A lonely man, at a certain stage in his life, sorts out his archive. He finds in it a small box in which the cross is kept. Dmitry Pavlovich Sanin is visited by memories. He recalls the events of his distant youth, when he loved and was loved as a young man, made promises and vows. He did not complete any of them. His insecurity and fear of change in life made many people unhappy.
The work shows all human qualities and vices from which many suffer, and indecision makes loving people unhappy.
Read the summary Turgenev's Spring Waters
Having lived half his life in peace and relative prosperity, Dmitry Pavlovich Sanin, one day, wanting to distract himself from the sad thoughts that more and more often visit his lonely life, sorts out papers. A lot of them have accumulated, and among them he finds a small box in which lies a cross. He recalls a sad story that happened in his younger years when he was traveling in Germany.
Once in Frankfurt, he walked along the old streets and stumbled upon Roselli's Italian Confectionery. He entered her. A young girl immediately rushed to him and, crying, began to convince him to help her brother, who suddenly lost consciousness. Dimitri succeeds. The boy comes to his senses and at the same time his mother and the girl's mother appear with the doctor. In gratitude for their help, they invite Sanin to have dinner with them.
He agreed and stayed so long that he was late for his stagecoach. Since, in connection with these events, he had little money left, and Dmitry was forced to ask his German friend to borrow him. While waiting for help, Sanin lived in a hotel, where he was visited by Gemma, the sister of the unconscious Emil, with her fiancé Karl. He invited Dmitry Pavlovich to visit Soden with them. During the walk, the young man did not take his eyes off the young beauty Roselli.
The next day they walked, and later went to one of the taverns in the city. The girl wished to dine not in a separate office, but on a common veranda, where there were many people, including a group of drunken officers. One of them raised his glass and toasted Gemma, and then came over and took the rose from her plate. This surprised everyone and greatly offended the girl. But her fiancé did not stand up for her, he pretended that nothing had happened. Dmitry Sanin approached the officer and challenged him to a duel. After the rest of the day he spent with Gemma, and at the end of it she gave him a rose taken from the military. The young man realized that he fell in love.
The next day he fought a duel, and the offender of the young maiden shot upwards, as if admitting his guilt. Gemma Roselli announces her desire to break off the engagement, and Louise, the girl's mother, asks Sanin to act on her, since the material well-being of her family depends on it. But Gemma refuses. The girl's parents resign themselves that she loves Dmitry, having learned that he has the means.
On the street, Sanin meets his friend Polozov, who convinces him to go with him to Wiesbaden, where his wife Maria Nikolaevna is being treated. It was a very beautiful young woman. She is very interested in Dimitri, and he cannot resist her charms. He did not know that he had been betted on. And, although Polozov is sure that Sanin is very in love with Gemma, he loses the bet: after three days, Dmitry is already completely under the control of Maria Nikolaevna.
Dmitry Pavlovich suffers for a long time, but, in the end, he confesses to Gemma in treason. This weak and weak-willed person destroys both himself and his beloved girl.
After the conversation, he goes on a journey with the Polozovs. Mary already commands and pushes them around. And after a while, Dmitry Pavlovich finds out that Gemma got married and left with her husband for America. He writes to her and receives a thank you reply that he has called off the engagement. In it, she says that she is happy, has five children, her brother died in the war, mother and servant Pantaleone died and sends him a photograph of her daughter. In response, Sanin sends the girl a pomegranate cross.
So, like spring waters, human life rushed by, leaving behind lost opportunities and dreams. So the soft-bodied Sanin misses his happiness, which many years ago was in front of him, and with his indecision he destroys the dreams of others around him.
Picture or drawing Spring waters
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Very briefly An aging lonely landowner recalls how in his youth, traveling around Europe, he fell in love with a beautiful Italian woman, wanted to marry her, but was seduced by a rich married lady and lost his beloved.
He returned home at two o'clock in the morning tired and full of disgust for life. He was in his 52nd year, and he perceived his life as a calm, smooth sea, in the depths of which monsters lurked: "all worldly ailments, illnesses, sorrows, madness, poverty, blindness." Every minute he waited for one of them to turn over his fragile boat. The life of this rich but very lonely man was empty, worthless and disgusting. To distract from these thoughts, he began to sort through old papers, yellowed love letters and found among them a small octagonal box in which a small pomegranate cross was kept. He reminded Dmitry Pavlovich Sanin of the past.
