Summary of part 2 the hero of our time. Online reading of the book A Hero of Our Time II

"A Hero of Our Time" summary by chapter is a detailed retelling of the novel from which you will learn about all the main events.

"A Hero of Our Time" summary by chapter

The author says that it is not necessary to take literally the meaning of the words "Hero of our time". The hero of our time is "a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development." But the author does not pretend to be a corrector of human vices; he simply points out to society his illness, and “how to cure it - God only knows!”

Part 1

"BELA" summary

To pass the evening, Maxim Maksimych tells a story from his life. When five years ago he was stationed with a company in the fortress behind the Terek, an officer of about twenty-five years old was called to serve there, his name was Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. He was rich, but extremely strange. So, in cold weather, he disappeared hunting for days on end, and froze in his room; one went to the wild boar, but trembled and turned pale at a sharp sound. “In the rain, in the cold all day hunting; everyone will get cold, tired - but nothing to him. And another time he sits in his room, the wind smells, he assures that he has caught a cold, the shutters will knock, he will shudder and turn pale, and in my presence he went to the boar one on one ... "

Not far from the fortress lived a local prince. His fifteen-year-old son Azamat got into the habit of going to the fortress, he was ready to do anything for money.

The prince invited Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych to the wedding of his eldest daughter. His youngest sixteen-year-old daughter Bela struck Pechorin with her beauty. She was tall, thin, her eyes, black as those of a mountain chamois, "looked into your soul." He admired the princess and Kazbich, who was known in the district as a robber.

Maxim Maksimych accidentally overheard Azamat's conversation with Kazbich. Kazbich talked about his extraordinary horse Karagez, who more than once saved him from certain death. Azamat wanted to have Karagez so much that he was ready to steal his sister in exchange for him
Bel. Kazbich will not part with his horse for any wealth of the world.

The devil pulled Maxim Maksimych to tell Pechorin about what he had heard. Pechorin, at each meeting with Azamat, turned the conversation to Kazbich's horse, praising him in every possible way. This led to the fact that Azamat began to "turn pale and dry, as happens from love in novels." Finally, Pechorin promised Azamat to get Karagez, but on the condition that he steal Bela for him. The next day, Kazbich drove rams to the fortress, and while drinking tea, Azamat stole his horse. Kazbich fired after him, but missed, then in desperation broke his gun, fell to the ground and sobbed like a child.

Pechorin received Bela. Azamat has not been seen since.

Bela did not look at Pechorin, did not speak to him, but all the time she sat in the corner of the room, wrapped in a blanket, and was sad.

Pechorin told the girl about his love, promised to do everything for her happiness, gave expensive gifts, but all this did not really affect Bela. Then Pechorin decided on the last resort: he promised Bela to leave forever, giving her complete freedom. Bela threw herself on his neck in tears, since then they have lived happily ever after.

A few days later, Kazbich killed the old prince. He decided that Azamat stole the horse with the consent of his father.

The next day the weather cleared up and the fellow travelers continued their ascent to Good Mountain. The road itself seemed to lead to heaven; the author feels that he is standing high above the world, he is seized by a childish feeling of delight, because "moving away from the conditions of society and approaching nature, we involuntarily become children."
Then began a dangerous descent from Good Mountain into the Devil's Valley. The horses were exhausted, snow and hail fell, and the travelers stopped in a poor hut. Maxim Maksimych continued the story about the relationship between Bela and Pechorin.

Maxim Maksimych is lonely, for many years he has no news of his parents, he did not have time to “stock up” with his own family, and therefore became attached to Bela, as to his own daughter.

For four months, Bela and Pechorin lived very well, but then Pechorin began to think more and more often, he disappeared hunting for days on end.

Once Maxim Maksimych found Bela crying, she realized that Pechorin did not love her. Maksim Maksimych was very sorry for the girl, and therefore he ran after her like a nanny.

When Maxim Maksimych and Bela were walking along the rampart, they saw Kazbich in the distance.

In the evening, Maxim Maksimych reproached Pechorin for his coldness towards Bela. Pechorin said that the reason was in his unhappy character. He was tired of everything in life: pleasure, light, science, and boredom took possession of him. For some time he lived happily in the Caucasus, but after a month he got used to the proximity of death, and he became more bored than before. When he saw Bela, he decided that he would find salvation in her love, but again he was mistaken: he became bored with her. In his life, Pechorin does not see the point; for him, the last resort remains - travel. Once Pechorin persuaded Maxim Maksimych to go hunting with him, and when they returned, they saw Kazbich taking Bela away. Pechorin gave chase, wounded Kazbich's horse. Kazbich hit Bela with a dagger and ran away. It turned out that Bela went out to the river for a walk, from there she was kidnapped by Kazbich.
Pechorin and Maxim Maksimovich brought Bela, bleeding to death, to the fortress. There was no hope for salvation, Bela herself foresaw the imminent death, but she did not really want to die.

Bela died two days later. Maksim Maksimych was very hurt that the girl never once thought of him, although he loved her so much.

Pechorin responded to Maxim Maksimych's sympathetic speeches with laughter, from which a chill ran through the staff captain's skin. Pechorin was unwell for a long time, three months later he was transferred to another regiment, and he left for Georgia. Maxim Maksimych has not seen him since.

MAXIM MAKSIMYCH summary

Several wagons and an empty carriage drove into the inn. Maxim Maksimych asked the footman about the owner of the carriage and found out that it belonged to Pechorin. Pechorin himself stayed overnight with a local colonel.

The joy of Maxim Maksimych knows no bounds, he asks the lackey to inform Pechorin that Maxim Maksimych is here. He is in the firm belief that Pechorin will immediately come running. Maxim Maksimych waited until the evening for Pechorin on the bench, but he never came.

The next morning Maxim Maksimych went to the commandant and asked the author to send for him if Pechorin came. Soon Pechorin appears, and the author sends for Maxim Maksimych.

Pechorin was of medium height, strong build, but his fingers were striking in their thinness and pallor. He did not swing his arms when walking - a sure sign of a certain secrecy of character. He had curly blond hair, his skin had a feminine delicacy, and there was something childlike in his smile. Pechorin's eyes deserved special attention: they did not laugh when he laughed. This is a sign of either an evil disposition or deep sadness.

Pechorin's horses were already harnessed, but Maxim Maksimych still did not appear. Finally, the author saw the staff captain running: sweat rolled down his face in a hail. He wanted to throw himself on Pechorin's neck, but the latter rather coldly, although with a friendly smile, held out his hand to him. Despite all the persuasions of Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin did not postpone his departure. Maxim Maksimych reminded Pechorin of his notes, which he had, but he did not care about them.

Pechorin left, and Maxim Maksimych remained standing in complete thought, there were tears of annoyance in his eyes.

The author, with the permission of Maxim Maksimych, takes Pechorin's notes for himself. The author needs to leave, but Maxim Maksimych cannot go with him - he has not yet seen the commandant. For the sake of Pechorin, he for the first time abandoned the affairs of the service - and how he was awarded for it!

JOURNAL PECHORIN

FOREWORD
Recently, the author learned that Pechorin, returning from Persia, died. This news made him happy. After all, now he had the right to print these notes. The author was convinced of the sincerity of these notes, where Pechorin "so mercilessly exposed his own weaknesses and vices." The author publishes Pechorin's journal, as he is sure that "the history of the human soul, even the smallest soul, is almost more curious and not more useful than the history of a whole people." In this book, the author placed only what related to Pechorin's stay in the Caucasus.

“Maybe some readers will want to know my opinion about the character of Pechorin? - My answer is the title of this book. “Yes, this is an evil irony! they will say, “I don’t know.”

TAMAN summary

The narration in this and subsequent chapters is conducted on behalf of Pechorin.

Pechorin arrives in Taman (the northernmost city of all the coastal cities of Russia) late at night and stays in a hut on the very seashore. He was warned that it was “unclean” there, but he did not understand the meaning of these words.

A fourteen-year-old blind boy opens the door to Pechorin, according to him, the hostess has gone to the suburb. Pechorin looked at the face of the blind man for a long time, when he suddenly noticed that he was smiling. This made an unpleasant impression on Pechorin, he began to suspect that the boy might not be blind.

There was not a single image on the wall in the hut - a bad sign! The sea wind blew through the broken glass.

Pechorin lay down, but could not sleep. An hour later, he noticed a flashing shadow and left the hut. He saw a blind boy with a bundle under his arm descend to the sea, and followed him. Fog rose on the sea, the moon began to dress in clouds. The blind man walked so close to the water that it seemed that he would be washed away by a wave, but he walked very confidently, it was clear that this was not his first walk. Finally, the blind man sat down on the ground, and a woman approached him. They began to argue about whether Yanko would sail in such weather or not. The blind man was sure that he would come: "Yanko is not afraid of the sea, winds, fog, or coast guards." And indeed, after a while the boat appeared. “The swimmer was brave, who decided on such a night to set off across the strait at a distance of twenty miles!” “A man of medium height, wearing a Tatar ram's hat” got out of the boat and, together with the blind man and the girl, began to pull the load out of the boat.

