Year of publication of the book: 1860
Turgenev's work "First Love" is autobiographical from beginning to end. Perhaps that is why in the story the author managed to convey the experiences of the protagonist as fully as possible. Thanks to this, Turgenev’s story “First Love” is now as relevant to read as it was at the time of its writing, and the work itself has found reflection and recognition in cinema. Moreover, it was filmed not only in Russia. It was books such as "First Love" that allowed Turgenev to enter, and the work to receive high marks from readers.
"First Love" Turgenev summary
A summary of Turgenev's "First Love" should begin with a story about the main characters. This is Volodya. He is sixteen years old and together with his parents he came from Moscow to the country. Soon, the impoverished Princess Zasekina and her daughter arrive in the wing next to their house. Zasekina, the youngest, liked Volodya very much, and he wants to get to know her. Especially since the very next day there is a great chance. The princess, in an illiterate letter, asks for patronage from Volodya's mother, and she sends her son with an invitation to dinner. In the Zasekins' house, Volodya meets Zinaida Alexandrovna and goes with her to straighten the wool in her room. But for five years, the eldest princess quickly loses interest in him.
Further reading "First Love" by Turgenev, a summary, you can find out how Zasekina and her daughter visited Volodya's house. Mother did not like the princess, because she fidgeted in her chair all evening and sniffed tobacco, and the princess spoke to Father Volodya in French. And, despite the fact that Zinaida Aleksandrovna did not pay attention to Volodya all the dinner, at the end of the evening she invited him to come to her in the evening.
In the Zasekins' house, Volodya meets the princess's admirers. These are Dr. Lushin, the poet Maidanov, Count Malevsky, the hussar Belovzorov and Captain Nirmatsky. The evening passes very cheerfully, and the princess even allows Volodya to kiss her hand. The next day, his father asks him about the evening spent and goes himself to the Zasekins' house. After that, Zinaida does not go out to him, and the main character Turgenev's "First Love" is tormented by jealousy and resentment. This allows Zasekina to understand that Volodya is in love with her.
Further, in the summary of Turgenev's "First Love", you can read about how Zinaida Alexandrovna suddenly changes. She walks for a long time herself and Volodya understands that she is also in love, but she does not understand with whom. Once Volodya was sitting on the wall of a collapsed greenhouse, and when she saw him, the princess ordered to get down if he loves her. Volodya immediately jumps off and passes out from a bad landing. Zinaida rushes to him and kisses him until she realizes that Volodya has already woken up. Volodya is simply in the "seventh heaven" and is ready to quote poetry, but at the next meeting he does not show his happiness. Nevertheless, the princess offers the protagonist of Turgenev's novel "First Love" to become her friend and page. 
Further, in Turgenev’s work “First Love”, you can read about Volodya’s conversation with Malevsky, in which the latter says that the page must relentlessly follow his queen and know everything about her. That is why Volodya takes a knife and decides to guard under Zinaida's window. But suddenly his father appears and, having lost the knife, Volodya runs away. The next day, it is not possible to talk with the princess, as her 12-year-old brother arrives, and Zinaida instructs the protagonist to take care of him. To the words of Volodya that Zinaida is playing with him, the princess asks for forgiveness and for about a week Volodya, driving away bad thoughts, communicates with Zinaida Alexandrovna.
Further, in Turgenev's "First Love" in a summary, you can find out how, having returned home one day, Volodya found the rubbish of his mother and father. The mother accused her father of having ties with Zinaida and decided to leave the next day. Volodya says goodbye to the princess, promising to love her always. He thinks that he will never see her again, but somehow during a horseback ride with his father, his father stopped the horse and said that he needed to leave. The protagonist of the work "First Love" by Turgenev follows his father along the lane and sees that his father is arguing about something with Zinaida Alexandrovna, who looked out the window. She holds out her hand to her father, but he beats her with a whip, while Zinaida kisses the scar of the wound.
Volodya's family moved to St. Petersburg, and six months later, his father received a letter that excited him very much. Soon he died, and his mother sent a large sum of money to Moscow. Further, in Turgenev's story "First Love" you can read about the events taking place after 4 years. Volodya meets Maidanov and he says that Zinaida got married, now lives in St. Petersburg, but is going abroad and gives Volodya an address. The protagonist of the story "First Love" by Turgenev goes to her only a few weeks later, but finds out that she died after giving birth.
Turgenev's story "First Love" on the Top Books website
The popularity of Turgenev's "First Love" to read is so great that it allowed the work to take a high place in our rating. But this is not all the achievements of the story. In addition, she took a high place in the rating and, thanks to the consistently high interest, she will most likely be presented in the ratings of our site more than once.
