Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich — central character, young officer. Beautiful in appearance, smart, has a contradictory character, arrogant.
Bela- a beautiful Circassian woman, Pechorin’s beloved.
Mary(Princess Ligovskaya) is a beautiful, educated and proud girl. Pechorin does everything possible to make her fall in love with him.
Maxim Maksimych- staff captain, kind person, friend of Pechorin.
Grushnitsky- cadet, rival of Pechorin. A proud and boastful young man.
Faith- a married lady, Pechorin’s beloved. A reminder of his past life in St. Petersburg.
Bela
A young officer is heading to the Caucasus. During his trip, he meets Maxim Maksimych. The staff captain made a good impression on the narrator. On the way, they are caught in a snowstorm, during which they remember unusual incidents from their lives. Maxim Maksimych decides to tell the story about Bel.
The staff captain talks about the young officer who was under his command, Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich. He was good-looking, smart, but with a contradictory character: he could complain about trifles, then he became fearless while racing horses. Soon the staff captain noticed that Pechorin was bored in the wilderness in which they were located. Being a kind man, he invites the young officer to unwind and go with him to a Circassian wedding.
At the holiday, Gregory liked the prince's youngest daughter, Bela. Maxim Maksimych, going out into the street, accidentally overheard a conversation between Kazbich, a cunning Circassian, and Azamat, Bela’s brother. The young man offers to give Kazbich his sister for his beautiful horse. Cherkessu refused, although he liked Bela. The staff captain talks about this conversation.
- Later, Pechorin offered to help Azamat get Karagez (horse) if he would steal Bela for him.
- The brother brought his sister, and the officer helps the young man steal the horse. Kazbich promised to take revenge. Azamat leaves the fortress.
- Meanwhile, Bela lives with Pechorin. The young man treats the girl very kindly and tries to please her.
- Over time, the Circassian woman falls in love with him, but having achieved her favor, Pechorin loses interest in the girl.
Maxim Maksimych became attached to Bela as to his daughter. One day he and Pechorin leave the fortress. Bela is kidnapped by Kazbich, the officers manage to notice him and give chase. The Circassian inflicts a mortal wound with a dagger and leaves the girl. Bela was able to live two more days. Delirious, she kept calling Pechorin. After the girl's death, her friends no longer talked about her. After some time, Grigory leaves for Georgia and the staff captain does not receive news from him.
Maxim Maksimych
Unexpectedly, the narrator meets the staff captain again. They see a fashionable stroller and find out that its owner is Pechorin. Maxim Maksimych was glad that he could see his old friend. But the young man dined with the general and promised to be there later.
The staff captain waited for him all day, but the officer never appeared. Maxim Maksimych went on business in the morning, but asked to send for him if Pechorin arrived. Grigory Alexandrovich arrives and the narrator sees that the description of the staff captain coincides with the person he saw. What struck him most was the eyes, which remained serious even when he smiled.
Maxim Maksimych wanted to talk, to hug his friend. But Pechorin was cold and extended his hand to shake. This behavior offended the staff captain. The officer left, and Maxim Maksimych handed over personal diary to the narrator who became interested in Pechorin's personality.
Pechorin's magazine "Taman"
Grigory Alexandrovich talks about one thing interesting case which happened to him in Taman. Staying in the house of an old woman, he becomes suspicious of a blind boy who has some kind of secret. He decides to follow the boy and sees that he is meeting with beautiful girl, whom the officer nicknamed “Ondine.” They waited for Yanko, who soon appeared with some things.
In the morning, Pechorin tried to find out the truth from the boy, but he pretended that he did not understand the guest. The officer tried to find out the truth from Ondine, who began to flirt with him. The young man said he knew what they were doing. The girl makes an appointment with Pechorin at night. The officer told the Cossack accompanying him to be on his guard.
The date almost killed Pechorin. The girl realized that the officer had guessed that they were smugglers. But he managed to get over her and throw her into the water. Ondine swam well and therefore escaped. The girl decides to leave with Yanko. An officer discovers his belongings are missing, stolen by a blind young man.
This incident amused Pechorin. The only thing that saddened him was that he could drown. The next morning, Grigory Alexandrovich leaves Taman.
Princess Mary
Pechorin talks about the time he spent in Kislovodsk. Society seemed boring to him, and he wanted to find entertainment. By chance he meets his acquaintance, the cadet, the braggart Grushnitsky, who talks about his love for Princess Ligovskaya. Grigory Alexandrovich is amused by the cadet’s feelings. The young man deliberately begins to anger the young princess.
Pechorin makes friends with Doctor Werner, an intelligent and insightful man. Meanwhile, a distant relative of Ligovskaya, Vera, arrives in Kislovodsk. This married lady was once Pechorin's lover. A meeting with her shows the hero from the other side as a person capable of feeling and experiencing.
Grushnitsky reports that Pechorin is not allowed to visit the Ligovskys. The young man argued with the cadet that he could achieve the favor of the Ligovskys. Since then, Grigory Pechorin begins to treat Mary courteously and takes care of her, which makes her friendly. Vera tells Pechorin that she is sick and asks to spare her reputation.
