When only two guests remained in the house, the owner invited them to tell about their first love. But it turned out that neither he nor Sergey Nikolaevich had a worthy story, but only Vladimir Petrovich agreed to tell about his first love, but on the condition that he write down his story on paper, and in 2 weeks he would tell it. The listeners had to agree and exactly 2 weeks later he began his story.
He was then only 16 years old, he lived in the country with his father and mother and was bored from idleness. Once an old countess came to them in the neighborhood with a young twenty-one-year-old beautiful daughter named Zinaida. They were very poor, despite the title. The next day, he was walking in the garden and accidentally saw her, after which he immediately fell in love with her. While he was thinking of a way to get to know her, his mother, fortunately for him, sent him with a note to the princess, where he met her. There he also met one of Zinaida's admirers, Belovzorov, who brought her a kitten.
The next day, the princess visited Mother Volodya, and she did not like the princess very much. And in the evening, Volodya accidentally met the princess, who was reading a book on a bench. Then his father unexpectedly approached, and Volodya noticed how carefully she looked at him, and how magnificent his handsome father looked.
The next time I came to visit with my daughter, they were all sitting at the table together. During the departure, Zina whispered to Volodya to be with her tomorrow at 8 o'clock.
He began to go to her, and found that she had a lot of admirers - the poet Maidanov, Count Malevsky, Dr. Lushin, the retired captain Nirmatsky and the hussar Belovzorov. When visiting her, they played different games with her - forfeits, rope and others. The reward, most often, was a kiss from Zina's hand. After this meeting, Volodya began a real passion for Zinaida. She only teased him, and the rest of the fans too. One day, Volodya noticed that she was in love. He began to wonder who, secretly hoping that he was the chosen one.
In the meantime, Zinaida became more and more strange - either she tore hair from Volodya's head, then she forced him to jump from a great height, that he almost crashed, then she suddenly kissed him.
One day she asked Belovzorov to get her a horse, although she had never been fond of it before. He, of course, was glad to fulfill her request. Later, Volodya was surprised to see her riding a horse with his father. After that, she avoided him for a while.
Soon, she again began to communicate with him, and even jokingly made him into her pages. Malevsky, when they accidentally left alone, told Volodya that the page should know where the queen is both day and night, highlighting the word "night". Volodya understood the hint and decided that very night to hide in the garden and find out if Zinaida met with anyone at night. He took a knife and hid in the garden. Several hours passed, he already thought that no one would come, but finally, he heard footsteps. When the man came closer, he suddenly recognized his father. Luckily, he didn't notice.
After this incident, a few days later, Volodya came home and, with surprise, found out that his father had gone home, and his mother was sick. Having found out from a friend from the servants that the mother had received an anonymous letter, where it was told about the father's connection with Zinaida. In addition, it turned out that the father had issued a large bill to the princess.
The father returned the next day, spoke with his mother behind closed doors for a long time, after which they decided to move out of the dacha to the city in the near future. And in the evening, the father publicly kicked Count Malevsky out of the house, saying that he did not like his handwriting. Volodya could not understand how the princess decided to have a relationship with his father, burying her future, instead of marrying, for example, Count Malevsky. At parting with Volodya, Zinaida asked not to be angry with her and kissed him passionately.
Soon they moved to the city, the events began to slowly fade from his memory. One day, Volodya met Dr. Lushin, who said that Belovzorov could not stand parting with Zinaida, left for the Caucasus and disappeared there. Rejoice, he said, that you got off so lightly.
Surprisingly, Volodya did not hold a grudge against his father, but was even proud of him. Every day his father went for a horseback ride, one day Volodya asked for it. The father took him with him. After some time, near one of the lanes, my father stopped, got off his horse and told Volodya to wait for him here. After a while, he got tired of waiting and decided to look into the alley. What was his surprise when he saw his father talking with Zinaida, who was looking out of the window. Volodya accidentally heard Zina's words that it was time to part with this ..., after which his father flared up and whipped her with a whip. Then the father threw the whip aside and burst into the house. Volodya rushed back to the place where his father had left him. After a while, the father returned, and they galloped home.
