Brief summary of Asya by chapters (Turgenev) in 2 minutes retelling the plot

Summary
Turgenev
Asya by chapters

Chapter 1

Sitting with friends at the table, N.N. reminisced about the days of his youth, when he was rich, carefree and cheerful. The young man then went to see the world around him. He only stayed in places he liked. He was not interested in sights. He was more fascinated by new faces, that is, people he met along the way. N.N. he loved to wander in the crowd; it was easy and fun for him to observe their behavior and listen to their speech.

In those happy years he was twenty-five, and he was in love with a young capricious widow whom he met on the waters. She was smart and beautiful. At first she showed him open attentions, and then abandoned him for the sake of the brave lieutenant. To escape from sad thoughts, N.N. went to travel around Europe. He stopped in the small German town of Z. and settled in a secluded place on the river bank. He liked this city because of the narrow streets along which young girls walked. N.N. I often stopped on the bridge and watched the river carry its clear waters to the Rhine. Across the river was an unfamiliar city. One day he heard noise and sounds of music in his streets. These were students celebrating their annual holiday. The young man found the boatman and asked to be taken to the other side.

Chapter 2

There were many students on the city streets. At the holiday N.N. met Gagin; together with his sister he traveled to European cities. Gagin used to be a military man, but then retired and devoted all his free time to his sister. They rented a cozy house on the banks of the Rhine and invited N.N. to visit.

At first Asya was shy about a stranger, but then she got used to it and calmly answered questions. During dinner they shared their impressions. A few hours later, Asya went to her room, and N.N. I said goodbye to my new acquaintance and hurried home. That evening he was not haunted by sad thoughts, he never even remembered his unhappy love.

Chapter 3

The next morning, Gagin visited N.N. on a return visit, and they spent half a day in friendly conversation. Gagin admitted that he dreams of becoming a professional artist and promised to show the young man his work. N.N. shared my love story with him. After lunch they went to Gagin; Asya was not at home. The mistress told them that the girl could be found in the ruins of an old tower. The young people decided to join her.

Chapter 4

The young people found Asya among the ruins of a tower that was located on top of a cliff. But she was not with them for long. Soon Asya went to see an old woman she knew. Her name was Frau Elsa, she was the widow of the burgomaster. The old woman was always happy when the girl came.

N.N. became friends with Gagin, as he was distinguished by his kindness and honesty. But N.N. returned. home in a bad mood, without knowing why. Until late at night he remembered Asya. Doubts crept into his soul regarding the kinship of his new friends.

Chapter 5

All day N.N. spent with my friends. Involuntarily, he constantly watched Asya and analyzed her behavior. In the evening he returned home with the firm conviction that Asya was not Gagina’s sister.

Chapter 6

For several weeks now N.N. knew Gagin and his sister. All these days the young man watched Asya and was surprised at the change in her mood and behavior. It was clear that the girl was smart, knew foreign languages, and knew how to hold a conversation. But there were moments when she avoided the company of even the people closest to her and was unpredictable. One day N.N. I accidentally overheard Asya telling her brother about her love. The young man believed that he was being deceived, he hurried home and could not calm down all evening.

Chapter 7

N.N. I didn’t sleep until the morning and at dawn I went to the mountains. The young man returned only a few days later. At home, a note from Gagin was waiting for him, in which he regretted that N.N. I didn't take him on the excursion.

Chapter 8

The next day N.N. shared with Gagin his impressions of the trip to the mountains. Asya did not participate in the conversation, she only sometimes came into the room to do her own business.

Gagin, seeing off N.N. to the river, shared with him the story of his life. His mother died early, his father raised his son. At the age of twelve, his uncle took him to St. Petersburg and enrolled him in a school for cadets. After graduation, the young man joined the guard. He first met Asya when she was eight years old. She was a thin, timid girl who tried not to catch his eye. Gagin met her for the second time four years later. From Yakov, who served in their house, he learned that this girl was her father’s daughter, and the maid Tatiana gave birth to her. The father, in a letter to his son, asked to take care of the girl and not leave her to the mercy of fate.

When her father died, Gagin took Asya with him and sent her to a boarding school, where she studied until she was seventeen. All these years he visited Asya. At first she was afraid of Gagin, but he treated her kindly, and she began to trust him. Soon Gagin left the service and left Russia with his sister. But Asya was still ashamed of her origin.

Chapter 9

Gagin was engaged in drawing. N.N. invited Asya to take a walk through the vineyard. They wandered along the mountain slope for a long time, and then settled on a stone slab and began to admire the river shimmering below. The girl remembered how N.N. told them excerpts from Onegin and unexpectedly admitted that she would like to be like Tatyana. Then Asya looked down thoughtfully and said that it would be nice to have wings that would help a person fly up and drown in the blue sky. N.N. replied that sometimes a person has the feeling of flying, but he has never experienced it.