You can read Turgenev's story "First Love" online on the Top Books website.
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' 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. Seeing him, she orders him to jump down 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 Zinaida's address, but he goes to see her only a few weeks later and finds out that she died suddenly from childbirth four days ago.
Option 2
The events take place in Moscow, in 1833, when Volodya was sixteen years old. He lived with his parents in the country, and was preparing to enter the university. One day, the family of Princess Zasekina moved into a poor house next door. Volodya saw the young daughter of the princess, and wanted to get to know her.
One evening, he came to their house, and met the boyfriends of a young girl. The evening passed merrily and stormily. Zina gave Volodya attention, more than others, and he turned out to be in love with a girl. The next day, he again went to the Zasekins, but Zina refused to go out.
After that, they saw each other several times, but Volodya saw the changes that had taken place in Zinaida. He realized that the girl fell in love, but did not know with whom.
One fine day, Volodya was sitting on the wall of a dilapidated building. Zina, passing by, told him to jump if he loved her. He jumped and lost consciousness for a few moments. Zina began to kiss him, but when he woke up, the girl pulled away. The next day she acted as if nothing had happened.
Some time later, they met in the garden. Zina offers to become his page. Volodya talks to his father, Count Milevsky, who says that pages should protect their queens and know everything about them. The guy takes a knife, and the night goes into the garden. There he saw his father and quickly ran home.
He then meets Zina and says that she is just playing with him. The guy starts crying, and the girl calms him down. After that, they again run together, playing catch-up with Zinaida's younger brother.
Volodya continues to communicate with Zina, but at home he overheard a conversation between his mother and father, who suspected him of having a relationship with Zina. After that, the guy sees Zina talking through the window with his father.
After some time, mother and father decide to move to live in St. Petersburg. Volodya entered the university, a few months later his father died of a stroke. Before that, he read some letter from Moscow.
Four years later, Volodya sees in the theater with Maidanov, a friend of Zinaida, who says that Zina got married successfully, although she was already pregnant. A few weeks later, Volodya learns that Zina died in childbirth.
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Year: 1860 Genre: story
Main characters: Volodya, Princess Zinaida
In the wing next to the family of sixteen-year-old Vladimir, Princess Zasekina is settled. Volodya falls in love with the daughter of the princess - Zinaida. Once he meets his beloved by his own father. Following them, Vladimir realizes that Zina is not indifferent to his father. After the scandal with Zasekina, the neighbors return to Moscow. Some time later, the young man entered the university, and six months later his father died of shock. Four years later, Vova returns to St. Petersburg and visits Zinaida Zasekina, where she learns that she died 4 days ago during the birth of a child.
the main idea. The story tells about an unrequited first love, about how tragic family relationships can be if they are not based in any way on love.
retelling
Sixteen-year-old Vova lives with his father and mother in the country and is preparing to enter the university. Princess Zasekina enters the neighboring wing for a rest. The protagonist accidentally meets the daughter of a neighbor and dreams of meeting her. Volodya's mother sends him to a neighbor with a proposal to pay a visit. This is how the first meeting of the young man with the daughter of a neighbor - Zinaida Zasekina, who is a little older than him, she is 21 years old.
During the visit, Zasekina does not create a very good idea of herself, but Zinaida behaves impeccably, but for almost the entire evening she talks only with Vladimir's father. She did not show any interest in the young man during the conversation, but before leaving she asks to pay her a visit. The young man increasingly comes to Zinaida in the evenings, eventually realizing that he is in love with her.
One night, Vladimir becomes an involuntary witness to the meeting of his beloved with his father. Volodya guesses that she is not indifferent to his father. The young man does not stop communicating with the daughter of the princess, pretending that nothing is happening. A week later, his mother received a letter accusing her husband of being involved with a neighbor's daughter. After a scandal in the house, the Zasekins leave for Moscow. Before leaving, the young man in love decides to say goodbye to Zina and promises to love her forever.
A few days later, Volodya again involuntarily observes the scene of the meeting between his beloved girl and his father, he tries to convince her of something, she does not agree and holds out her pen to him. Her father swings and hits her on the hand with the whip, she shudders and puts her hand to her lips, touches her lips to the red mark from the blow. Vladimir runs away.
After some time, the young man's family moved to St. Petersburg. Vova goes to college, but six months later his dad died of shock. After graduating from university, Volodya finds Zina's friend in the theater to pay a visit to his beloved only after a couple of weeks. Arriving at the address, he learns that Zinaida Dolskaya died four days ago during the birth of a child.
