Olesya (Kuprin)
Short summary
Volhynian borderland of Polesye, late 19th century. A young gentleman spent six months in a remote village, bored and isolated.
One day while hunting, he lost his way and stumbled upon a witch's hut in the forest. There he met an old woman and her beautiful granddaughter. The girl showed him supernatural abilities, stopping blood flow and making him fall through mental power. Despite initial wariness, they began meeting regularly.
The narrator fell deeply in love with Olesya. She told his fortune with cards, predicting he would cause great shame to a dark-haired woman. Despite her warnings about fate, they became lovers. Their relationship flourished in the forest for a month. When he proposed marriage, she refused, fearing she would ruin his life and believing herself cursed.
Now I don't care any more, I don't! Because I love you, my dear one, my happiness, my own!...Don't be afraid, my darling. I'll never reproach you or be jealous. Just tell me if you love me.
To please him, Olesya overcame her fear and attended church on Trinity Sunday. The village women recognized her, surrounded her, and brutally attacked her, tearing her clothes and attempting to tar her. She escaped and threatened them with revenge. That night a terrible hailstorm destroyed the villagers' crops, and they blamed the witch. When the narrator rushed to warn Olesya of danger, he found the hut empty. She and her grandmother had fled, leaving only a string of cheap red beads as a keepsake.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Chapter 1. Life in Perebrod village; teaching Yarmola to read
A young gentleman spent six months in Perebrod, a remote village in the Volhynian borderland of Polesye. He had come expecting to study local customs and gather material for his writing, but found the peasants obstinately unsociable. His attempts at conversation were met with sullen responses and the old custom of hand-kissing, a remnant of Polish serfdom that revolted him. After exhausting his few books and failing to connect with the local intellectuals, he turned to game-shooting as his sole pastime.
When bad weather made hunting impossible, he began teaching his servant to read and write, though the man proved remarkably dull-witted despite his forest knowledge.
Chapter 2. The story of the witch in the forest
The storm; Yarmola tells of the witch driven from the village
One stormy January evening, as wind raged through the empty rooms of the old mansion, the narrator asked about the origin of such terrible weather. Yarmola explained that either a witch had been born or a wizard was making merry. This led him to reveal that a witch had lived in Perebrod about five years ago, but the young men had driven her away. She had quarreled with everyone, cast evil spells, and when a young woman's baby died after refusing the witch a zloty, the villagers kicked her out beyond the cherry orchards. The witch now lived somewhere near Devil's Nook, a marsh beyond Irinovo Road, with her daughter or granddaughter.
First encounter with Olesya and Manuilikha
Three days later, during a hare hunt, the narrator lost his way in the forest and emerged at a marsh. Across it stood a hut built high on piles, sagging with age. Inside, he found an old woman sitting on the floor, stripping chicken feathers. She matched every detail of a folklore witch: gaunt, hollow cheeks, a long pointed chin, a great hooked nose, sunken toothless mouth, and bulging faded eyes with short red eyelids.
The old woman was unfriendly, refusing him milk and muttering disconnected sentences. When he asked for water, she grudgingly pointed to a bucket. As he prepared to leave, a tall, laughing girl entered carrying three finches in her apron. She stopped abruptly upon seeing him, blushing deeply and frowning resentfully. After some persuasion, she agreed to show him the way to Irinovo Road.
Outside, he admired her unusual beauty: large shining dark eyes, fine eyebrows broken in the middle, olive skin touched with pink, and a wilful curve to her lips. She wore a wide white blouse and moved with easy grace, unlike the frightened local women. When he asked if she feared living alone in the wild, she replied scornfully that they would be better off if people left them alone. She revealed that officials constantly demanded gifts and called her grandmother terrible names. The narrator offered her a silver coin to tell his fortune, and though she initially refused, she finally agreed when he mentioned the old vodka he possessed.
Before he left, she introduced herself as Alyona, called Olesya in those parts. He looked back from a hillock and saw her red skirt still visible on the steps, a bright spot against the dazzling white snow.