After 2 months, Volodya no longer considered his first love to be true, he entered the university, he began to have other worries. Six months later, my father suddenly had a stroke and died. A few days before that, he received a letter, after reading which, he even began to cry and began to write a letter to Volodya, which began with the words - "be afraid of woman's love." After the death of his father, his mother sent a large amount to Moscow.
Four years later, Volodya accidentally met Maidanov, who told him that Zinaida had married and lived nearby. He was very happy and was about to go to her, but everything was not up to it, and when he did come, he found out that she had died a few days ago during childbirth.
The action of the story takes place in 1833 in Moscow, the main character - Volodya - is sixteen years old, he lives with his parents in the country and is preparing to enter the university. Soon, the family of Princess Zasekina moves into the poor outbuilding next door. Volodya accidentally sees the princess and really wants to get to know her. The next day, his mother receives an illiterate letter from Princess Zasekina asking him to protect her. Mother sends a verbal invitation to Princess Volodya to come to her house. There Volodya meets the princess - Zinaida Alexandrovna, who is five years older than him. The princess immediately calls him to her room to unravel the wool, flirts with him, but quickly loses interest in him. On the same day, Princess Zasekina pays a visit to his mother and makes an extremely unfavorable impression on her. However, despite this, the mother invites her and her daughter to dinner. During dinner, the princess noisily sniffs tobacco, fidgets in her chair, fidgets, complains about poverty and talks about her endless bills, and the princess, on the contrary, is majestic - she talks with Volodya's father in French all dinner, but looks at him with hostility. She does not pay attention to Volodya, however, as she leaves, she whispers to him to come to them in the evening.
Appearing to the Zasekins, Volodya meets the princess's admirers: Dr. Lushin, the poet Maidanov, Count Malevsky, the retired captain Nirmatsky and the hussar Belovzorov. The evening is fast paced and fun. Volodya feels happy: he gets a lot to kiss Zinaida's hand, all evening Zinaida does not let him go and gives him preference over others. The next day, his father asks him about the Zasekins, then he goes to them himself. After dinner, Volodya goes to visit Zinaida, but she does not come out to him. From that day, Volodya's torment begins.
In the absence of Zinaida, he languishes, but even in her presence he does not feel better, he is jealous, offended, but cannot live without her. Zinaida easily guesses that he is in love with her. Zinaida rarely goes to the house of Volodya's parents: her mother does not like her, her father speaks little to her, but somehow especially cleverly and significantly.
Zinaida suddenly changes a lot. She goes for a walk alone and walks for a long time, sometimes she doesn’t show herself to guests at all: she sits in her room for hours. Volodya guesses that she is in love, but does not understand with whom.
Once Volodya is sitting on the wall of a dilapidated greenhouse. Zinaida appears on the road below. When she sees him, she orders him to jump onto the road if he truly loves her. Volodya immediately jumps and faints for a moment. The alarmed Zinaida fusses around him and suddenly begins to kiss him, however, guessing that he has come to his senses, gets up and, forbidding him to follow him, leaves. Volodya is happy, but the next day, when he meets with Zinaida, she keeps herself very simple, as if nothing had happened.
One day they meet in the garden: Volodya wants to pass by, but Zinaida herself stops him. She is sweet, quiet and kind to him, invites him to be her friend and bestows the title of her page. A conversation takes place between Volodya and Count Malevsky, in which Malevsky says that the pages should know everything about their queens and follow them relentlessly day and night. It is not known whether Malevsky attached particular importance to what he said, but Volodya decides to go to the garden at night to guard, taking an English knife with him. He sees his father in the garden, gets very frightened, loses his knife and immediately returns home. The next day, Volodya tries to talk about everything with Zinaida, but her twelve-year-old cadet brother comes to her, and Zinaida instructs Volodya to entertain him. On the evening of the same day, Zinaida, finding Volodya in the garden, inadvertently asks him why he is so sad. Volodya cries and reproaches her for playing with them. Zinaida asks for forgiveness, consoles him, and a quarter of an hour later he is already running around with Zinaida and the cadet and laughing.