The main character manages to make the princess fall in love with him, but he himself does not know why he needs this. Vera is worried about this affair, and she makes Pechorin promise that he will not marry Mary and promises to arrange a night date for him. Grushnitsky begins to be seriously jealous of the princess.
Princess Mary confesses her love to Pechorin, but in response he coldly says that he does not feel mutual feelings. His answer caused Ligovskaya nervous breakdown. During a night meeting between Grigory and Vera, Grushnitsky sees him. The cadet decided that the rival had secretly met with the princess. He challenges Pechorin to a duel.
Before the duel, Gregory reflected on his life and realized that he had brought little good things to people. During the duel, Werner tried to reconcile the rivals, but nothing worked. Grushnitsky’s comrades wanted to conduct the duel dishonestly, but their plan was unraveled and the cadet died in the duel. Vera, having learned about the duel, in confusion of feelings, confesses everything to her husband. The husband decided to leave immediately. Pechorin does not have time to catch up with Vera and say goodbye to her.
Rumors appeared in society about Gregory's participation in the duel. He was sent to a new duty station. The young man came to say goodbye to the Ligovskys. Mary's mother agrees to their marriage, but Pechorin refuses. During a conversation in private, he greatly hurts the girl’s pride, and this makes him feel unpleasant. He goes to the fortress where Maxim Maksimych serves.
Fatalist
The main character ended up in the Cossack village. One evening there was a dispute about whether a person can choose his own destiny or is everything already predetermined? Vulich, who was a fatalist (believed in fate), stepped forward and offered a bet: he would shoot himself in the temple and if he remained alive, then he was right. No one agreed to these conditions except Pechorin.
Gregory said that Vulich would die at night. The Serb shot in the temple, but the pistol misfired. When he fired the second shot, it turned out to be a live shot. But Pechorin was sure that Vulich would die at night. The Serb left the meeting. On the way home, Gregory saw a pig killed with a saber. He was told that it was done by a Cossack who loved to drink.
In the morning, the officers tell Pechorin that at night Vulich was hacked to death by that same Cossack. This news made the young man feel uneasy, but he still decides to try his luck and goes to help catch this Cossack. But, having sobered up and realized what he had done, he locked himself in the hut and threatened to kill anyone who tried to enter. Pechorin, risking his life, climbed through the window and helped capture the Cossack. But even after this he is in no hurry to become a fatalist.
Pechorin tells Maxim Maksimych about this incident. The kind staff captain says that pistols often misfire, it’s a pity for Vulich, but apparently this is what he was destined to do. This ended the conversation between him and Pechorin.
BELA
1830s. The conquest of the Caucasus, which saw much more “stormy days” under Alexei Petrovich Ermolov, is nearing completion. “Alien forces,” of course, weigh on the “edge of holy freedom,” and he, naturally, is indignant, but not so much as to block the Georgian Military Road. This is where the author, an officer of the Russian colonial troops, meets a veteran Caucasian War Staff Captain Maxim Maksimych. Vladikavkaz, where our army men are heading, is not so far away, but ice and a sudden snowstorm force them to stop twice for the night. While drinking tea from a cast-iron teapot, Maxim Maksimych tells an inquisitive fellow traveler, like all people who write and record, a real incident from his life.
Now the fifty-year-old staff captain is listed as something like a quartermaster, but five years ago he was still a combat officer - the commandant of a guard fortress and stood with his company in newly pacified Chechnya. Of course, anything happens - “every day there is danger” (“the people are wild all around”) - but in general, with the pacified “savages” the peacemakers live like neighbors, until Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, a brilliant guardsman, transferred to the “boring” fortress, appears into the army and half-exiled to the Caucasus for some scandalous secular offense. Having served under Maxim Maksimych for about a year, the twenty-five-year-old ensign, so thin and white in appearance, manages to set his sights on the pretty daughter of the local “peaceful” prince, with the help of Bela’s younger brother, Azamat, to kidnap her from her father’s house, tame her, and make her fall in love with him. to passion, and after four months to realize: the love of a savage is nothing better than love noble lady. Maxim Maksimych is so simple, but he understands: the romantic enterprise started by Pechorin (out of boredom!) will not end well. It really does end badly: the redistribution of stolen goods. The fact is that Pechorin pays Azamat not with his own gold, but with someone else’s - priceless - horse, the only asset of the daredevil Kazbich. Kazbich, in revenge, kidnaps Bela and, realizing that he cannot escape the chase, stabs her to death.
MAXIM MAKSIMYCH
The “story” told by the staff captain would have remained a travel episode in the “Notes on Georgia”, on which the author is working, if not for a road surprise: having stopped in Vladikavkaz, he becomes an eyewitness to the unexpected meeting of Maxim Maksimych with Pechorin, who has retired and is heading to Persia.