In the summer of 1840, when Sanin was 22, he traveled around Europe, squandering a small inheritance from a distant relative. Returning home, he stopped in Frankfurt. The stagecoach departed for Berlin late, and Sanin decided to take a walk around the city. Finding himself on a small street, Dmitry went to the Giovanni Roselli Italian Confectionery to drink a glass of lemonade. No sooner had he entered the hall than a girl ran out of the next room and began to beg Sanin for help. It turned out that the girl's younger brother, a boy of fourteen named Emil, lost consciousness. Only the old servant Pantaleone was at home, and the girl was in a panic.
Sanin rubbed the boy with brushes, and he, to the joy of his sister, came to his senses. Saving Emil, Dmitry looked at the girl, marveling at her amazing classical beauty. At this time, a lady entered the room, accompanied by a doctor, for whom a maid was sent for. The lady was the mother of Emilio and the girl. She was so happy about the rescue of her son that she invited Sanin to dinner.
In the evening, Dmitry was greeted as a hero and savior. He learned that the mother of the family was called Leonora Roselli. Twenty years ago, she and her husband, Giovanni Battista Roselli, left Italy to open a patisserie in Frankfurt. The beauty's name was Gemma. And their faithful servant Pantaleone, a funny little old man, was an operatic tenor in the past. Another full member of the family was the poodle Tartaglia. To his dismay, Sanin learned that Gemma was engaged to Mr. Karl Klüber, head of a department in one of the large stores.
Sanin stayed with them until late and missed the stagecoach. He had little money left, and he asked for a loan from his Berlin friend. While waiting for a response letter, Dmitry was forced to stay in the city for several days. In the morning Emil visited Sanin, accompanied by Karl Klüber. This prominent and tall young man, impeccable, handsome and pleasant in every respect, thanked Dmitry on behalf of his bride, invited him to a pleasure walk in Soden and left. Emil asked permission to stay and soon became friends with Sanin.
Dmitry spent the whole day at Roselli's, admiring the beauty of Gemma, and even managed to work as a salesman in a pastry shop. Sanin went to the hotel late in the evening, taking with him "the image of a young girl, now laughing, now thoughtful, now calm and even indifferent, but always attractive."
A few words should also be said about Sanya. He was a handsome and slender young man with slightly blurry features, blue eyes and golden hair, the offspring of a sedate noble family. Dmitry combined freshness, health and an infinitely gentle character.
In the morning there was a walk to Soden - a small picturesque town half an hour from Frankfurt, organized by Herr Klüber with true German pedantry. We dined at the best tavern in Soden. Gemma was bored with the walk. To unwind, she wanted to dine not in a secluded gazebo, which her pedantic fiancé had already ordered, but on a common terrace. A company of officers from the Mainz garrison was dining at the next table. One of them, being very drunk, approached Gemma, "slapped a glass" for her health and cheekily grabbed a rose lying near her plate.
This act offended the girl. Instead of interceding for the bride, Herr Kluber hastily paid and, loudly indignant, took her to the hotel. Sanin approached the officer, called him impudent, took away the rose and asked for a duel. Emil admired Dmitry's act, and Klyuber pretended not to notice anything. All the way back, Gemma listened to the self-confident ranting of the groom and in the end began to be ashamed of him.
The next morning Sanin was visited by the second of Baron von Donhof. Dmitry had no acquaintances in Frankfurt, and he had to invite Pantaleone as his seconds. He took up his duties with extraordinary zeal and destroyed in the bud all attempts to reconcile. It was decided to shoot with pistols from twenty paces.
Sanin spent the rest of the day at Gemma's. Late in the evening, when Dmitry was leaving the candy store, Gemma called him to the window and presented him with the same, already withered, rose. She awkwardly leaned over and leaned on Sanin's shoulders. At that moment, a hot whirlwind swept through the street, “like a flock of huge birds,” and the young man realized that he was in love.
The duel took place at ten o'clock in the morning. Baron von Donhof deliberately fired to the side, pleading guilty. The duelists shook hands and parted, but Sanin was ashamed for a long time - everything turned out very childishly. At the hotel, it turned out that Pantaleone had blabbed about the duel to Gemma.