In the evening, Gagin played a waltz on the piano, and the young man and Asya enthusiastically twirled in the dance.

Chapter 10

The three of them spent the evening together. Everyone felt good and calm. Late in the evening N.N. on the boat he returned to his place. He asked the boatman to set the boat adrift. They swam for a long time at the will of the waves. The carrier was dozing, the young man admired the surrounding nature. He was happy.

Chapter 11

All morning Gagin sat at work, he drew. In order not to disturb him, N.N. sat down next to Asya. But the girl was silent that morning and often answered inappropriately. She was disturbed by the thought that she did not know and could not do much.

Chapter 12

The next day Asya was again anxious and pale. She told N.N. that she had grown the wings that they had talked about the day before, but, according to her, she had nowhere to fly. When N.N. returned home, he was bothered until late at night by the thought that Asya was in love with him.

Chapter 13

All day N.N. spent time with Gagin, but hardly saw Asya. She complained of feeling unwell and went out with her head tied. The whole next day N.N. wandered through the quiet streets of the town. Suddenly an unfamiliar boy called out to him and handed him a letter from Asya. She invited him to a meeting at the old dilapidated chapel.

Chapter 14

After lunch, Gagin came and told N.N. that his sister was not indifferent to him. She asked her brother not to talk about her origin, because she was afraid that N.N. will treat her with contempt. Gagin decided to talk to him before leaving, as he considered him a true friend and a decent person. N.N. asked Gagin for time to think, but at the same time frankly admitted that he really liked Asya.

Chapter 15

In the morning at the chapel of N.N. The boy was waiting and handed over a note from Asya. She changed the meeting place and waited for him at the burgomaster's widow. The old woman greeted him warmly and took him to a room on the third floor.

Chapter 16

Asya sat by the window and hid her worried face. The young man came up and kissed her trembling hand. He was truly sorry for her. But he remembered the conversation with Gagin and restrained himself from expressing any feelings. He told Asya about the conversation with her brother and regretfully admitted that they had to leave. The girl ran out of the room, N.N. didn't hold her back.

Chapter 17

N.N. passed the outskirts of the city and wandered across an endless field. He was tormented by doubts. The young man understood that he was also in love and could not refuse Asya. He regretted that he did not keep her then. N.N. rushed to her brother.

Chapter 18

Gagin met N.N. at the gate. He began to worry a long time ago, since Asya did not return for a long time. At first they waited for her at home, looking impatiently at the door every minute. Then Gagin could not stand it and offered to go in search of her, but first they had to go in different directions. It's easier to bump into it that way. Alarmed, they hastened to look for her.

Chapter 19

N.N. I was looking for a girl for a long time. Running through the streets, he called her by name and confessed his love to her. But Asya was nowhere to be found. He became afraid that he might never see her.

Chapter 20

Late in the evening N.N. approached the house where Gagin lived with his sister. The girl's windows were illuminated, and he immediately felt better. Gagin said that everything was fine with them and said goodbye to him. The young man was sure that tomorrow he would meet his beloved, tell her about his feelings and propose to her. His soul felt light and joyful, as if wings had grown behind his back.

Chapter 21

A little light N.N. I've already been to the Gagins. But a maid met him and gave him a letter. In it, Gagin asked for forgiveness for their sudden departure, and that it would be better for everyone. When N.N. passed by the burgomaster's house, the old woman stopped him and handed him a letter. In it, Asya said goodbye to him forever. In the office of the shipping company N.N. reported that the Gagins had purchased tickets for a ship that was heading to Cologne.

Chapter 22

In Cologne Gaginykh N.N. I didn’t find him, they left for London. But even there N.N. couldn't find them. Their traces were lost. First N.N. I didn’t want to put up with what had happened, but he was young and therefore quickly calmed down. But over the years, memories of Asa began to visit him more often. He carefully kept the notes she wrote and the dried flower she once threw from the window.

The work teaches nobility, the ability to be responsible for one’s actions, to appreciate and cherish the love sent by fate.

You can use this text for a reader's diary

Turgenev. All works

Andrey Kolosov
Asya
Asya by chapters
Bezhin meadow
Biryuk
Brigadier
Mayor
On the road
Spring waters
Sparrow
Hamlet of Shchigrovsky district
Two landowners
Two friends
Noble Nest
Diary of an Extra Man
Smoke
Ermolai and the miller's wife
Living relics
Breakfast with the leader
Notes of a Hunter
The story of Lieutenant Ergunov
Kasyan with a beautiful sword
Clara Milic
The end of Tchertopkhanov
Office
Lebedyan
Forest and steppe
Lgov
Raspberry water
A month in the village
My neighbor Radilov
Mu Mu
The day before
Freeloader
Beggar
New
Odnodvorets Ovsyannikov
Fathers and Sons
Singers
First love
First love by chapters
Song of Triumphant Love
Pyotr Petrovich Karataev
Trip to Polesie
Provincial
Punin and Baburin
Father Alexey's story
Rudin
Date
Death
Dog
Dream
King Lear of the Steppes
Strange story
Knocking!
Tatyana Borisovna and her nephew
Three meetings
District doctor
Faust
Bachelor
Khor and Kalinich
Watch
Tchertophanov and Nedopyuskin