Detailed summary of the work First love
The story "First Love" is one of the most popular and famous. This is a story about the first love of a young man who has just left his childhood and is striving for new feelings and sensations. The basis of the plot is the memory of an already adult man about his first experience of communicating with a girl, about youth, striving for the unknown.
The main thread of the story is the idea that the first love is the awakening of all the best in a person. The first love is like the first thunderstorm or a fast flow of water, something spontaneous and beyond the control of the mind.
A young man named Vladimir, who had just completed a course of home schooling, arrived at the country house with his parents. Here he must prepare for admission to the university and take a break from the bustle of the city. And, as it turned out, another family settled in the neighborhood, consisting of two ladies. One was quite young and very beautiful, of course, according to the young man.
Summer, languid evenings, black nights and early dawns did their job, they awakened unknown feelings in the young man. Vladimir fell in love with Zinaida, that was the name of a young neighbor who also turned out to be sociable.
The girl was young, although older than Volodya, smart, open to communication, sometimes windy, sometimes mysterious. she began to allow the young man to come for visits. And, as a result, the young man was more and more immersed in love. Naturally, all other cases were abandoned, as well as preparation for study. There was a need for long walks in the garden and finding a reason to see a beautiful neighbor.
However, although Zina was constantly surrounded by fans, not one of them crossed the line to get closer to the girl. Although Volodya so wanted to see the whole situation. In fact, Zina was in love with the young man's father, and she also experienced her love, but which was forbidden and was not correct. The girl secretly, at night, met with an adult man and at the same time suffered no less than her young neighbor. Zina's relationship with Volodya's father continued for a long time, even after the family returned to Moscow.
Only once when he saw his father with Zina, Volodya realized that the girl was truly in love. And this was a loss for the young man, he learned and determined for himself what unrequited love is.
The story ends tragically. Although Volodya becomes a student and grows up, his father dies an absurd death and this is a great grief for the family. And one day the young man gets the opportunity to see Zinaida, but even here evil fate prevents him. Zinaida dies two days before the meeting.
More than a century has passed since the publication of the story "First Love", but it has not lost the authenticity of the description of the feelings of young people, the description of youth, the boiling of life.
Picture or drawing First love
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The story "First Love" by Turgenev was written in 1860, and in many ways became a reflection of the author's personal experiences. This is a story about the first, still half-childish love, which had to face adult love, full of drama and sacrifice.
On our website, you can read online a summary of "First Love" chapter by chapter, and then take a test to test your knowledge. A brief retelling of the work is useful for the reader's diary and preparation for the literature lesson.
main characters
Vladimir- a sixteen-year-old boy who had to endure all the joys and troubles of first love.
Zinaida- A 21-year-old impoverished princess, spoiled by male attention, with whom Vladimir was in love.
Petr Vasilievich- Vladimir's father, a smart, freedom-loving middle-aged man who started an affair with Zinaida.
Other characters
Princess Zasekina- Zinaida's mother, an untidy, uneducated woman with bad manners.
Vladimir's mother- a restrained, delicate woman who was much older than her husband.
Malevsky, Lushin, Maidanov, Nirmatsky and Belovzorov- Fans of Zinaida.
Chapter 1
Sixteen-year-old Volodya was preparing to enter the university at his parents' dacha. He lived in anticipation of something extraordinary and this "was destined to come true soon." Soon the family of Princess Zasekina moved into a small outbuilding.
Chapter 2
During one of the walks, Volodya saw an unusually attractive blond girl in the company of young people. The stranger struck the young man in the heart, and he, feeling "unprecedented excitement", ran home.
Chapter 3
The next morning, all Volodya's thoughts were occupied only with how to get acquainted with the object of his passion. The young man was rescued by his mother, who ordered "to go to the princess and explain to her in words" so that she would come to visit her.
Chapter 4
Once in the chambers of the Zasekins, Volodya was unpleasantly surprised by the excessive simplicity and untidiness of the decoration and the princess herself. Her daughter Zinochka turned out to be the complete opposite - gentle, graceful, with excellent manners. She admitted that she was five years older than Volodya, and asked to be told "always the truth" to her. At that moment, the young man was as "well, like a fish in water." But soon his joy faded when a young hussar appeared at the Zasekins and presented a kitten to Zinaida - Volodya was jealous for the first time in his life.
Chapters 5-7
Volodya's mother found the princess "a very vulgar woman", obsessive and mercenary. It turned out that she was the daughter of a wealthy clerk, and married a ruined prince, who soon squandered her dowry.