In the afternoon, Sanina visited Frau Leone. Gemma wanted to break off the engagement, although the Roselli family was practically ruined, and only this marriage could save her. Frau Leone asked Dmitry to influence Gemma and persuade her not to refuse the groom. Sanin agreed, and even tried to talk to the girl, but persuasion backfired - Dmitry finally fell in love and realized that Gemma also loves him. After a secret meeting in the city garden and mutual confessions, he had no choice but to propose to her.
Frau Leone greeted this news with tears, but after asking the new fiancé about his financial situation, she calmed down and reconciled herself. Sanin owned a small estate in the Tula province, which he had to urgently sell in order to invest in a confectionery. Dmitry already wanted to go to Russia, when he suddenly met his former classmate on the street. This fat fellow named Ippolit Sidorych Polozov was married to a very beautiful and rich woman from the merchant class. Sanin approached him with a request to buy the estate. Polozov replied that his wife was in charge of all financial matters, and offered to take Sanin to her.
Saying goodbye to the bride, Dmitry went to Wiesbaden, where Mrs. Polozova was treated with waters. Marya Nikolaevna really turned out to be a beauty with heavy blond hair and somewhat vulgar features. She immediately began courting Sanin. It turned out that Polozov was a "convenient husband" who did not interfere in his wife's affairs and gave her complete freedom. They had no children, and all Polozov's interests converged on tasty, plentiful food and a luxurious life.
The couple made a bet. Ippolit Sidorych was sure that this time his wife would not achieve her goal - Sanin was very much in love. Unfortunately, Polozov lost, although his wife had to work hard. During the numerous dinners, walks and visits to the theater that Mrs. Polozova arranged for Sanin, he met von Donhof, the previous lover of the hostess. Dmitry cheated on his fiancee three days after arriving in Wiesbaden on a horseback ride arranged by Marya Nikolaevna.
Sanin had the conscience to confess to Gemma that he had been unfaithful. After that, he completely submitted to Polozova, became her slave and followed her until she drank him dry and threw him away like old rags. In memory of Gemma, Sanin had only a cross. He still did not understand why he left the girl, "so tenderly and passionately loved by him, for a woman whom he did not love at all."
After an evening of reminiscences, Sanin packed up and set off for Frankfurt in the middle of winter. He wanted to find Gemma and ask for forgiveness, but he could not even find the street where the candy store stood thirty years ago. In the Frankfurt address book, he came across the name of Major von Donhof. He told Sanin that Gemma was married and gave her address in New York. Dmitry sent her a letter and received a response. Gemma wrote that she was very happily married and grateful to Sanin for upsetting her first engagement. She gave birth to five children. Pantaleone and Frau Leone died, and Emilio died fighting for Garibaldi. The letter contained a photograph of Gemma's daughter, who looked very much like her mother. The girl was engaged. Sanin sent her "a pomegranate cross dressed in a magnificent pearl necklace" as a gift, and then he himself was planning to go to America.
He returned home at two o'clock in the morning tired and full of disgust for life. He was in his 52nd year, and he perceived his life as a calm, smooth sea, in the depths of which monsters lurked: "all worldly ailments, illnesses, sorrows, madness, poverty, blindness." Every minute he waited for one of them to turn over his fragile boat. The life of this rich but very lonely man was empty, worthless and disgusting. To distract from these thoughts, he began to sort through old papers, yellowed love letters and found among them a small octagonal box in which a small pomegranate cross was kept. He reminded Dmitry Pavlovich Sanin of the past.
In the summer of 1840, when Sanin was 22, he traveled around Europe, squandering a small inheritance from a distant relative. Returning home, he stopped in Frankfurt. The stagecoach departed for Berlin late, and Sanin decided to take a walk around the city. Finding himself on a small street, Dmitry went to the Giovanni Roselli Italian Confectionery to drink a glass of lemonade. No sooner had he entered the hall than a girl ran out of the next room and began to beg Sanin for help. It turned out that the girl's younger brother, a boy of fourteen named Emil, lost consciousness. Only the old servant Pantaleone was at home, and the girl was in a panic.