Having observed the former subordinate of the staff captain, the author, a remarkable physiognomist, convinced that a person’s character can be judged by facial features, comes to the conclusion: Pechorin is a typical face, perhaps even a portrait of a hero of the time, life itself made up of the vices of a barren generation. In short: it looks like ultra-modern, psychological novel, no less curious than “the history of an entire people.” In addition, he receives a unique document at his full disposal. Having become angry with Grigory Alexandrovich, Maxim Maksimych rashly hands over to his fellow traveler the “Pechorin papers” - a diary that he had forgotten in the fortress during his hasty departure beyond the ridge to Georgia. Extracts from these papers are the central part of “A Hero of Our Time” (“Pechorin’s Journal”).
TAMAN
The first chapter of this novel in the novel - the adventure short story "Taman" - confirms: the staff captain, with all his innocence, correctly sensed the character of the destroyer Bela: Pechorin is an adventure hunter, one of those senselessly effective natures who are ready to sacrifice their lives a hundred times, only to get the key to the riddle that intrigued their restless mind. Judge for yourself: three days on the road, arrives in Taman late at night, finds it difficult to get a billet - the orderly snores, and the master has no time for sleep. The hunting instinct and devilish intuition whisper: the blind boy who let him go “to the Vatera” is not as blind as they say, and the Vatera - even though it is a lopsided mud hut - does not look like a family hut.
The blind man really behaves strangely for a blind person: he goes down to the sea along a steep slope with a “sure step”, and even drags some kind of bundle. Pechorin sneaks behind him and, hiding behind a coastal cliff, continues observation. A female figure is visible in the fog. After listening, he guesses: two people on the shore are waiting for a certain Yanko, whose boat must sneak past the patrol ships unnoticed. The girl in white is worried - there is a strong storm at sea - but the brave oarsman lands safely. Having shouldered the brought bales, the trio leaves.
The riddle, which seemed complicated to Pechorin, is resolved easily: Yanko brings contraband goods (ribbons, beads and brocade) from overseas, and the girl and the blind man help hide and sell it. Out of frustration, Pechorin takes a rash step: point blank, in front of the old housewife, he asks the boy where he goes at night. Frightened that the guest will “report” to the military commandant, Yanko’s girlfriend (Pechorin privately calls her an undine - a water maiden, a mermaid) decides to get rid of the overly curious witness. Noticing that she has caught the eye of a passing gentleman, the little mermaid offers him a nighttime, tête-à-tête, boat ride on the choppy sea. Pechorin, who cannot swim, hesitates, but retreating in the face of danger is not in his rules.
As soon as the boat sails a sufficient distance, the girl, having lulled the gentleman’s vigilance with a fiery embrace, deftly throws his pistol overboard. A fight ensues. The little boat is about to capsize. Pechorin is stronger, but the maiden of the sea is flexible, like a wild cat; one more cat throw - and our superman will follow his pistol into the oncoming wave. But still, the undine ends up overboard. Pechorin somehow rows up to the shore and sees that the little mermaid is already there. Yanko appears, dressed for camp, and then blind. The smugglers, confident that now, after the unsuccessful attempt, the gentleman officer will probably report to the authorities, inform the boy that they are leaving Taman for good. He tearfully asks to take him too, but Yanko rudely refuses: “What do I need you for!” Pechorin becomes sad, he still feels sorry for the “poor wretched one.” Alas, not for long. Having discovered that the poor blind man had robbed him, having accurately chosen the most valuable things (a box with money, a unique dagger, etc.), he calls the thief “the damned blind man.”