Summary of “Asya”

N.N., a middle-aged socialite, recalls a story that happened when he was twenty-five years old. N.N. then traveled without a goal and without a plan, and on his way he stopped in the quiet German town of N. One day, N.N., having come to a student party, met two Russians in the crowd - a young artist who called himself Gagin, and his sister Anna , whom Gagin called Asya

.
N.N. avoided Russians abroad, but he immediately liked his new acquaintance. Gagin invited N.N. to his home, to the apartment in which he and his sister were staying. N.N. was fascinated by his new friends. Asya
was shy of N.N., but soon she started talking to him. Evening came, it was time to go home. Leaving the Gagins, N.N. felt happy.

Many days have passed. Asya's pranks were varied, every day she seemed to be a new, different well-bred young lady, now a playful child, now a simple girl. N.N. regularly visited the Gagins. Some time later, Asya stopped playing pranks, looked sad, avoided N.N. Gagin treated her kindly and condescendingly, and N.N.’s suspicion grew stronger that Gagin was not Asya’s brother. A strange incident confirmed his suspicions. One day N.N. accidentally overheard a conversation between the Gagins, in which Asya told Gagin that she loved him and did not want to love anyone else. N.N. was very bitter.

N.N. spent the next few days in nature, avoiding the Gagins. But a few days later he found a note at home from Gagin, who asked him to come. Gagin met N.N. in a friendly manner, but Asya, seeing the guest, burst out laughing and ran away. Then Gagin told his friend the story of his sister.

Gagin's parents lived in their village. After the death of Gagin's mother, his father raised his son himself. But one day Gagin’s uncle arrived and decided that the boy should study in St. Petersburg. The father resisted, but gave in, and Gagin entered school, and then into the guards regiment. Gagin came often and once, when he was twenty years old, he saw a little girl Asya in his house, but did not pay any attention to her, having heard from her father that she was an orphan and was taken by him “to feed.”

Gagin did not visit his father for a long time and was only receiving letters from him, when suddenly one day news arrived about his fatal illness. Gagin arrived and found his father dying. He bequeathed to his son to take care of his daughter, Gagin’s sister Asya. Soon the father died, and the servant told Gagin that Asya was the daughter of Gagin’s father and the maid Tatyana. Gagin's father became very attached to Tatyana and even wanted to marry her, but Tatyana did not consider herself a lady and lived with her sister along with Asya. When Asya was nine years old, she lost her mother. Her father took her into the house and raised her himself. She was ashamed of her origin and at first was afraid of Gagin, but then she fell in love with him. He also became attached to her, brought her to St. Petersburg and, no matter how bitter it was for him to do this, sent her to a boarding school. She had no friends there, the young ladies didn’t like her, but now she’s seventeen, she finished studying, and they went abroad together. And so... she plays pranks and fools around as before...

After N. N. Gagin’s story, it became easy. Asya, who met them in the room, suddenly asked Gagin to play them a waltz, and N.N. and Asya danced for a long time. Asya waltzed beautifully, and N.N. remembered this dance for a long time afterwards.

The whole next day Gagin, N.N. and Asya were together and having fun like children, but the next day Asya was pale, she said that she was thinking about her death. Everyone except Gagin was sad.

The main characters of the story

Mr. N.N. - a young man, noble and honest, traveling around countries and ending up in Germany, where he became friends with Gagin and his sister Asya. This influenced the rest of my life.

Gagin is N.N.’s friend, Asya’s brother, a young man, twenty-four years old, a rich nobleman. He takes care of his sister, a seventeen-year-old girl. Experiences difficulties in raising her.

Asya - full name Anna Nikolaevna, half noblewoman, half peasant (mother Tatyana was a maid). The girl's behavior is extremely changeable: she is sometimes very emotional, sometimes strange, sometimes sad, sometimes calm, but always wayward. Knows French and German and loves to read. In love with Mr. N.N. but this does not entail happiness; on the contrary, it becomes the reason for their rapid departure from the city of L.

Chapter one: meeting Mr. N.N.

Describing the surrounding nature, the narrator draws attention to the fact that human faces are dearer to him than mountains, cliffs and waterfalls. Betrayed by a young widow who preferred a red-cheeked Bavarian lieutenant to him, the author increasingly sought solitude and, settling in the town of Z, “sat for long hours on a stone bench under a lonely huge ash tree.” On the other side of the river there was the town of L, a little larger than where the main character of the story, Mr. N.N., lived. Hearing the sounds of music coming from there, he asked what was happening there. It turned out that the reason for the holiday was students who came for a commercial trip.