Sanin rubbed the boy with brushes, and he, to the joy of his sister, came to his senses. Saving Emil, Dmitry looked at the girl, marveling at her amazing classical beauty. At this time, a lady entered the room, accompanied by a doctor, for whom a maid was sent for. The lady was the mother of Emilio and the girl. She was so happy about the rescue of her son that she invited Sanin to dinner.
In the evening, Dmitry was greeted as a hero and savior. He learned that the mother of the family was called Leonora Roselli. Twenty years ago, she and her husband, Giovanni Battista Roselli, left Italy to open a patisserie in Frankfurt. The beauty's name was Gemma. And their faithful servant Pantaleone, a funny little old man, was an operatic tenor in the past. Another full member of the family was the poodle Tartaglia. To his dismay, Sanin learned that Gemma was engaged to Mr. Karl Klüber, head of a department in one of the large stores.
Sanin stayed with them until late and missed the stagecoach. He had little money left, and he asked for a loan from his Berlin friend. While waiting for a response letter, Dmitry was forced to stay in the city for several days. In the morning Emil visited Sanin, accompanied by Karl Klüber. This prominent and tall young man, impeccable, handsome and pleasant in every respect, thanked Dmitry on behalf of his bride, invited him to a pleasure walk in Soden and left. Emil asked permission to stay and soon became friends with Sanin.
Dmitry spent the whole day at Roselli's, admiring the beauty of Gemma, and even managed to work as a salesman in a pastry shop. Sanin went to the hotel late in the evening, taking with him "the image of a young girl, now laughing, now thoughtful, now calm and even indifferent, but always attractive."
A few words should also be said about Sanya. He was a handsome and slender young man with slightly blurry features, blue eyes and golden hair, the offspring of a sedate noble family. Dmitry combined freshness, health and an infinitely gentle character.
In the morning there was a walk to Soden - a small picturesque town half an hour from Frankfurt, organized by Herr Klüber with true German pedantry. We dined at the best tavern in Soden. Gemma was bored with the walk. To unwind, she wanted to dine not in a secluded gazebo, which her pedantic fiancé had already ordered, but on a common terrace. A company of officers from the Mainz garrison was dining at the next table. One of them, being very drunk, approached Gemma, "slapped a glass" for her health and cheekily grabbed a rose lying near her plate.
This act offended the girl. Instead of interceding for the bride, Herr Kluber hastily paid and, loudly indignant, took her to the hotel. Sanin approached the officer, called him impudent, took away the rose and asked for a duel. Emil admired Dmitry's act, and Klyuber pretended not to notice anything. All the way back, Gemma listened to the self-confident ranting of the groom and in the end began to be ashamed of him.
The next morning Sanin was visited by the second of Baron von Donhof. Dmitry had no acquaintances in Frankfurt, and he had to invite Pantaleone as his seconds. He took up his duties with extraordinary zeal and destroyed in the bud all attempts to reconcile. It was decided to shoot with pistols from twenty paces.
Sanin spent the rest of the day at Gemma's. Late in the evening, when Dmitry was leaving the candy store, Gemma called him to the window and presented him with the same, already withered, rose. She awkwardly leaned over and leaned on Sanin's shoulders. At that moment, a hot whirlwind swept through the street, “like a flock of huge birds,” and the young man realized that he was in love.
The duel took place at ten o'clock in the morning. Baron von Donhof deliberately fired to the side, pleading guilty. The duelists shook hands and parted, but Sanin was ashamed for a long time - everything turned out very childishly. At the hotel, it turned out that Pantaleone had blabbed about the duel to Gemma.
In the afternoon, Sanina visited Frau Leone. Gemma wanted to break off the engagement, although the Roselli family was practically ruined, and only this marriage could save her. Frau Leone asked Dmitry to influence Gemma and persuade her not to refuse the groom. Sanin agreed, and even tried to talk to the girl, but persuasion backfired - Dmitry finally fell in love and realized that Gemma also loves him. After a secret meeting in the city garden and mutual confessions, he had no choice but to propose to her.
Frau Leone greeted this news with tears, but after asking the new fiancé about his financial situation, she calmed down and reconciled herself. Sanin owned a small estate in the Tula province, which he had to urgently sell in order to invest in a confectionery. Dmitry already wanted to go to Russia, when he suddenly met his former classmate on the street. This fat fellow named Ippolit Sidorych Polozov was married to a very beautiful and rich woman from the merchant class. Sanin approached him with a request to buy the estate. Polozov replied that his wife was in charge of all financial matters, and offered to take Sanin to her.