For a week, Volodya continues to communicate with Zinaida, driving away all thoughts and memories from himself. Finally, returning one day for dinner, he learns that a scene had taken place between his father and mother, that his mother reproached his father in connection with Zinaida, and that she learned about it from an anonymous letter. The next day, mother announces that she is moving to the city. Before leaving, Volodya decides to say goodbye to Zinaida and tells her that he will love and adore her until the end of her days.
Volodya once again accidentally sees Zinaida. They are riding with their father for a ride, and suddenly the father, dismounting and giving him the reins of his horse, disappears into the alley. Some time later, Volodya follows him and sees that he is talking through the window with Zinaida. The father insists on something, Zinaida does not agree, finally she holds out her hand to him, and then the father raises the whip and sharply beats her bare arm. Zinaida shudders and, silently raising her hand to her lips, kisses the scar. Volodya runs away.
Some time later, Volodya moved with his parents to St. Petersburg, entered the university, and six months later his father died of a stroke, having received a letter from Moscow a few days before his death, which greatly excited him. After his death, his wife sends a fairly significant amount of money to Moscow.
Four years later, Volodya meets Maidanov at the theater, who tells him that Zinaida is now in St. Petersburg, she is happily married and is going abroad. Although, Maidanov adds, after that story it was not easy for her to form a party for herself; there were consequences... but with her mind, anything is possible. Maidanov gives Volodya the address of Zinaida, but he goes to see her only a few weeks later and finds out that she died suddenly from childbirth four days ago.
retold
In 1860, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev wrote the story "First Love". It is interesting that the author treated this work with special trepidation, because many of the moments described in the story were taken from the biography of Ivan Sergeevich and his own father. What is it about?
Here he describes the impressions of his first deep feeling and reveals the details of the family drama. How his own first love was reflected in the story, a summary, heroes and the main idea is the topic of our article.
The images of the main characters of the work "First Love" are based on real people:
- Volodya. This hero is the embodiment of the author himself in his youth. The experiences and feelings of Vladimir Petrovich can tell us what Ivan Sergeevich himself once experienced.
- Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna. This heroine also had a real prototype. This is Ekaterina Shakhovskaya, a poetess with whom the writer was in love.
- Peter Vasilyevich is the father of the protagonist. The prototype is the father of Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev - Sergey Nikolaevich, who did not love his wife, got married because of promising material gain.
His wife, Varvara Petrovna, was much older. During his lifetime, Sergei Nikolayevich was successful with women, and a stormy romance continued with Shakhovskaya for a long time.
Interesting! The story was filmed four times, not only by Russian directors, but also by foreign ones. For example, in 2013 a French adaptation of the book was released.
Turgenev said that it was important for him to describe everything reliably. There was no resentment either for the former beloved or for the father. The author tried to understand their actions.
The beginning of the story
The action of the story "First Love" by Turgenev takes place in 1833. The main character of the book, Vladimir Petrovich, is 16 years old.
The young man, together with his father and mother, lives in a dacha in Moscow, is preparing to become a university student.
Unexpectedly, an event occurs in the life of the protagonist that dramatically influenced him and the life of his entire family.
Near the dacha of Volodya and his parents there was a poor outbuilding in which Princess Zasekina settled with her daughter.
Volodya accidentally runs into the young princess Zinaida, and he likes the girl. He wants to get to know her better.
This was helped by chance. The princess's mother wrote a letter to Volodya's mother. The message was not very literate and contained a request for help. Zasekina asked for patronage.