PRINCESS MARY
We learn about what happened to Pechorin after leaving Taman from the story “Princess Mary” (the second fragment of “Pechorin’s Journal”). On a punitive expedition against the Black Sea mountaineers, he casually meets the cadet Grushnitsky, a provincial youth who joined the military service for romantic reasons: he spends the winter in S. (Stavropol), where he briefly meets Dr. Werner, a smart guy and a skeptic. And in May, Pechorin, Werner, and Grushnitsky, wounded in the leg and awarded the St. George Cross for bravery, were already in Pyatigorsk. Pyatigorsk, like neighboring Kislovodsk, is famous for its healing waters, May is the beginning of the season, and that’s it “ water society" - assembled. The society is mainly male, officer-based - after all, and there is war all around, ladies (and especially not old and pretty ones) - no matter what. The most interesting of the “resort girls,” according to the general verdict, is Princess Mary, only daughter rich Moscow lady. Princess Ligovskaya is an Anglomaniac, so her Mary knows English and reads Byron in the original. Despite her learning, Mary is spontaneous and democratic in Moscow style. Instantly noticing that the wound prevents Grushnitsky from bending over, she picks up the glass of sour, medicinal water that the cadet dropped. Pechorin catches himself thinking that he envies Grushnitsky. And not because he liked the Moscow young lady so much - although, as a connoisseur, he fully appreciated her unusual appearance and stylish manner of dressing. But because he believes: all the best in this world should belong to him. In short, out of nothing to do, he begins a campaign, the goal of which is to win Mary’s heart and thereby hurt the pride of the arrogant and narcissistic gentleman of St. George
Both of these things work out quite well. The scene at the “sour” spring is dated May 11, and eleven days later in the Kislovodsk “restaurant” at a public ball he is already dancing the waltz that is becoming fashionable with Ligovskaya Jr. Taking advantage of the freedom of resort morals, the dragoon captain, tipsy and vulgar, tries to invite the princess to a mazurka. Mary is shocked, Pechorin deftly repels the lout and receives it from his grateful mother - of course! saved my daughter from fainting at the ball! - an invitation to visit her house is easy. Meanwhile, circumstances are becoming more complicated. A distant relative of the princess comes to the waters, in whom Pechorin recognizes “his Vera,” the woman whom he once truly loved. Vera still loves her unfaithful lover, but she is married, and her husband, a rich old man, is as persistent as a shadow: the princess's living room is the only place where they can see each other without arousing suspicion. For lack of friends, Mary shares her heart's secrets with her cousin (who had the foresight to rent a neighboring house with a common dense garden); Vera passes them on to Pechorin - “she’s in love with you, poor thing,” - he pretends that this doesn’t bother him at all. But women's experience tells Vera: her dear friend is not entirely indifferent to the charm of the lovely Muscovite. Jealous, she makes Grigory Alexandrovich promise that he will not marry Mary. And as a reward for the sacrifice, he promises a faithful (night, alone, in his boudoir) date. Impatient lovers are lucky: a famous magician and magician comes to Kislovodsk, where the “water society” has moved for the next round of medical procedures. The whole city, with the exception of Mary and Vera, of course, is there. Even the princess, despite her daughter’s illness, takes a ticket. Pechorin rides along with everyone, but without waiting for the end, he disappears “in English.” Grushnitsky and his dragoon friend pursue him and, noticing that Pechorin is hiding in the Ligovsky garden, set up an ambush (not knowing anything about Vera, they imagine that the scoundrel is secretly meeting with the princess). True, they fail to catch the womanizer red-handed, but they make a fair amount of noise - stop the thief, they say!
A Cossack detachment is urgently called to Kislovodsk to search for robbers, that is, Circassians. But this version is for the common people. The male part of the “water society” savors with pleasure the insidious slander against the princess spread by Grushnitsky and his partner. Pechorin, who finds himself in a false position, has no choice but to challenge the slanderer to a duel. Grushnitsky, on the advice of his second (the same drunken dragoon), suggests shooting “at six steps.” And in order to protect himself (it is almost impossible to miss at six steps, especially for a professional military man), he allows the dragoon to leave the enemy’s pistol unloaded. Werner, who by pure chance found out about the dishonest conspiracy, is horrified. However, Pechorin calmly - and strictly according to the rules of the dueling code - thwarts the fraudulent plan. Grushnitsky shoots first, by lot, but he is so excited that the “sure” bullet only slightly hits his lucky opponent. Before making a return - fatal - shot, Pechorin suggests former friend world He, in an almost insane state, flatly refuses: “Shoot! I despise myself, but I hate you! If you don’t kill me, I’ll stab you from around the corner!”
The death of the princess's unlucky admirer does not relieve the tension within the love quadrangle. Vera, having heard about the duel at six steps, ceases to control herself, her husband guesses about the true state of affairs and orders her to urgently lay the stroller. After reading her farewell note, Pechorin jumps on his Circassian. The thought of parting forever terrifies him: only now does he realize that Vera is dearer to him than anything in the world. But the horse cannot withstand the mad race - the senseless race for lost, ruined happiness. Pechorin returns on foot to Kislovodsk, where very unpleasant news awaits him: the authorities do not believe that Grushnitsky’s death is the work of the Circassians, and, just in case, decides to send the surviving “combatant” to hell. Before leaving, Pechorin comes to the Ligovskys to say goodbye. The princess, forgetting about decency, offers him her daughter's hand. He asks permission to talk to Mary alone and, remembering the oath given to Vera - “You will not marry Mary?!”, he announces to the poor girl that he was following her out of boredom in order to laugh. Of course, his feelings for Mary do not fit into this vulgar formula of dislike, suitable only for petty-bourgeois stories. But he is a player, and the most important thing for a player is to keep a good face when bad game. And with this - alas! - nothing can be done! Style is a person, and our hero’s lifestyle is such that he, seemingly unwillingly, destroys all living things, no matter where this living thing is found - in a mountain hut, in a wretched mud hut or in a rich noble nest.
