a Tatar woman comes to her and gives Pechorin’s gifts. The princess behaves distrustfully, but gradually succumbs to the charm of the protagonist. He declares that Bela cannot fall in love, and is ready to let the girl go and leave. The princess stops Pechorin and confesses her love. At the same time, Kazbich, confident that Azamat stole his horse with his father’s permission, kills the prince.
Maxim Maksimych becomes attached to the girl, and Pechorin grows cold. The main character goes hunting, and the captain, trying to entertain Bela, takes her for a walk. Here they see a horseman, whom they recognize as Kazbich. The bandit rides on Bela's father's horse.
Gradually, Pechorin finally loses interest in the princess. Maxim Maksimych again calls the main character for a conversation. Pechorin says that his destiny is to cause grief to others. And he himself cannot find his happiness. WITH youth he tried to find his purpose, to find a place in society, but failed. It is here that one of the key problems of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” arises. The chapter “Bela” illustrates the restlessness of an entire generation for which there was no worthy occupation in Russia during the time of Lermontov.
For Pechorin, Bela became hope for happiness and love, but the expectations were not met. He was again overcome by boredom and indifference. One day Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin go hunting. On the way back, they hear a shot and see Kazbich. The bandit galloped at full speed, and a white bundle was thrown over the saddle of his horse. Pechorin gave chase and shot Kazbich's horse. Then it became clear that the robber had kidnapped Bela. And not wanting to part with her, Kazbich struck her with a dagger.
Pechorin brought Bela to the fortress, where she suffered for two more days and then died. The main character was sick for a long time, was sad, and three months later he left for Georgia.
Analysis literary work allows you to reveal all its semantic facets. It is especially interesting to consider texts like the novel “A Hero of Our Time.” The chapter “Bela” tells the story of the love of Pechorin and Bela, a Circassian princess. Lermontov does not give a definite answer whether his hero loved the girl or was just having fun. Pechorin himself cannot understand how strong his feelings were.
Perhaps he was seduced by the novelty, the difference between Bela and the usual social coquettes. Pechorin admits that he is attracted by the passion and pride of the highlanders. This is exactly what the main character could be looking for in a girl, but perhaps he was trying to find sincere affection and feelings.
Lermontov himself has ambivalent attitudes towards his hero. Bela, the analysis of whose image is quite remarkable, embodies sincerity and emotionality. It was these qualities, combined with beauty, that could attract Pechorin. But the protagonist’s interest turns out to be short-lived. Losing interest in a girl who is sincerely in love, he destroys her.
Bela's characteristics are largely determined by her origin: she is a Circassian and the daughter of a prince. Her sincerity, openness and wildness are explained national characteristics Highlanders Bela is close to nature, has inner pride and a desire for freedom.
Once captured, she withdraws and rejects gifts. But gradually love awakens in her, to which she surrenders completely, without hesitation or doubt. But as soon as Pechorin cools off towards her, Bela is ready to leave herself: “I am not his slave. I am a prince’s daughter!”
Thus, Bela’s characterization speaks of her as a victim of different cultural and historical communities. The heroine’s belonging to the highlanders determined her death at the hands of Kazbich, who was guided by the laws of his ancestors.
As noted above, Lermontov does not give an unambiguous assessment of his heroes. “A Hero of Our Time” (we have already discussed the heroes of the first chapter) is a novel that reflects many contradictions of the human character. The writer portrays two characters who are completely opposite in their origins and views.
The love story of the heroes is built on contradictions. First, the reader sees Pechorin's passion and the indifference that Bela embodies. The characteristics of the heroes gradually change to the opposite: the girl’s feelings flare up, and Pechorin cools down. The inconsistency of the heroes leads their love into tragedy.
Lermontov's story "Bela" introduces the reader to the main character and reveals one of the main traits of his character. Pechorin appears as thirsty for new sensations, striving to find his place in life, but not understanding what he is looking for and unable to take responsibility for his actions.
A Russian traveler was traveling through the mountains from Tiflis. The cart with his luggage was carried by oxen, driven by hired mountaineers. Near the foot of the Koishaur Mountain he met another similar compatriot - an officer of about fifty, still of a cheerful appearance, named Maxim Maksimych. They turned out to be fellow travelers. During the difficult road through the passes near the abysses, Maxim Maksimych began to remember his service in Chechnya.
He told his companion that once an officer of about 25 years old, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, a rich man with a strong and independent character, came to serve in their fortress. His behavior seemed somewhat strange at first. Pechorin would spend whole cold days hunting, going out alone and hunting wild boar, or he could not even stand a draft in the room. He often sat alone in his room for whole days, looking bored.
Near the fortress lived a prince allied with the Russians, who had a son, Azamat, a brave young man, but unbalanced and dissolute. The prince invited officers from the fortress to the wedding of his eldest daughter. During the dances and songs at this feast, the owner’s youngest daughter, Bela, sang something like a compliment to Pechorin: “Our young horsemen are slender, and their caftans are lined with silver, and the young Russian officer is slimmer than them.” Pechorin really liked Bela (see the article Pechorin and women), but the highlander Kazbich, known for his desperate disposition, also looked greedily at her.
Lermontov. Hero of our time. Bela, Maxim Maksimych, Taman. Feature Film
While the wedding was going on, Maxim Maksimych went out into the yard - and heard a quiet conversation between Kazbich and Azamat. Azamat admired Kazbich’s horse, Karagyoz, which was indeed unusually good. The young man asked Kazbich to give him the horse, promising to steal it from his father and give his best rifle or saber for it. Having separated, he offered to kidnap and give his sister Bela for a horse.
