The Visitor (Bunin)
Division into chapters is editorial.
An unexpected visitor arrives at the door
A persistent visitor rang the doorbell multiple times at a home where no one seemed to answer. After several attempts, a short, sturdy young woman with a Finnish appearance finally opened the door. She explained that she had been in the kitchen and couldn't hear the bell over the noise of the stove.
The visitor scolded her jokingly, suggesting she might have been entertaining a fireman boyfriend in the kitchen. He was a thin, swarthy man with big teeth, a coarse black beard, and piercing eyes, wearing a grey silk-lined overcoat and a grey hat tilted back on his head.
As they spoke, the man glanced into the drawing room with its red velvet armchairs and a portrait of Beethoven. He asked if she was the new cook and learned her name was Sasha. When he inquired about the master and mistress of the house, she informed him that the master was at the newspaper and the mistress had gone to a Sunday school on Vasilyevsky Island.
"And who are you?" "How do you mean?" "The new cook?" "Yes, sir..." "Fekla? Fedosya?" "No, sir... Sasha." "And the master and mistress aren't at home, then?"
A shocking assault on the maid
Adam Adamych expressed disappointment at missing the homeowners but said he would return the following day. He instructed Sasha to tell them that "a frightening dark man" named Adam Adamych had visited. After making her repeat his name, he suddenly threw his coat onto a stand beside a chest and commanded her to come closer.
When Sasha questioned why, he simply replied, "You'll see..." In a swift motion, with his hat still on the back of his head, he pushed her onto the chest and lifted her skirt, exposing her red woollen stockings and plump knees.
And in one moment, with his hat on the back of his head, he toppled her onto the chest and threw the hem of her skirt up from her red woollen stockings and plump knees the colour of beetroot.
Sasha threatened to scream, but Adam Adamych warned he would strangle her if she did. When she pleaded that she was a virgin, he dismissed her concern saying, "That's no matter. Well, here we go!" A minute later, he was gone, leaving the violated young woman behind.
The maids emotional aftermath
After Adam Adamych's departure, Sasha stood by the stove and cried. Her tears were not of distress but of rapture. Her quiet crying soon turned to loud sobbing that continued until lunchtime, when someone finally rang for her.
Standing by the stove, she cried quietly in rapture, then began sobbing, and ever louder, and she sobbed for a long time until she got the hiccups, right up until lunch, until someone rang for her.
Despite the violent nature of the encounter, Sasha's emotional response revealed a complex mixture of feelings. Her tears continued until they gave her hiccups, showing the profound impact the brief interaction with Adam Adamych had on her.
The mistress returns home
The mistress of the house was the first to return home. She was a young, energetic woman who wore a gold pince-nez and carried herself with confidence and quickness.
Upon entering, she immediately asked if anyone had called during her absence. Sasha informed her that Adam Adamych had visited and said he would return the following day. The mistress noticed Sasha's tear-stained face and inquired about it. Sasha quickly attributed her reddened eyes to cutting onions, concealing the true cause of her emotional state.
The maids evening reflections and hopes
That night, the kitchen gleamed with cleanliness. Paper scallops decorated the edges of shelves, and the copper saucepans had been scrubbed to a bright red shine. A lamp burned on the table, and the room was still warm from the stove that had not yet cooled. Pleasant aromas filled the air—the remains of food in a sauce with bay leaves and the comforting smell of everyday domestic life.
At night in the kitchen... it was very warm from the stove... there was a pleasant smell of the remains of the food in a sauce with bay leaves, and of nice everyday life.
Behind her partition, Sasha had fallen asleep without undressing, having forgotten to extinguish the lamp. She slept with the sweet hope that Adam Adamych would return the next day as promised. She longed to see his frightening eyes again and secretly wished that the master and mistress would once more be absent when he came.
She was fast asleep behind her partition... in the sweet hope that Adam Adamych would come again tomorrow, that she would see his frightening eyes and that, God willing, the master and mistress would once more not be at home.
The truth about Adam Adamych revealed
The following morning, Adam Adamych did not return as he had promised. Sasha's hopes were dashed as the day passed without any sign of the visitor who had so profoundly affected her.
At dinner that evening, the master casually mentioned to his wife that Adam had left for Moscow. He had learned this information from Blagosvetlov and surmised that Adam must have stopped by their home the previous day to say goodbye before his departure.
"Do you know, Adam has left for Moscow. Blagosvetlov told me. He must have popped in yesterday to say goodbye."
This revelation brought closure to the brief but intense encounter between Adam Adamych and Sasha. While the master and mistress remained unaware of what had transpired in their home, the story concluded with the date of its completion: October 3rd, 1940.