FATALIST
Pechorin inevitably appears as an executioner in the action-packed short story “Fatalist” (the final chapter of the novel). A philosophical debate ensues in an officer's card company gathered in the apartment of the head of the front-line garrison. Some consider the Muslim belief - “as if a person’s destiny is written in heaven” - to be sheer nonsense, others, on the contrary, are convinced: everyone is destined from above. fatal moment. Lieutenant Vulich, a Serb by birth, but a fatalist by disposition of mind, invites the disputants to take part in a mystical experiment. They say that if the hour of his death has not yet struck, then providence will not allow the pistol, which he, Vulich, publicly puts the muzzle to his forehead, to fire. Who, gentlemen, would like to pay N number of chervonets for a rare spectacle? Of course, no one wants it. Except for Pechorin. This one not only turns out the entire contents of his wallet onto the gaming table, but also says to Vulich - out loud, looking into his eyes: “You will die today!” The first “round” of the dangerous bet is won by the Serb: the pistol actually misfires, although it is perfectly serviceable, and with the next shot the lieutenant pierces through the owner’s cap hanging on the wall. But Pechorin, watching how the fatalist puts his gold coins into his pocket, insists: on Vulich’s face there is a sign near death. Vulich, at first embarrassed and then flared up, leaves. One. Without waiting for his delayed comrades. And he dies before reaching the house: he is cut with a saber - from shoulder to waist - by a drunken Cossack. Now even those who did not believe in predestination believed. It never occurs to anyone to imagine how the fate of the unfortunate lieutenant would have unfolded if blind chance and wanderlust had not brought Grigory Pechorin from a boring fortress, from under the supervision of Maxim Maksimych, to a front-line Cossack village. Well, the gentlemen officers would make some noise, the gloomy Serb would frighten them, and they would return to the cards thrown under the table, to Stoss and whist, and sit until dawn - and then, you see, the drunken stanitsa would sober up. Even Maxim Maksimych, having listened to Pechorin’s story about the terrible death of poor Vulich, although he tried to do without metaphysics (they say, these Asian triggers often misfire), but ended up agreeing with the general opinion: “Apparently, it was written in his family.” Only Pechorin remains with his own special opinion, although he does not express it out loud: which of you, gentlemen, probably knows whether he is convinced of something or not? Come on, think about it - how often does each of you mistake a deception of feelings or a lapse of reason for a belief?
And really - who? After all, Grigory Alexandrovich was convinced that his destiny was destined to be destroyed by an evil wife. And he died on the road, returning from Persia, under circumstances that remained unclear (at the author’s request).
M.Yu. Lermontov worked on the novel “A Hero of Our Time” from 1838 to 1840. Readers read with particular interest the first parts of the novel, which were published in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. Lermontov saw the enormous popularity of these works and decided to combine them into one big novel.
Heroes of the work
Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich - main character Romana, an officer of the Russian Imperial Army, a man too exalted, handsome, smart, but quite selfish.
Mary (Princess Ligovskaya) - a noble girl, for whose sake Pechorin made every effort to make her fall in love with him. Mary is generous, smart, arrogant.
Bela - daughter of a Circassian prince. She was treacherously kidnapped by her own brother Azamat and over time becomes Pechorin's lover. The girl is frank, smart, beautiful and pure. Kazbich, who was in love with her, killed the girl with a dagger.
Maxim Maksimych - officer tsarist army. An honest and valiant man, good friend Pechorina.
Azamat — Circassian prince, a hot-tempered and greedy guy, Bela's brother.
Grushnitsky - a young cadet, an ambitious and proud man. He was killed by Pechorin in a duel.
Kazbich - a young Circassian who loved Bela, but decided to kill the girl.
Werner - an intelligent and educated doctor, an acquaintance of Pechorin.
Faith - ex-lover Grigory Alexandrovich.
Vulich — an officer, a passionate and young man, an acquaintance of Pechorin.
Narrator - I accidentally met Maxim Maksimovich and wrote down in detail the entire story about Pechorin.
Very short summary
The novel “Hero of Our Time” tells about Pechorin, smart, selfish and wealthy young man. The man was too cold towards all people, he had no real friends, relatives, relatives or lover.
Grigory Pechorin broke the hearts of other people with his behavior and attitude. The hero's difficult fate turns his life into torture, in which he cannot find meaning. Pechorin's inner self harms not only the man himself, but also everyone around him.
The contents of Lermontov's novel A Hero of Our Time, briefly by chapter
1. Bela
The story in this chapter is told on behalf of the author; on the way from Tiflis to Stavropol he meets Maxim Maksimych. In this story the reader learns a lot useful information about the hero himself - Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. Maxim Maksimych, together with Grigory Pechorin, served for only a year, which was filled with many events.
One day, Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych are invited to a wedding to a prince who was friends with the staff captain (Maksimych). Thanks to this wedding, the young officer meets the charming Bela, youngest daughter prince
Maxim Maksimych accidentally overhears a conversation between Kazbich and the son of Prince Azamat. The second offers the guest to ransom his horse for a lot of money or even kidnap his sister, but Kazbich does not accept the offer of the prince’s son.
The staff captain tells everything he heard to Pechorin, and he himself offers Azamat to kidnap Bela in exchange for the horse Kazbich. Grigory and Azamat waited until the old prince left, and together they took Bela away. Pechorin fulfilled his promise and helps the prince’s son steal the horse. Kazbich is in sadness at this time.