Kazbich did not agree. A quarrel and a fight broke out between him and Azamat. Other guests came running to the screams, and the wedding almost turned into a massacre. The officers left. Maxim Maksimych retold the whole story to Pechorin.
Kazbich often came to their fortress. Azamat also came. Pechorin began to start a conversation with Azamat every now and then about Kazbich’s horse. He promised help in her abduction, but demanded Bela in return. Maxim Maksimych convinced Pechorin that he had started a bad business, but Grigory Alexandrovich answered: the wild Circassian woman should be happy, having a husband like me.
One day Kazbich brought a dozen sheep to the fortress for sale. Pechorin detained him, warning Azamat, and he drove away Karagyoz. Hearing the neighing of his horse, Kazbich ran after the kidnapper with shots, but he galloped away. In terrible grief, Kazbich fell to the ground and lay there until the morning. Azamat, who gave up his sister to Pechorin, disappeared to an unknown location.
Maxim Maksimych wanted to return Bela to her father, but Pechorin told him that the prince could, in anger, kill his daughter, who had been with foreigners. Shy Bela was silent all the time at first. Pechorin treated her kindly, gave her rich gifts, swore his love. For a long time without receiving reciprocity, he finally said: “Bela, you are free! You can return to your father, but out of melancholy I will now go somewhere to seek death...” Hearing this, the mountain woman threw herself on his neck.
Kazbich, meanwhile, killed Bela's father, believing that Azamat stole the horse in conspiracy with him. Bela and Pechorin lived in passionate love for some time, but then the mountain woman began to bother him. He increasingly left her to hunt. Bela was sad, often cried, and complained about Pechorin to Maxim Maksimych. Once he was walking with her along the ramparts - and they suddenly saw Kazbich in the distance on the horse of Bela’s father. The sentry shot at him, but missed. Kazbich galloped off.
Bela. Artist M. Zichy, 1902
Maxim Maksimych began to blame Pechorin for his indifference to Bela. In response, he told the old man about his life. (See.) In his early youth, Pechorin caroused a lot, but he soon got tired of it. Then he began to visit the big world - but did not find anything attractive there either; secular beauties quickly began to seem empty to him. He went to “dispel the boredom of the Chechen bullets,” but soon “got used to their buzzing.” The sight of Bela revived his last hope for strong feeling, but it soon gave way to disappointment. “The love of a savage,” said Pechorin, “is little better than the love of a noble lady; the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one are just as annoying as the coquetry of the other.” Now he was thinking of going on a trip: “to America, to Arabia, to India - maybe I’ll die somewhere on the road!”
Soon Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych went hunting. Returning, they suddenly heard a shot near the fortress, and then saw Kazbich, who was taking Bela away on a horse. The officers rushed after him, shooting. They were already catching up with Kazbich, but at the last moment he stabbed Bela in the back with a dagger, and he jumped off his horse, climbed the cliff and disappeared. It turned out that Kazbich waylaid the girl by the river, where she went to get water.
The wounded Bela died in agony in Pechorin's arms. Pechorin stood over the body of the mountain woman with his usual impenetrable face, but when Maxim Maxim came up to console him, he suddenly burst out laughing - and this laughter filled with extreme despair sent a chill down his spine.
Three months later, Pechorin was transferred to serve in Georgia, and Maxim Maksimych no longer had news of him.
We present to you a summary of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "Hero of Our Time" chapter by chapter.
The narrator met Maxim Maksimych at the foot of the Koishaur Mountain. He told the following story. He and his company stood behind the Terek, and one day they brought in an officer named Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin. He had his own quirks.
Not far from the parking lot lived a prince who invited Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych to the wedding. During the celebration, the owner’s youngest daughter, Bella, approached Pechorin. He was fascinated by her beauty. And he’s not the only one, but also the robber Kazbich. Pechorin learns that the girl’s brother Azamat liked Kazbich’s horse, and he is ready to do anything to get it. Pechorin wants to help Azamat steal a horse in exchange for his sister. At first, Bella avoided Pechorin, but gradually fell in love with him. Pechorin quickly became bored with his new fun, and he spends less and less time with Bela. One day, Kazbich kidnaps Bella and, pursued by Pechorin, kills her.
The narrator comes to Vladikavkaz. There he meets Maxim Maksimych. During joint gatherings, they learn about Pechorin's arrival. The incredibly happy Maxim Maksimych thinks that Pechorin will immediately come running to visit him.
In the morning Maxim Maksimych saw Pechorin. He almost threw himself on his neck, but he coldly extended his hand to him. Their meeting was very restrained on Pechorin’s part; he did not agree to the old man’s begging to stay. Maxim Maksimych tried to hide his sadness and indignation. He wanted to give Pechorin his papers, but he no longer cared about them, not about the old man. After this incident, his soul hardened and closed, even with the narrator he said goodbye with indifference.
The narrator learns that Pechorin has died. This gives him a reason to publish Pechorin’s notes received from Maxim Maksimych.
A story from Pechorin's perspective. He settled in a government apartment. The first inhabitant he saw was a blind boy. At night, Pechorin watches him. The boy went down to the shore and a white figure approached him. Then a boat appeared in the distance, landed on the shore, a man got out and all three began to unload something from the boat. In the morning, Pechorin heard the girl’s voice, which he heard at night on the shore. She didn't leave his apartment all day. In the evening he decided to talk to her, but he could not find out anything about the night's adventures. The girl told him to go ashore at night. Pechorin fulfilled her request and almost paid for it with his life. Another meeting between the three characters took place, as before. This time Pechorin heard a conversation about the departure of a girl and a man; they abandoned the blind man alone. Pechorin felt sad that he had disturbed the peace of the local smugglers.
