“Let the dead bury their dead.” Chapter 1: The Seminary Student The story begins with three seminary students—Khaliava, Khoma Brut, and Tiberiy Gorobets—traveling home for vacation. After losing […]
Russian literature
The Government Inspector
“The Inspector is coming—incognito… and with secret instructions!” Act 1 The play opens in a small provincial Russian town where the corrupt officials, led by the Mayor (Anton […]
Russian literature
The Nose
“The nose knows.” Part I One morning, the barber Ivan Yakovlevich discovers a nose in his breakfast bread. Horrified, he recognizes it as the nose of Collegiate Assessor […]
Russian literature
The Overcoat
“Leave me alone! Why do you insult me?” Chapter 1: Akaky Akakievich and His Miserable Existence The story introduces Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, a low-ranking government clerk in St. […]
Russian literature
Dead Souls
“What a strange, alluring, and provocative title—Dead Souls! And what a strange, alluring, and provocative work itself!” Part 1 Chapter 1 Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, a middle-aged gentleman of […]
Russian literature
Boris Godunov
“Народ безмолвствует.” (“The people remain silent.”) Prologue The play opens in 1598, following the death of Tsar Fyodor I. Boris Godunov, a cunning and ambitious nobleman, is urged […]
Russian literature
The Bronze Horseman
“Where wilt thou gallop, haughty steed, And where wilt thou plant thy foot?” — Alexander Pushkin, The Bronze Horseman The Bronze Horseman is a narrative poem divided into […]
Russian literature
The Queen of Spades
“The Queen of Spades means secret malevolence.” Chapter 1 A group of young officers gathers after a card game, discussing Hermann, a German engineer who watches others gamble […]
Russian literature
The Captain’s Daughter
“Take care of your honor from a young age.” Chapter 1: Sergeyevich’s Youth Pyotr Grinyov, the young son of a retired nobleman, is sent to military service in […]
Russian literature
Eugene Onegin
“Whose life is but a novel’s dreary page, Where all is told, and nothing hid away?” Chapter 1 Eugene Onegin, a young, jaded aristocrat from St. Petersburg, inherits […]