Olesyas mysterious powers and growing friendship
The narrator became a frequent visitor to the witch's hut. Olesya received him with reserved dignity, though he could see she was glad of his visits. She walked back with him to Irinovo Road, and their conversations grew longer and more interesting. She asked endless questions about the world beyond the forest, and he was charmed by her clear mind wrapped in unshakeable hereditary superstition. To demonstrate her powers, she cut his wrist with a small dagger, then whispered over the wound until only a red scratch remained. She made him fall repeatedly by walking behind him and imagining a rope in his path. She explained she could give him a scare from a distance by thinking herself into his room and clutching his shoulder.
There is something noble...a sort of inborn, elegant moderation about every movement she makes, every word she speaks...the halo of mystery that surrounded her.
Chapter 6. Spring arrives; deepening attachment to Olesya
Spring came early and suddenly. The snow melted, revealing warm damp earth full of fresh sap. The narrator felt a spring-time sadness, sweet and delicate, full of wistful expectations. Olesya's image never left his mind. He was drawn to her by her noble bearing, her distinctive character, and her mind that was innocent as a child's yet not devoid of arch coquetry. She asked tireless questions about the world, and though he sometimes struggled to explain complex ideas, her keen mind and fresh imagination always triumphed. She told him she would never consent to live in a city, and when he suggested she might follow a husband there, she insisted she wanted no husband. Their only disagreement was over her belief in witchcraft, which she attributed to an everlasting curse on her family.
Chapter 7. Illness and recovery; a tender reunion with Olesya
One day the narrator felt unwell and spent the whole day beside Olesya, growing increasingly ill. Walking home that evening, he began to shiver violently. For six days he shook with terrible Polesye fever, alternately freezing and burning, tormented by bizarre nightmares. His strong constitution, aided by quinine and plantain infusion, finally overcame the illness. Five days later, he was strong enough to walk to the witch's hut. His heart beat in fear as he approached, for he had not seen Olesya for nearly a fortnight and now realized how dear she was to him.
When he entered, Olesya quickly turned a pale face toward him, reflecting in instant succession perplexity, fright, and loving tenderness. They stood silently facing each other, holding hands, gazing happily into each other's eyes. She asked solicitous questions about his illness, regretting she had not known to cure him herself. When he suggested they talk alone, she agreed but asked him to wait until later. As the sun set, she urged him to leave before the damp could bring back his illness, and despite Manuilikha's objections, she walked with him.
Chapter 9. Love confessed and tested
Confession of love; a magical night in the forest
In the forest, he reproached her for her former coldness, which had caused him such pain. She blushed deeply and insisted it had been her own choice, not her grandmother's influence. When he pressed her for reasons, she explained she had been afraid and had tried to get away from fate. He asked if she had laid out the cards for him, and she confirmed she had, revealing a dark prophecy.
Your kindness isn't good, it doesn't come from your heart...You'll love nobody with your heart because your heart is cold and lazy, and you'll cause much sorrow to those who will love you.
A great love falls out for you from a queen of clubs...It'll fall out very badly for that queen of clubs, worse than death. She'll suffer great shame because of you, a long sorrow.
She explained that she could see death in people's faces, and had foreseen the deaths of two men. Despite his protests, she insisted this power was in her blood, passed down through generations. Then she suddenly threw her arms around his neck in a strong embrace, her body quivering against his. She told him not to be afraid, that this was their day and nobody could take it from them. They walked arm in arm through the moonlit forest, overwhelmed by happiness and the eerie stillness. Later, she asked if he would be glad if she went to church, and though he hesitated, he admitted he would be pleased.
A month of happiness; thoughts of marriage
Their love lasted for almost a month of blazing sunsets, dewy mornings fragrant with honey and lily of the valley, and lazy warm June days. Never did boredom or wanderlust stir in his heart. Like a heathen god or young animal, he revelled in light and warmth, in conscious joy of life and tranquil, healthy sensual love. Old Manuilikha had become so peevish that he and Olesya preferred to meet in the forest, where the majestic beauty of green pines adorned their serene love. He discovered daily that Olesya displayed a sensitive delicacy and special innate tact, avoiding the repellent aspects that torture nervous artistic natures.