Grigory tries to please the girl, so he gives her expensive gifts, behaves very affectionately and even specially studies the language of the highlanders so that he does not have problems communicating with the girl. At first, Bela avoids the young officer and misses home very much. Pechorin also hires a local woman who helps the young girl learn Russian.
Maxim Maksimych was even able to see how Pechorin tried to cheer Bela up; he told her about his love, but she did not reciprocate. One day Pechorin comes to Bela to say goodbye. The young officer decided to seek death in battle because she did not want to love him. This confession touched Bela very much, so she threw herself on the man’s neck with tears.
The girl still wasn't happy. After a while, Pechorin gets tired of her, he often goes hunting and pays less and less attention to Bela.
Kazbich decides to avenge his horse. First, he kills Bela’s father, believing that he allowed Azamat to commit such an act. Then Kazbich takes Bela away, Pechorin almost caught up with Kazbich, and was even able to wound his horse. The vengeful Kazbich realizes that he will not be able to escape the pursuit, he inflicts a mortal wound on Bela.
The girl died two days later. Pechorin experiences this event, but outwardly seems quite calm.
2. Maxim Maksimych
After some time, the narrator of the novel and Maxim Maksimych meet again, now in Vladikavkaz. Pechorin behaves very coldly and closed with Maxim Maksimych, he rather quickly says goodbye to him and leaves for Persia. Such isolation and coldness offended Maxim Maksimych, for this reason he decides to give Pechorin’s diaries to the narrator of the novel in order to get rid of them.
"Pechorin's Journal"
Preface to "Pechorin's Journal"
After some time, the narrator learns that Grigory Pechorin died on the road from Persia to Russia. The storyteller decides to publish his interesting diaries - “Pechorin's Journal”. These notes consist of three chapters: “Taman”, “Princess Mary” and “Fatalist”.
3. Taman
Pechorin comes to Taman for work. A man stays in poor people's quarters. A blind boy and an “undine” girl live in the house; later it turns out that they are smugglers. At night, they unload a boat with goods, which is provided to them by their accomplice Janko.
Pechorin tells the girl that he knows everything. An attractive girl lures a man on a date and tries to drown him. Pechorin manages to escape, and the girl and Yanko swim away to another place so as not to be caught. The blind boy was on the shore at that time and crying; that same night Pechorin was robbed and he assumed that it was that boy who did it. The man decides not to talk about this matter and leaves Taman.
4. Princess Mary
In this part, the character of the main character is fully revealed. Pechorin arrives in Pyatigorsk and meets Grushnitsky, who is recovering from an injury. Grushnitsky fell in love with Princess Mary, who came with her mother to the waters. But Mary is not yet going to establish a strong relationship with the cadet.
Pechorin became friends with Dr. Werner, they often communicate and he finds out that the princess and princess were interested in Pechorin and Grushnitsky.
At the ball, Pechorin saves Mary from a drunken man, the princess learns about this act and invites Gregory to her home. But Pechorin’s dismissive attitude angers the princess and the cadet’s courtship bores her.
After some time, Grushnitsky was promoted to officer, and he was very happy. Vera, meanwhile, experiences a feeling of Pechorin’s jealousy towards the princess.
Grushnitsky appears at the ball in a new officer's uniform; he expected everyone to be surprised, but everything happened quite the opposite. Grushnitsky ceased to be interesting because he turned out to be one of many officers on vacation. The man is offended and blames Pechorin for everything.
Pechorin overhears Grushnitsky's conversation with his comrades and learns that they are going to teach Grigory a lesson - to scare him with a challenge to a duel. However, pistols must not be loaded.
At this time, the princess reveals her deep feelings to Pechorin, but Grigory claims that he does not love the girl and thereby hurts her heart.
Pechorin's secret relationship with Vera continues, she even invites Gregory to her home when her husband is away. Returning from Vera, Pechorin is practically caught by the guards and Grushnitsky. The next day, Grushnitsky, in front of all the people, accuses Pechorin of being with Mary at night. From such words, Gregory challenges the offender to a duel, and asks the faithful Doctor Werner to be a second. Doc learns that Grushnitsky's friends decided to load only his pistol.
Until the duel begins, Pechorin insists that the duel take place on the edge of a cliff. In this place, even a minor injury can become fatal. Grushnitsky and Pechorin cast lots, which shows that the cadet must shoot first. Grushnitsky holds a loaded pistol in his hands against Grigory’s “blank” weapon and must do difficult choice- shoot and kill Pechorin or abandon the duel. The cadet makes his choice and shoots Pechorin in the leg. Grigory once again invites Grushnitsky to apologize for the slander and abandon the fight. At this moment, Grushnitsky shows everyone that Pechorin’s pistol is not loaded and asks for a cartridge. Pechorin kills Grushnitsky with an accurate shot.
Returning home, Grigory finds a note from Vera, who says that her husband found out everything and they left the city. The lover hurries to return the girl, but only drives the horse.