At the reception with Volodya's parents, Princess Zasekina "did not repair at all", while Zinaida "behaved very strictly, almost arrogantly, a real princess". Saying goodbye, she invited Volodya to come to them in the evening.
Arriving at the appointed hour to the Zasekins, Volodya saw Zinaida surrounded by young people. Her admirers included "Count Malevsky, Dr. Lushin, poet Maidanov, retired Captain Nirmatsky and Belovzorov". The guests had fun with might and main: they played forfeits, "sang and danced, and represented the gypsy camp."
Chapter 8
Mother was against Volodya's communication with neighbors, whom she considered ill-bred. She reminded her son that he should "prepare for the exam and study."
Volodya shared his impressions of Zinaida with his father, a smart, interesting man who valued freedom above all else. After a conversation with Volodya, he "ordered to saddle his horse" and went to the Zasekins. In the evening, the young man found Zinaida pale and thoughtful.
Chapter 9
Volodya was languishing in love with Zinaida, who by that time had become interested in playing with her fans - "she kept them all on a leash, at her feet."
Once Volodya found his chosen one in a strange mood. When looking at his face, she noted that he had “the same eyes”, and then admitted that she was sick of everything. Volodya realized that Zinaida was in love.
Chapters 10-12
Volodya kept trying to figure out who was the lucky one with whom Zinaida fell in love. Dr. Lushin tried to warn him against the frequent visits of the Zasekin family - the choice of the house was already “painfully unsuccessful”, and its atmosphere is disastrous for a pure, ardent young man.
Meanwhile, "Zinaida was becoming more and more strange, more and more incomprehensible." She began to allow herself strange antics, and once passionately kissed Volodya.
Chapters 13-15
The young man for a long time felt indescribable bliss after the kisses of his beloved. Once he noticed how, during a horse ride, his father was whispering something enthusiastically in Zinaida's ear. Throughout the next week, the girl did not show herself to anyone, saying she was sick. After a while, she informed Volodya that “now everything is gone”, asked for forgiveness for her former coldness and offered friendship.
Chapter 16
One day the young princess invited the guests to tell their dreams. When it was her turn, she described her dream. In it, she was in the form of a queen, surrounded by fans. Each of them is ready to die for her, but the queen's heart is given to the only one that is waiting for her near the fountain. "No one knows him", but the queen is ready to come at his first call and "both stay with him and get lost with him."
Chapters 17-19
The next day, Malevsky, "contemptuously playfully" looking at Volodya, hinted that he needed to be inseparably near his "queen", especially at night. The young man realized that Zinaida was leading a double life.
At night, in the garden, Volodya noticed his father crouching, but did not attach any importance to this. Soon everything fell into place - "a terrible scene took place between father and mother." Mother "reproached her father for infidelity, for meeting a neighboring young lady", and he, in response, flared up and left. This "sudden revelation" completely crushed Volodya.
Chapter 20
It was decided to return to Moscow. Volodya came to say goodbye to Zinaida and tell her that he would "love and adore" her until the end of his days. The touched girl pressed Volodya to her, "kissed him hard and passionately."
In Moscow, a young man who survived a love drama did not soon "get rid of the past, did not soon set to work." His spiritual wound healed very slowly, but he did not feel anger towards his father. During a frank conversation, Pyotr Vasilyevich gave advice to his son "to live normally and not to succumb to hobbies."
Chapter 21
Once Volodya went with his father to ride. After a long walk, Pyotr Vasilyevich asked his son to wait a bit and disappeared somewhere in an alley. Tired of the long wait, Volodya began to look for his father, and soon found him near a wooden house, in the window of which Zinaida was visible. A tense conversation took place between them, during which Pyotr Vasilyevich hit Zinaida's bare hand with a whip, and she only "kissed the scar that had turned red on her." The father immediately "threw the whip aside" and ran into the house to his beloved.
Volodya was shocked by what he saw - he realized what true, "adult" love was, which had nothing to do with his enthusiastic youthful feeling. Six months later, his father died of a stroke, having received before that "a letter from Moscow, which greatly excited him." Before his death, he warned Volodya against female love.
Chapter 22
After four years, Volodya successfully graduated from the university. He found out that Zinaida was married, but at first it was not easy for her to make a party for herself after contacting Pyotr Vasilyevich. Volodya delayed meeting his first love until he found out that she "died almost suddenly from childbirth."
Conclusion
After reading a brief retelling of "First Love", we recommend reading the story in full.
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Retelling rating
Average rating: 4.4. Total ratings received: 572.