Chapter two: meeting with Gagin and his sister

After reading the first chapter, the reader may wonder what “commerch” is. This, as the author explains, is “a special kind of solemn feast to which students of the same land or brotherhood come together.” Driven by curiosity, Mr. N.N. went to the other side and disappeared into the crowd of people celebrating. Suddenly, behind him, the voice of a man and a woman were heard speaking Russian. This is how he met Gagin and his sister Asya.

The young man compared favorably with the Russians who lived abroad or were there on business: he was smiling, charming, and sweet. A good impression on Mr. N.N. Asya also produced. Therefore, he accepted the invitation to visit them without hesitation.

The view was beautiful, the food was tasty and fresh, and the pleasant conversation lasted long into the night. After the heart of Mr. N.N. There was also a pretty girl with an irrepressible, lively character. Finally, the hero of the story returned home, but his soul was still disturbed by the sounds of music coming from the opposite bank.

Other characters in the story by I.S. Turgeneva Asya

The main characters live in almost complete solitude, so there are few secondary characters in the story.

Frau Louise is the old wife of the late burgomaster, living in the city of L., where the main action of the story takes place. The main character visited her and even had a confidential relationship with her. The author does not explain what connected the young girl with the old German woman.

The boatman, the boy with notes from Asya, the maid in the Gagins’ house, the girl Gankhen from the pub are completely episodic characters, whose characters the author does not reveal.

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Brief summary of the story by Asya Turgeneva I.S. by chapter

ASL
I

“I was twenty-five years old then,” began N.N., “things of a long time ago, as you see. I had just broken free and went abroad, not in order to “finish my education,” as they used to say then, but I simply wanted to look at God’s world. I was healthy, young, cheerful, I had no money transferred, worries had not yet begun - I lived without looking back, did what I wanted, prospered, in a word. It never occurred to me then that man is not a plant and cannot flourish for long. Youth eats gilded gingerbread, and thinks that this is their daily bread; and the time will come - and you’ll ask for some bread. But there is no need to talk about this.

I traveled without any purpose, without a plan; I stopped wherever I liked, and immediately went further as soon as I felt a desire to see new faces—namely, faces. I was occupied exclusively by people; I hated curious monuments, wonderful collections, the very sight of a footman aroused in me a feeling of melancholy and anger; I almost went crazy in Dresden's Grüne Gewölbe.

The hero loved the crowd very much. He was amused by “watching people...”. But recently N.N. received a serious mental wound, and therefore sought solitude. He settled in the town of 3., which was located two miles from the Rhine. Once, while walking, the hero heard music. He was told that these were students who came from B. on a commercial trip. N.N. decided to go and have a look.

Kommersh is a special kind of solemn feast, which brings together students of the same land, or brotherhood. “Almost all participants in the commerce wear the long-established costume of German students: Hungarian women, large boots and small hats with bands of well-known colors. The students usually gather for dinner under the chairmanship of the senior, that is, the foreman, and feast until the morning, drink, sing songs, Landesvater, Gaudeamus, smoke, scold the philistines; sometimes they hire an orchestra.”

N.N. mixed with the crowd of spectators. And then suddenly I heard a Russian conversation. Here, next to him, stood a young man in a cap and wide jacket; he was holding a short girl by the arm, wearing a straw hat that covered the entire upper part of her face. The hero never expected to see Russians “in such a remote place.”

Introduced ourselves. The young man is Gagin. He called the girl standing next to him his sister. Gagin also travels for his own pleasure. He had a “sweet, affectionate face, with large soft eyes and soft curly hair. He spoke in such a way that, even without seeing his face, you felt from the sound of his voice that he was smiling.

The girl whom he called his sister seemed very pretty to me at first glance. There was something special about her dark, round face, with a small thin nose, almost childish cheeks and black, light eyes. She was gracefully built, but seemed not yet fully developed. She was not at all like her brother.”

Gagin and Asya (her name was Anna) invited N.N. to visit you. Their house was high in the mountains. Dinner has begun. Asya turned out to be very active. “... She got up, ran into the house and came running again, hummed in a low voice, often laughed, and in a strange way: it seemed that she was laughing not at what she heard, but at various thoughts that came into her head. Her large eyes looked straight, bright, bold, but sometimes her eyelids squinted slightly, and then her gaze suddenly became deep and tender.”

III

The next morning N.N. visited Gagin. We started talking. He had a decent fortune, he did not depend on anyone and wanted to devote himself to painting. N.N. warmed up to his new acquaintance and told the story of his sad love. Gagin listened out of politeness. Then both went to watch sketches in a house in the mountains.