Pyatigorsk Here Pechorin meets his comrade cadet Grushnitsky. Local society is boring, with the exception of Princess Ligovskaya and her daughter, Princess Mary. Pechorin finds her very pretty. Grushnitsky is openly in love. Pechorin does not go unnoticed by the princess. And decides to have fun. He tries in every possible way to make Mary hate himself. He immediately learns from Doctor Varner about the arrival of his former lover, Vera, to whom he brought a lot of suffering, but she did not stop loving him. He promises her to meet the Ligovskys at the ball. Here the princess’s opinion about Pechorin changes, thanks to the fact that he “saved” her from the drunken captain. All this time, Grushnitsky does not stop dragging after Mary, gradually boring her. And Pechorin against his background looks more interesting to the princess. He doesn’t need her, but he is pleased to evoke the feeling of love from a young, inexperienced girl. But as soon as Mary’s hatred and distrust gives way to affection, Pechorin becomes bored, because he knows what will happen next.
Vera asks Pechorin to move to Kislovodsk, closer to her. Grushnitsky and Ligovsky are moving there.
Soon he hears a conspiracy by Grushnitsky and his friends; they advise him to call Pechorin to shoot himself, but not to load the pistols. The result of the duel: the bloody corpse of Grushnitsky between the rocks.
At home, Pechorin finds a note from Vera, where she announces her departure; he gallops to Pyatigorsk, but his horse dies along the way. Pechorin falls to the ground and bursts into tears.
He receives orders to go to the N. fortress, and goes to the princess to say goodbye. She invites him to take Mary as his wife. He talks to Mary and says that he laughed at her, and she should despise him, not love him. In return he receives hatred.
Pechorin is in the Cossack village. Here we are talking about the fact that a person’s fate is predetermined. Pechorin argued that fate is not predetermined, but that evening he believed the omens. Pechorin meets an avid gambler, Vulich, and says that he will soon die. And so it happened. Pechorin also decides to try his luck and volunteers to tie up Vulich’s killer, risking his life.
This is a summary of the chapters of "A Hero of Our Time". But these are only pitiful echoes: it is better to read the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov in its entirety.
Here you will find summary of Lermontov's novel “Hero of Our Time”. It should be said that the public perceived the hero of the novel with irritation. Some because they were given such an immoral person as an example, others because, in their opinion, the author painted a not very attractive portrait.
The narration is told in the first person. The narrator travels by carriage to Tiflis. On the road he meets a fellow traveler, staff captain Maxim Maksimych.
He seemed to be about fifty years old; his dark complexion showed that he was familiar with the Transcaucasian sun, and his prematurely gray mustache did not match his firm gait and cheerful appearance.
New acquaintances stop for the night in one of the villages. After talking, Maxim Maksimych tells the author a story Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin.
Pechorin, a young officer of about twenty-five, came to the fortress beyond the Terek to serve.
He was a nice fellow, I dare to assure you; just a little strange. After all, for example, in the rain, in the cold, hunting all day; everyone will be cold and tired - but nothing to him. And another time he sits in his room, smells the wind, assures him that he has a cold; If he knocks with a shutter, he will tremble and turn pale, but with me he went to hunt a wild boar one on one; It happened that you wouldn’t get a word for hours at a time, but sometimes as soon as he started talking, you’d burst your stomach with laughter... Yes, sir, with great oddities, and he must have been a rich man: he had so many different expensive things!..
Not far from the fortress lived a local Circassian prince. His son Azamat, a boy of about fifteen, began to visit the fortress quite often. Despite his young age, Azamat had a hot temper. Many loved to tease him - at the same time his eyes became bloodshot and he grabbed the dagger.
One day old prince invited Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych to the wedding of his eldest daughter. There Pechorin saw the prince's youngest daughter Belu, and he really liked the girl.
She was beautiful: tall, thin, with black eyes, like those of a mountain chamois, that looked into your soul.
Someone was present at the wedding Kazbich- a rather dark personality. There were rumors about him that he was engaged in cattle theft, walking beyond the Terek with abreks, and so on. Kazbich had a horse, Karagez, an animal of extraordinary beauty, which they tried to steal from its owner more than once.
Maxim Maksimych goes out into the air and accidentally overhears a conversation between Kazbich and Azamat. The boy admires the horse, and Kazbich tells how the horse saved his life when he was fleeing from the Cossacks. Azamat really wants to get this horse, and he offers to do whatever Kazbich wants. The boy cries and even offers to steal his sister Bela for Kazbich. But although Kazbich likes Bela, he refuses and makes fun of the young horseman. Azamat gets angry and a clash occurs between them. The boy screams that Kazbich wanted to stab him. There is a noise, Kazbich jumps on his horse and disappears. Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych return. Maxim Maksimych tells his friend about the conversation he overheard.
During Azamat’s visits, Pechorin begins to deliberately start a conversation about Kazbich’s horse, thereby teasing the boy. Pechorin negotiates with the boy that he will get Karagez for him in exchange for Bela. Azamat brings his sister in the evening. The next day, early in the morning, Kazbich arrived and brought with him sheep for sale. He tied the horse at the fence, and he began to drink tea at Maksim Maksimych’s. At this moment, Azamat jumps on his horse and disappears. Kazbich shoots at him, but misses. When Kazbich realized that he could not return his horse, he “fell to the ground and sobbed like a child” . He lay, grief-stricken, on the road for almost a day. When he found out the name of the kidnapper, he decided to take revenge.