Pechorin returned to the hut; in the morning the hostess came with her daughter, although the blind man said that she had no children. To all Pechorin's questions, the old woman answered that she did not hear anything, while the blind man, with tears in his eyes, said that he did not go anywhere at night. Pechorin firmly decided to "get the key to this riddle."

In the morning, Pechorin heard women singing and, looking up, saw a girl with flowing hair, “a real mermaid,” on the roof of the hut. Pechorin realized that he had heard the same voice by the sea at night. The whole day the girl was spinning near Pechorin's "apartment", but as soon as he started talking, she ran away. Undine, as Pechorin called the girl, was no more than eighteen years old, she was not a beauty, but she had a lot of "breed". Finally, Pechorin spoke to the girl, but she answered in riddles. Then Pechorin said that he had seen her at night on the shore and could tell everything to the commandant; The girl laughed at these words and ran away.

In the evening, the girl passionately kissed Pechorin and called to the sea at night. When they got into the boat and sailed away from the shore, Ondine tried to push Pechorin into the water, as she was afraid of a denunciation. A struggle ensued, as a result, a girl was in the water, and Pechorin swam to the shore in a boat.

Undine got ashore, waited for Yanko's boat and told him that everything was lost. Yanko and the girl decided to leave these places in search of another job, but they did not take the blind man with them. In parting, Ondine threw a coin to the blind man, but he did not even pick it up. Undine and Janko sailed away, and the blind man wept for a long time on the shore. Pechorin felt sad. “And why did fate throw me into a peaceful circle of honest smugglers? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness and, like a stone, I almost sank myself!” Returning, Pechorin discovers that in a bag the blind man carried his things to the shore - a box, a saber with a silver rim, a Dagestan dagger - a gift from a friend. “Wouldn’t it be funny to complain to the authorities that a blind boy robbed me, and an eighteen-year-old girl almost drowned me?” The next day Pechorin left Taman. “What happened to the old woman and the poor blind man, I don’t know. Yes, and what do I care about human joys and misfortunes, me, a wandering officer, and even with a traveler for official needs.

Part 2

PRINCESS MARY summary

Pechorin arrived in Pyatigorsk, settled on the highest place, at the foot of Mashuk. The view from there is wonderful: cherry blossoms, a “silver chain of snowy peaks” stretches on the edge of the horizon. “It's fun to live in such a land! A strange feeling runs through all my veins. The air is clean and fresh, the sun is bright, the sky is blue - what could be more? why are there passions, desires, regrets? .. "

Pechorin went to the Elisabeth spring, where the entire "water society" gathers in the morning. There Pechorin met Grushnitsky, whom he met in the service. He was wounded in the leg and arrived at the waters a week earlier than Pechorin. Grushnitsky served only a year and, due to a special kind of smartness, wears a thick soldier's overcoat. The main thing for Grushnitsky is to produce an effect; he speaks pretentiously, the interlocutor does not listen. His goal is to "become the hero of the novel", he seeks to assure others and himself that he is "a creature not created for the world, but doomed to some kind of secret suffering." Pechorin understood the essence of Grushnitsky, and for this he does not love him, although outwardly they are on friendly terms.

Two ladies pass by: one is elderly, the other is young. Grushnitsky says that this is the Princess of Lithuania with her daughter. It is evident that Grushnitsky is fascinated by the young princess.

A little later, Pechorin witnessed a curious scene. Grushnitsky, when the princess was nearby, seemed to accidentally drop his glass and with his whole appearance showed how hard it was for him to bend down. The princess naturally raised her glass, which made Grushnitsky completely happy. Pechorin admitted to himself that he was jealous of Grushnitsky.

Pechorin became close to Dr. Werner. They are related by the fact that they are indifferent to everything except themselves; their communication consists in passing news to each other. From the story of Werner, Pechorin learned that the princess was interested in Grushnitsky, Pechorin was also interested in her. Pechorin is pleased with this news: “Obviously fate is making sure that I am not bored.”

Pechorin also learns that a certain lady, a relative of the Ligovskys, has come to the waters. After Werner describes her, he realizes that this is the woman he has loved for a very long time.

In the evening, the Lithuanians sat on the boulevard surrounded by young people. Pechorin, at a small distance from them, began to tell funny stories to his friends, and gradually all the youth moved into his circle. The princess was very angry.

Pechorin did everything to make the princess hate him: he bought himself the carpet that she liked, did not try to get to know her.

Grushnitsky met the princess, her name is Mary. He confides his spiritual secrets to Pechorin, and he inwardly laughs at him. It is clear that Grushnitsky is in love.

At the well, Pechorin met his longtime lover Vera, a relative of the Ligovskys. For the sake of her son, she married a "lame old man." She still loves Pechorin, although he gave her nothing but suffering. Vera often visits the Ligovskys' house and therefore advises Pechorin to "drag along" for the princess so that they can see each other more often. Vera is sick, most likely she has consumption. Vera, as before, recklessly entrusted herself to Pechorin, and he knows that he will never deceive her.

A week has passed. Grushnitsky follows Mary everywhere, they have endless conversations; it is clear that he will soon bore her.

The next day a ball was scheduled, at which Pechorin decided to get acquainted with Princess Mary by all means. He invited her to the mazurka and realized that she was unhappy with him. The princess did not behave very politely with one lady, and she, in retaliation, decided to compromise her. She persuaded the drunken dragoon captain, and he invited the Princess to the mazurka. The princess was ready to faint from fear and indignation, but then Pechorin came to her aid. He told the captain that the princess was dancing with him and asked him to leave. For this act, Pechorin received gratitude from the Lithuanians and an invitation to their house.

In the evening, Pechorin was already at the Lithuanian house, where he saw Vera. Vera told Pechorin that she would soon die, but all her thoughts were only about him. Pechorin cannot understand why she loves him so much: “Moreover, this is one woman who understood me completely, with all my petty weaknesses, bad passions ... Is evil so attractive? ..”

Pechorin, by his conversations with the princess, achieved that she began to consider him an extraordinary person. She listens to Grushnitsky absent-mindedly, as she is tired of him.

Pechorin asks himself why he seeks the love of a "young girl", because he does not need her love at all. The fact is that it gives him pleasure to subordinate everything that surrounds him to his will; arouse feelings of love, devotion and fear.

In a conversation with Princess Pechorin, as always, he critically evaluates those around him. To her reproach, he replies: “Yes, such was my fate from childhood! Everyone read on my face signs of bad qualities that were not there; but they were supposed - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of slyness: I became secretive. I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me: and I learned to hate. I told the truth - they did not believe me: I began to deceive. I became a moral cripple: one half of my soul did not exist, it dried up, evaporated, died, I cut it off and threw it away ... "

Pechorin, seeing the suffering of the princess, understands that she will soon fall in love with him. He gets bored, because he already knows everything in advance.

Vera is jealous of Pechorin, because the princess confides all her spiritual secrets to her. Vera moves to Kislovodsk and asks Pechorin to come to her in a week and rent a room nearby.

Grushnitsky was promoted, and he appeared at the ball in the full radiance of an army infantry uniform. He is proud of himself, he hopes to strike the princess with his appearance, but in fact he looks very funny. The princess indifferently listens to Grushnitsky, says that he was much better in his overcoat. Grushnitsky is in complete despair, to top it off, Pechorin lets out a barb at him. This led to the fact that a hostile gang led by Grushnitsky was formed against Pechorin.

Pechorin arrives in Kislovodsk, sees Vera every day. After some time, the Lithuanians and Grushnitsky arrive there.

During the passage through the mountain river, Pechorin picks up the princess, who becomes ill, kisses her. The nerves of the princess are completely upset: after all, she does not know whether Pechorin loves her or not.

In the evening, Pechorin quite by chance overheard Grushnitsky's conversation with his friends. They advise Grushnitsky to test Pechorin's courage: challenge him to a duel, but leave the pistols unloaded.

The next day, Pechorin tells the princess that he does not love her. She asks in a broken voice to leave her. Pechorin admits that sometimes he despises himself: why, for example, did he not marry the princess?
“Where am I preparing myself? What do I expect from the future? Right, nothing at all."

Pechorin, having accidentally heard Grushnitsky talking about his connection with Vera, challenges the offender to a duel.

On the eve of the duel, Pechorin reflects on his life: “Maybe I will die tomorrow!., and not a single creature will remain on earth who would understand me completely. Some revere me worse, others better than I really am ... Is it worth living after this? And you still live - out of curiosity: you expect something new ... Ridiculous and annoying!

