Kornéy Vasílyef (Tolstoy)
Short summary
Rural Russia, late 19th century. Kornéy Vasílyef, a prosperous fifty-four-year-old cattle dealer, returned to his village after a successful business trip to Moscow.
On his way home, a fellow villager told him that his wife Martha had taken on her former lover Justin as a laborer and was living with him. That night, Kornéy confronted Martha, who initially denied the affair. In a rage, he beat her severely, breaking her ribs and injuring her head. He also broke the arm of their two-year-old daughter Agatha when he threw her aside. Under his blows, Martha finally confessed:
Yes, I am living with Justin, and have lived with him!... There, now, kill me outright!... And Agatha is not your daughter, but his!
Kornéy left that night and never returned. Over seventeen years, he gradually lost everything through drinking and failed business ventures, eventually becoming a wandering beggar. Returning home ill and dying, he met Agatha, now grown with a permanently twisted arm. She didn't recognize him but kindly offered him shelter. At her house, he died after asking her forgiveness and revealing his identity.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Chapter 1. Kornéy returns home to discover his wifes betrayal and reacts with violence
Kornéy Vasílyef returned to his village of Gáyi after twenty years of successful cattle trading. At fifty-four, he remained a strong, prosperous man with thick curly hair and a black beard, his body well-fed from town life and good fortune. He had built up considerable wealth, accumulating about three thousand roubles from his latest profitable cattle sale in Moscow, and was considering expanding into the timber trade.
At the railway station, Kornéy met one-eyed Kouzmá, a poor villager who transported passengers with his shabby horses.
During their journey to the village, Kouzmá revealed disturbing news about Kornéy's household. His wife Martha had dismissed their previous laborer Peter due to illness and hired Justin from her home village of Kámenka. Kouzmá hinted with malicious pleasure that Martha was living with this new laborer, who had once been her lover before her marriage to Kornéy.
Upon arriving home, Kornéy encountered Justin and observed his wife's nervous behavior. When he caught Martha and Justin speaking privately in the passage, his suspicions intensified. That evening, after giving presents to his family including his mother, son Fédka, and dumb nephew, Kornéy confronted Martha in their bedroom. When she initially denied the accusations, he became violent, demanding the truth about her relationship with Justin.
In a fit of rage, Kornéy brutally beat Martha, striking her head, sides, and breast. When their two-year-old daughter Agatha tried to protect her mother, he threw the child into a corner, dislocating her arm. Martha finally confessed that she was indeed living with Justin and that Agatha was not Kornéy's daughter but Justin's. Kornéy's mother entered to tend to the injured child, and Kornéy, overwhelmed by what he had done, packed his belongings and left the village that same night, never to return.
Chapter 2. Seventeen years later, a broken Kornéy encounters his estranged daughter
Seventeen years had passed since that violent night. Kornéy's life had spiraled into complete ruin through drink and misfortune. His cattle trading ventures failed repeatedly, and he lost employment after employment due to his drinking. He had wandered as far as Kiev and the Caucasus, seeking redemption through pilgrimage, but illness and poverty had reduced him to begging.
From a strong prosperous proud man, Kornéy Vasílyef had become what he now was: an old beggar possessing nothing but the shabby clothes on his back.
Now a broken old man with grey hair and a bent back, Kornéy was making his way home when he encountered a young woman driving cattle near Andréyevo village. The woman kindly offered him shelter at her home, mentioning that her mother-in-law welcomed pilgrims. When Kornéy asked if this was the Zinóvyef house, the woman confirmed it, not knowing she was speaking to her own father.
This was Agatha, the child whose arm he had broken seventeen years earlier. She had grown into a kind young woman who had married into the prosperous Zinóvyef family. Her twisted arm remained as a permanent reminder of that terrible night, yet she showed nothing but compassion to the old stranger who was, unknowingly, her father.
Chapter 3. Kornéy learns the truth about Agatha and begins to find peace
At the Zinóvyef household, Kornéy was welcomed warmly by Agatha's family. Her husband and mother-in-law showed him typical Russian hospitality, offering tea and shelter.
During their conversation, the old housewife revealed the story of Agatha's broken arm, explaining how her father, Kornéy Vasílyef from Gáyi, had injured the child during a violent confrontation with his wife over their laborer. She mentioned that Justin, the laborer, had died long ago, and that Kornéy himself had disappeared and was presumed dead. When Kornéy asked if Agatha held a grudge against her father for her injury, her response moved him deeply.
Don't you bear a grudge against him, because of your arm?... No! Wasn't he my father? It's not as if some stranger had done it.
Overcome with emotion upon hearing his daughter's forgiveness, Kornéy broke down in tears and climbed onto the oven to hide his feelings.
He was overcome by a strange feeling of tenderness, elation, humility and meekness towards all men... and this feeling rent his soul with pain and joy.
Chapter 4. The painful reunion with Martha and his son Fédka
The next morning, Kornéy made his way to his old home in Gáyi. The village had changed little, though some new houses had been built. His own brick house showed signs of age and neglect. As he approached, he saw horses being led out by a black-eyed boy who resembled his son Fédka, and realized this must be his grandson.
At the door, he encountered Martha, now an old, withered woman, vastly changed from the young beauty he had once known. When she recognized him, she became frightened and harsh, repeatedly telling him to go away. Their brief exchange was painful and cold.
Martha!... We shall have to die soon... Go... go, in Heaven's name!... I have nothing to say... Go... for Heaven's sake!
However, Kornéy's son Fédka, now a grown man with his father's black eyes, showed kindness to the old beggar, not recognizing him as his father.
The dumb nephew, now a grown man, also showed compassion, giving Kornéy bread and expressing disapproval of Martha's harsh treatment. As Kornéy left his former home, he felt a profound transformation within himself, no longer harboring the anger that had consumed him for seventeen years.
Chapter 5. Kornéys death and Marthas regret
Kornéy returned to the Zinóvyef house, where Agatha welcomed him again. That night, fever overtook him, and by morning he was dying. Agatha cared for him tenderly as he lay on his deathbed. In his final moments, Kornéy asked for forgiveness and requested that Agatha tell her mother that the pilgrim wished to make peace.
Agatha, my time has come. I am going to die. So forgive me, for Christ's sake!... God will forgive you. You have done me no harm.
Meanwhile, Martha had spent the night in anguish, regretting her harsh treatment of the old man. She decided to find him and make peace, planning to bring him home to die with dignity. However, when she arrived at Andréyevo, she found a crowd gathered around the house. Kornéy had already died, and his body lay prepared for burial. Word had spread that the famous Kornéy Vasílyef had died as a poor wanderer in his daughter's house.
Neither to forgive nor to ask forgiveness was any longer possible; and from the stern, beautiful old face of Kornéy she could not tell whether he had forgiven her or not.