Maxim Maksimych goes to Pechorin to rebuke him. But the efforts are in vain - Pechorin replies that he likes the girl. Bela “He sits in the corner, wrapped in a blanket, and doesn’t speak. doesn’t look: timid, like a wild chamois.” .
In vain Pechorin gives her gifts, says that he loves her - she remains unapproachable. Maxim Maksimych makes fun of Pechorin, then he offers a bet that in a week she will be his. He bought many new gifts, but his efforts were in vain. Then Pechorin pretends that he is leaving forever. Bela was shocked by this news, she throws herself on Pechorin’s neck and admits that she loves him too. Bela's father had by this time been killed by Kazbich out of revenge for the stolen horse.
In the morning, Maxim Maksimych and the narrator set off on their journey. They admire the nature of the Caucasus - lush, wild, beautiful. Maxim Maksimych tells the ending of this story.
Maxim Maksimych became attached to Bela, loved her like his own daughter. They hid from her for a long time that her father had died, but then they told her. Bela cried for two days, but soon forgot. Pechorin increasingly begins to leave the fortress. He disappears while hunting. Pechorin's frequent absences hurt Bela. She complains to Maxim Maksimych that she is tired of her lover. One day, while walking along the fortress wall, Maxim Maksimych and Bela see Kazbich. When Pechorin returns, Maxim Maksimych tells him about this. Pechorin says that CAUTION must be observed and forbids Bela to leave the fortress.
Maxim Maksimych reproaches Pechorin for falling out of love with Bela. To this Pechorin replies that this is his unhappy character: he is unhappy himself and brings misfortune to others. He confesses to Maxim Maksimych:
In my early youth... I began to madly enjoy all the pleasures that money could get, and, of course, these pleasures disgusted me. Then I ventured out into the big world, and soon I was also tired of society: I fell in love with society beauties and was loved. - but their love only irritated my imagination and pride, and my heart remained empty... I began to read, study - I was also tired of science; I saw that neither fame nor happiness depended on them at all, because the happiest people are ignorant, and fame is luck, and to achieve it, you just need to be clever. Then I got bored...
Pechorin says that “ savage love “little better than the love of a society lady. He still loves Bela, but he is bored with her.
The ignorance and simple-heartedness of one are just as annoying as the coquetry of the other.
Soon Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin go hunting. As they return, they hear a shot. Kazbich kidnapped Bela from the fortress. Kazbich is being pursued and his horse is wounded. He realizes that he won’t get far and wounds Bela with a knife. After suffering for two days, Bela dies.
In her dying delirium, she called Pechorin, asked him to kiss her, and regretted that in the next world they would not be together because they belonged to different faiths. Although Maxim Maksimych loved Bela very much, she never thought about him before her death. After she died, Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin go out onto the ramparts. Maxim Maksimych tries to find words of consolation for Pechorin, but he laughs in response. Bela was buried. Pechorin was ill for a long time, and then was transferred to Georgia.
The narrator and Maxim Maksimych part, but after a while they meet again at the inn. They are sitting at the samovar. Another carriage approaches the inn. The author and Maxim Maksimych ask the footman whose she is. The footman replies that this is Pechorin’s carriage, and he himself is at dinner with the local colonel. Maxim Maksimych tells the footman to go to Pechorin and tell him that Maxim Maksimych is here. The footman leaves.
Maxim Maksimych
Maxim Maksimych is waiting for Pechorin, but he never comes. The next morning, Maxim Maksimych goes to the commandant and tells the narrator that if Pechorin appears, then let them send for him. The narrator soon sees Pechorin together with the colonel and sends for Maxim Maksimych.
Portrait of Pechorin through the eyes of the narrator:
He was of average height; his slender, slender coat and broad shoulders proved his strong build, his ability to endure all the difficulties of nomadic life and climate change... His dusty velvet frock coat, fastened only by the two lower buttons, made it possible to see the dazzlingly clean linen that revealed the habits of a decent man; his stained gloves seemed deliberately tailored to his small aristocratic hand... His gait was careless and lazy, but I noticed that he did not swing his arms - a sure sign of some secretiveness of character...
At first glance at his face, I would not have given him more than 23 years, although after that I was ready to give him 30. There was something childish in his smile. His skin had some kind of feminine tenderness; his blond hair, naturally curly, so picturesquely outlined his pale, noble forehead, on which only after long observation one could notice traces of wrinkles flowing into one another and, probably, becoming much more clearly visible in moments of anger or mental anxiety. Despite light color his hair, his mustache and eyebrows were black - a sign of the breed in a person... He had a slightly upturned nose, teeth of dazzling whiteness and brown eyes...
(The eyes) did not laugh when he laughed!.. This is a sign of either an evil disposition or a deep constant sadness. Because of his half-lowered eyelashes, they shone with some kind of phosphorescent shine... His gaze, short, but penetrating and heavy, left the unpleasant impression of an indiscreet question and could have seemed impudent if it had not been so indifferently calm.
Pechorin is getting ready to go on the road - the horses have already been laid. The author asks him to wait, since Maxim Maksimych should appear soon. Pechorin says: “Oh, yes, they told me yesterday.” Maxim Maksimych comes running, out of breath.
He is ready to throw himself on his old friend’s neck, but Pechorin is cold, he extends his hand to the staff captain with a pleasant smile. Maxim Maksimych asks Pechorin to stay, but he says that he needs to leave - he is going to Persia. Maxim Maksimych asks him what he has been doing all this time, and Pechorin replies that he was bored. When talking about Bela, Pechorin deliberately yawns. Before Pechorin leaves, Maxim Maksimych asks him what he should do with the papers belonging to Pechorin. “Whatever you want,” Pechorin answers and leaves. Maxim Maksimych is upset by this reception.