Pechorin, knowing about Grushnitsky's plan, decided to test it himself. He invited the enemy to stand along the edges of a narrow platform located on top of a sheer cliff. Whoever is wounded will fall down and be broken; the doctor will remove the bullet, and the cause of death can be attributed to an accident.

It fell to Grushnitsky to shoot first. He was ashamed to shoot an unarmed man, but still he goes for it. The bullet slightly wounded Pechorin's knee. It was Pechorin's turn. He asks Werner to load his gun, which greatly embarrassed the opposing side. Pechorin invites Grushnitsky to resolve the duel peacefully: he must ask him for forgiveness; but Grushnitsky refuses. After the shot, Pechorin Grushnitsky was not on the court. There was a stone on Pechorin's heart.

At home, Pechorin was waiting for a note from Vera, in which she says goodbye to him forever and announces her departure. She always understood that Pechorin would not be able to give her the love that her heart craved, but, in spite of everything, she gave him all of herself without a trace. There is something special in his nature, something proud and mysterious: a woman who once loved him cannot look at other men without some contempt. Vera told her husband about her relationship with Pechorin, now she is dead, but she does not care about this. For the sake of Pechorin, she lost everything in the world. After reading the letter, Pechorin jumped on his horse and, like a madman, rushed off to Pyatigorsk. He could not even think that he would never see Vera again. But Pechorin's horse died when there was very little left to the city. Having lost his last hope, Pechorin fell on the grass and wept like a child.

After a while, Pechorin realizes that “chasing lost happiness is useless and reckless,” and what could give a last date?

In the morning, Pechorin approaches Princess Mary and says that she cannot love him. He laughed at her, and therefore she must despise him. The princess corrects him: "I hate you." Pechorin thanks her and leaves.

FATALIST summary

Pechorin once lived for two weeks in a Cossack village, where an infantry battalion stopped. The officers were going to play cards every evening. Once the conversation turned to the Muslim belief that a person's fate is written in heaven. A heated argument ensued about whether to believe in fate or not. Lieutenant Vulich captured the attention of those around him. He had only one passion - the passion for the game. He constantly lost, but failure only irritated his stubbornness. Vulich went to the center of the room and declared that a fateful minute was assigned to each person in advance, while Pechorin argued that there was no predestination. We made a bet on fifteen chervonets. Vulich took the pistol and put the muzzle to his temple. Pechorin was sure that Vulich would die: the seal of death was read on his face. Vulich pulled the trigger, but there was a misfire. Vulich won.

Returning home, Pechorin reflected that people are no longer capable of great sacrifices, even for their own happiness, since they are sure in advance of its impossibility. In his youth, Pechorin was a dreamer and therefore entered into life, having already experienced it mentally, and therefore he became "boring and disgusting."

That evening Pechorin believed in fate. On the road, he saw a pig cut with a saber. This was done by a drunken Cossack. At night, Pechorin was informed that the same Cossack had hacked to death Vulich. The murderer locked himself in an empty hut .. No one dared to enter there, since the Cossack was armed.

Pechorin, like Vulich, decided to try his luck. While others distracted the Cossack with conversations, he rushed through the window at the murderer. He fired, and the bullet tore off the epaulette from Pechorin's shoulder. Other Cossacks burst into the hut and tied up the murderer.

“After all this, how can one not become a fatalist, it seems?”

II

Yesterday I arrived in Pyatigorsk, rented an apartment on the edge of the city, on the highest place, at the foot of Mashuk: during a thunderstorm, clouds will descend to my roof. This morning at five o'clock, when I opened the window, my room was filled with the smell of flowers growing in a modest front garden. Branches of blossoming cherries look out my windows, and the wind sometimes strews my desk with their white petals. The view from three sides is wonderful. To the west, the five-headed Beshtu turns blue, like "the last cloud of the scattered storm"; Mashuk rises to the north, like a shaggy Persian hat, and covers this entire part of the sky; it’s more fun to look to the east: down below, a clean, new town is full of colors in front of me, healing springs are rustling, a multilingual crowd is rustling, - and there, further, mountains are piled up like an amphitheater, all bluer and more foggy, and on the edge of the horizon stretches a silver chain of snow peaks, starting with Kazbek and ending two-headed Elborus... It's fun to live in such a land! Some kind of gratifying feeling is poured into all my veins. The air is pure and fresh, like the kiss of a child; the sun is bright, the sky is blue - what would seem more? - why are there passions, desires, regrets? .. However, it's time. I’ll go to the Elizabethan spring: they say that the whole water community gathers there in the morning.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Descending into the middle of the city, I went along the boulevard, where I met several sad groups slowly going up the hill; they were for the most part a family of steppe landowners; this could be immediately guessed from the worn, old-fashioned frock coats of the husbands and from the exquisite outfits of the wives and daughters; it was obvious that all the young people of the water were already on the list, because they looked at me with tender curiosity: the Petersburg cut of the frock coat misled them, but soon recognizing the army epaulettes, they turned away indignantly .

The wives of the local authorities, mistresses of the waters, so to speak, were more benevolent; they have lorgnettes, they pay less attention to their uniforms, they are accustomed in the Caucasus to meet an ardent heart under a numbered button and an educated mind under a white cap. These ladies are very sweet; and long cute! Every year their admirers are replaced by new ones, and this, perhaps, is the secret of their indefatigable courtesy. Climbing up the narrow path to the Elizabethan spring, I overtook a crowd of men, civilians and military men, who, as I later learned, constitute a special class of people between those who yearn for the movement of water. They drink - but not water, walk a little, drag only in passing; they play and complain of boredom. They are dandies: lowering their braided glass into a well of sour water, they assume academic poses: civilians wear light blue ties, the military let out a ruff from behind the collar. They profess a deep contempt for provincial houses and sigh for the aristocratic living rooms of the capital, where they are not allowed.

Finally, here is the well ... On the site near it, a house was built with a red roof over the bath, and farther away is a gallery where people walk when it rains. Several wounded officers were sitting on a bench, picking up their crutches, pale and sad. Several ladies were walking quickly up and down the platform, waiting for the action of the waters. Between them were two or three pretty faces. Under the vine alleys covering the slope of Mashuk, sometimes the colorful hats of lovers of solitude together flashed by, because I always noticed near such a hat either a military cap or an ugly round hat. On the steep rock where the pavilion called the Aeolian Harp was built, lovers of the views stuck out and pointed their telescope at Elborus; between them were two tutors with their pupils, who had come to be treated for scrofula.

I stopped, out of breath, on the edge of the mountain and, leaning against the corner of the house, began to examine the surroundings, when suddenly I heard a familiar voice behind me:

Pechorin! how long have you been here?

I turn around: Grushnitsky! We hugged. I met him in the active detachment. He was wounded by a bullet in the leg and went to the waters a week before me. Grushnitsky - Junker. He is only a year in the service, wears, in a special kind of foppery, a thick soldier's overcoat. He has a St. George soldier's cross. He is well built, swarthy and black-haired; he looks to be twenty-five years old, although he is hardly twenty-one years old. He throws his head back when he speaks, and continually twists his mustache with his left hand, for with his right he leans on a crutch. He speaks quickly and pretentiously: he is one of those people who have ready-made pompous phrases for all occasions, who are simply not touched by the beautiful and who importantly drape themselves in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering. To produce an effect is their delight; romantic provincial women like them to the point of madness. In old age, they become either peaceful landowners or drunkards - sometimes both. In their souls there are often many good qualities, but not a penny worth of poetry. Grushnitsky's passion was to recite: he bombarded you with words, as soon as the conversation left the circle of ordinary concepts; I could never argue with him. He does not answer your objections, he does not listen to you. As soon as you stop, he starts a long tirade, apparently having some connection with what you said, but which is really only a continuation of his own speech.

He is rather sharp: his epigrams are often funny, but there are never marks and evil: he will not kill anyone with one word; he does not know people and their weak strings, because he has been occupied with himself all his life. His goal is to become the hero of the novel. He tried so often to assure others that he was a creature not created for the world, doomed to some secret suffering, that he almost convinced himself of this. That is why he wears his thick soldier's overcoat so proudly. I understood him, and for this he does not love me, although we outwardly are on the most friendly terms. Grushnitsky is reputed to be an excellent brave man; I saw him in action; he waves his sword, shouts and rushes forward, closing his eyes. This is something not Russian courage! ..

I don't like him either: I feel that someday we will collide with him on a narrow road, and one of us will be unhappy.

His arrival in the Caucasus is also a consequence of his romantic fanaticism: I am sure that on the eve of his departure from his father's village, he spoke with a gloomy look to some pretty neighbor that he was not going just to serve, but that he was looking for death, because .. here, he probably covered his eyes with his hand and continued like this: "No, you (or you) must not know this! Your pure soul will shudder! And why? What am I to you! Will you understand me?" - and so on.