Pechorin comes to Mary to say goodbye and explains to the princess that everything was a joke. He laughed at her, and there was nothing serious; the man deserves only the girl’s contempt. Mary says that she hates Pechorin and kicks him out of the house.
5. Fatalist
The most intense part of the novel, crowded interesting events. Pechorin says that he lived in Cossack village, where the infantry battalion was located. There in the evening the officers sat and talked in different topics. One day the conversation turned to human destiny. A passionate gambler, Lieutenant Vulich, said that the fate of a person has already been determined. Pechorin offers a bet to the lieutenant and claims that there is no such thing as predestination. Vulich accepts the bet. He takes the Circassian pistol from the wall, and Grigory says the following phrase: “You will die today.” Despite this terrible prophecy, Vulich does not refuse the bet; the player asks Gregory to throw a card into the air, and he puts a gun to his forehead. When the card touched the table, Vulich pulls the trigger and suddenly - it misfires!
Everyone who was nearby decides that the gun was not loaded, but Vulich shoots at the cap that was hanging on a nail and pierces it, so he was able to win the bet.
On the way home, Pechorin thinks for a long time about what happened. Suddenly he notices a pig killed with a saber in the darkness. The Cossacks come up to him and say that they know who did it. After some time, it turns out that a drunken Cossack killed Vulich with a saber. The killer sits in an empty house, and many people have gathered around him, but no one dares to go inside.
Pechorin, like Vulich, decides to enter and try his own fate. At his request, the esaul distracts the drunken Cossack by communicating, and three other Cossacks stand on the porch and are ready to knock down the door at a signal. Gregory tears off the shutter, he breaks out the window and jumps into the house. The Cossack shoots at Pechorin, but only tears off the epaulette from his uniform. The killer is unable to find a checker on the floor and the rest of the Cossacks, on command, knock down the door and tie up the villain.
Grigory tells with particular interest this story Maxim Maksimych and wants to know his opinion. He says that Circassian pistols misfire quite often. And the fact that Vulich met his killer at night, apparently, was his fate.
In the chapter “Bela,” the narrator-officer talks about how, on the way from Tiflis, he met staff captain Maxim Maksimych. Because of a snowstorm, they stop for a forced overnight stay in a hut, the captain tells his fellow traveler about Pechorin. Grigory Pechorin was then twenty-five years old, and the staff captain was the commandant of the guard fortress. Pechorin, according to Maxim Maksimych, was a nice fellow, although strange, he did not take care of himself. They lived on friendly terms for about a year, during which Pechorin caused trouble. Not far from their fortress lived a prince. His son Azamat often came to them, they spoiled him, but the boy was too greedy for money. One day the prince invited them to a wedding eldest daughter , and there Pechorin’s youngest daughter, Bela, sang a compliment. She was pretty, and Pechorin and the gloomy Kazbich, an acquaintance of the staff captain with the appearance of a robber, admired her. This time he was wearing chain mail under a beshmet. Maxim Maksimych thought that he was planning something. Coming out of the stuffiness into the street, he hears that Azamat likes Kazbich’s horse. The owner praises his horse, which has saved him more than once, and calls him comrade. Azamat says that he would give a herd of a thousand mares for him, but Kazbich doesn’t want to. Azamat cannot get his way and offers to steal his sister Bela for him. Kazbich laughs, Azamat is tired of him, and he impatiently drives him away. Azamat rushes at him with a dagger. Kazbich pushes him away, Azamat shouts that Kazbich wanted to stab him. Kazbich slipped away. Maxim Maksimych recalls that the devil pulled him to tell this to Pechorin: he laughed and thought of something. Under Azamat, he constantly talked about Kazbich’s horse, promising to deliver it in exchange for Bela. In the absence of his father, Azamat took his sister away, and when Kazbich brought sheep to sell, with the help of Pechorin, he took away his horse Karagez. Kazbich killed his father in revenge. Pechorin tamed the timid beauty Bela, the Circassian girl fell in love with him, got used to the fact that she belonged to him, but soon he became bored with her. Pechorin said that not a single woman loved him like that; the captain got used to her as a daughter. One day he found her sad: Grigory Alexandrovich went hunting yesterday and did not return. Bela accepts the advice not to keep it near her skirt and to be cheerful, but cannot follow it. Kazbich arrives on Bela's father's horse, and a sentry shoots at him. Maxim Maksimych expresses concern to the returning Pechorin. Pechorin caresses Bela less and less, and then, when the friends leave to hunt a wild boar, the girl becomes the prey of Kazbich, who hits her with a dagger and runs away. Bela suffered for two days, then died, deliriously speaking about her love for Pechorin. Maxim Maksimych says that it is good that she died: otherwise Pechorin would have abandoned her sooner or later, but she would not have endured it. They didn’t talk to him about Bel anymore. Then Pechorin left for Georgia. ((The novel begins with a preface explaining the purpose of the work: readers are indignant that they are given as an example such an immoral person as Pechorin. But in the novel there is not a portrait of one person, but a portrait of all the vices of a generation in their development. There is more truth in Pechorin than the readers would like, so they do not believe in him. The reader has been fed sweets for too long, but he needs bitter medicine, caustic truths. The author points out a disease of society, but God knows how to cure it!