As his departure approached, he thought more often of marrying Olesya. At first the idea came only occasionally, but as the day drew near he was beset by deep sadness and growing horror of solitude. His determination grew firmer, though he could not picture Olesya in a stylish dress talking with his colleagues' wives. One evening in mid-June, he finally spoke. With affected carelessness, he told her his service was over and his superiors wanted him back in town. She turned pale, her lips trembling, but tried to appear calm. When he proposed marriage, she refused, insisting she would be ashamed of her illiteracy and lack of manners. She revealed she was illegitimate and worried about leaving her grandmother alone. She offered to go with him unmarried instead, asking only for time to think and talk to her grandmother.
The next day was Trinity Sunday. He had to go to the neighbouring town on business and returned between four and five o'clock. The square was teeming with drunken, boisterous people. As he rode through the crowd, he heard a hoarse shout followed by a long, foul sentence and uproarious laughter. A steward from a neighbouring estate was waiting in his room, choking with laughter about some fun after mass.
The man explained that Perebrod girls had caught a witch in the square after mass and given her a shake-up, nearly tarring her before she slipped away. A terrible conviction flashed upon the narrator. He learned that Olesya had overcome her fear and gone to church, arriving when mass was half finished. The women whispered and stared throughout the service. When she left, a bunch of women surrounded her, jeering and swearing. Someone screeched to tar her, and a pail appeared. Olesya flew at one tormentor and knocked her down, then wriggled free and ran down the road, her kerchief gone and dress torn to rags, her naked flesh showing. The crowd hurled stones at her. She stopped fifty feet away and shouted a threat so loudly every word could be heard.
All right! You'll remember this! You'll cry your eyes out yet!...The threat was uttered with such passionate hatred, in such a resolute, prophetic tone, that for an instant the whole crowd seemed to freeze.
The hailstorm; Olesyas flight and final farewell
Without waiting to hear more, he galloped to the forest. He found Olesya lying in bed, her face to the wall. Manuilikha waved her arms at him threateningly, blaming him for talking the girl into going to church. Olesya had returned with her face an awful sight, her blouse in rags, her kerchief gone. She had laughed and cried as if mad, then fallen into a feverish sleep. When she called out weakly, he tiptoed to the bed and took her hot hand. Her face was blazing feverishly, her dark eyes shone with unnatural brightness, her parched lips twitched. Long red scars furrowed her face and neck, with dark bruises on her forehead and under her eyes.
She insisted she would recover and refused to see a doctor. She told him they must leave as soon as she felt better, for the villagers would blame them for any misfortune. When he protested about leaving him, she kissed him and explained they were not destined to be together.
We aren't destined to be together. Remember I laid out the cards for you?...That means fate doesn't want you and me to be happy together. Do you think I'd be afraid of anything if it weren't for that?
She told him a story about a wolf and a hare, explaining that knowing the day of parting would only make it worse. She made him promise he would think of her with a light and joyful heart.
You'll feel unhappy at first after we part, oh, so very unhappy! You'll cry, you won't have any peace. Then it'll pass...And afterwards you'll think of me without sorrow, but with a light and joyful heart.
As he prepared to leave, she whispered her one regret.
Do you know what I'm sorry about? It's that I have no baby of yours. Oh, how happy I'd have been!
That night a terrible rainstorm burst over Perebrod with extraordinary force. Huge hailstones drummed on the roof and smashed a window pane. The next morning Yarmola woke him with alarming news: half the crops had been trampled down by hail, and the whole community was up, drinking and shouting nasty things about him. He urged the narrator to leave quickly. Instead, he rode to the witch's hut. The hut was empty, with the sad mess that marks a hasty departure. Rubbish and rags lay in heaps on the floor.
The hut was empty...that sad mess which always marks a hasty departure...a string of cheap red beads...the only thing left to me as a keepsake of Olesya and her tender, generous love.