The young man's mother was not indifferent to other people's troubles and ordered the young man to go to the Zasekins' house and invite him to dinner.
During this visit, Volodya met Princess Zinaida. It turned out that she was twenty-one years old. The princess at first flirts with the hero of the story, but soon ceases to do so.
At dinner, it becomes clear that Princess Zasekina is not very strong in manners: she sniffs tobacco loudly, cannot sit still in a chair and constantly complains about her difficult financial situation.
The daughter seems to be the complete opposite - she behaves with restraint, proudly. Zinaida Aleksandrovna communicates in French with Volodya's father and at the same time looks at him incredulously. She shows no interest in Vladimir himself at dinner. And, nevertheless, before leaving, in a whisper invites him to visit in the evening.
The birth of first love
Coming to the princess, the young man discovers that the girl has many admirers:
- poet named Maidanov,
- Dr Lushin,
- retired captain Nirmatsky,
- hussar named Belovzorov.
In this company, the evening was very fun and noisy. The young man even manages to kiss Zasekin's hand. The girl does not let go of Vladimir Petrovich a single step away from her. The young man decides that he is also not indifferent to her.
The next day, Volodin's father asks about the princess and the family, and then he himself went to the Zasekins' wing.
After dinner, the young man also goes to visit the princess, but she does not even come out. From that moment on, the girl seems to ignore him, and because of this, the hero suffers.
When Zinaida reappears, she feels happy.
So the young man becomes dependent on the presence of his beloved, feels jealous of the girl's fans. She soon guesses about the feelings of the hero.
In the house of Volodya's parents, Zinaida Aleksandrovna appears quite infrequently. The young man's mother does not like the princess, and the father sometimes communicates with the girl - little and restrained, in some language they both understand.
Important! Wikipedia in the article on the story provides users with not only a summary, but also a lot of interesting facts about the creation of the work.
Secret of Zinaida
Suddenly, the princess changes dramatically - from a coquette she turns into a thoughtful girl. He walks alone for a long time, often refusing to go out when guests come.
Vladimir suddenly realizes that the princess has fallen seriously in love. But at the same time, the hero does not guess who kindled this feeling in the princess.
Once a young man was sitting in the garden, on the wall of a dilapidated greenhouse, and suddenly saw Zinaida.
The girl also noticed Vladimir and ordered him to immediately jump onto the road to prove his feelings. The young man complied with this request, but falling to the ground, he lost consciousness for a moment.
Because of what happened, the girl is very frightened and, in a fit of emotions, even kisses the young man, but when he comes to his senses, he leaves and does not allow him to go with her. The young man feels inspired. True, the next day, when meeting, the princess keeps aloof.
Later, Volodya and Zinaida meet again in the garden. The young man wants to leave, but the princess does not allow this to be done. The girl behaves kindly and nicely, says that she is ready to be a friend and jokes that Vladimir can become her page.
This joke is picked up by Count Malevsky, who says that the young man must now know every little thing about his "queen" and constantly be there.
Vladimir attaches great importance to these words and goes to the garden at night to guard the girl, taking an English knife with him.
Unexpectedly, he meets his father, gets scared, drops his weapon on the ground and runs away.
The next day, the young man wants to discuss with his beloved what happened. But Zinaida cannot communicate face to face. Her twelve-year-old brother from the cadet school comes to the girl, and she asks the young man to entertain the boy.
In the evening, the princess finds Volodya in the garden and asks what happened and why he is so sad. He replies that he is unhappy that his beloved is not serious about him. The girl asks for forgiveness. Volodya cannot hold a grudge against his beloved, so after a quarter of an hour he is already running around the garden with might and main with a girl and her brother and enjoying life.
The denouement of the story
The hero tries to communicate with his beloved as if nothing had happened, tries not to keep bad thoughts in his head and not to suspect the girl of anything. But a week later, after returning home, he witnesses a scandal between his parents.