Events take place during the conquest of the Caucasus.)) P. s. I DID NOT WRITE
An incident brings together on a mountain road the narrator, who is traveling by train from Tiflis, and a certain Maxim Maksimych, a man of about fifty with the rank of staff captain. Having seen how freely and knowledgeably Maxim Maksimych communicates with the mountaineers, the narrator concludes that his companion spent many years in these places. At the overnight stop, during a conversation, the staff captain recalls an incident that happened with his friend, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, who served with him in the same fortress beyond the Terek.
"Bela." Wood engraving by F.D. Konstantinov. 1962
One day, a Circassian prince who lived not far from them invited Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych to the wedding of his eldest daughter. There Pechorin met the prince's youngest daughter, Bela. Fascinated by the beauty of the girl, he was unable to take his eyes off her. But not only Pechorin admired the princess: from the corner of the room the fiery eyes of the bandit Kazbich looked at her. His unusually strong and fast horse Karagez was famous throughout Kabarda.
Maxim Maksimych, going out to breathe fresh air, hears how Azamat, the son of the prince, offers Kazbich to sell him a horse, promising to steal anything for him in return, even his sister Bela. The bandit answers the young man that gold can buy four wives, but a dashing horse has no price. Pechorin, having learned about this conversation, offers Azamat to help steal Karagez in exchange for Bela. Azamat agrees and brings his sister Pechorina at night. In the morning, Kazbich brings sheep to the fortress for sale. While he and Maxim Maksimych are drinking tea, Azamat steals his horse. The staff captain tries to reassure Pechorin, but he replies that if he brings Bela back, her father will kill her or sell her into slavery. Maxim Maksimych is forced to agree.
At first, Bela lives in a closed Room. The Tatar woman he hired brings her gifts from Pechorin. At first the girl refuses to accept them, but then she becomes more trusting. Pechorin spends all his days next to her. He teaches Tatar language, and the girl, meanwhile, gradually begins to understand Russian. Finally, Pechorin announces to Bela that he was mistaken - she will never love him, so he lets her go home, and he leaves forever. Then the girl confesses her love to him. After some time, the Circassian prince, Bela's father, is found murdered. Kazbich stabbed him, being sure that Azamat had stolen his horse with the consent of the prince.
At this moment, Maxim Maksimych and the narrator were forced to interrupt their journey due to bad weather. They stopped in a hut near the road. After dinner their conversation continued. We started talking about Bel. Maxim Maksimych recalled with bitterness about his fatherly love for the girl, about how she reciprocated his feelings.
Kazbich wounds Bela. Illustration by V. G. Bekhteev. Mascara. 1936
Meanwhile, Pechorin was already bored with Bela, and one day he went hunting, leaving her alone for the first time. To entertain the girl, Maxim Maksimych invites her to take a walk with him to the ramparts. Stopping at the corner of the bastion, they see a horseman emerging from the forest. Bela recognizes him as Kazbich, who is riding her father’s horse. After some time, Pechorin finally loses interest in Bela and increasingly spends his days hunting. Bela, realizing this, is sad all the time. Maxim Maksimych decides to talk to Pechorin. He replies that by causing misfortune to others, he himself is unhappy. In his youth, he fell in love with secular beauties and was loved, but this love irritated only his imagination and pride, and his heart remained empty. I started reading and studying, but I got tired of science. Pechorin concluded that happiness and glory do not depend on knowledge of the sciences, that the most happy people- ignoramuses, and to achieve fame you only need to be dexterous. When he was transferred to the Caucasus, Pechorin was glad: he hoped that boredom did not live under Chechen bullets, but after a month he got used to them. At first Bela seemed to him an angel sent by a merciful fate, but the love of a savage turned out to be little better than the love of a noble lady. Pechorin admits that he loves Bela, but he is bored with her... Whether he is a fool or a villain, he himself does not know, but he believes that he is also worthy of pity: his soul is spoiled by the light, his imagination is restless, his heart is insatiable, he easily gets used to sadness, as a pleasure, and life becomes emptier day by day...
One day Pechorin persuaded Maxim Maksimych to go hunting with him. Returning, they heard a shot and saw a horseman, whom they recognized as Kazbich. He was flying headlong on a horse and holding a white bundle in his hands. Pechorin gave chase and forced Kazbich to jump off his horse, breaking his horse’s leg with a bullet. Then everyone saw what the bandit Bel had in his hands. Screaming, he raised his dagger over her and struck. The wounded girl was brought to the fortress, where she lived for two more days. After her death, Pechorin was unwell for a long time. Maxim Maksimych never spoke to him about Bela, seeing that it was unpleasant for him. Three months later, Pechorin left for Georgia, to his new destination.