He's about to leave. Maxim Maksimych says goodbye to the narrator rather dryly, saying that he is going to go to the commandant. That is, he had not gone to the commandant before, but, apparently, was looking for Pechorin.
Re-reading these notes, I became convinced of the sincerity of the one who so mercilessly exposed his own weaknesses and vices. The history of the human soul, even the smallest soul, is perhaps more curious and more useful than history of an entire people, especially when it is the result of observations of a mature mind over itself and when it is written without a vain impulse to arouse participation or surprise... So, one desire for benefit made me print excerpts from a magazine that I got by chance... I put in this book only what which related to Pechorin’s stay in the Caucasus... Maybe some readers will want to know my opinion about Pechorin’s character. My answer is the title of this book. “Yes, this is a cruel irony!” - they will say. - Don't know.
The narration is told in the first person (on behalf of Pechorin). Late at night, Pechorin arrives in Taman on a crossroads. He is taken to a hut on the very shore of the sea, since there are no government apartments. There is an orphan in the house - a blind boy. He says that the owner died, and her daughter went overseas with a boatman from Kerch, a Crimean Tatar.
Pechorin goes to bed, but an hour later he notices that the boy is taking some kind of knot. Pechorin is watching him. The blind man sneaks to the seashore with his bundle. On the shore, a girl approaches the blind man and says that Yanko will not be there, since there is a strong storm today. But the blind man objects that Yanko will definitely come, because he is a brave man. And indeed, after some time a boat appears, completely loaded with something. In the boat there is a man in a Tatar lamb cap.
Pechorin returns to the house. In the morning he goes to the commandant to find out about leaving for Gelendzhik, but due to the lack of ships, it is not yet possible to leave Taman. Pechorin returns to the hut, and the orderly tells him that an old woman has come, and with her a girl. Pechorin tries to find out from the blind man where he went at night, but he does not admit. Later, Pechorin hears a song being sung by a girl.
It was this girl that Pechorin saw on the shore last night. Describing the girl, Pechorin notes her free and cheerful character. She tries to flirt with him. In the evening, Pechorin tries to ask her about who she is and what her name is. But the girl limits herself to mocking answers and says nothing about herself.
Then Pechorin declares that he saw her last night. The girl laughs at this:
You've seen a lot, but you know little, and what you know, keep it under lock and key !
Pechorin threatens her that he will inform the commandant, but his threats are not serious. Some time passes, and the girl comes into Pechorin’s room, sits down opposite him, and silently looks. Then she begins to kiss Pechorin and makes an appointment with him at night on the seashore. Two hours later, Pechorin goes to the sea, takes a pistol with him and warns the orderly that if he hears a shot, he should run to the shore. The girl is already waiting on the shore. They get into the boat and sail away from the shore. The girl hugs Pechorin and says that she loves him, and then pulls out his gun and pushes Pechorin into the water. He can't swim, and the girl is trying to drown him. A fight ensues between them. The girl says: “You saw it, you will report it” . Pechorin manages to throw her overboard. He rows to the shore, there he climbs onto a cliff, from where he sees a girl crawling ashore, and soon Yanko’s boat arrives. The girl tells Yanko that everything is lost. A few minutes later a blind man arrives with a bag.
The Tatar and the girl inform him that they are leaving. The blind man asks: “And me?” The Tatar replies that he does not need him. He throws a few coins to the blind man “for gingerbread”, but he does not pick them up. As the boat sails away, the blind man sobs. Pechorin:
And why did fate throw me into the peaceful circle of honest smugglers? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calm and, like a stone, I almost sank to the bottom myself.
When Pechorin returns, he realizes that the blind man was carrying in the bag: a saber with a silver frame, a box, a Dagestan dagger - things that belonged to Pechorin. But complaining to his superiors that he was robbed by a blind boy and almost drowned by a young girl, in Pechorin’s opinion, is ridiculous. In the morning Pechorin leaves for Gelendzhik. “I don’t know what happened to the old woman and the poor blind man. And what do I care about human joys and misfortunes?
The story is told in diary form.
Grushnitsky is a cadet. He's only been in the service for a year. He is well built, dark-skinned and black-haired, and looks like he could be twenty-five years old. He throws his head back when he speaks, and constantly twirls his mustache with his left hand because he leans on a crutch with his right. He speaks quickly and pretentiously: he is one of those people who have ready-made pompous phrases for all occasions.
Grushnitsky tells Pechorin about the “water society.” The only ones interesting people he considers the Princess of Lithuania and her daughter Mary to be here, but he is not personally acquainted with them.
At this time, the Lithuanians pass by. Mary is very pretty and dressed according to strict rules of taste. She has velvet eyes and long eyelashes. Pechorin witnesses an interesting scene: Grushnitsky dropped the glass from which he was drinking a mineral ode on the sand and tried to pick it up, but his sore leg did not allow him to do this. Princess Mary, “with a body movement filled with inexpressible charm,” raised the glass and handed it to Grushnitsky. He didn’t have time to say anything - the princess quickly left. Grushnitsky considers her action to be a sign of favor towards him. But Pechorin, out of a sense of contradiction and some envy, upsets the lover Grushnitsky.
In the morning, a Russian doctor named Werner comes to Pechorin.
He is a skeptic and a materialist... and at the same time a poet... Usually Werner secretly mocked his patients, but I once saw him cry over a dying soldier... He was poor, dreamed of millions, but for money he would not take an extra step... he had an evil tongue...