Saying goodbye to the bride, Dmitry went to Wiesbaden, where Mrs. Polozova was treated with waters. Marya Nikolaevna really turned out to be a beauty with heavy blond hair and somewhat vulgar features. She immediately began courting Sanin. It turned out that Polozov was a "convenient husband" who did not interfere in his wife's affairs and gave her complete freedom. They had no children, and all Polozov's interests converged on tasty, plentiful food and a luxurious life.
The couple made a bet. Ippolit Sidorych was sure that this time his wife would not achieve her goal - Sanin was very much in love. Unfortunately, Polozov lost, although his wife had to work hard. During the numerous dinners, walks and visits to the theater that Mrs. Polozova arranged for Sanin, he met von Donhof, the previous lover of the hostess. Dmitry cheated on his fiancee three days after arriving in Wiesbaden on a horseback ride arranged by Marya Nikolaevna.
Sanin had the conscience to confess to Gemma that he had been unfaithful. After that, he completely submitted to Polozova, became her slave and followed her until she drank him dry and threw him away like old rags. In memory of Gemma, Sanin had only a cross. He still did not understand why he left the girl, "so tenderly and passionately loved by him, for a woman whom he did not love at all."
After an evening of reminiscences, Sanin packed up and set off for Frankfurt in the middle of winter. He wanted to find Gemma and ask for forgiveness, but he could not even find the street where the candy store stood thirty years ago. In the Frankfurt address book, he came across the name of Major von Donhof. He told Sanin that Gemma was married and gave her address in New York. Dmitry sent her a letter and received a response. Gemma wrote that she was very happily married and grateful to Sanin for upsetting her first engagement. She gave birth to five children. Pantaleone and Frau Leone died, and Emilio died fighting for Garibaldi. The letter contained a photograph of Gemma's daughter, who looked very much like her mother. The girl was engaged. Sanin sent her "a pomegranate cross dressed in a magnificent pearl necklace" as a gift, and then he himself was planning to go to America.
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happy years,
Happy Days -
Like spring waters
They raced!
From an old romance
At one o'clock in the morning he returned to his office. He sent out a servant who lit the candles, and throwing himself into an armchair near the fireplace, covered his face with both hands. Never before had he felt so tired, physically and mentally. He spent the whole evening with pleasant ladies, with educated men; some of the ladies were beautiful, almost all the men were distinguished by intelligence and talents - he himself spoke very successfully and even brilliantly ... and, with all that, never before that “taedium vitae”, which the Romans already spoke about, that “disgust for life” - with such irresistible force did not take possession of him, did not choke him. If he had been a little younger, he would have wept from anguish, from boredom, from irritation: caustic and burning bitterness, like the bitterness of wormwood, filled his whole soul. Something obnoxiously hateful, disgustingly heavy surrounded him on all sides, like a languid autumn night; and he did not know how to get rid of this darkness, this bitterness. There was no hope for sleep: he knew that he would not fall asleep.
He began to think... slowly, languidly and viciously.
He thought about the vanity, the uselessness, the vulgar falsity of everything human. All ages gradually passed before his mind's eye (he himself had recently passed the 52nd year) - and not a single one found mercy in front of him. Everywhere the same eternal pouring from empty to empty, the same pounding of water, the same half-conscientious, half-conscious self-delusion - no matter what the child amuses, if only he does not cry, and then suddenly, just like snow on his head, old age will come – and with it that ever-increasing, corroding and undermining fear of death… and bang into the abyss! It's good if life plays out like that! And then, perhaps, before the end, like rust on iron, infirmities, suffering ... Not covered with stormy waves, as the poets describe, he imagined the sea of \u200b\u200blife - no; he imagined this sea calmly smooth, motionless and transparent to the darkest bottom; he himself sits in a small, rolling boat - and there, on this dark, muddy bottom, like huge fish, ugly monsters are barely visible: all worldly ailments, illnesses, sorrows, madness, poverty, blindness ... He looks - and here is one of the monsters stands out from the darkness, rises higher and higher, becomes more and more distinct, all disgustingly more distinct. Another minute - and the boat propped up by him will capsize! But here it again seems to grow dim, it moves away, sinks to the bottom - and it lies there, slightly stirring the pool ... But the appointed day will come - and it will turn the boat over.