He himself told me that the reason that prompted him to join the K. regiment would remain an eternal secret between him and heaven.

However, in those moments when he throws off his tragic mantle, Grushnitsky is rather nice and funny. I am curious to see him with women: here he is, I think, trying!

We met old friends. I began to question him about the way of life on the waters and about remarkable persons.

We lead a rather prosaic life,” he said with a sigh, “those who drink water in the morning are lethargic, like all the sick, and those who drink wine in the evening are unbearable, like all healthy people. There are sororities; only a little consolation from them: they play whist, dress badly and speak terrible French. This year there is only Princess Ligovskaya from Moscow with her daughter; but I am not familiar with them. My soldier's overcoat is like a seal of rejection. The participation she excites is heavy as almsgiving.

At that moment, two ladies walked past us to the well: one is elderly, the other is young and slender. I could not see their faces behind their hats, but they were dressed according to the strict rules of the best taste: nothing superfluous! The second wore a gris de perles sheer dress, a light silk kerchief curled around her supple neck. The couleur puce boots tightened her lean leg at the ankle so nicely that even those not initiated into the mysteries of beauty would certainly gasp, although in surprise. Her light, but noble gait had something virginal in it, eluding definition, but understandable to the eye. When she walked past us, she wafted that inexplicable aroma that sometimes breathes a note from a nice woman.

M. Yu. Lermontov worked on the novel "A Hero of Our Time" in 1838-1840. The idea to write a novel was born during the writer's exile in the Caucasus in 1838. The first parts of the novel were published within one year in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski. They aroused the interest of readers. Lermontov, seeing the popularity of these works, combined them into one big novel.

In the title, the author sought to justify the relevance of his creation for his contemporaries. The 1841 edition also included a foreword by the writer in connection with the questions that arose from readers. We bring to your attention a summary of the “Hero of Our Time” chapter by chapter.

Main characters

Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich- the central character of the whole story, an officer of the tsarist army, a sensitive and sublime nature, but selfish. Handsome, superbly built, charming and smart. He is burdened by his arrogance and individualism, but does not want to overcome either one or the other.

Bela- the daughter of a Circassian prince. Treacherously kidnapped by her brother Azamat, she becomes Pechorin's lover. Bela is beautiful and smart, pure and straightforward. Dies from the dagger of the Circassian Kazbich, who is in love with her.

Mary(Princess Ligovskaya) is a noble girl whom Pechorin met by chance and did his best to make her fall in love with him. Educated and smart, proud and generous. The break with Pechorin becomes for her the deepest tragedy.

Maksim Maksimych- officer of the tsarist army (with the rank of staff captain). A kind and honest man, Pechorin's boss and close friend, an unwitting witness to his love affairs and life conflicts.

Narrator- a passing officer who became a casual acquaintance of Maxim Maksimovich and listened to and wrote down his story about Pechorin.

Other characters

Azamat- Circassian prince, unbalanced and greedy young man, Bela's brother.

Kazbich- a young Circassian who is in love with Bela and becomes her killer.

Grushnitsky- a young cadet, a man proud and unrestrained. Rival Pechorin, killed by him in a duel.

Faith- Pechorin's former lover, appears in the novel as a reminder of his past in St. Petersburg.

Undine- a nameless smuggler who struck Pechorin with her appearance (“undine” is one of the names of mermaids, the reader will not recognize the real name of the girl).

Janko- smuggler, friend of Ondine.

Werner- a doctor, an intelligent and educated person, an acquaintance of Pechorin.

Vulich- an officer, a Serb by nationality, a young and gambling man, an acquaintance of Pechorin.

Foreword

In the preface, the author addresses the readers. He says that readers were amazed at the negative features of the protagonist of his work and reproach the author for this. However, Lermontov points out that his hero is the embodiment of the vices of his time, so he is modern. The author also believes that it is impossible to feed readers with sweet stories and fairy tales all the time, they must see and understand life as it is.

The action of the work takes place in the Caucasus at the beginning of the 19th century. Partly in this territory of the Russian Empire, military operations are being conducted against the highlanders.

Part one

I. Bela

This part begins with the fact that the narrator-officer meets, on the way to the Caucasus, an elderly staff captain Maxim Maksimych, who makes a positive impression on him. The narrator and the staff captain become friends. Once in a snowstorm, the heroes begin to remember the events of their lives, and the staff captain talks about a young officer whom he knew about four and a half years ago.

This officer's name was Grigory Pechorin. He was handsome, handsome and smart. However, he had a strange character: either he complained about nothing, like a girl, or he fearlessly rode a horse over the rocks. Maxim Maksimych at that time was the commandant of a military fortress, in which this mysterious young officer served under his command.

Soon, the sensitive captain noticed that his new subordinate began to yearn in the wilderness. Being a kind person, he decided to help his officer unwind. At that time, he was just invited to the wedding of the eldest daughter of the Circassian prince, who lived not far from the fortress and sought to establish good relations with the royal officers.

At the wedding, Pechorin liked the youngest daughter of the prince - the beautiful and graceful Bela.

Fleeing from the stuffiness in the room, Maxim Maksimych went out into the street and became an involuntary witness to the conversation that took place between Kazbich - a Circassian with the appearance of a robber - and Bela's brother Azamat. The latter offered Kazbich any price for his magnificent horse, proving that for the horse he was even ready to steal his sister for him. Azamat knew that Kazbich was not indifferent to Bela, but the proud Circassian Kazbich only brushed off the annoying young man.

Maxim Maksimych, after listening to this conversation, inadvertently retold it to Pechorin, not knowing what his young colleague was up to.

It turned out that Pechorin later offered Azamat to steal Bela for him, promising in return that Kazbich's horse would become his.

Azamat complied with the agreement and took the beautiful sister to the fortress to Pechorin. When Kazbich drove the sheep to the fortress, Pechorin distracted him, and Azamat at that time stole his faithful horse Karagez. Kazbich vowed to take revenge on the offender.

Later, news came to the fortress that Kazbich had killed the Circassian prince, the father of Bela and Azamat, suspecting him of complicity in the kidnapping of his horse.

Meanwhile, Bela began to live in a fortress near Pechorin. He treated her with unusual care, not offending her in word or deed. Pechorin hired a Circassian woman, who began to serve Bela. Pechorin himself won the heart of a proud beauty with affection and pleasant manners. The girl fell in love with her kidnapper. However, having achieved the location of the beauty, Pechorin lost interest in her. Bela felt a chill from her lover and became very weary of it.

Maxim Maksimych, having fallen in love with the girl as if he were his own daughter, tried with all his might to console her. Once, when Pechorin left the fortress, the staff captain invited Bela to take a walk with him outside the walls. From afar they saw Kazbich riding Bela's father's horse. The girl was afraid for her life.

Some more time passed. Pechorin communicated with Bela less and less, she began to yearn. One day, Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin were not in the fortress, when they returned, they noticed from afar the horse of the prince and Kazbich in the saddle, who was carrying some kind of bag on it. When the officers chased after Kazbich, the Circassian opened the bag and raised a dagger over it. It became clear that he was holding Bela in the bag. Kazbich abandoned his prey and galloped away swiftly.

The officers drove up to the mortally wounded girl, carefully lifted her and took her to the fortress. Bela was able to live two more days. In delirium, she recalled Pechorin, spoke of her love for him and regretted that she and Grigory Alexandrovich were in different faiths, therefore, in her opinion, they would not be able to meet in paradise.

When Bela was buried, Maxim Maksimych no longer talked about her with Pechorin. Then the elderly staff captain came to the conclusion that Bela's death was the best way out of this situation. After all, Pechorin would eventually leave her, and she would not be able to survive such a betrayal.

After serving in the fortress under the command of Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin left to continue it in Georgia. He did not give any news about himself.

That was the end of the Captain's story.

II. Maksim Maksimych

The narrator and Maxim Maksimych parted, each went about his own business, but soon they unexpectedly met again. Maxim Maksimych said with excitement that he had again met Pechorin quite unexpectedly. He learned that he had now retired and decided to go to Persia. The elderly staff captain wanted to talk with an old friend whom he had not seen for about five years, but Pechorin did not at all strive for such communication, which greatly offended the old officer.

Maxim Maksimych could not sleep all night, but in the morning he again decided to talk to Pechorin. But he showed coldness and ostentatious indifference. The captain was very sad.

The narrator, having seen Pechorin in person, decided to convey to the readers his impressions of his appearance and demeanor. He was a man of medium height with a handsome and expressive face, which women always liked. He knew how to stay in society and to speak. Pechorin dressed well and without a challenge, his suit emphasized the harmony of his body. However, in all his appearance, his eyes were striking, which looked at the interlocutor coldly, heavily and penetratingly. Pechorin practically did not use gestures in communication, which was a sign of secrecy and distrust.

