: XIX century. A bored young officer, exiled to the Caucasus, ruins a young Circassian woman, compromises the princess, betrays an old friend, then leaves for Persia and dies, returning home.
In the original, the first two chapters are written on behalf of a wandering officer, whose name is not mentioned in the novel, and the last three are written on behalf of Pechorin, in the form of entries in his diary.
Bela
The narrator-officer, wandering around the Caucasus, meets a fellow traveler - the old headquarters captain Maxim Maksimych, the former commandant of the fortress on the southern borders of Russia.
Maxim Maksimych - an army officer of about fifty, a bachelor, kind, simple, honest
He tells him the story of a young officer Grigory Pechorin, who, after some unpleasant story, was transferred to the Caucasus and came under his command.
Grigory Pechorin - a young officer, exiled to serve in the Caucasus, intelligent, educated, with a contradictory character, disappointed in life, looking for thrills
He and Maxim Maksimych quickly became friends. Once a local highland prince invited them to a feast. There Pechorin saw the youngest daughter of the prince, the beautiful Bela, fell in love and decided to steal the girl from her father’s house.
Bela is a young, beautiful Circassian woman, proud, strong, but meek, she loves Pechorin
From Maxim Maksimych Pechorin learned that Bela's younger brother likes the horse of Kazbich, one of the prince’s guests.
Kazbich - Highlander, brave, dashing, cruel, loves Bela
For the sake of the horse, the boy was ready for anything and even offered Kazbich to steal his sister for him, but he refused.
You see how sometimes an unimportant case has cruel consequences.
Pechorin decided to use this and promised the boy to help steal the horse from Kazbich as a reward for Bela, the boy brought Bela to the fortress, took the horse and disappeared forever.
Bela was homesick for a long time and did not respond to Pechorin's courtship. Over time, she fell in love with him, but he managed to cool her and began to be weighed upon her. Pechorina was again overcome by boredom, and he began to leave for a long time to hunt, leaving the girl alone in the fortress.
During one of these absences, Kazbic kidnapped Bela. Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych rushed in pursuit, but Kazbich, realizing that he could not leave, abandoned the girl, mortally wounding her. Bela died in the arms of Pechorin.
He experienced the loss deeply in himself and never spoke of Bel again. Soon after the funeral, he was transferred to another part.
Maxim Maksimych
Soon, the narrator again met Maxim Maksimych in a roadside hotel. At the same time, on the way to Persia, Pechorin also stopped here. The old officer was delighted at the upcoming meeting with his friend, but he was in no hurry to see the old man.
Pechorin showed up the next day, coldly greeted his colleague and immediately prepared to leave. Sorry and offended, Maxim Maksimych wanted to give Pechorin his diary, but he declared that he no longer needed him.
Pechorin left.
For a long time I could not hear either the ringing of a bell or the knock of wheels on a siliceous road, and the poor old man stood in the same place in deep thought.
Maxim Maksimych gave Pechorin's diary to the narrator. The narrator decided to publish it, having learned that Pechorin died, returning home from Persia.
Taman
While on a business trip, Pechorin stopped in Taman, in a house on the Black Sea, where an old woman and a blind boy lived. At night, Pechorin noticed that the blind man went to the seashore and decided to follow him.
On the shore, he saw a boy and a stranger transfer some kind of cargo to a man in a boat. In the morning, seeing the girl again, Pechorin met her and asked about the night incident, but she did not answer him.Pechorin, guessing that they were smugglers, threatened to tell the authorities about them. It almost cost him his life.
Late in the evening, the girl called Pechorin on a date, and together they sailed on a boat to the sea.
And her cheek pressed against mine, and I felt her fiery breath on my face.
Suddenly, the girl tried to push Pechorin into the water, but he managed to stay in the boat, dump her into the sea and return to shore.
Later Pechorin again saw the smugglers. This time the man sailed away with the girl forever. They left the blind boy to the mercy of fate. The next morning, Pechorin left Taman, wishing he had disturbed the honest smugglers.
Princess Mary
Pechorin arrived to be treated in the waters in Pyatigorsk, where he met a friend - the cadet Grushnitsky.
Grushnitsky - a junker of about twenty, a colleague of Pechorin, a poor nobleman, vengeful, a coward, a slanderer and a schemer
In the secular society formed on the waters, the Ligovsky shine - the princess and her lovely daughter Mary.