Werner is ugly, he is short, and thin, and weak, like a child; one leg is shorter than the other. The youth called him Mephistopheles. Werner and Pechorin understand each other without words. Werner talks about how Princess Litovskaya remembers Pechorin from St. Petersburg. The princess, according to the doctor, is interested in Grushnitsky, since the girl is sure that he was demoted to soldier for a duel. Werner says that a relative came to visit the Litovskys. He describes her appearance, and from the description Pechorin understands that this is Vera - the woman with whom he was once in love.
After lunch, Pechorin goes to the boulevard. There are also Lithuanians, around whom there is a crowd of young people. Pechorin sees familiar officers among them. He strikes up a conversation with them, tells jokes and little by little lures them into his circle. The princess is angry about this - she is deprived of the attention of fans. All subsequent days Pechorin behaves in the same spirit. He makes Mary angry and annoying with his actions. For example, he buys a Persian carpet that Mary wanted to buy. Grushnitsky, on the contrary, tries in every way to get to know the princess and interest her in his person. Pechorin convinces Grushnitsky that Mary will never take him seriously - she will fool him, and then she will marry a rich freak and begin to assure Grushnitsky that she will love him all her life. But Grushnitsky does not listen to Pechorin, he is madly in love with Mary. Pechorin sees that Grushnitsky is behaving annoyingly towards Mary, and understands that the princess will very soon get tired of him. Grushnitsky buys a ring on which he engraved Mary's name.
Near the source, Pechorin meets Vera. She married a second time. Her new husband is a distant relative of the Lithuanians, a rich, lame old man. Vera respects him “like a father, and will deceive him like a husband.” In order to be able to meet with Vera in the Ligovskys’ house, Pechorin decides to “drag” behind the princess as a cover. Having said goodbye to Vera, Pechorin gallops into the mountains.
On the way, he meets horsemen, in front of whom Grushnitsky and Vera are galloping. Mary thinks of Grushnitsky as a romantic hero. He talks tragically about his future. Pechorin decides to make Mary fall in love with him when she gets tired of Grushnitsky.
Ball in a restaurant. Pechorin waltzes with Mary. He asks her forgiveness for his behavior. Moreover, he saves her from the advances of a drunken gentleman. Gradually, Mary's hostility towards Pechorin disappears.
Pechorin reports casually that Grushnitsky is not a demoted officer at all and “ romantic hero", but an ordinary cadet.
Pechorin receives an invitation to the Lithuanians. He spends almost the entire evening talking with Vera, paying very little attention to Mary. He doesn't listen to her singing. Mary, in revenge, tries to be nice to Grushnitsky, although she is no longer interested in him at all. Pechorin understands that his plans are beginning to come true and very soon the princess will fall in love with him. Grushnitsky is sure that the princess loves him, he behaves very stupidly. But Pechorin needs the love of Princess Pechorin only in order to feel power over her. He is aware that he is not capable of deep feeling.
I feel this insatiable greed within me, devouring everything that comes my way; I look at the sufferings and joys of others only in relation to myself, as food that supports my spiritual strength. I myself am no longer capable of going mad under the influence of passion; ambition is nothing more than a thirst for power, and my first pleasure is to subordinate to my will everything that surrounds me; to arouse feelings of love, devotion and fear - isn’t this the first sign and the greatest triumph of power?
Grushnitsky was finally promoted to officer. He is unusually happy and expects to impress the princess with his new epaulettes. But Werner tells Grushnitsky that now he will get lost in the crowd of Mary’s admirers, since in a soldier’s overcoat he was an exception. However, Grushnitsky does not want to hear anything.
Walking in the evening at a rest stop. Pechorin is slandering his mutual acquaintances. Mary is frightened by his sarcasm, and she asks him not to talk about her in that spirit. Pechorin says that from childhood he was credited with qualities that he did not possess.
I was modest - I was accused of guile: I became secretive. I felt good and evil deeply; No one caressed me, everyone insulted me: I became vindictive... I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me: and I learned to hate. My colorless youth passed in a struggle with myself and the world; Fearing ridicule, I buried my best feelings in the depths of my heart; they died there... I became a moral cripple: one half of my soul did not exist, it dried up, evaporated, died, I cut it off and threw it away - while the other moved and lived at the service of everyone, and no one noticed this, because they did not know about the existence of her dead half...
The princess admits that she has never loved before. She accuses herself of being cold towards Pechorin. Pechorin is bored - he has long learned all the stages of such relationships by heart.
The next day Pechorin meets Vera. She is tormented by jealousy - Princess Mary began to confide her heartfelt secrets to her. Pechorin calms her down and says that he will follow her to Kislovodsk.
Grushnitsky is going to the ball. He put on a new uniform and doused himself with perfume. Grushnitsky meets with Mary, but she rejects him. Grushnitsky understands that Pechorin is somehow involved in the fact that the princess began to hate him. A hostile atmosphere is developing around Pechorin. "gang" which is headed by Grushnitsky. Grushnitsky spreads rumors around the city that Pechorin is going to marry the princess. Pechorin goes to Kislovodsk, where he often meets with Vera. This is followed by a description of the outskirts of Kislovodsk and Pechorin’s reflections on women’s logic, or more precisely, on the lack thereof.
Lithuanians also come to Kislovodsk. On Pechorin and Mary's horseback ride, while fording a mountain river, the princess becomes ill. Pechorin supports her by the waist and kisses her. The princess says that she does not understand whether he loves her or hates her. She confesses her love to him. But Pechorin reacts rather coldly to the confession.