The mother says that her husband has a relationship with Princess Zasekina: an anonymous letter has arrived with information about this. The young man cannot believe it.
The next day, the mother declares that she is moving to another city and taking her son with her.
Volodya wants to say goodbye to his beloved before leaving, confesses his love to Zinaida, and says that he will not be able to love anyone else.
After some time, the young man meets again by chance with Zinaida. Together with his father, Vladimir goes on a horseback ride. Suddenly, the father gives him the reins and disappears.
The young man goes after him and finds that he is communicating with the princess through the window, insistently saying something to the girl, and Zinaida suddenly holds out her hand. The father abruptly raises the whip and strikes. The girl is frightened, but silently brings her bruised hand to her lips. Volodya is very alarmed by what he sees and runs away in fright.
Some more time passes. The hero of the story moves to St. Petersburg with his parents, becomes a university student.
Six months later, his father suddenly passes away: he receives a letter from Moscow and then dies of a heart attack. After Volodya's mother sends a substantial sum of money to Moscow.
Four years pass. Suddenly, Vladimir in the theater runs into an old acquaintance, Maidanov.
He told him that Zinaida now also lives in the northern capital. She is married and wants to move abroad.
After a high-profile story with Volodya's father, it was difficult for Zinaida to find a good groom. But since the girl was smart, she was able to do it.
Maidanov even tells the young man exactly where Zinaida lives. Volodya comes to the princess after some time and receives sad news on the spot. His lover died four days ago in childbirth.
Important! Like other works of Turgenev, this story can be read online for free on many resources.
What is the story about?
The story "First Love" almost completely reflects the difficult situation that occurred in the life of the author. It describes the details of the family drama. The work is written in an easy, simple language, and thanks to this, the reader can feel the experiences of the characters and better understand the essence of the work.
It is impossible not to believe in the sincerity of Vladimir Petrovich's feelings and to go through the stages of his growing up with him - from passionate and enthusiastic first love to sympathy.
The work clearly shows how the relationship between Volodya and Zinaida is changing, as well as how his attitude towards his own father is changing.
The story also reveals well the image of Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna. We see how she transforms from a frivolous flirtatious young lady into a devoted and loving woman. In addition, here Turgenev reflects the deep feeling of Father Volodya.
He did not love his wife, married her for money. And Zinaida sincerely fell in love, but he had to crush this feeling in himself.
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Summing up
Despite what the protagonist had to endure, he did not hate either Zinaida or his father. On the contrary, he loved his father even more.
In contact with
The story of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev "First Love" tells about the emotional experiences of a young hero, whose childhood feelings have grown into an almost insoluble problem of adult life and relationships. The work also touches on the relationship between father and son.
History of creation
The story was written and published in 1860 in St. Petersburg. The work was based on the real emotional experience of the writer, so a clear parallel can be drawn between his biography and the events of the story, where Volodya or Vladimir Petrovich is Ivan Sergeevich himself.
In particular, in his work, Turgenev fully described his father. He became the prototype for the character of Peter Vasilyevich. As for Zinaida Aleksandrovna herself, the prototype for her character was the first love of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, who was also his father's mistress.
Due to such frankness and transferring the lives of real people to the pages of the story, the public met her rather ambiguously. Many condemned Turgenev for his excessive frankness. Although the writer himself has repeatedly admitted that he does not see anything wrong with such a description.
Analysis of the work
Description of the work
The composition of the story is built as Volodya's recollection of his youth, namely, the first almost childish, but serious love. Vladimir Petrovich is a 16-year-old boy, the protagonist of the work, who comes to a country family estate with his father and other relatives. Here he meets a girl of incredible beauty - Zinaida Alexandrovna, with whom he falls irrevocably in love.
Zinaida loves to flirt and has a very capricious disposition. Therefore, he allows himself to accept courtship from other young people, in addition to Volodya, without making any choice in favor of any one, specific candidate for the role of his official boyfriend.