He shook his head, jumped up from his chair, walked about the room twice, sat down at the writing-table, and, pulling out one drawer after another, began to rummage through his papers, old letters, mostly from women. He himself did not know why he was doing this, he was not looking for anything - he simply wanted to get rid of the thoughts that tormented him by some external occupation. Having unrolled several letters at random (one of them contained a withered flower tied with a faded ribbon), he just shrugged his shoulders and, glancing at the fireplace, threw them aside, probably intending to burn all this unnecessary rubbish. Hastily thrusting his hands first into one drawer, then into another, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and, slowly pulling out a small octagonal box of an old cut, slowly lifted its lid. In the box, under a double layer of yellowed cotton paper, was a small pomegranate cross.
For several moments he looked at this cross in bewilderment - and suddenly he cried out weakly ... Either regret, or joy portrayed his features. A similar expression is shown on the face of a person when he has to suddenly meet another person whom he has long lost sight of, whom he once loved dearly and who now suddenly appears before his eyes, all the same - and all changed over the years. He got up and, returning to the fireplace, sat down again in an armchair - and again covered his face with his hands ... “Why today? exactly today?" - he thought, and he remembered a lot that had long passed ...
Here's what he remembered...
But first you need to say his name, patronymic and surname. His name was Sanin, Dmitry Pavlovich.
Here's what he remembered:
It was the summer of 1840. Sanin was 22 years old and was in Frankfurt, on his way back from Italy to Russia. He was a man with a small fortune, but independent, almost without a family. After the death of a distant relative, he had several thousand rubles - and he decided to live them abroad, before entering the service, before the final laying on himself of that official collar, without which a secure existence became unthinkable for him. Sanin carried out his intention exactly and arranged it so skilfully that on the day of his arrival in Frankfurt he had just enough money to get to Petersburg. In 1840 there were very few railroads; Gentlemen tourists traveled in stagecoaches. Sanin took a seat in the "beywagen"; but the stagecoach departed only at 11 o'clock in the evening. There was plenty of time left. Fortunately, the weather was fine and Sanin, after having lunch at the then famous hotel "White Swan", went to wander around the city. He went to see Dannecker's Ariadne, which he did not like much, visited Goethe's house, from whose works he, however, read one "Werther" - and then in a French translation; walked along the banks of the Main, got bored, as a respectable traveler should; Finally, at six o'clock in the evening, tired, with dusty feet, I found myself in one of the most insignificant streets of Frankfurt. He could not forget this street for a long time. On one of her few houses, he saw a sign: "Italian confectionery Giovanni Roselli" declared itself to passers-by. Sanin went in to drink a glass of lemonade; but in the first room, where, behind a modest counter, on the shelves of a painted cabinet, resembling a pharmacy, there were several bottles with gold labels and the same number of glass jars with crackers, chocolate cakes and candies, there was not a soul in this room; only a gray cat squinted and purred, moving its paws, on a high wicker chair near the window, and, brightly glowing in the slanting beam of the evening sun, a large ball of red wool lay on the floor next to an overturned basket of carved wood. A vague noise was heard in the next room. Sanin stood for a moment and, letting the bell on the door ring to the end, said, raising his voice: "Is there anyone here?" At the same instant, the door from the next room opened, and Sanin was forced to be astonished.
A girl of about nineteen impetuously ran into the confectionery, with dark curls scattered over her bare shoulders, with outstretched bare arms, and, seeing Sanin, immediately rushed to him, grabbed his arm and dragged him along, saying in a breathless voice: “Hurry, hurry, here, save me!" Not out of unwillingness to obey, but simply out of an excess of amazement, Sanin did not immediately follow the girl - and, as it were, rested on the spot: he had never seen such a beauty in his life. She turned to him and with such desperation in her voice, in her eyes, in the movement of her clenched hand convulsively raised to her pale cheek, she said: “Go on, go on!” - that he immediately rushed after her through the open door.