Pechorin is annoying "water society" with his arrogance, and Grushnitsky and his comrades decide to teach him a lesson. Grushnitsky plans to challenge Pechorin to a duel, and the dragoon captain, who will be a second, undertakes to arrange everything so that the pistols will not be loaded. Pechorin overhears this conversation quite by chance. He decides to take revenge on Grushnitsky.
In the morning, Pechorin meets the princess at the well. She confesses her love to him and says that she will be able to convince her family not to interfere with them. Pechorin answers Mary that he does not love her and will not explain the reasons for his actions. Pechorin reflects that he is ready to do a lot for the sake of a woman, but he will never marry, because one fortune teller predicted to him death from an “evil wife.”
A magician comes to Kislovodsk, and the entire “water society” goes to the show. Pechorin comes to Vera at this time, where he spends the evening and night. Vera lives in the same house with the Litovskys, and, leaving her, Pechorin looks into Mary’s window. Unexpectedly, Grushnitsky and the dragoon officer, who were guarding the fence, try to grab him. Pechorin breaks free, hits a dragoon officer on the head, and runs home. In the morning, rumors spread in the city that at night the Lithuanian house was attacked by Circassians. For the second time, fate provides Pechorin with the opportunity to hear Grushnitsky speak about him. Grushnitsky says that the Circassians did not attack at night - it was Pechorin, who left the princess. During this story, Pechorin entered, and Grushnitsky, trying not to lose himself in front of society, repeats this lie already in the presence of Pechorin.
He challenges him to a duel. Pechorin's second is Werner, who suspects that only Grushnitsky's pistol will be loaded. But Pechorin decides to go to the end.
The night before the duel, Pechorin does not sleep. He is not afraid to die - he is bored with living. He thinks about what he lives for.
Why did I live? for what purpose was I born?.. And, it’s true, it existed, and, it’s true, I had a high purpose, because I feel immense strength in my soul... But I didn’t guess this purpose... My love didn’t bring happiness to anyone, because I did not sacrifice for those I loved: I loved only for myself, for my own pleasure... And maybe I will die tomorrow!.. and there will not be a single creature left on earth who would understand me completely... Some will say: he was a good guy, others are a scoundrel. Is it worth living after this? but you still live out of curiosity...
The next morning Pechorin expects a duel.
The area where we had to fight depicted an almost perfect triangle. They measured six steps from the prominent corner and decided that the one who would be the first to meet enemy fire would stand at the very corner, with his back to the abyss; if he is not killed, the opponents will switch places.
I decided to provide all the benefits to Grushnitsky; I wanted to experience it; a spark of generosity could awaken in his soul, and then everything would work out for the better; but pride and weakness of character were bound to triumph... I wanted to give myself every right not to spare him if fate had mercy on me: Who has not entered into such conditions with his conscience?
Cast lots, doctor,” said the captain.
“You’re happy,” I said to Grushnitsky, “you should shoot first!” But remember that if you don’t kill me, then I won’t miss - I give you my word of honor.
He blushed; he was ashamed to kill an unarmed man; I looked at him intently; for a minute it seemed to me that he would throw himself at my feet, begging for forgiveness; but how can he admit to such a vile intention?.. He had only one remedy left - to shoot into the air; I was sure that he would shoot into the air!<…>
It’s time,” the doctor whispered to me, tugging at my sleeve, “if you don’t say now that we know their intentions, then everything is lost... Look, he’s already charging... if you don’t say anything, then I myself...”
No way in the world, Doctor! - I answered.<…>
Meanwhile, the captain loaded his pistols, handed one to Grushnitsky, whispering something to him with a smile, and the other to me.
I stood on the corner of the platform, firmly resting my left foot on the stone and leaning forward a little so that in case of a slight wound I would not tip back.
Grushnitsky turned against me and this sign began to raise the gun. His knees were shaking. He aimed straight at my forehead...
An inexplicable rage began to boil in my chest.
Suddenly he lowered the muzzle of the pistol and, turning white as a sheet, turned to his second.
Coward! - answered the captain.
The shot rang out. The bullet grazed my knee.
I involuntarily took a few steps forward to quickly move away from the edge.
Well, brother Grushnitsky, it’s a pity that I missed,” said the captain: “now it’s your turn, stand up!” Hug me first: we won't see each other again! - They hugged; the captain could hardly restrain himself from laughing: “Don’t be afraid,” he added, looking slyly at Grushnitsky, “everything is nonsense in the world... Nature is a fool, fate is a turkey, and life is a penny!”
After this tragic phrase, spoken with decent importance, he retreated to his place.<…>
I am still trying to explain to myself what kind of feeling was seething in my chest at that time; it was the annoyance of offended pride, and contempt, and anger, born at the thought that this man, now looking at me with such confidence, with such calm insolence, two minutes ago, without exposing himself to any danger, wanted to kill me, as dog; for if I had been wounded in the leg any more, I would certainly have fallen off the cliff.
I looked closely at his face for several minutes, trying to notice at least the slightest trace of repentance. But it seemed to me that he was holding back a smile.<…>
And you do not renounce your slander? don’t ask me for forgiveness?.. Think carefully: isn’t your conscience telling you something?
Mr. Pechorin! - shouted the dragoon captain, - you are not here to confess, let me tell you... Finish quickly; No matter if someone drives through the gorge, they will see us.
Fine. Doctor, come to me.
The doctor came up. Poor doctor, he was paler than Grushnitsky ten minutes ago.
I pronounced the following words deliberately with emphasis, loudly and clearly, as a death sentence is pronounced.
Doctor, these gentlemen, probably in a hurry, forgot to put a bullet in my pistol: I ask you to load it again - and well!