Asya was not at home at that time. N.N. I didn’t really like the drawings, he said it honestly. Gagin agreed: “...all this is very bad and immature...”

Let's go find Asya.

We came to the ruins of the castle. “We were already approaching them, when suddenly a female figure flashed ahead of us, quickly ran over a pile of rubble and placed itself on the ledge of the wall, right above the abyss.” It turned out to be Asya! Gagin shook his finger at her, and N.N. loudly reproached her for her carelessness.

“Asya continued to sit motionless, tucked her legs under her and wrapped her head in a muslin scarf; her slender appearance was clearly and beautifully drawn against the clear sky; but I looked at her with a feeling of hostility. Already the day before, I noticed something tense in her, not entirely natural... “She wants to surprise us,” I thought, “why is this? What kind of childish trick is this?” As if she had guessed my thoughts, she suddenly cast a quick and piercing glance at me, laughed again, jumped off the wall in two leaps and, going up to the old woman, asked her for a glass of water.”

“She suddenly seemed ashamed, lowered her long eyelashes and modestly sat down next to us, as if guilty. Here for the first time I took a good look at her face, the most changeable face I had ever seen. A few moments later it had already turned pale and assumed a concentrated, almost sad expression; her very features seemed larger, stricter, simpler to me. She became completely silent. We walked around the ruin (Asya followed us) and admired the views.” N.N. it seemed that Asya was constantly playing a new role in front of him. Gagin indulged her in everything. Then the girl went to Frau Louise, the widow of the former local burgomaster, a kind, but empty old woman. She fell in love with Asya very much. “Asya has a passion for meeting people of the lower circle; I noticed: the reason for this is always pride. She’s pretty spoiled, as you can see,” he added after a short silence, “but what do you want me to do?” I don’t know how to collect from anyone, and even less so from her. I have to be lenient with her."

In the evening, the friends went to Frau Louise to see if Asya was there. Arriving home, N.N. “started to think... think about Asa. It occurred to me that during the conversation Gagin had hinted to me about some difficulties preventing his return to Russia... “Come on, is she his sister?” “I said loudly.”

“The next morning I went to L. again. I assured myself that I wanted to see Gagin, but secretly I was drawn to see what Asya would do, whether she would be as “strange” as the day before. I found both of them in the living room, and, strange thing! - Is it because I thought a lot about Russia at night and in the morning - Asya seemed to me like a completely Russian girl, yes, a simple girl, almost a maid. She was wearing an old dress, she combed her hair behind her ears and sat, motionless, by the window and sewed in a hoop, modestly, quietly, as if she had never done anything else in her entire life. She said almost nothing, calmly looked at her work, and her features took on such an insignificant, everyday expression that I involuntarily remembered our home-grown Katya and Masha. To complete the similarity, she began to hum “Mother, darling” in a low voice. I looked at her yellowish, faded face, remembered yesterday’s dreams, and I felt sorry for something.”

Two weeks in a row N.N. visited the Gagins. “Asya seemed to be avoiding me, but she no longer allowed herself any of those pranks that so surprised me in the first two days of our acquaintance. She seemed secretly distressed or embarrassed; she laughed less. I watched her with curiosity." The girl turned out to be extremely proud. And Gagin did not treat her like a brother: too affectionately, too condescendingly and at the same time somewhat forced. A strange incident confirmed N.N.’s suspicions.

One evening he overheard a conversation between Asya and Gagin. The girl fervently said that she didn’t want to love anyone but him. Gagin replied that he believed her. On the way home N.N. I kept thinking why the “Gagins” should pretend to be in front of him.

VII

The next morning N.N. I realized that I did not want to see the Gagins. “I assured myself that the only reason for my sudden dislike towards them was annoyance at their cunning. Who forced them to pretend to be relatives?” For three days the hero admired the nature of the German land. And when I returned home, I found a note from Gagin. “He was surprised at the unexpectedness of my decision, blamed me for why I didn’t take him with me, and asked me to come to them as soon as I returned. I read this note with displeasure, but the next day I went to JI.”

VIII

Gagin met N.N. very kindly. But Asya, as soon as she saw him, burst out laughing for no reason and, as was her habit, immediately ran away. The conversation didn't go well. N.N. decided to leave. Gagin volunteered to accompany him. “In the hall, Asya suddenly came up to me and extended her hand to me; I shook her fingers lightly and barely bowed to her. Gagin and I crossed the Rhine and, passing by my favorite ash tree with a statue of the Madonna, we sat down on a bench to admire the view. A wonderful conversation took place between us here.

At first we exchanged a few words, then fell silent, looking at the bright river.”

Gagin unexpectedly asked which N.N. opinions about Asa. Doesn't she seem like N.N. strange? The young man replied that she was indeed a little strange. Gagin began to tell Asya's story.