Retelling plan
1. The owner of the house offers to tell a story about first love.
2. Young Vladimir falls in love with Zinaida, a neighbor in the country.
3. First conversation with Zinaida.
4. A party in the Zasekins' house. Acquaintance with other cavaliers of Zinochka.
5. Vladimir tells his father about visiting the Zasekins.
6. Zinaida plays with the feelings of men.
7. Vladimir cannot decide who exactly Zinaida is in love with.
8. The young man is convinced that he is the very lucky one.
9. Vladimir realizes that Zinaida is in fact in love with his father.
10. The same guests in Zinaida's house. Game of forfeits with stories.
11. Vladimir is tormented, not knowing for sure whether Zinaida loves or does not love him.
12. Quarrel of the parents of a young man.
13. Vladimir's family moves to the city.
14. Vladimir stealthily sees his father talking to Zina.
15. Vladimir's father dies and his son receives his unfinished letter.
16. Vladimir learns about the changes in Zinaida's life. The heroine dies.
retelling
After the guests had left, only the owner remained in the house, Sergei Nikolaevich, "a round man with a plump blond face," and Vladimir Petrovich, "a man of about forty, black-haired, with gray hair." The owner offered to tell everyone about his first love. Sergei Nikolayevich admitted that he did not have his first love, but he had a second one and then all the rest. Well, according to him, he had a serious feeling only for his nanny. The owner himself fit his first love into a few sentences: “... everything went like clockwork with Anna Ivanovna: our fathers betrothed us, we very soon fell in love with each other and got married without delay.” Only Vladimir Petrovich's first love turned out to be "not quite ordinary." And since he is “not a master of telling”, he offered to write down everything that he remembers. Within two weeks, he fulfilled his promise.
When Vladimir Petrovich was sixteen years old (in the summer of 1833), he lived in Moscow with his parents in a dacha near the Kaluga outpost. Vladimir was preparing to enter the university. His parents treated him "indifferently and affectionately" and did not "hinder his freedom." The weather was beautiful, Vladimir read poetry, walked, rode a horse. In everything he thought about, "lurked a semi-conscious, bashful foreboding of something new, indescribably sweet, feminine." His family's dacha consisted of two outbuildings: one had a cheap wallpaper factory, the other was rented out. And once the poor family of Princess Zasekina moved in there.
Vladimir went to the garden every evening and guarded the crows with a gun. And then one evening he saw a strange sight: "A tall, slender girl ... four young men crowded around her, and she alternately clapped flowers on their foreheads." And he was filled with such "surprise and pleasure" that he himself wanted her to hit him on the forehead. And then he dropped the gun and looked only at her. Suddenly a man called out to him, and the girl noticed Vladimir. Laughing, she ran away. The image of this girl did not leave his mind.
There was only one thought in Vladimir's head: how to get to know the girl's family? And one day his mother received a letter from Princess Zasekina “on gray paper sealed with brown sealing wax, which was used only on corks of cheap wine.” She asked for patronage and asked for permission to come. The mother could not refuse the princess and asked her son to go to her. Vladimir rejoiced at the fleeting fulfillment of his desires.
Vladimir came to the next wing. It was rather poor and untidy. Princess Zasekina turned out to be an unpleasant woman of about fifty. Then that girl from the garden appeared in the living room, her name was Zina. The young princess and Vladimir started talking. She was twenty-one years old and, pointing to this, she said that Vladimir, as the youngest, should always tell her the truth. Zinaida Aleksandrovna, as she asked to be called herself, communicated with him very frankly and uninhibitedly. This confused Vladimir a little. He had to admit that he liked her.
Vladimir looked at her throughout the conversation. “Her face seemed even more charming than the day before: everything in it was so subtle, smart and sweet ...” She had fluffy golden hair, an innocent neck, sloping shoulders. Sitting next to her, he could hardly contain his delight. Then came Belovzorov, "a hussar with a ruddy face and bulging eyes," he brought her the kitten she wished for yesterday. And Vladimir had to leave already, a footman was sent for him, since he was very late.
Mother met with Princess Zasekina, and she did not like her. Mother called her vulgar and slanderous. And Vladimir's father remembered Prince Zasekin, "an excellently educated, but empty and absurd man," who lost all his fortune. Vladimir's parents seriously thought about how the princess would not ask them for a loan. Later, in the garden, Vladimir met Zinaida, but she did not pay attention to him. But when his father appeared and greeted her, the girl followed him with her eyes.