He left quickly, leaving only vivid memories of himself.

The narrator informed the readers that Maxim Maksimych, seeing his interest in Pechorin's personality, gave him his journal, that is, the diary. For some time the diary lay idle with the narrator, but after the death of Pechorin (and he died suddenly at the age of twenty-eight: having unexpectedly fallen ill on the way to Persia), the narrator decided to publish some of its parts.
The narrator, addressing the readers, asked them for indulgence to the personality of Pechorin, because he, despite his vices, was at least sincere in describing them in detail.

Pechorin's Journal

I. Taman

In this part, Pechorin talked about a funny, in his opinion, adventure that happened to him on Taman.

Arriving at this little-known place, he, by virtue of his inherent suspicion and insight, realized that the blind boy, with whom he stayed for the night, was hiding something from those around him. Following him, he saw that the blind man was meeting with a beautiful girl whom Pechorin himself calls Ondina ("mermaid"). The girl and the boy were waiting for the man they called Janko. Janko soon appeared with some bags.

The next morning, Pechorin, spurred on by curiosity, tried to find out from the blind man what kind of bundles his strange friend had brought. The blind boy was silent, pretending not to understand his guest. Pechorin met with Ondine, who tried to flirt with him. Pechorin pretended to succumb to her charms.

In the evening, together with a familiar Cossack, he went on a date with a girl at the pier, ordering the Cossack to be on the alert and, if something unforeseen happens, to rush to his aid.

Together with Undina, Pechorin got into the boat. However, their romantic journey was soon cut short by the fact that the girl tried to push her companion into the water, despite the fact that Pechorin could not swim. Ondine's motives are understandable. She guessed that Pechorin understood what Yanko, the blind boy and she were doing, and therefore he could inform the police about the smugglers. However, Pechorin managed to defeat the girl and throw her into the water. Undine knew how to swim well enough, she threw herself into the water and swam towards Yanko. He took her aboard his boat, and soon they disappeared into the darkness.

Returning after such a dangerous voyage, Pechorin realized that the blind boy had stolen his things. The adventures of the past day entertained the bored hero, but he was unpleasantly annoyed that he might have died in the waves.

In the morning the hero left Taman forever.

Part two

(end of Pechorin's journal)

II. Princess Mary

Pechorin spoke in his journal about life in the city of Pyatigorsk. Provincial society bored him. The hero was looking for entertainment and found them.

He met the young cadet Grushnitsky, an ardent and ardent young man in love with the beautiful Princess Mary Ligovskaya. Pechorin was amused by the feeling of the young man. In the presence of Grushnitsky, he began to talk about Mary as if she were not a girl, but a racehorse with its own advantages and disadvantages.

At first, Pechorin irritated Mary. At the same time, the hero liked to anger the young beauty: either he tried to be the first to buy an expensive carpet that the princess wanted to buy, or he expressed malicious hints at her. Pechorin proved to Grushnitsky that Mary belongs to the breed of those women who will flirt with everyone in a row, and marry a worthless person, at the behest of their mother.

Meanwhile, Pechorin met in the city with Werner, a local doctor, an intelligent but bilious man. The most ridiculous rumors circulated around him in the city: someone even considered him a local Mephistopheles. Werner liked such exotic fame, and he supported it with all his might. Being a perceptive person, the doctor foresaw the future drama that could happen between Pechorin, Mary and the young cadet Grushnitsky. However, he did not expand much on this topic.

Events, meanwhile, went on as usual, adding new touches to the portrait of the protagonist. A secular lady and a relative of Princess Mary, Vera, arrived in Pyatigorsk. Readers learned that Pechorin was once passionately in love with this woman. She also kept in her heart a bright feeling for Grigory Alexandrovich. Vera and Gregory met. And here we already saw another Pechorin: not a cold and evil cynic, but a man of great passions, who has not forgotten anything and feels suffering and pain. After meeting with Vera, who, being a married woman, could not connect with the hero in love with her, Pechorin jumped into the saddle. He galloped over mountains and dales, exhausting his horse greatly.

On an exhausted horse, Pechorin accidentally met Mary and frightened her.

Soon Grushnitsky, with an ardent feeling, began to prove to Pechorin that, after all his antics, he would never be received at the princess's house. Pechorin argued with his friend, proving the opposite.
Pechorin went to the ball to Princess Ligovskaya. Here he began to behave unusually courteously towards Mary: he danced with her like a fine gentleman, protected her from a tipsy officer, helped to cope with a swoon. Mary's mother began to look at Pechorin with different eyes and invited him to her house as a close friend.

Pechorin began to visit the Ligovskys. He became interested in Mary as a woman, but the hero was still attracted to Vera. On one of the rare dates, Vera told Pechorin that she was mortally ill with consumption, so she asks him to spare her reputation. Vera also added that she always understood the soul of Grigory Alexandrovich and accepted him with all his vices.

Pechorin, however, became close to Mary. The girl confessed to him that she was bored with all the fans, including Grushnitsky. Pechorin, using his charm, from nothing to do, made the princess fall in love with him. He couldn’t even explain to himself why he needed it: either to have fun, or to annoy Grushnitsky, or maybe show Vera that someone needed him too and, thereby, call her jealousy.

Gregory succeeded in what he wanted: Mary fell in love with him, but at first she hid her feelings.

Meanwhile, Vera began to worry about this novel. On a secret date, she asked Pechorin never to marry Mary and promised him a night meeting in return.

Pechorin, on the other hand, began to get bored in the company of both Mary and Vera. He was also tired of Grushnitsky with his passion and boyishness. Pechorin deliberately began to behave provocatively in public, which caused tears from Mary, who was in love with him. To people, he seemed immoral madman. However, the young princess Ligovskaya understood that by doing so he only bewitched her more.

Grushnitsky began to get seriously jealous. He understood that Mary's heart was given to Pechorin. The same was amused by the fact that Grushnitsky stopped greeting him and began to turn away when he appeared.

The whole city was already talking about the fact that Pechorin would soon propose to Mary. The old princess - the girl's mother - from day to day was waiting for matchmakers from Grigory Alexandrovich. But he did not seek to make proposals to Mary, but wanted to wait until the girl herself confesses her love to him. On one of the walks, Pechorin kissed the princess on the cheek, wanting to see her reaction. The next day, Mary confessed her love to Pechorin, but in response he coldly remarked that he did not feel love for her.

Mary felt deeply humiliated by the words of her beloved. She was waiting for anything but this. The heroine realized that Pechorin laughed at her out of boredom. She compared herself to a flower that an evil passer-by plucked and tossed on a dusty road.

Pechorin, describing in his diary the scene of the explanation with Mary, reasoned about why he acted so low. He wrote that he did not want to marry because a fortuneteller once told his mother that her son would die from an evil wife. In his notes, the hero noticed that he values ​​​​his own freedom above all else, is afraid to be noble and seem ridiculous to others. And he simply believes that he is not capable of bringing happiness to anyone.

A famous magician has come to town. Everyone rushed to his performance. Only Vera and Mary were absent. Pechorin, driven by a passion for Vera, late in the evening went to the Ligovskys' house, where she lived. In the window, he saw the silhouette of Mary. Grushnitsky tracked down Pechorin, believing that he had an appointment with Mary. Despite the fact that Pechorin managed to return to his house, Grushnitsky is full of resentment and jealousy. He challenged Grigory Alexandrovich to a duel. Werner and a dragoon unfamiliar to Pechorin acted as seconds.

Before the duel, Pechorin could not calm down for a long time, he thought about his life and realized that he brought good to few people. Fate has prepared for him the role of the executioner for many people. He killed someone with his word, and someone with his deed. He loved only himself with an insatiable love. He was looking for a person who could understand him and forgive him everything, but not a single woman, not a single man could do this.

And so he was challenged to a duel. Perhaps his opponent will kill him. What will remain after him in this life? Nothing. Just empty memories.

The next morning, Werther tried to reconcile Pechorin and his opponent. However, Grushnitsky was adamant. Pechorin wanted to show generosity to his opponent, hoping for his reciprocity. But Grushnitsky was angry and offended. As a result of the duel, Pechorin killed Grushnitsky. To hide the fact of the duel, the seconds and Pechorin testified that the young officer was killed by the Circassians.

However, Vera realized that Grushnitsky died in a duel. She confessed to her husband her feelings for Pechorin. He took her out of the city. In an attempt to catch up with Vera, he drove his horse to death.

Returning to the city, he learned that rumors of a duel had leaked into society, so he was assigned a new duty station. He went to say goodbye to Mary and her mother's house. The old princess offered him the hand and heart of her daughter, but Pechorin rejected her proposal.