In the room where he ran after the girl, on an old-fashioned horsehair sofa, all white - white with yellowish tints, like wax or like ancient marble, lay a boy of fourteen years old, strikingly like a girl, obviously her brother. His eyes were closed, the shadow of his thick black hair fell like a stain on his petrified forehead, on motionless thin eyebrows; clenched teeth showed from under blue lips. He didn't seem to be breathing; one hand dropped to the floor, the other he threw over his head. The boy was dressed and buttoned up; a tight tie tightened around his neck.
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
spring waters
happy years,
Happy Days -
Like spring waters
They raced!
From an old romance
…About one o'clock in the night, he returned to his office. He sent out a servant who lit the candles, and throwing himself into an armchair near the fireplace, covered his face with both hands.
Never before had he felt so tired, physically and mentally. He spent the whole evening with pleasant ladies, with educated men; some of the ladies were beautiful, almost all the men were distinguished by intelligence and talents - he himself spoke very successfully and even brilliantly ... and, with all that, never before that “taedium vitae”, which the Romans already spoke about, that “disgust for life” - with such irresistible force did not take possession of him, did not choke him. If he had been a little younger, he would have wept from anguish, from boredom, from irritation: caustic and burning bitterness, like the bitterness of wormwood, filled his whole soul. Something hauntingly obnoxious, disgustingly heavy surrounded him on all sides, like a dark autumn night; and he did not know how to get rid of this darkness, this bitterness. There was no hope for sleep: he knew that he would not fall asleep.
He began to think... slowly, languidly and viciously.
He thought about the vanity, the uselessness, the vulgar falsity of everything human. All ages gradually passed before his mind's eye (he himself had recently passed the 52nd year) - and not a single one found mercy in front of him. Everywhere the same eternal transfusion from empty to empty, the same pounding of water, the same half-conscientious, half-conscious self-deception—no matter what the child amuses herself with, as long as she doesn’t cry—and then suddenly, like snow on one’s head, old age - and with it that ever-increasing, corroding and undermining fear of death ... and bang into the abyss! It's good if life plays out like that! And then, perhaps, before the end, like rust on iron, infirmities, suffering ... Not covered by stormy waves, as the poets describe, he imagined the sea of \u200b\u200blife; No; he imagined this sea calmly smooth, motionless and transparent to the darkest bottom; he himself sits in a small, rolling boat - and there, on this dark, muddy bottom, like huge fish, ugly monsters are barely visible: all worldly ailments, illnesses, sorrows, madness, poverty, blindness ... He looks - and here is one of the monsters stands out from the darkness, rises higher and higher, becomes more and more distinct, all disgustingly more distinct ... Another minute - and the boat propped up by him will capsize! But here it again seems to grow dim, it moves away, sinks to the bottom - and it lies there, slightly stirring the pool ... But the appointed day will come - and it will turn the boat over.
He shook his head, jumped up from his chair, walked about the room twice, sat down at the writing-table, and, pulling out one drawer after another, began to rummage through his papers, old letters, mostly from women. He himself did not know why he was doing this, he was not looking for anything - he simply wanted to get rid of the thoughts that tormented him by some external occupation. Having unrolled several letters at random (one of them contained a withered flower tied with a faded ribbon), he just shrugged his shoulders and, glancing at the fireplace, threw them aside, probably intending to burn all this unnecessary rubbish. Hastily thrusting his hands first into one drawer, then into another, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and, slowly pulling out a small octagonal box of an old cut, slowly lifted its lid. In the box, under a double layer of yellowed cotton paper, was a small pomegranate cross.
For several moments he looked at this cross in bewilderment - and suddenly he cried out weakly ... Either regret, or joy portrayed his features. A similar expression is shown on the face of a person when he has to suddenly meet another person whom he has long lost sight of, whom he once loved dearly and who now suddenly appears before his eyes, all the same - and all changed over the years.
He got up and, returning to the fireplace, sat down again in an armchair - and again covered his face with his hands ... “Why today? exactly today?" - he thought - and he remembered a lot, long past.
Here's what he remembered...
But first you need to say his name, patronymic and surname. His name was Sanin, Dmitry Pavlovich.