The next day, the princess and her daughter arrived half an hour before dinner. Zinochka looked important and cold, and the princess "was not shy about anything, ate a lot and praised the food." Zinaida paid no attention to Vladimir. But after dinner she invited him to visit; and her mother got ready immediately after she had eaten, saying that she hoped for the patronage of Maria Nikolaevna and Pyotr Vasilyich.
Exactly at eight, Vladimir in a frock coat came to the party. Entering the outbuilding, he was surprised at the large number of men. They all crowded around the young princess, who was holding a hat. It was decided to play forfeits. Volodya, as a newcomer, was lucky, he got a ticket with a kiss. He had the honor of kissing the princess' hand. “My eyes blurred; I wanted to get down on one knee, fell on both - and so awkwardly touched my lips to Zinaida's fingers that I slightly scratched the end of my nose with her fingernail. The rest of the men openly envied him. After a while, the evening turned into louder fun. Vladimir became drunk and "began to laugh and chatter louder than others," and the hostess of the holiday kept looking at him, "smiling mysteriously and slyly."
Count Malevsky showed various card tricks, “Maidanov recited excerpts from his poem “The Killer”, the old man Vonifaty was dressed up in a cap, and the princess put on a man's hat ...” One Belovzorov stood alone in the corner and was angry so, “that he is about to rush and scatter us all." For Vladimir, this kind of fun was unnatural and a new "crazy" adventure. When everyone calmed down, the happy "Voldemar" wandered home. Through the back porch he made his way to his room. He did not sleep all night until morning. “I got up, went to the window and stood there until the morning. The lightning did not stop for a moment; was, as the people call it, a sparrow night. The image of Zinaida haunted him all night.
The next morning, Volodya's mother scolded Volodya and forced her to study for exams. Since the hero knew that worries about his studies would be limited only to this, he did not object and went with his father to the garden. The father respected the boy's freedom and calmly asked to tell about what happened in the evening in the Zasekins' house. For Vladimir, his father was a model of masculinity, and he often regretted that his father did not devote more time to him. Once he said to his son: “Take what you can yourself, but don’t give into your hands: to belong to yourself is the whole point of life.” The young man told his father everything in detail, and he “half-attentively, half-absently” listened to him. After that, the father went to Princess Zasekina and was there for more than an hour, then left for the city. Vladimir himself decided to go to the Zasekins and saw only the old princess in the room, who asked "to copy her one request"; he promised to do. Then Zina came in, looked at him with "big cold eyes" and left.
Vladimir's passion and suffering began from that day: he fell in love. Zinaida immediately noticed this and "made fun of my passion, fooled, spoiled and tormented me." All the men who visited her house were crazy about her. And she turned everyone around at her whim, and they didn’t even resist: “She kept everyone at her feet, she needed every one of her fans.” She called Belovzorov "my beast" or simply "mine"; he would “rush into the fire for her” and already offered her a hand and heart, “Maidanov answered the poetic strings of her soul”, Lushin, “mocking, cynical, knew her best of all” and loved too.
Vladimir's mother did not like his hobby, his father took it calmly. He himself spoke with Zina "little, but somehow especially clever and significant." The young man abandoned his studies and walks, “like a beetle tied to a leg, circled constantly around his beloved outhouse ...” Once Vladimir met a girl in the garden, she was sitting quietly, not moving. Then she told him to sit next to her, asked him if he loved her. He was silent, everything was clear. Then she burst into tears: “Everything is disgusting to me, I would go to the ends of the world, I can’t bear it, I can’t cope ...” Then they went to her house to listen to Maidanov’s poem. When he read it, the eyes of Zinaida and Vladimir met, and at that moment he realized: “My God, she fell in love!”
From that moment, Vladimir noticed that Zinaida had changed. She often walked alone or sat in her room. All the gentlemen who visited their house noticed that the young man was in love. Once Lushin interrogated him why he goes to the princess and whether his new feelings are beneficial to the young man. Then the old princess entered the room where they were talking and forced Dr. Lushin to scold Zina for drinking water with ice often. The doctor warned the girl that she might catch a cold and die. She replied that "she is dear to her there, such a life is worth risking it for a moment of pleasure."
In the evening of the same day, all the same guests gathered at the Zasekins' house. Vladimir was also there. The guests discussed Maidanov's poem, and the young princess sincerely praised it. But she herself suggested a different plot: young girls sing a hymn, they are dressed in white dresses, dark wreaths and gold. The Bacchantes call them to their place. One goes to them, and the Bacchantes, surrounding her, carry the girl away. Maidanov promised to use this plot for a lyric poem. Then all the guests begin to play the "comparison" game that the princess came up with. She asked everyone what clouds look like? And then she herself answered that these were “purple sails that were on Cleopatra’s golden ship when she was going to meet Antony ...” After thinking, she asked how old Antony was. Everyone answered that he was very young, only Lushin exclaimed that he was forty. Vladimir soon after that went home. “She fell in love,” his lips involuntarily whispered. “But who?”