Left alone with Mary, he humiliated the pride of this girl in such a way that he himself became unpleasant.

III. Fatalist

In the final part of the novel, it is told that Pechorin ended up in the village of Cossacks on business. One evening there was a dispute among the officers as to whether there is a fatal confluence of circumstances in a person's life. Is a person free to choose his own life or is his fate “predetermined from above”?

During a heated argument, the Serbian Vulich took the floor. He stated that, according to his convictions, he is a fatalist, that is, a person who believes in fate. Therefore, he was of the opinion that if it was not given to him to die from above tonight, then death would not take him away, no matter how much he himself strived for it.

To prove his words, Vulich offered a bet: he would shoot himself in the temple, if he was right, he would remain alive, and if he was wrong, he would die.

No one in the audience wanted to agree to such strange and terrible terms of the bet. Only Pechorin agreed.

Looking into the eyes of his interlocutor, Pechorin firmly said that he would die today. Then Vulich took a pistol and shot himself in the temple. The gun misfired. Then he fired a second shot to the side. The shot was combat.

Everyone started talking loudly about what had happened. But Pechorin insisted that Vulich would die today. Nobody understood his persistence. Frustrated, Vulich left the meeting.

Pechorin went home through the lanes. He saw a pig, cut in half with a sword, lying on the ground. Eyewitnesses told him that one of their Cossacks, who likes to take a bottle, is “strange” in this way.
In the morning Pechorin was awakened by the officers and told him that Vulich had been hacked to death at night by this very drunken Cossack. Pechorin felt uneasy, but he also wanted to try his luck. Together with other officers, he went to catch the Cossack.

Meanwhile, the Cossack, having sobered up and realizing what he had done, was not going to surrender to the mercy of the officers. He locked himself in his hut and threatens to kill anyone who gets there. Taking a mortal risk, Pechorin volunteered to punish the brawler. He climbed through the window into his hut, but remained alive. The officers who came to the rescue tied up the Cossack.

After such an incident, Pechorin was to become a fatalist. However, he did not rush to conclusions, believing that everything in life is not as simple as it seems from the outside.

And the kindest Maxim Maksimych, to whom he retold this story, noticed that pistols often misfire, and what is written for someone will be. The elderly staff captain also did not want to become a fatalist.

This is where the novel ends. When reading a brief retelling of A Hero of Our Time, do not forget that the work itself is much more interesting than the story of its main episodes. Therefore, read this famous work by M. Yu. Lermontov and enjoy what you read!

Conclusion

Lermontov's work "A Hero of Our Time" has remained relevant for readers for almost two hundred years. And this is not surprising, because the work touches upon the most important life problems of human existence on earth: love, the destiny of the individual, fate, passion and faith in higher powers. This work will not leave anyone indifferent, which is why it is included in the treasury of classical works of Russian literature.

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"A Hero of Our Time", a summary of the chapters.

I. Bela.
The author, who narrates in the first person, has been serving in the Caucasus for a year, while climbing the Koishaur mountain, met a staff captain who had been in the Caucasus for a long time. Having risen to the top, the travelers had to huddle in a sakla, sheltering from a heavy snowfall, where Maxim Maksimych, that was the name of the new acquaintance of the author, began to tell him a story.
One day, in the fortress on the Terek, where he commanded a company, a young officer called himself Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, who seemed somewhat strange, but, apparently, a wealthy man, appeared. Once, the local prince invited them to the wedding of his eldest daughter, where Pechorin immediately took a liking to the slender, black-eyed Princess Bela, the youngest daughter. The experienced look of Maxim Maksimych noticed that another person paid attention to the princess. His name was Kazbich. He was a very brave and dexterous man, but with a not very good reputation.
At night, Maxim Maksimych became an unwitting witness to a conversation between Kazbich and the prince's son Azamat. The prince fervently begged the abrek to give up his horse, which he liked very much. Azamat went so far as to offer his sister Bela for a horse, promising to steal her for Kazbich, but was refused. Already in the fortress, Maxim Maksimych recounted to Pechorin the entire conversation that Azamat had heard with Kazbich, not suspecting what consequences this would lead to.
Azamat often visited the fortress. As usual, Pechorin, treating him, started, among other things, a conversation about Kazbich's horse, praising him in every possible way. Finally, Pechorin proposed to him. He, undertaking to get Kazbich's horse, demanded from Azamat to steal and bring his sister, Bela, to him. In the evening, taking advantage of the prince's absence, Azamat brought Bela to the fortress.
The next morning, Kazbich, having tied his horse to the fence, went to Maxim Maksimych. Taking advantage of this, Azamat untied the horse and jumped on it at full speed and rushed away. Kazbich jumped out to the noise, fired from a gun, but missed, his despair knew no bounds. Azamat has not been seen since.
Maxim Maksimych, having found out where Bela was, went to Pechorin, intending to demand from him the return of the girl to her father. But the ensign's arguments and his attitude towards the beautiful Circassian stopped these intentions. There was even a bet between the officers. Pechorin claimed that in a week Bela would belong to him. And I must say, resorting to various tricks, he succeeded. At the end of the story, Maxim Maksimych told that Kazbich, suspecting Azamat's father of complicity in the kidnapping of the horse, tracked down and killed the prince.
The next day, Maxim Maksimych, at the author's request, continued the story he had begun the previous evening. He told how he got used to Bela, how she got prettier and blossomed, how he and Pechorin spoiled the girl. But after a few months, the captain noticed a change in the mood of the young man. In a frank conversation between them, Pechorin said that in his short life he often experienced all her joys, from which, in the end, he always became bored. He hoped that everything would be different with Bela, but he was mistaken, boredom overtook him again.
And soon a tragic event happened. Returning from the hunt, Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin saw Kazbich rushing from the fortress, on a dashing horse, with a woman in his arms. It was Bela. Having overtaken him, Pechorin fired, wounding the horse. The Circassian jumped off and put a dagger to the girl. The captain's shot wounded him, but he managed to deliver a treacherous blow to the princess in the back. To the common grief, Bela, suffering for two days, died. Pechorin, although he did not show his emotions, however, haggard and lost weight. And soon he was transferred to another regiment. With this he ended his story.
The next day, the author and the staff captain parted, not hoping for a new meeting, but everything turned out quite differently.

II. Maksim Maksimych.
Continuing on his way and reaching Vladikavkaz, the author stopped at a hotel, waiting for a military escort team. To his joy, a day later Maxim Maksimych arrived there, accepting the offer to settle in one room. And in the evening, an empty dandy carriage drove into the courtyard of the hotel. Upon learning that the crew belonged to Pechorin, the overjoyed staff captain began to look forward to his arrival. But Pechorin appeared only in the morning. Maxim Maksimych was at that time with the commandant, and therefore the author, having sent to notify him of the arrival of Grigory Alexandrovich, watched the hero of the story, noting that Pechorin was good-looking and should have liked society ladies.
Maxim Maksimych appeared when Pechorin was ready to get into the carriage. The staff captain rushed to his old acquaintance with open arms, but Grigory Alexandrovich reacted coolly to this expression of feelings, explaining everything with his usual boredom. On the offer to dine, Pechorin excused himself that he was in a hurry, heading to Persia. Maxim Maksimych was very upset, he did not expect such a meeting. He still had, from the time of joint service in the fortress, Pechorin's papers and he asked what to do with them, Grigory Alexandrovich, answering that he did not need them, set off, leaving the old campaigner with tears in his eyes.
The author, who witnessed this scene, asked to give him Pechorin's papers. Maksim Maksimych, without moving away from resentment, took out a dozen notebooks with notes and gave them away, allowing him to do whatever he liked with them. And after a few hours, they, quite dryly saying goodbye, parted. The author had to continue on his way.

Pechorin's journal.
In the preface, the author talks about the news of the death of Pechorin, who was returning from Persia. This event gave the right to publish his notes. The author, having changed his own names in them, chose only those events that are associated with the stay of the deceased in the Caucasus.