“My father was a very kind, intelligent, educated man - and unhappy. Fate treated him no worse than many others; but he couldn’t bear even the first blow. He married early, for love; his wife, my mother, died very soon; I stayed after her for six months. My father took me to the village and did not go anywhere for twelve whole years. He himself was involved in my upbringing and would never have parted with me if his brother, my uncle, had not come to our village. This uncle lived permanently in St. Petersburg and occupied a rather important position. He persuaded my father to give me into his arms, since my father would never agree to leave the village. My uncle represented to him that it was harmful for a boy of my age to live in complete solitude, that with such an eternally sad and silent mentor as my father was, I would certainly lag behind my peers, and my very character could easily deteriorate. The father resisted his brother’s admonitions for a long time, but finally gave in. I cried when I parted with my father; I loved him, although I never saw a smile on his face... but when I got to St. Petersburg, I soon forgot our dark and cheerless nest. I entered the cadet school, and from school I transferred to the guards regiment. Every year I came to the village for several weeks and every year I found my father more and more sad, absorbed in himself, thoughtful to the point of timidity. He went to church every day and almost forgot how to speak. On one of my visits (I was already over twenty years old), I saw for the first time in our house a thin, black-eyed girl of about ten years old - Asya. Her father said that she was an orphan and was taken by him to feed her - that’s exactly how he put it. I didn't pay much attention to her; she was wild, agile and silent, like an animal, and as soon as I entered my father’s favorite room, the huge and gloomy room where my mother died and where candles were lit even during the day, she immediately hid behind his Voltaire chair or behind a bookcase . It so happened that in the three or four years that followed, service duties prevented me from visiting the village. I received a short letter from my father every month; He rarely mentioned Asa, and then only in passing. He was already over fifty years old, but he still seemed like a young man. Imagine my horror: suddenly, suspecting nothing, I receive a letter from the clerk in which he informs me of my father’s fatal illness and begs me to come as soon as possible if I want to say goodbye to him. I galloped headlong and found my father alive, but already on his last legs. He was extremely happy to see me, hugged me with his emaciated arms, looked into my eyes for a long time with some kind of searching or pleading look, and, taking my word that I would fulfill his last request, ordered his old valet to bring Asya. The old man brought her: she could barely stand on her feet and was trembling all over.

“Here,” my father said to me with effort, “I bequeath to you my daughter—your sister.” You will learn everything from Yakov,” he added, pointing to the valet.

Asya began to sob and fell face down on the bed... Half an hour later, my father died.

Here's what I learned. Asya was the daughter of my father and my mother's former maid, Tatyana. I vividly remember this Tatyana, I remember her tall, slender figure, her handsome, stern, intelligent face, with large dark eyes. She was known as a proud and unapproachable girl. As far as I could understand from Yakov’s respectful omissions, my father became friends with her several years after my mother’s death. Tatyana no longer lived in the manor's house, but in the hut of her married sister, a cowgirl. My father became very attached to her and after I left the village he even wanted to marry her, but she herself did not agree to be his wife, despite his requests.

“The deceased Tatyana Vasilievna,” Yakov reported to me, standing at the door with his arms thrown back, “was reasonable in everything and did not want to offend your father.” What kind of wife do you think I am? what kind of lady am I? This is how they deigned to speak, they spoke in front of me, sir.

Tatyana didn’t even want to move into our house and continued to live with her sister, along with Asya. As a child, I saw Tatyana only on holidays, in church. Tied with a dark scarf, with a yellow shawl on her shoulders, she stood in the crowd, near the window - her stern profile was clearly cut out on the transparent glass - and humbly and importantly prayed, bowing low, in the ancient way. When my uncle took me away, Asya was only two years old, and in her ninth year she lost her mother.

As soon as Tatyana died, her father took Asya to his house. He had previously expressed a desire to have her with him, but Tatyana refused him this too. Imagine what must have happened in Asya when she was taken to the master. She still cannot forget that moment when they put a silk dress on her for the first time and kissed her hand. While she was alive, her mother kept her very strictly; With her father she enjoyed complete freedom. He was her teacher; She saw no one except him. He did not spoil her, that is, he did not coddle her; but he loved her passionately and never forbade her anything: in his soul he considered himself guilty before her. Asya soon realized that she was the main person in the house, she knew that the master was her father; but she just as quickly realized her false position; self-esteem developed strongly in her, and mistrust too; bad habits took root, simplicity disappeared. She wanted (she herself admitted this to me once) to make the whole world forget her origins; she was both ashamed of her mother and ashamed of her shame... You see that she knew and knows a lot that she shouldn’t know at her age... But is she to blame? Young forces were playing out in her, her blood was boiling, and there was not a single hand nearby to guide her. Complete independence in everything! Is it really easy to bear it? She wanted to be no worse than other young ladies; she threw herself at the books. What could possibly go wrong here? A life that began incorrectly turned out incorrectly, but the heart in it did not deteriorate, the mind survived.

