Vengeance (Bunin)
Short summary
Cannes, 1944. A Russian painter noticed a mysterious woman at his pension who dined alone with a gloomy air and disappeared every morning. Curious, he followed her one day to a remote cove where she went to swim.
The woman discovered him watching her swim naked but wasn't angry. She revealed her story: she ran a milliner's studio in Paris and had come to Cannes for a holiday. There she met a charming but dubious Russian émigré who seduced her into a lavish lifestyle. They squandered money at casinos and hotels until they were nearly broke.
One evening at a casino, the man excused himself to wash his hands and never returned, leaving her to pay a bill she couldn't afford.
I'm sitting, feeling that I'm done for. The musicians have gone, the room has emptied, the electric light has come on... all the time I can't get up from my seat: what am I to do, how am I to escape?
She had been obsessed with finding him for revenge, but through talking with the painter, she realized the futility of this desire. The painter suggested they continue meeting at the cove and eventually return to Paris together, to which she agreed.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
A mysterious Russian woman in a pension in Cannes
In a pension in Cannes, where the narrator had arrived in late August to bathe in the sea and paint from life, he noticed a strange woman who drank coffee in the mornings and dined alone with a concentrated, gloomy air. After coffee, she would disappear until evening. The narrator had been living in the pension for about a week and continued to observe her with interest: she had thick black hair with a large plait encircling her head, a strong body in a red dress with black flowers, and a pretty but rather coarse face with a perpetually gloomy expression.
Curious about the woman, the narrator approached Odette, the fifteen-year-old Alsatian waitress who served them at the pension. Despite her nervousness, Odette revealed that the woman was Russian and had been staying at the pension for three weeks. Initially, she had been accompanied by a pensive, nervous man who had suddenly disappeared. This information intrigued the narrator, who wondered where the woman went each morning and whether she was searching for the man who had left her.
Following her to a secluded cove
The next day, the narrator saw the woman leaving through the pension's garden in her red espadrilles, carrying a parasol that matched her dress. Grabbing his cane and boater, he followed her to the station where she boarded a third-class carriage on a train to Toulon. The narrator purchased a ticket to Saint-Raphaël as a precaution and boarded the next compartment. When the woman disembarked at Trayas, he followed her at a distance.
The journey took them along coastal highways, steep paths through pinewoods, and down to the shore. It was nearly midday, hot and still, with the air thick with the scent of conifer needles. Eventually, the woman descended a path to a green cove between red crags. There, she threw her parasol onto the sand, removed her shoes, and began undressing. The narrator lay down on the stony slope above, watching as she removed her dress to reveal only a short pink vest beneath, which she also removed before entering the water.
As the woman swam and then lay face down in the shallow water with the waves lapping against her naked body, the narrator became increasingly disturbed by the sight of her magnificent nakedness. In his agitation, he lit his pipe and inadvertently revealed his presence when she suddenly raised her head and stared up at him questioningly.
Confrontation and the beginning of her story
Standing up awkwardly, the narrator was unsure what to say. The woman spoke first, noting that she had sensed someone following her and had heard from Odette that he had been asking questions about her. She remarked that Russians were excessively curious but still questioned his motives. The narrator explained his professional curiosity as a painter, finding her very paintable, and his intrigue about her daily disappearances and gloomy demeanor.
Surprisingly, the woman invited him to join her after she dressed, saying he had piqued her interest as well. When the narrator refused to turn away while she exited the water, she shrugged indifferently and emerged, displaying her full womanly strength before putting on her vest. They sat together, and she asked for a cigarette. After lighting it, she gazed into the distance and asked ironically if he still found her attractive. The narrator affirmed this but noted her unkind facial expression.
That's because I am, indeed, occupied with a wicked idea... I knew he was a hopeless case, but somehow I loved him. As it turned out, it was simply a scoundrel that I loved.
The tale of betrayal and abandoned revenge
The woman began her story, explaining that she had met a man about a month and a half ago in Monte Carlo. They were both gambling at the casino, winning repeatedly, when he suggested they celebrate together after discovering they were both Russian. They felt an immediate connection and began spending extravagantly, staying in luxurious hotels and dining at expensive roadside bars between Cannes and Nice.
As their money dwindled, the man began disappearing and returning with small amounts of cash. He eventually sold her jewelry and personal items. He was vague about his past, mentioning only St. Petersburg, service in a regiment, the war, revolution, and Constantinople. He claimed to have connections in Paris but was evasive about his current circumstances, assuring her not to worry about their financial situation.
The woman then described the humiliating evening when he abandoned her. They had gone to the casino for tea, and while watching dancers and musicians, he claimed he needed to wash his hands after ordering cigarettes from a chasseur. He never returned, leaving her stranded with insufficient funds to pay the bill. The casino staff eventually let her leave without paying, but the experience was deeply shameful for her.
When the narrator asked why she wanted revenge, the woman explained that she had been living in a kind of delusion, experiencing for the first time a celebration of vice and its pleasures. She wanted revenge for how low she had fallen because of him and for the horror and shame she experienced that evening at the casino. She had been fixated on finding him and confronting him, though she now recognized the futility of this desire.
I'm simply a woman, and, what's more, a very sensitive, lonely, unhappy one, but don't get me wrong – even a chicken has a heart, you know! I've simply been ill all these days since that damned evening.
The woman also shared that she had been married before. Her husband had fought in the Volunteer Army with Denikin and Wrangel, and in Paris had become a taxi driver. However, he began drinking heavily and became a down-and-out. She described their last encounter on Montparnasse, where she saw him standing in the rain, helping people from taxis for tips. Though she could no longer live with him, she still sent him money from her earnings at her milliner's studio in Paris.
I'll paint you as Medusa or Nemesis! ... Is that the goddess of vengeance? ... Yes, and a very angry one. ... She grinned sadly: Nemesis! What sort of Nemesis am I! No, you're a good man...
A new beginning for both characters
The woman expressed gratitude to the narrator, saying it was God who had sent him to her and that she had suddenly come to her senses. She acknowledged that her dream of revenge had been foolish, a realization that came to her while telling her story. The narrator suggested they look around at their beautiful surroundings instead of dwelling on the past.
He proposed that they visit the cove together from now on and eventually leave for Paris together as well. When he asked if he could kiss her hand, she agreed readily. Their conversation marked the beginning of a new relationship, leaving behind thoughts of revenge and past disappointments as they embraced the possibility of a shared future.