Can't be! - shouted the captain, - it can’t be! I loaded both pistols, except that a bullet rolled out of yours... It's not my fault! - And you have no right to re-dress... no right... this is completely against the rules; I will not let…
“Okay,” I told the captain, “if so, then we will shoot under the same conditions...
He hesitated.
Grushnitsky stood with his head bowed to his chest, embarrassed and gloomy.
Leave them! - he finally said to the captain, who wanted to snatch my pistol from the doctor’s hands... After all, you yourself know that they are right.
It was in vain that the captain did to him different signs, - Grushnitsky didn’t even want to look.
Meanwhile, the doctor loaded the pistol and handed it to me.
Seeing this, the captain spat and stamped his foot:
You’re a fool, brother,” he said, “a vulgar fool!.. You’ve already relied on me, so obey in everything... Serves you right! kill yourself like a fly... - He turned away and, walking away, muttered: But still, this is completely against the rules.
Grushnitsky! - I said, “there is still time, give up your slander, and I will forgive you everything; you didn’t manage to fool me, and my pride is satisfied, remember, we were once friends...
His face flushed, his eyes sparkled.
Shoot,” he answered, “I despise myself, but I hate you.” If you don't kill me, I'll stab you at night from around the corner. There is no place for the two of us on earth...
I fired. When the smoke cleared, Grushnitsky was not on the site. Only the ashes still curled in a light column on the edge of the cliff.
Finita la comedy! - I told the doctor.
Pechorin returns home. He receives two notes. One is from Werner, where it says that everything is settled, the other is from Vera (she writes that she confessed to her husband that she loves Pechorin, and is now leaving forever).
Pechorin tries to catch up with her, he gallops after her, drives the horse to death, but does not catch up with Vera. Returns to Kislovodsk. Werner says that a duel is suspected in the city. He says goodbye to Pechorin rather coldly. The next day Pechorin receives a new appointment. He goes to the Ligovskys to say goodbye. The princess invites him to marry her daughter because Mary loves him. Pechorin, having asked permission to talk with Mary in private, tells the princess that he laughed at her and asks to disabuse the princess of her misconception about him. Mary tells Pechorin that she hates him. Pechorin thanks her, bows respectfully and leaves.
Cossack village. After graduating card game, the officers discuss the Muslim belief that a person's fate is written in heaven. Among those present is Lieutenant Vulich, a Serb.
Tall stature and dark complexion, black hair, black penetrating eyes, a large but correct nose, belonging to his nation, a sad and cold smile that always wandered on his lips - all this seemed to agree in order to give him the appearance of a special being, unable to share thoughts and passions with those whom fate gave him as comrades. He was brave, spoke little, but sharply; He didn’t confided his spiritual and family secrets to anyone, he hardly drank wine at all, he never pursued young Cossack girls, whose beauty is difficult to comprehend without seeing them.
Vulich experienced only one passion - passion for the game. He played once even during a fight and gave back the money he lost. Vulich suggests testing whether a person can know about death in advance. Pechorin claims that there is no predestination. Vulich takes a pistol, which is unknown whether it is loaded or not, puts it to his temple and shoots. Misfire. The next shot is in the air. It turns out that the gun is loaded after all. Vulich’s face bears the imprint of imminent death. Pechorin tells him: "You are going to die today" .
The moon, full and red, like the glow of a fire, began to appear from behind the jagged horizon of houses; the stars calmly shone on the dark blue vault, and I felt funny when I remembered that there were once wise people who thought that the heavenly bodies took part in our insignificant disputes over a piece of land or for some fictitious rights!.. And what? and? these lamps, lit, in their opinion, only to illuminate their battles and celebrations, burn with the same brilliance, and their passions and hopes have long died out with them, like a light lit at the edge of the forest by a careless wanderer.
But what strength of will was given to them by the confidence that the whole sky, with its countless inhabitants, was looking at them with sympathy, albeit mute, but unchanging!.. And we, their pitiful descendants, wandering the earth without convictions and pride, without pleasure and fear, Apart from that involuntary fear that squeezes the heart at the thought of the inevitable end, we are no longer capable of making great sacrifices, either for the good of humanity, or even for our own happiness, because we know its impossibility, and we indifferently move from doubt to doubt, as our ancestors rushed from one delusion to another, having, like them, neither hope nor even that vague, although true, pleasure that the soul encounters in every struggle with people or with fate.
Pechorin sees a pig on the road, which was cut in half by a drunken Cossack. This Cossack is caught by his comrades. At night, Pechorin was awakened - Vulich was hacked to death by a drunken Cossack. Last words Vulich were: "He is right". The killer has locked himself in an empty hut on the outskirts of the village, and no one can lure him out of there. Pechorin decides to try his luck in the same way as Vulich. He wants to take the killer alive. Esaul distracts the Cossack, Pechorin enters the house through the window. The Cossack shoots at Pechorin, but misses.
After all this, how can one not become a fatalist? but who knows for sure whether he is convinced of anything or not? and how often do we mistake for a belief a deception of the senses or an error of reason!.. I love to doubt everything: this disposition of the mind does not interfere with the decisiveness of character - on the contrary; As for me, I always move forward more boldly when I don’t know what awaits me. After all, nothing worse can happen than death - and you can’t escape death!
I hope this summary of A Hero of Our Time helped you prepare for the lesson or remember the main plot points of this work.
“The Hero of Our Time... is a portrait, but not of one person: it is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development.” The author did not set the goal of “becoming a corrector of human vices,” “he just had fun drawing modern man, as he understands him, and to his and your misfortune, he met him too often.”