Volodya's feelings do not reciprocate in her, sometimes the girl allows herself to mock him, ridiculing their age difference. Later, the main character learns that his own father has become the object of desire for Zinaida Alexandrovna. Unnoticed spying on the formation of their relationship, Vladimir understands that Pyotr Vasilyevich has no serious intentions towards Zinaida and plans to leave her soon. Having accomplished his plan, Peter leaves the country house, after which he suddenly dies for everyone. On this, Vladimir stops his communication with Zinaida. After a while, however, he learns that she got married and then died suddenly during childbirth.
main characters
Vladimir Petrovich is the main character of the story, a 16-year-old boy who moves to a country estate with his family. The prototype of the character is Ivan Sergeevich himself.
Pyotr Vasilyevich is the father of the protagonist, who married Vladimir's mother because of her rich inheritance, who, in addition, was much older than himself. The character was based on a real-life person, the father of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
Zinaida Alexandrovna is a young 21-year-old girl who lives next door. Has a very frivolous disposition. It has an arrogant and capricious character. Due to her beauty, she is not deprived of the constant attention of suitors, including from Vladimir Petrovich and Pyotr Vasilyevich. The prototype of the character is considered to be Princess Ekaterina Shakhovskaya.
The autobiographical work "First Love" is directly related to the life of Ivan Sergeevich, describes his relationship with his parents, mainly with his father. A simple plot and ease of presentation, which Turgenev is so famous for, helps the reader to quickly immerse himself in the very essence of what is happening around, and most importantly, to believe in sincerity and experience with the author all his emotional experience, from appeasement and delight to real hatred. After all, there is only one step from love to hate. It is this process that the story mainly illustrates.
The work demonstrates exactly how the relationship between Volodya and Zinaida is changing, and also illustrates all the changes between the son and father when it comes to love for the same woman.
The turning point of the protagonist's growing up emotionally is perfectly described by Ivan Sergeevich, because his real life experience is taken as the basis.
Once, in one company, a conversation turned on love, and to be more precise, about first love. Most of those present had nothing to tell, all cases were uninteresting. But then it came to Vladimir Petrovich. At first he was embarrassed, but then he agreed. But not to tell, but to describe on paper your story of first love.
So what did he say?
When Vladimir Petrovich was a young man, 16 years old, he visited his parents in Moscow, they rented a dacha near the Kaluga outpost opposite the Neskuchny Garden. The parents had a strained relationship. Mother was constantly jealous of her father for every skirt, but there were reasons for that. Volodya's father was handsome, charismatic and very attractive to women.
All summer Volodya planned to prepare for university entrance. But it was not there. Love covered the young man from head to toe, when the young princess Zinaida Zasekina settled in the wing, not far from their dacha. She was much older than Vladimir and had a son, a 12-year-old cadet, who at that time was studying in St. Petersburg.
Guests gathered in the princess's house every evening, many looked after her. And she loved her boyfriends, or rather loved their attention to her. She was beautiful, and at the same time several men were in love with her.
One day, while walking in the garden, the princess spotted Volodya, they met, and by the look she realized that the young man was not indifferent to her. She also liked him, and Zinaida began to invite him to her house along with other suitors.
Volodya was happy, he had never received signs of attention from women before. He lost sleep and peace, thought only of the princess, constantly looking for a meeting with her. He forgot about the preparation for entering the university, he was in love.
The princess also sympathized with the young man, distinguished him from other men, flirted with him and smiled mysteriously.
She either brought him closer to her, then moved away, then she was friendly with him, then cold. The young man's heart was either bursting with longing from her dismissive attitude, or pounding furiously from her affectionate gaze. The young man lost his head from passion.
Soon the princess became sad and cold. She stopped noticing her suitors. She suffered. And she suffered from love. Volodya was tormented by the question of who this man was, whom Zinaida fell in love with. Isn't he? But the young man was afraid to ask, he suspected everyone and was tormented by jealousy.