And here I am, a twenty-year-old kid, found myself with a thirteen-year-old girl in my arms! In the first days after her father’s death, at the mere sound of my voice, she would break out in a fever, my caresses plunged her into melancholy, and only little by little, gradually, did she get used to me. True, later, when she was convinced that I definitely recognized her as a sister and loved her like a sister, she became passionately attached to me: she never has a single feeling in half.

I brought her to St. Petersburg. No matter how painful it was for me to part with her, I could not live with her; I placed her in one of the best boarding houses. Asya understood the need for our separation, but she started by getting sick and almost dying. Then she endured it and survived in the boarding house for four years; but, contrary to my expectations, she remained almost the same as she was before. The head of the boarding house often complained to me about her. “And you can’t punish her,” she used to tell me, “and she doesn’t give in to affection.” Asya was extremely understanding, studied well, better than anyone; but she didn’t want to fit in with the general level, she was stubborn, she looked like a beech... I couldn’t blame her too much: in her position, she had to either serve or shy away. Of all her friends, she became friends with only one, an ugly, downtrodden and poor girl. The rest of the young ladies with whom she was brought up, mostly from good families, did not like her, sarcastically and injected her as best they could; Asya was not inferior to them by a hair. Once during a lesson on the law of God, the teacher started talking about vices. “Flattery and cowardice are the worst vices,” Asya said loudly. In a word, she continued to go her way; only her manners have become better, although in this respect too, it seems, she has not achieved much.

Finally she turned seventeen; It was impossible for her to stay any longer in the boarding house. I was in quite a big quandary. Suddenly a good idea came to me: to resign, go abroad for a year or two and take Asya with me. Conceived - done; and here we are with her on the banks of the Rhine, where I try to paint, and she... is naughty and weird as before. But now I hope you will not judge her too harshly; and even though she pretends that she doesn’t care, she values everyone’s opinion, especially yours.

And Gagin smiled again with his quiet smile. I squeezed his hand tightly.”

The trouble is that Asya, out of the blue, suddenly began to assure Gagin that she loved him alone and would love him forever. Asya needs a hero, an extraordinary person - or a picturesque shepherd in a mountain gorge. N.N. it became easy after this conversation.

N.N. decided to return to the Gagins’ house. Now the hero understood Asya much more: her inner restlessness, inability to control herself, desire to show off... N.N. invited Asya to take a walk around the vineyard. She immediately agreed, with cheerful and almost submissive readiness. We talked about the mountains. Asya told N.N. that she was very glad that he had returned. When they were back at the house on the mountain, they waltzed. Asya danced beautifully, with passion. “Something soft and feminine suddenly appeared through her girlishly strict appearance. For a long time afterwards my hand felt the touch of her tender figure, for a long time I heard her rapid, close breathing, for a long time I imagined dark, motionless, almost closed eyes on a pale but lively face, playfully fanned with curls.”

After this day, which went so wonderfully, in N.N. “The thirst for happiness was kindled.”

“Going to the Gagins the next day, I did not ask myself whether I was in love with Asya, but I thought a lot about her, her fate occupied me, I rejoiced at our unexpected rapprochement. I felt that only since yesterday I had recognized her; Until then she turned away from me.”

Asya blushed when N.N. Walked in the room. She was not the same as yesterday. She didn't sleep well that night, she kept thinking. She thought about whether she was interesting to people, whether she was smart... She even asked N.N. tell her what to do so that he doesn't get bored. Then Asya left.

XII

She returned an hour later, stopped at the door and called N.N. by hand. She asked: “...if I died, would you feel sorry for me?”

She remained sad and preoccupied until the evening. Something was happening inside her that no one understood.

“Does she really love me?” - I thought, approaching the Rhine, which was rapidly rolling dark waves.

XIII

“Does she really love me?” - I asked myself the next day, having just woken up. I didn't want to look into myself. I felt that her image, the image of the “girl with a forced laugh,” had been forced into my soul and that I would not soon get rid of it. I went to JI. and stayed there the whole day, but saw Asya only briefly. She was unwell; she had a headache. She came downstairs for a minute, with a bandage on her forehead, pale, thin, with almost closed eyes; smiled faintly and said: “It will pass, it’s nothing, everything will pass, won’t it?” - and left. I felt bored and somehow sad and empty; I, however, did not want to leave for a long time and returned late, without seeing her again.”

The next morning the boy handed over to N.N. a note from Asya: “I absolutely must see you, come today at four o’clock to the stone chapel on the road near the ruins. Today I was very careless... Come for God’s sake, you will find out everything... Tell the messenger: yes.”

XIV

Gagin came: “On the fourth day I surprised you with my story; Today I’ll surprise you even more.” He said that his sister Asya is in love with N.N.

