Summary “My neighbor Radilov” Turgenev


One autumn, Ermolai and I hunted woodcocks in an abandoned linden garden, many in Orel province. It turned out that this garden belongs to the landowner Radilov. He invited me to dinner, and I had no choice but to agree. Radilov led me through the kitchen garden to an old, gray house with a narrow roof and a curved porch. Ermolai was brought vodka, and I was led to the living room and introduced to Radilov’s mother – a small old woman with a kind, thin face and a sad look. In the drawing room there was also an old man of about 70, thin, bald and toothless. It was Fedor Mikheich, a ruined landlord who lived with Radilov out of mercy.

A girl, introduced to me by Olya, entered the room, and we sat down at the table. At dinner Radilov, who served in the infantry regiment, set off for the stories, and I watched Olga. She was very nice and watched Radilov with passionate attention. After lunch, Radilov and I went to his office. With surprise, I noticed that there is no passion

for what makes up the life of all the other landowners. It seemed that his whole soul, kind and warm, was imbued with one feeling. Radilov was not a gloomy man, but he felt that he could not make friends with anyone, because he lived in an inner life.

Soon Olga called us to drink tea. She spoke very little, but she did not have the manner of a district girl. Her gaze was calm and indifferent, as if she rested from great happiness, and the movements were resolute and free. In conversation, Radilov remembered the deceased wife, whose sister was Olga. With a strange expression, Olga quickly got up and went out into the garden. At the entrance there was a knocking of wheels and a tall, broad-shouldered and dense old man came in, a Ovsyannikov monastery, about which I will tell in another passage. Next day Ermolae and I went hunting again.

A week later I again went to Radilov, but did not find at home neither him nor Olga. Two weeks later I found out that he had left his mother and had gone somewhere with his sister-in-law. Only then did I understand Olga’s expression: it was blazing with jealousy. Before leaving the village, I visited the Old Lady Radilov, and asked if there was any news from my son. The old woman cried, and I did not ask her about Radilov.


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Summary “My neighbor Radilov” Turgenev