Here's what he remembered:
It was the summer of 1840. Sanin was twenty-two years old and was in Frankfurt, on his way back from Italy to Russia. He was a man with a small fortune, but independent, almost without a family. After the death of a distant relative, he had several thousand rubles - and he decided to live them abroad, before entering the service, before the final laying on himself of that official collar, without which a secure existence became unthinkable for him. Sanin carried out his intention exactly and arranged it so skilfully that on the day of his arrival in Frankfurt he had just enough money to get to Petersburg. In 1840 there were very few railroads; Mr. tourists traveled in stagecoaches. Sanin took a seat in the Beiwagen; but the stagecoach departed only at eleven o'clock in the evening. There was plenty of time left. Fortunately, the weather was fine - and Sanin, having had lunch at the then famous White Swan Hotel, went to wander around the city. He went to see Dannecker's Ariadne, which he did not like much, visited Goethe's house, from whose works he, however, read one "Werther" - and then in a French translation; walked along the banks of the Main, got bored, as a respectable traveler should; Finally, at six o'clock in the evening, tired, with dusty feet, I found myself in one of the most insignificant streets of Frankfurt. He could not forget this street for a long time. On one of her few houses, he saw a sign: "Italian confectionery Giovanni Roselli" declared itself to passers-by. Sanin went in to drink a glass of lemonade; but in the first room, where, behind a modest counter, on the shelves of a painted cabinet, resembling a pharmacy, there were several bottles with gold labels and the same number of glass jars with crackers, chocolate cakes and candies, there was not a soul in this room; only the gray cat squinted and purred, shifting its paws on a high wicker chair near the window, and, glowing brightly in the slanting beam of the evening sun, a large ball of red wool lay on the floor next to an overturned basket of carved wood. A vague noise was heard in the next room. Sanin stood for a moment - and, letting the bell on the door ring to the end, he said, raising his voice: "Is there anyone here?" At the same instant, the door from the next room opened, and Sanin was forced to be astonished.
A girl of about nineteen impetuously ran into the confectionery, with dark curls scattered over her bare shoulders, with outstretched bare arms, and, seeing Sanin, immediately rushed to him, grabbed his arm and dragged him along, saying in a breathless voice: “Hurry, hurry, here, save me!" Not out of unwillingness to obey, but simply out of an excess of amazement, Sanin did not immediately follow the girl - and, as it were, rested on the spot: he had never seen such a beauty in his life. She turned to what - and with such desperation in her voice, in her eyes, in the movement of her clenched hand convulsively raised to her pale cheek, she said: “Go ahead, go!” - that he immediately rushed after her through the open door.
In the room where he ran after the girl, on an old-fashioned horsehair sofa, all white - white with yellowish tints, like wax or like ancient marble, lay a boy of fourteen years old, strikingly like a girl, obviously her brother. His eyes were closed, the shadow of his thick black hair fell like a stain on his petrified forehead, on motionless thin eyebrows; clenched teeth showed from under blue lips. He didn't seem to be breathing; one hand dropped to the floor, the other he threw over his head. The boy was dressed and buttoned up; a tight tie was squeezing his neck.
The girl rushed towards him with a cry.
He is dead, he is dead! she cried, “just now he was sitting here, talking to me, and suddenly he fell down and became motionless… My God! can't you help? And no mom! Pantaleone, Pantaleone, what's the doctor? she added suddenly in Italian: "did you go to the doctor?"
“Signora, I didn’t go, I sent Louise,” a hoarse voice came from outside the door, “and a little old man in a purple tailcoat with black buttons, a high white tie, nanke short trousers and blue woolen stockings entered the room, hobbled on crooked legs. His tiny face completely disappeared under a whole mass of gray, iron-colored hair. Rising steeply upwards on all sides and falling back in disheveled braids, they gave the figure of the old man a resemblance to a crested chicken - the resemblance is all the more striking because under their dark gray mass one could only make out that a pointed nose and round yellow eyes.
“Louisa is running away quickly, but I can’t run,” the old man continued in Italian, alternately raising his flat, arthritic legs, shod in high shoes with bows, “but I brought water.
With his dry, clumsy fingers he squeezed the long neck of the bottle.
“But Emil is still dead!” the girl exclaimed, and held out her hands to Sanin. “Oh my lord, oh mein Herr! Can't you help?
“We need to let him bleed - this is a blow,” remarked the old man, who bore the name of Pantaleone.
Although Sanin had not the slightest idea of medicine, he knew one thing for certain: strokes do not happen to fourteen-year-old boys.
“This is a faint, not a blow,” he said, turning to Pantaleone. - Do you have a
