Styopa (Bunin)
Short summary
Rural Russia, 1930s. During a thunderstorm, a young merchant named Vasily Alexeyevich Krasilschikov took shelter at a roadside inn. Finding the place seemingly empty, he discovered that only the owner's daughter, Styopa, was there, as her father had gone to town.
Despite her initial fear, Styopa was relieved by Krasilschikov's arrival. When she admitted there was no one better than him, he kissed her and seduced her. Afterward, he stabled his horse in the yard and returned to find Styopa crying from the shock and rapture of what had happened.
In the morning, as Krasilschikov prepared to leave, Styopa woke up distraught.
"And where are you going? How will I get along without you now? What am I to do now?" ... "Vasil Lixeyich... for Christ's sake... for the sake of the King of Heaven Himself, take me in marriage!"
Krasilschikov promised to return in a few days to ask for her hand in marriage. Styopa immediately stopped crying, reminded him she was sixteen, and could marry in six months. Upon returning home, Krasilschikov quickly prepared for a journey and left for Kislovodsk, where his former actress lover was staying.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
A merchant caught in a thunderstorm
On the road to Chern, the young merchant Krasilschikov was caught in a violent thunderstorm and torrential rain. Dressed in a knee-length jacket with the collar raised and a peaked cap, he rode quickly in a racing droshky with his brown pointer dog running alongside the wheel.
In the torrential rain and thunder, feeling the coldness of the water pouring from the peak of his cap and his nose, he was full of the energetic pleasure of rural life.
As he drove through the storm, Krasilschikov recalled the previous summer, which he had spent in Moscow due to a relationship with a well-known actress. He remembered the hot, stifling city, waiting for her in his apartment with furniture under covers, and her breathless excuses when she finally arrived.
Seeking shelter at an empty inn
When the storm began to subside, Krasilschikov spotted a familiar coaching inn ahead. With twenty kilometers still to go to town and his horse lathered with sweat, he decided to wait out the weather. He turned at the crossing point and reined in his horse beside the wooden porch of the inn owned by Pronin, an elderly widower.
Krasilschikov called out but received no response. The windows of the log building were dark. He left his wet jacket on the porch railing and entered the lobby. The door to the living quarters was open, but the rooms were dark and quiet. As he moved through the empty inn, he heard a melodious, half-childish voice from the darkness.
It was Styopa, the owner's daughter, who explained she was alone because the cook had quarreled with her father and left, while her father and the workman had gone to town on business. She had been frightened by the storm and then by Krasilschikov's arrival, thinking it might be robbers.
The seduction of the innkeepers daughter
When Styopa tried to light the lamp, Krasilschikov watched her stretching figure. He suddenly took her by the waist and turned her toward him. Though she was surprised, she did not resist. When he asked if she liked him, she responded with ardent sincerity.
"There's no one on earth better than you," she pronounced quietly and ardently. "Well, you see..." He gave her a long kiss on the lips, and his hands slid lower down.
Despite Styopa's protests about Krasilschikov's horse still being at the porch and her father possibly returning, he seduced her. Afterward, he went out to the yard, moved his horse under an awning, and returned to the hut. Styopa lay curled up on the plank bed, having cried from the shock and suddenness of what had happened.
She lay on the plank bed all coiled up, her head buried in her breast, having cried her fill of hot tears from horror, rapture and the suddenness of what had happened.
Krasilschikov lay beside her, smoking and absently stroking her hair as she fell asleep. He remained awake, thinking about her father with a mixture of guilt and dismissiveness. He knew the old man would immediately understand what had happened, as he was extraordinarily perceptive despite his age.
As dawn approached, Krasilschikov could make out an icon in the corner above the table, showing a holy man with his hand raised in blessing and a dread gaze. Looking at the sleeping girl, he felt she was sweet and pitiful.
False promises in the morning light
When it became fully light in the hut and a rooster began crowing, Krasilschikov prepared to leave. Styopa woke suddenly, disoriented at first, then distraught when she realized he was leaving. She asked how she would see him again, suggesting she could meet him in the woods if she could find a way to leave the house.
Overcome with emotion, Styopa knelt on the bed and begged Krasilschikov to marry her, sobbing that she would be his most devoted servant. She said she would come to him as she was, but knew no one would allow it. Krasilschikov sternly told her to be quiet and promised to return in a few days to speak with her father about marriage.
"Be quiet," Krasilschikov said sternly. "In a few days' time I'll come and see your father and tell him I'm marrying you. Do you hear?" ... "Of course it's true."
Styopa immediately stopped crying and opened her wet, radiant eyes wide, asking if he was telling the truth. When he confirmed it was true, she hurriedly mentioned that she had turned sixteen at Epiphany, implying she was old enough to marry in six months' time.
Betrayal and departure
Upon returning home, Krasilschikov immediately began preparations to leave. By evening, he had departed for the railway in a troika. His destination was not the inn to fulfill his promise to Styopa, but somewhere else entirely.
On returning home, he began preparations at once, and towards evening left for the railway in a troika. Two days later he was already in Kislovodsk.
Just two days after making his false promise to Styopa, Krasilschikov had arrived in Kislovodsk, the resort town where his former actress lover had gone. His pledge to return and marry the innkeeper's daughter had been nothing but a convenient lie to escape an uncomfortable situation, revealing his callous and self-serving nature.