As the days passed, Zina became more and more strange and incomprehensible. Once Vladimir found her crying in the room. She grabbed his hair and pulled out a tuft, and then she took pity on him.
When the young man returned home, he heard his mother scolding his father for something. Vladimir could not hear anything. Only later did his mother tell him that Zinaida Alexandrovna was one of those women who would do anything. Once, in a secluded place, on the ruins of a greenhouse, he sat on a high wall and thought about the young princess. Suddenly he saw her passing by. Seeing the young man, she asked him to jump to her, if he loves her so much. Vladimir, without hesitation, jumped off, fell and lost consciousness. When he began to recover, the girl said, bending over him: "How could you do this, how could you obey, because I love you, get up." And she began to cover his head with kisses, then, seeing that he woke up, she called him a rascal and left. And Vladimir remained on the road. Everything hurt him, but “the feeling of bliss that I experienced then has not been repeated in my life. Exactly: I was still a child.
All day Vladimir was cheerful and proud. With delight, he remembered every word of the princess and her kisses. Then he went to her, feeling terrible embarrassment, but she accepted him very calmly. This hurt the young man very much, he realized that she treated him like a child. Then Belovzorov came, he was looking for a horse for her to ride, but he could not find anything suitable. Then she said that she would ask Pyotr Vasilyich, the boy's father. “She mentioned his name so easily and freely, as if she was sure of his readiness to serve her.” Belovzorov was jealous and said that he did not care what she would do and with whom. But she reassured him by promising to take him with her on a horseback ride.
The next morning, Vladimir walked for a long time, intending to indulge in "despondency and sadness," but the good weather and fresh air disturbed his memories of Zinaida's kisses. He lay on the grass and thought about her. And when I was walking along the path back home, I saw my father and Zinaida galloping on horseback. Pyotr Vassilich smiled at her. And a few seconds later Belovzorov rushed after them. Vladimir thought that Zina was very pale, and then hurried home for dinner.
All the following days, Zinaida "said sick", and her men were gloomy and sad. And only Lushin once said: “And I, a fool, thought she was a coquette! Apparently, self-sacrifice is sweet for others.” Vladimir did not understand this expression. He was worried that Zina was avoiding him. Once he was waiting for her at the elderberry bush, from where he liked to look at her window. And that evening she appeared in the window. The girl was in all white and was white herself, but her gaze was motionless. Three days later, Vladimir met her in the garden, her face smiling, "as if through a haze." Zina invited him to be friends, and the young man was offended by her, saying that he could have been in a different role before. Then she confessed to him that she loved him as "a child, sweet, good, smart," and told him that from that day on, Vladimir would be her page.
After dinner, the same guests gathered at Zinaida's. Everyone had the same fun as before, only without the "gypsy element". And now they were playing a new game: it was necessary to tell "something necessarily invented." Hussar Belovzorov could not invent anything, and Zinaida took the next phantom. She presented the young queen's ball. “Everywhere is gold, marble, crystal, silk, lights, diamonds, flowers, incense, all the whims of luxury. Everyone crowds around her, everyone lavishes the most flattering speeches before her. And there, near the fountain, the one whom I love, who owns me, is waiting for me. Throughout the story, the guests were silent, and only Lushin sometimes spoke cynically about Zina's invention. Then the girl anticipated events and put herself in the place of the queen. She said that Belovzorov would have challenged the stranger to a duel, Maidanov would have written a long iambic about him, Malevsky would have offered him poisoned candy. What "Woldemar" would have done, she omitted. But Malevsky cynically screwed up that Vladimir, as her personal page, "would hold her train when she ran into the garden." The princess was indignant and asked him to leave. After such impudence, everyone supported her. Malevsky asked for forgiveness for a long time, and the princess allowed him to stay. The game of fanta did not last long.
That night the young man could not sleep for a long time, he kept wondering if there was any hint in the princess's story. He dreamed of being that lucky man at the fountain. Then he decided to go to the garden. For a moment he thought he saw a girl there, but then everything around him froze. “I felt a strange excitement: as if I had gone on a date - and remained alone, passed by someone else’s happiness.”