He began to follow the princess in the evenings, guarding her near the wing. Jealousy clouded his mind. He was ready to rush and kill an imaginary opponent.
So, one day, he saw in the garden, not far from Zinaid's house, his father, wrapped in a raincoat, and was stunned. He didn't believe his eyes. Volodya did not feel hatred for his father, but all his feelings were shattered. He realized that the princess loved his father.
Further, there is no point in describing the suffering of the young man. Soon his parents finally quarreled and Volodya left with his mother. Before leaving, he went to say goodbye to the princess. Zinaida asked for forgiveness from the young man for giving the guy hope, flirting and playing with him. To which Volodya replied that in spite of everything he loves her with all his heart and will always love her. On that they said goodbye.
But after a while, Volodya still had a chance to see the princess. It was so. He and his father went to ride horses, and during the walk, the father jumped off the horse, gave the reins to his son, told him to wait, and he himself turned into an alley.
Volodya waited for some time, but soon it began to rain. A traveler passed by and asked the young man for tobacco. He treated him and asked him to hold the horses, and he himself followed his father. He approached a small house and through the window saw his father and the princess. His heart was beating wildly. He tried to make out the words, to understand the gist of the conversation. It seemed to him that Zinaida was asking her father to leave his wife. At this, the father grabbed the whip and in a rage hit the princess on the fingers. She raised her cut hand to her lips, and her father ran out in a rage.
Volodya realized that between the father and the princess was not just love, but love-passion that devoured both. Somewhere inside, he even admired these feelings. After 2 months, the young man entered the university, shortly after that his father died.
Four years have passed. Volodya finished his studies and, quite by chance, met Maidanov, one of the former suitors of the princess, in the theater. He said that Zinaida was now in the city, that she had married a wealthy man. The young man immediately caught fire with the idea of seeing his first love. But he didn't make it. He delayed the meeting and the princess died of childbirth 4 days later.
The young man had to endure such bitter feelings. First love was unhappy for him.
Detailed retelling of the story "First Love"
At the party, the host invites the guests to Sergei Nikolaevich and Vladimir Petrovich to tell about their first love. For everyone except Vladimir Petrovich, this feeling turned out to be quite ordinary. He tells the following.
The events took place in the summer of 1833 in Moscow, when Vladimir was sixteen years old. Parents rented a cottage near the Kaluga outpost opposite the Neskuchny Garden, and the young man was preparing to enter the university. No one hampered his freedom, and therefore he walked a lot. In the neighborhood with the family, the poor princess Zasekina and her daughter rented a dacha.
One day, when the hero is walking in the garden, a strange sight appears to his eyes. Four young men crowd around a tall, slender girl in a striped dress, and she alternately slaps flowers on their foreheads. The young man involuntarily admires her. When the girl notices Vladimir, he becomes embarrassed and runs away, but the hero really wants to meet the cheerful young lady.
A neighbor sends a letter to Vladimir's mother, in which she asks for protection and permission to come to them. Mother tells her son to go to the princess and invite her. Vladimir puts on a new tie and frock coat and goes to the neighbors. Princess Zasekina introduces him to her daughter Zinaida: in her he recognizes yesterday's girl from the garden. Zinaida immediately asks to help her unravel the wool. She is older than Vladimir: she is twenty-one years old. She says she's strange and only wants to hear the truth.
Zinaida is flirting with Vladimir; the princess shouts that the hussar Belovzorov has brought a kitten. Zinaida throws a ball of wool to Vladimir and runs away. Belovzorov is one of the four young people whom Zinaida clapped flowers. He fulfilled her wish - she wanted a tabby kitten - and asked her to kiss her hand.
Vladimir does not know how to behave, but then the footman Fyodor arrives: the young man has been absent from home for more than an hour, and his parents are worried. The girl laughingly calls the hero Voldemar and asks to come to them. Vladimir begins to be jealous of Zina for the hussar.