“She says that she became attached to you at first sight. That’s why she cried the other day when she assured me that she didn’t want to love anyone but me. She imagines that you despise her, that you probably know who she is; she asked me if I had told you her story - I, of course, said no; but her sensitivity is simply terrible. She wants one thing: to leave, to leave immediately. I sat with her until the morning; She made me promise that we wouldn’t be here tomorrow, and only then did she fall asleep. I thought and thought and decided to talk to you. In my opinion, Asya is right: the best thing is for both of us to leave here. And I would have taken her away today if a thought had not occurred to me that stopped me. Maybe... who knows? - Do you like my sister? If so, why on earth would I take her away? So I made up my mind, throwing aside all shame... Moreover, I myself noticed something... I decided... to find out from you... - Poor Gagin was embarrassed. “Please excuse me,” he added, “I’m not used to such troubles.”

It was agreed that in order to avoid trouble N.N. I had to go on a date and honestly explain myself to Asya; Gagin pledged to stay at home and not show that he knew her note. The elder brother was going to take Asya away tomorrow.

“To marry a seventeen-year-old girl with her temperament, how is that possible!” “I said, getting up.”

“At the appointed hour I crossed the Rhine, and the first person who met me on the opposite bank was the same boy who came to me in the morning.”

He again handed over the note from Asya. The meeting was to take place in Frau Louise's house, on the third floor.

“Asya herself, with her fiery head, with her past, with her upbringing, this attractive but strange creature - I admit, she scared me. My feelings struggled for a long time. The appointed time was approaching. “I can’t marry her,” I finally decided, “she won’t know that I fell in love with her.”

XVI

Asya was already in the small room where the date was scheduled. The girl was trembling all over and could not start a conversation.

“A subtle fire ran through me like burning needles; I bent down and touched her hand...

A tremulous sound was heard, like a ragged sigh, and I felt the touch of a weak, leaf-like trembling hand on my hair. I raised my head and saw her face. How it suddenly changed! The expression of fear disappeared from him, his gaze went somewhere far away and carried me along with him, his lips parted slightly, his forehead turned pale like marble, and his curls moved back, as if the wind had blown them back. I forgot everything, I pulled her towards me - her hand obediently obeyed, her whole body was drawn after her hand, the shawl rolled from her shoulders, and her head quietly lay on my chest, lay under my burning lips...

“Yours...” she whispered barely audibly.

My hands were already sliding around her figure... But suddenly the memory of Gagina, like lightning, illuminated me.”

N.N. told Asya about the meeting with her brother. Asya wanted to run away, but the young man stopped her. The girl said that she definitely had to leave, that she asked him here only to say goodbye. N.N. he said it was all over and the girl left.

XVII

The hero was gnawed at by his strange behavior. “Madman! madman! - I repeated with anger...

Meanwhile, night was falling. I walked with long steps towards the house where Asya lived.”

XVIII

Gagin went out to N.N., but Asya was not at home. We decided to wait. Then, unable to bear it, they went to look for her.

XIX

“I quickly descended from the vineyard and rushed into the city. I quickly walked around all the streets, looked everywhere, even into Frau Louise’s windows, returned to the Rhine and ran along the bank... Occasionally I came across female figures, but Asya was nowhere to be seen. It was no longer annoyance that was gnawing at me - a secret fear was tormenting me, and I felt more than one fear... no, I felt remorse, the most burning regret, love - yes! the most tender love."

N.N. returned to the house on the mountain. Asya has already returned. Gagin did not let his friend enter the threshold.

“Tomorrow I will be happy! Happiness has no tomorrow; he doesn’t even have yesterday; it does not remember the past, does not think about the future; he has a present - and that’s not a day, but a moment.”

XXI

But the next morning, when N.N. I came to the Gagins’ house, it turned out that they had left. All that's left is the letter.

Gagin wrote that he understood that N.N. You can't marry Asa. That you shouldn't look for them. But N.N. still wanted to find his beloved.

Suddenly the burgomaster's widow called out to him. She gave it to N.N. a small note. “Farewell, we won’t see each other again. I’m not leaving out of pride - no, I can’t do otherwise. Yesterday, when I cried in front of you, if you had said one word to me, just one word, I would have stayed. You didn't say it. Apparently, it’s better this way... Goodbye forever!”

N.N. began to reproach himself.

XXII

The hero went to Cologne. Here he picked up the trail of the Gagins. They went to London. N.N. looked for them there, but could not find them.

“And I didn’t see them anymore - I didn’t see Asya. Dark rumors reached me about her, but she disappeared from me forever. I don't even know if she's clear. Once, several years later, I caught a glimpse abroad, in a railway carriage, of a woman whose face vividly reminded me of unforgettable features... but I was probably deceived by the coincidental resemblance. Asya remained in my memory the same girl as I knew her in the best time of my life, as I saw her for the last time, leaning on the back of a low wooden chair.”