The next day, Volodya met Malevsky, he warned the "page" that he should "keep up at night and watch, watch with all his might. Remember - in the garden, at night, at the fountain - this is where you need to watch. You will thank me." The young man returned to his room, took an English knife and chose in advance a place where to guard. The night was quiet, no one was in sight. Vladimir thought that Malevsky played a joke on him. Then he heard the door creak and rustle and saw his father. And "the jealous, ready to kill Othello suddenly turned into a schoolboy." Vladimir threw away the knife and went to his bench by Zina's window. “The small curved panes of the window turned dull blue in the weak light: behind them — I saw it — a whitish curtain was carefully and quietly descending…”. Volodya did not know what to think.
In the morning Vladimir got up with a headache and “it seems that something was dying in him.” Zinaida was visited by her younger brother, also Volodya. She asked the young man to treat him with love, walk with him, in general, take him under his protection. When Vladimir invited the cadet to take a walk in the garden, Zina was very happy, and he thought that he had never seen "such lovely colors" on her face.
In the evening, “young Othello” cried, and when the princess kissed him on his wet cheek, he whispered through his sobs: “I know everything; why did you play with me, why did you need my love? The girl confessed to him that she was guilty and very sinful, but she just did not understand what he knows? The boy was silent, and soon they, together with the younger Volodya, were already running and playing.
The weeks that followed were hectic. Volodya did not want to know if Zinaida loved him, and did not want to admit to himself that she loved another. Returning home one day for dinner, he noticed that something unusual had happened. From the barman Philip, he learned that his mother and father had a big quarrel, and everyone in the house heard. She accused Pyotr Vasilyich of infidelity, in connection with a neighboring young lady, to which her father hinted at the years of Maria Nikolaevna, and she burst into tears. Now my mother is unwell, and my father has gone somewhere. This news was “beyond the strength” of Vladimir, “this sudden discovery crushed him.” “It was all over. All my flowers were torn out at once and lay scattered and trampled around me.
Mother wanted to go to the city alone at first, but her father talked to her, and she calmed down. Then the preparations for home began, "everything was done quietly and slowly." Vladimir wandered around like crazy, thinking how Zina could decide on such an act: "... this is love, this is passion ...", and he went to say goodbye to the princess. Seeing her, he told her: “Believe me, Zinaida Aleksandrovna, no matter what you do, no matter how you torment me, I will love and respect you until the end of my days.” And she kissed him. “Who knows who this long, farewell kiss was looking for, but I greedily tasted its sweetness. I knew it would never happen again." Vladimir's family moved to the city. The feelings slowly subsided, and the boy had nothing against his father. But Vladimir was destined to see Zinaida again.
Once Vladimir and his father were riding. “We drove along all the boulevards, visited the Maiden's Field, jumped over several fences, crossed the Moscow River twice ...” Then my father noticed that the horses were tired. And he left them to Vladimir, and he himself went somewhere. Volodya walked with his horses along the shore, walking in the direction where his father had gone. And suddenly he was dumbfounded, because he saw him with Zinaida. His father almost noticed him, but it was obvious that he was too busy talking. A strange strong feeling made Vladimir stay where he was.
Pyotr Vasilyich insisted on something, but Zina did not agree. Then he hit her with his whip on her arm, and she only kissed the scar that had turned red on her. Father threw away his whip. Vladimir could hardly resist interfering. He returned to the place where his father had left him. Soon the father came. The young man asked where he had put the whip, his father replied that he had thrown it away. And Vladimir saw how much tenderness and regret his strict features could express.
Two months passed, Vladimir entered the university. Volodya's feelings aged him, and he already treated his experiences as something childish. Once he had a dream that Belovzorov was threatening his father, covered in blood, and Zinaida was sitting with a red stripe on her forehead in the corner.
A year and a half later, my father died of a stroke in St. Petersburg, but shortly before that, he asked his mother for something for a long time and cried. Then Vladimir received an unfinished letter from Pyotr Vasilyevich: “My son, be afraid of woman's love, be afraid of this happiness, this poison ...” After the death of his father, Mother sent a significant amount to Moscow. XXII
Four years later, Vladimir graduated from the university and once met Maidanov at the theater. He told him that Zinaida Zasekina became Mrs. Dolskaya, despite the "consequences", but with "her mind, everything is possible", and gave her address at the hotel. Vladimir was getting ready for a long time, and when he arrived at the hotel, he was told that Mrs. Dolskaya had died from childbirth. This bitter thought “stuck into his heart with all the force of an irresistible reproach,” and meanwhile:
From indifferent lips I heard the news of death,
And indifferently I listened to her ...
He wanted to pray for Zinaida, for his father and for himself.