The hero's mother does not like Princess Zasekina, but she invites them and her daughter to dine the next day. In the garden, a young man with his father see Zinaida reading a book. She politely bows to her father, but does not even notice Vladimir. At dinner, Zasekina complains to her neighbors about poverty and bills, and her daughter, on the contrary, behaves proudly and with dignity. When the guests leave, Zina invites Vladimir in a whisper to visit at eight o'clock.
In the evening, the hero, having come to the neighbors, sees a girl surrounded by five men. These are Count Malevsky, poet Maidanov, Dr. Lushin, retired captain Nirmatsky and hussar Belovzorov. Together with everyone, the hero plays, sings, dances. Then at home, Vladimir feels tired and happy, constantly remembering Zina.
Mother is unhappy that Vladimir goes to the neighbors instead of preparing for exams. The young man tells his father about his evening visit. He listens to him half-absently, half-attentively, sometimes chuckles.
Vladimir is languishing in the absence of Zinaida, everything falls out of his hands, he is jealous of the girl. The wayward young lady knows about the love of the hero and makes fun of him. All the men who visit the Zasekins' house are in love with the girl, but she seems to be playing with them - either flirting, or cold as ice. Once Vladimir finds his beloved in the garden alone. The girl says that she is sick of everything, and asks to read poetry. Lushin advises the hero not to go to the Zasekins' house: such an atmosphere is harmful to him.
The young man feels that Zina loves someone, and is tormented by conjectures: the girl is becoming more and more strange and incomprehensible. Vladimir's parents quarrel, but the reason for the disagreement is unknown to him. Zinaida asks Belovzorov to urgently get a quiet horse for her and invites the hero to a horseback ride, but he refuses.
During the next walk, the young man sees Zinaida with her father on horseback. The father, smiling, says something to the girl, and she listens to him in silence. After that, the girl is said to be sick and avoids Vladimir. Everyone notices that she has changed a lot. The girl is getting better, and on a walk she tells Vladimir that he is just a child and a good friend for her. The love of the young man flares up with renewed vigor.
Zinaida still plays forfeits with the guests, but without the former tomfoolery and noise. During a late walk, it seems to Vladimir that somewhere nearby the figure of his beloved flashed by. The next midnight, the hero again guards the girl in the garden by the fountain and, to his great surprise, sees his own father. He walks wrapped in a dark cloak and pulls his hat over his face.
While the hero is thinking about what he saw, a whitish curtain falls outside the girl's windows, and vague guesses begin to torment Vladimir. Zina's brother, cadet Volodya, comes to the Zasekins from St. Petersburg, and the girl asks the hero to take her brother under protection. The guys are walking together. The hero's mother is sent an anonymous letter. Vladimir learns that a terrible quarrel took place between his parents, during which his mother reproached his father for adultery.
The father held back at first, and then said something sharp about his wife's years (mother was ten years older than father). The young man is very upset: “What I learned was beyond my power: this sudden revelation crushed me ... It was all over. All my flowers were torn out at once and lay around me, scattered and trampled.
The next day, mother announces that she is moving to the city. Vladimir witnesses a conversation between Count Malevsky and his father: the latter accuses the interlocutor of writing an anonymous letter and asks him not to appear in their house again. Before leaving, the hero comes to Zinaida to say goodbye.
After the move, the young man's heart wound begins to heal, and he respects his father even more and does not feel any bad feelings for him. During a horse ride, the father asks his son to hold the horses and disappears somewhere.
The young man follows him and sees Zinaida in the window of a small house. The father argues with the girl about something, hits her with a whip on the arm, and then runs away. Returning, the father of the young man remembers that he forgot the whip, but does not return for it.
Two months later, Vladimir enters the university, and six months later his father dies. A few days before his death, he received a letter from Moscow, which greatly excited him. After his death, his mother sends a fairly large amount of money to Moscow.
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