I. Taman.
Starting his notes about Taman, Pechorin does not speak very flatteringly about this town. Arriving there at night, it was only in the evening that he was able to find shelter in a hut on the seashore. There he was met by a blind boy who seemed very strange to Pechorin. At night, Pechorin decided to follow him. Having taken cover, he heard a woman's voice talking to the boy, they were waiting for the boat. Pechorin, before returning to the hut, managed to notice how a man jumped out of a boat that had landed on the shore, he was called Yanko. He unloaded large sacks and the three heavy-bearing figures disappeared into the mist.
The next day the officer decided to inquire about the events of the night. But all the inquiries of the old woman and the little boy led nowhere. Coming out of the shack, he suddenly heard a female voice singing a song, and then the girl herself. He realized that this was the same voice that he had already heard at night. Several times she ran past the officer, looking into his eyes. Toward evening, he decided to stop and ask her about the events of the previous night, even threatening her with the commandant, but also received no answer.
And when it got dark, she herself came to the officer. Giving him a kiss, the girl said that she was waiting for him on the shore at night. At the appointed time, Pechorin went to the sea. Here, the girl who was waiting for him invited him to the boat. Having sailed away from the shore, she, embracing the officer, began to declare her love to him. Pechorin felt something was wrong when, upon hearing a splash, he discovered the absence of a pistol in his belt. He began to push her away from him, but she clung tightly, trying to push him off the boat. In the ensuing struggle, Pechorin nevertheless managed to throw her into the water.
Having moored to the pier and making his way to the hut, he found the escaped girl. Hiding, Pechorin continued to observe. Soon Yanko moored to the shore. The girl told him that they were in danger. Immediately a blind boy came up, with a sack on his back. The bag was placed in the boat, the girl jumped in there and throwing a couple of coins to the blind man, Yanko and his companion sailed away from the shore. Pechorin guessed that he was dealing with ordinary smugglers.
Returning home, he discovered the loss of all his valuables, now it became obvious to him that the blind man brought to the boat. In the morning, considering it ridiculous to complain to the commandant that he was almost drowned by a girl and robbed by a blind boy, Pechorin left Taman.

II. Princess Mary.
May 11th.
Having arrived the day before in Pyatigorsk, Pechorin, on a walk I met an old acquaintance, the cadet Grushnitsky, who was on the waters after being wounded. At that moment, Princess Ligovskaya passed by with her daughter, Princess Mary, who seemed quite attractive to Pechorin and, apparently, Grushnitsky, being familiar with her, also showed interest in her. During the day, the officers saw the princess a couple more times, trying to attract attention, Grushnitsky was especially zealous.
may 13.
In the morning, an old friend, Dr. Werner, came to Pechorin. He said that Princess Ligovskaya was interested in the officer. She heard about Pechorin back in Petersburg and told a somewhat embellished story about his adventures, arousing keen interest in the princess. Pechorin asked Werner to describe in general terms the princess and her daughter, and also whom he met with them today. Among the guests, it turns out there was a lady who, according to the description, seemed very familiar to the officer.
Well, in the evening, having gone for a walk, Pechorin shone with his wit, having gathered a circle of young people around him, and was noticed by the princess, who tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her indifference. He also noticed Grushnitsky, who did not take his eyes off the princess.
16th of May.
During the last two days, Pechorin also met the princess in various places, attracting the company that accompanied her to him, but never getting to know the princess herself. Grushnitsky, obviously in love with Princess Mary, told Pechorin about her unflattering opinion of him. In response, Grigory Alexandrovich recommended that the cadet also not flatter himself about the princess.
In the afternoon, while walking, he met the lady of whom Werner spoke. It really turned out to be his friend from St. Petersburg, Vera. She came with her elderly husband for treatment, but her feelings for Pechorin, as it turned out, had not yet cooled down.
And then, going on a horse ride, he met Grushnitsky and Princess Mary, again leaving a not the best impression of himself, which the cadet did not fail to notice Pechorin. He, in turn, replied that, if desired, he could easily change her opinion of himself.
May 21st.
All these days Grushnitsky does not leave the princess.
22nd of May.
Pechorin at a ball in the Noble Assembly. Here, for the first time, he has the opportunity to communicate with the charming Princess Mary, inviting her to dance. Here he managed to immediately prove himself, having driven off one drunken gentleman from the princess, who persistently invited Mary to dance. The grateful princess asked Pechorin to visit her living room in the future.
May, 23rd.
On the Boulevard, Pechorin met Grushnitsky, who expressed gratitude for yesterday's act at the ball, and in the evening both went to the Ligovskys, where Grigory Alexandrovich introduced himself to the princess. Princess Mary sang, causing enthusiastic responses from everyone. Everyone except Pechorin, who listened to her absently, besides, he often talked with Vera, who poured out her feelings to him, and it did not escape his gaze that the princess was very upset.
May 29.
These days, Pechorin, talking with the princess several times, when Grushnitsky appeared, left them alone. This did not please Mary, and in general the junker's company clearly weighed on the princess, although she tried to hide it.
June 3rd.
Pechorin's thoughts about the princess were interrupted by the arrival of Grushnitsky, who was promoted to officer, but the uniform, who did not want to show himself to the princess, was not yet ready.
June 4th.
Pechorin saw Vera. She is jealous, because the princess began to pour out her soul to her.
Grushnitsky also ran. The next day his uniform should be ready, and he was already looking forward to the moment when he could dance with the princess at the ball.
June 5th
At the ball, Grushnitsky appeared in a brand new uniform. He did not leave the princess, either dancing with her, or boring her with his reproaches and requests. Pechorin, who was watching all this, bluntly told Grushnitsky that the princess was clearly burdened by his company, causing even more irritation in the newly-made officer. Escorting Mary to the carriage and returning to the hall, Pechorin noticed that Grushnitsky had already managed to turn those present, and most of all the dragoon captain, against him. Nothing, Grigory Alexandrovich is ready to accept this circumstance, he is on his guard.
June 6th
In the morning Pechorin met the carriage. Vera and her husband went to Kislovodsk.
After spending an hour with the princess, he never saw the princess, she was sick.
June 7th.
Taking advantage of the absence of the princess, Pechorin had an explanation with Mary. And in the evening, Dr. Werner, who came to visit him, said that a rumor had spread in the city about Pechorin's allegedly impending marriage to the princess. This is clearly the machinations of Grushnitsky.
June 10th.
Pechorin has been in Kislovodsk for a couple of days now. Beautiful nature, meetings with Vera.
Yesterday Grushnitsky arrived with a company, with Pechorin it was very tense.
June 11.
The Ligovskys have arrived. Pechorin is invited to dinner with them. Reflections on female logic.
12 June.
During an evening horseback ride, Pechorin, helping the tired princess, allowed himself to hug and kiss the princess. Mary demanded an explanation, but the officer preferred to remain silent.
And later, Pechorin became an accidental witness of Grushnitsky's feast with the company, where he heard a lot of obscene things about himself. The dragoon captain was especially zealous. Assuring everyone of Pechorin's cowardice, he offered to arrange a duel between the latter and Grushnitsky, without loading his pistols.
The next morning, on a walk, again an explanation with the princess. Pechorin admitted that he did not love her.
June 14th.
Reflections on marriage and freedom.
June 15th.
In the Noble Assembly performance of a famous magician. Pechorin receives a note from Vera, who lived in the same house with the princess, an invitation to a meeting late in the evening. Her husband has left, all the servants have been sent to the performance. At night, leaving the house of rendezvous, Pechorin was almost caught by the dragoon captain and Grushnitsky, who were guarding under the house.
June 16th.
Having breakfast in a restaurant, Pechorin becomes a witness to a conversation in which Grushnitsky told his company about the night incident and called him the culprit of the incident. Grigory Alexandrovich demanded to take back his words - refusal. It's decided. Pechorin announces to the dragoon captain, who volunteered to be Grushnitsky's second, that he will send his own to him.
Dr. Werner became the second. Returning after completing his mission, he spoke about a conversation he accidentally overheard from Grushnitsky. The dragoon captain planned to load only one pistol, Grushnitsky's pistol.
The night before the fight. Insomnia, thoughts about life.
Arriving with Werner at the place of the duel, they saw Grushnitsky with two seconds. The doctor offered to solve everything in peace. Pechorin was ready, but with the condition that Grushnitsky renounces his words. Refusal. Then Grigory Alexandrovich set the condition that the duel should remain a secret, shoot on the edge of the abyss, even a slightly wounded one would be smashed against the rocks and this could hide the cause of death. The captain agreed. Grushnitsky, who constantly whispered about something with the captain, did not hide the internal struggle that was happening to him, in fact, he would have to shoot at an unarmed person.
But the die is cast. Grushnitsky shoots first. Pechorin rejects the doctor's offer to open up to his opponents, which he knows about their vile plan. A shot with a trembling hand, the bullet only scratched Pechorin's knee. He asked Grushnitsky if he was taking back his words. Refusal. Then Pechorin asks to charge his pistol. The captain violently protests until Grushnitsky himself admits the correctness of his opponent.
Pechorin, having satisfied his pride, once again offers to abandon slander. But Grushnitsky is adamant, the two of them have no place in this world.
A shot was fired and no one was there. Bowing and casting a glance at the body of his opponent lying below, Pechorin withdrew.
Burdened with painful thoughts, he only returned home in the evening, where two notes were waiting for him. In the first, Werner reported that no one in the city had any suspicions. In the second, Vera, having learned about the quarrel with Grushnitsky from her husband and not believing in the death of Pechorin, said goodbye forever and swore eternal love. She revealed herself to her husband and was forced to hastily drive off. Jumping into the saddle, Pechorin rushed along the road to Pyatigorsk. But alas, having driven the horse, he resigned himself to the lost happiness.
Returning back, he received an order to go to a new duty station. Apparently, the authorities became aware of something about the incident.
Pechorin went to the princess to say goodbye. She, despite recent events and his situation, was ready, for the sake of her daughter, to give consent to their marriage. But Pechorin expressed a desire to talk with the princess. In a conversation with Mary, he admitted that he had laughed at her, that he could not marry, and in general deserved all contempt.
Bowing, Pechorin left Kislovodsk.