Mary Ligovskaya is a princess, on the one hand - a cold socialite, on the other - sensitive and vulnerable, capable of strong feelings
Grushnitsky, enchanted by the princess, was looking for a reason to meet, but Mary was in no hurry to get close to him. Pechorin, on the contrary, emphatically avoided meeting her, which aroused her interest. He learned about this from the local doctor Werner, with whom he became friends.
Werner is a doctor, a friend of Pechorin, short, thin, lame, outwardly unattractive, sarcastic and indifferent, but smart and charming
Fleeing from boredom, Pechorin decided to win the girl’s heart, realizing that this would cause jealousy of Grushnitsky, already passionately in love with Mary.
It is unlikely that there will be a young man who, having met a pretty woman who has riveted his idle attention and suddenly clearly distinguished another, unfamiliar to her, ‹...› was not unpleasantly struck by this.
From Werner, Pechorin learned that the princess was visiting a very sick relative, and from the description he understood that it was Vera, his long-time lover.
Vera is a distant cousin of the Ligovsky, a married lady, seriously ill, Pechorin’s long-time lover, sincere, tender, really loves him
Pechorin woke up forgotten feelings. He began to visit the Ligovskys often, taking care of Mary to avert his eyes.
Pechorin skillfully teased Mary with his coldness. Gradually, the princess began to think only about him and pay less attention to Grushnitsky. He understood that the reason was in Pechorin, he was jealous and emphasized on the side of his former friend.
Vera also began to be jealous and demanded from Pechorin a promise that he would not marry the princess. Once on a walk, Mary confessed to Pechorin in love, but he showed indifference, secretly enjoying his achievement - he fell in love with a girl, not knowing why.
Returning from a walk, Pechorin overheard the officers' conversation and found out that they had planned fun for the sake of dueling him and Grushnitsky and slipping unloaded pistols into them. They were sure that Pechorin was scared.
Once, jumping late at night from the balcony of Vera’s room, Pechorin came across Grushnitsky and his comrades. The next day, Grushnitsky publicly announced that Pechorin was Mary's lover.
Offended Pechorin challenged Grushnitsky to a duel. He told Werner what Grushnitsky planned to do with pistols, and the doctor agreed to be his second. In a duel, Pechorin stated that the pistols were not loaded and the weapons were replaced.
They shot at the edge of the cliff, so that even a slight wound was fatal, and the corpse was attributed to the Circassians. As a result, Grushnitsky died.
Upon learning of the duel, the excited Vera confessed to her husband that she loved Pechorin, and her husband took her out of town with indignation. Only then did Pechorin understand that Vera is dear to him — she alone loves and accepts him unconditionally.
The bosses of Pechorin suspected that he was participating in a duel, and transferred him to serve in the Caucasus. Before leaving, he told Mary that he did not love her, and in response he heard: "I hate you."
Fatalist
The battalion of Pechorin stood in one of the Cossack villages. In the evenings, the officers played cards. Once, during a game, a conversation arose about fate - whether death is predetermined for a person.
One of the officers, Wulich, a passionate player and fatalist, suggested tempting fate.
Vulich - officer, colleague of Pechorin, tall dark-skinned brunette, reserved, gambling, cold-blooded, courageous
To argue, he took a gun at random, while Pechorin thought he saw the seal of death in the eyes of Vulich. Wulich shot himself in the temple, a misfire occurred, but the gun was loaded. Pechorin did not understand why it still seems to him that Vulich should die today.
Often on the face of a person who is supposed to die in a few hours, there is some strange imprint of an inevitable fate, so it is difficult for ordinary eyes to make a mistake.
In the morning Pechorin was informed that Vulich was killed by a drunk Cossack with a saber. He realized that he involuntarily predicted the fate of the unfortunate officer.
The killer Cossack locked himself in a hut and was not about to give up, threatening to shoot. Pechorin decided, like Vulich, to try his luck. Through the window he entered the house, the Cossack fired, but only Pechorin’s epaulette touched. Cossacks were twisted and taken away as well. Pechorin was honored as a real hero.
Pechorin told Maxim Maksimych about what happened, but he did not believe in fate.