Fatalist.
Living for some time in the Cossack village, Pechorin, along with the rest of the officers, spent the evenings playing cards and interesting conversations.
Once a brave officer, but a passionate gambler, a Serb, lieutenant Vulich, approached the officer's table. He proposed a bet that resonated with Pechorin. Serb, decided to play with life and cheat death, Grigory Aleksandrovich had a different opinion. Having removed the first pistol that came across from the wall, having accepted the stakes, Vulich put the weapon to his forehead. The ace flies up, the shot... a misfire and a general sigh of relief. The Serb again cocks the trigger and aims the weapon at the hanging cap. A shot and a cap pierced by a bullet. General amazement, and Vulich, Pechorin's gold coins.
Pechorin, reflecting on life, returned home. In the morning, several officers came to him with the news that Vulich had been killed. Having dressed, Pechorin learned the details on the way.
Leaving the officers, the Serb, returning home, called out to a drunken Cossack and received a fatal blow with a saber. Having committed the crime, the Cossack locked himself in the hut, where Pechorin went with the officers. No persuasion worked, the killer was not going to lay down his arms. And then Pechorin also decided to try his luck. Throwing himself through the window into the hut, he was a centimeter away from death, the bullet tore off the epaulette. But this allowed others to break into the hut and neutralize the Cossack.
Returning to the fortress, Pechorin told this story to Maxim Maksimych, wanting to know his opinion. But he turned out to be far from metaphysics.

) - "from the outside", through the eyes of strangers. The other three are based on his diaries, representing an "inside" view of himself.

"Bela"

An unnamed Russian traveler travels through the Caucasus. On the way through the mountains, he meets an elderly staff captain Maxim Maksimych (see Obraz Maksim Maksimych, Pechorin and Maksim Maksimych), formerly the head of a fortress in Chechnya. The story of Maxim Maksimych about a strange incident from his life there is the plot of Bela.

An officer of about 25 years old, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, comes to serve in the fortress, a man of a strange, closed, but firm and strong character. He often gives himself up to inactive boredom, but sometimes he lights up with great energy and will.

Once, at a wedding at one of the surrounding mountain princes, the youngest daughter of the owner, Bela, sings something like a compliment to Pechorin. Pechorin likes this beauty. Soon he learns that her dissolute brother Azamat is eager to get the beautiful horse of the horseman Kazbich (see Characterization of Kazbich with quotes). For this horse, Azamat is ready to steal from his father's house and give it to Bel.

Lermontov. Hero of our time. Bela, Maxim Maksimych, Taman. Feature Film

Pechorin enters into a deal with Azamat. He helps steal Kazbich's horse when he brings sheep to the Russian fortress for sale. In return, Azamat brings Pechorin a sister stolen with his own hands.

Pechorin is about to leave, and not remembering Maxim Maksimych. However, he suddenly returns and runs as fast as he can to hug an old comrade. Pechorin, in response, only gives the captain a hand - friendly, but rather cold. Briefly saying that he was going to Persia, he got into the carriage.

Maxim Maksimych is shocked by such indifference. He tries to detain Pechorin, but he gives the coachman a sign to leave. The old man reminds: “Yes, I have your notes. What to do with them? Throwing: "What do you want" - Pechorin leaves.

The companion Maxim Maksimych, who became interested in Pechorin, asks the old man to give him the notes of this incomprehensible person. Learning soon that Pechorin died during a trip to Persia, he decides to publish them. From the diaries of Pechorin, the last three parts of the "Hero of Our Time" are compiled. The publisher says that he was particularly struck by "with what merciless sincerity the author exposes his own weaknesses and vices in them."

In the morning the old mistress of the hut comes. Pechorin laughingly asks the blind boy, "Where did he go at night"? Soon the girl he saw at the pier appears. This mermaid-like beauty begins playfully flirting with Pechorin.

Trying to intrigue the beautiful stranger, Pechorin hints to her that he can inform the commandant about what happened at night on the shore. The girl just laughs in response. A little later, she comes to Pechorin's room, unexpectedly kisses him, invites him to the shore when it gets dark, and quickly slips away.

With the onset of darkness, Pechorin meets with a "mermaid" by the sea. She takes him on a boat ride. Having sailed out to sea, the girl first beckons Pechorin with caresses, and then tries to throw her overboard and drown - thinking that way to get rid of the scammer.

After a desperate struggle, Pechorin himself pushes her off the boat into the water. He rows to the pier and after a while he sees a surviving “mermaid” on the shore from afar. The boat with Yanko reappears, and the blind man arrives. Fearing arrest, Yanko and the girl decide to swim away from here. The blind man asks to sail with them, but they drive him away.

This case causes painful reflections in Pechorin. Unwittingly, he destroyed someone else's existence. It is not known what fate now awaits the old woman and the boy. “Why did fate throw me to them? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness and, like a stone, I almost sank myself!” Pechorin will have to play a similar role more than once.

Pechorin comes to rest in Pyatigorsk. Here the familiar Junker Grushnitsky tells him about the guests from Moscow - Princess Ligovskaya and her daughter, the young beauty Mary. Close-minded, prone to feigned, theatrical gestures and feelings, Grushnitsky begins to ardently court Mary. Partly out of boredom, partly in defiance of Grushnitsky, and partly out of real sympathy for the charming princess, Pechorin is drawn into the same game.

Knowing from experience all the secret strings of the female soul, he seduces Mary very skillfully. At first, Pechorin irritates her with a number of defiant, mocking antics. However, the hostility generated by them makes the princess pay close attention to the impudent gentleman. Having inflamed Mary's interest to passion, Pechorin gradually exposes himself in her eyes as an unfortunate victim of human malice and envy, which perverted the good inclinations of his soul. Mary is imbued with compassion for him. It turns into passionate love.

At first, Mary shows favor to Grushnitsky, but then she rejects this empty dandy for the sake of the strong-willed and intelligent Pechorin. Grushnitsky decides to take revenge. A series of minor skirmishes eventually culminates in a duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky. On the advice of one insidious dragoon captain, Grushnitsky agrees to low meanness: during the duel, only his pistol will be loaded, and the enemy’s weapon will remain without a bullet. Pechorin learns about this plan, thwarts it and kills Grushnitsky in a duel. (See the full text of the excerpt "The Duel of Pechorin and Grushnitsky", Pechorin's monologue before the duel.)

Lermontov. Princess Mary. Feature film, 1955

Mary confesses her love to Pechorin. He himself already feels a strong attachment to an outstanding girl, but this growing feeling only pushes him to part with her. Pechorin loves a free, stormy and dangerous life too much. The quiet joys of marriage do not beckon him, the specter of a possible marriage always prompts him to give up another passion. Mary is shocked by Pechorin's words that he does not love her and previously only laughed at her. At the final explanation, Pechorin barely restrains himself so as not to throw himself at the feet of the princess, but his proud, freedom-loving nature takes over his heart impulse. (See Pechorin and Princess Mary's last conversation.)

Illustration for M. Yu. Lermontov's story "The Fatalist". Artist V. Polyakov

Pechorin loses the bet, but cannot get rid of the belief that the sign of death is visible on the lieutenant's face. The officers disperse. On the way home, Pechorin is overtaken by two Cossacks, telling: one of their violent comrades got very drunk and just ran out into the street, waving his saber.

As soon as Pechorin comes home, they come running to him with the story that Vulich has been killed. The same drunken Cossack stumbled upon him along the street and hacked him with a saber. Before his death, the lieutenant managed to say: “He is right!”, Obviously referring to the prediction of an imminent death, heard from Pechorin.

The criminal is surrounded in an empty hut. He does not want to give up and threatens to kill anyone who tries to enter him. Pechorin also decides to try his fate. Having broken the window, he jumps into the hut to the killer. He shoots at him, knocking down the epaulette but not wounding him. Pechorin grabs the Cossack by the hands, and others burst in through the door and knit the criminal.

“After all this, how can one not become a fatalist, it seems?” However, Pechorin’s dry skeptical mind is still not inclined to blindly believe in rock, because “often we take a deceit of feelings or a mistake of reason for conviction! ..”