The Enchanted Wanderer (Leskov)
Short summary
Russia, 19th century. On a steamboat crossing Lake Ladoga, passengers met a novice monk who told them his life story.
Born a serf, Ivan Flyagin served as a postillion and once accidentally killed a monk with his whip. The dying monk prophesied that Ivan was promised to God by his mother and would die many times before entering a monastery. Ivan saved his masters' lives during a carriage accident, then ran away after being punished for defending himself. He became a horse expert, fell into drinking binges, and was magnetized by a strange man who cured his alcoholism but left him confused.
Ivan spent five thousand rubles on a Gypsy singer named Grusha at a fair. His employer, a prince, bought Grusha for fifty thousand rubles but later abandoned her when planning to marry for money. The desperate Grusha begged Ivan to kill her to save her soul from suicide.
I didn't stab her, but just pushed her over the steep riverbank... She went under... I ran away from that place, beside myself, and only remember that somebody seemed to be pursuing me.
Ivan enlisted as a soldier under a false name to atone for Grusha's death. He served fifteen years in the Caucasus, performed heroic deeds, and was awarded the St. George Cross. After retirement, he struggled to find work in Petersburg and briefly became an actor playing the devil. Finally, he entered a monastery, where he worked as a coachman and prophesied that Russia would soon go to war, feeling called to die for his people.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Chapter 1. Meeting the enchanted wanderer; the story of the drunken priest who prays for suicides
Passengers sailed across Lake Ladoga from Konevets to Valaam, stopping briefly at Korela. After resuming their journey, conversation turned to the desolate Russian settlement they had just visited. A philosophical traveler suggested it would make an ideal place of exile. Someone mentioned a seminarian who had been exiled there and eventually hanged himself. A new passenger, who had boarded unnoticed at Konevets, suddenly defended the clerk's suicide.
This passenger was a mighty man in a novice's cassock, reminiscent of the legendary Ilya Muromets. He told a story about a drunken Moscow priest who prayed for suicides. Metropolitan Filaret investigated after receiving reports about this priest's drunkenness. The bishop ordered the priest removed from his post, which drove him to contemplate suicide. One day, the bishop dozed off and saw St. Sergius, who asked for mercy upon the priest. The bishop dismissed it as a dream, but that night he had another vision of a dark procession. Shades floated past, moaning that only the priest prayed for them. The bishop summoned the priest, who confessed he always prayed for those who died without confession. Understanding the visions, the bishop restored the priest to his post.
Chapter 2. Ivan Severyanychs origins; childhood in the counts household; the fatal whipping of a monk
The wanderer began his life story. He was born a serf in the household of Count K—— of Orel province, where his father served as a coachman.
His mother died giving birth to him, and he was called Golovan because of his unusually large head. He grew up in the stables, learning about horses from childhood. At age eleven, he became a postillion, tied to the saddle because he lacked the strength to stay mounted during long journeys. One summer day, while driving the count to a monastery, young Ivan whipped a monk sleeping on a hay wagon. The monk fell under the wheels and died. The count ordered gifts sent to the monastery and had Ivan whipped. That night, the dead monk appeared in Ivan's vision.
You're promised to God... you'll be dying many times, but you won't die until real death comes for you, and then you'll remember your mother's promise and go to be a monk.
Chapter 3. The cats tail incident; punishment and attempted suicide; escape with Gypsies
Ivan acquired a pair of crested pigeons. A white cat repeatedly stole his pigeon chicks. He trapped the cat, whipped her severely, and chopped off her tail. The countess's maid discovered this and slapped Ivan, who struck her with a broom. He was severely flogged and sentenced to crush gravel on his knees in the garden paths. Unable to bear this punishment, Ivan attempted to hang himself in an aspen grove. A Gypsy cut him down and invited him to join their band. Ivan stole two horses from the master's stable, and they rode away together. After selling the horses, the Gypsy gave Ivan only one silver rouble. They quarreled and parted ways.
Chapter 4. Life as a nanny for a Polish official; caring for a baby girl and a goat
In the marketplace, a large Polish official hired Ivan as a nanny for his baby daughter.
The man's wife had run off with a remount officer, leaving him with an infant. Ivan protested that he was unsuited for such work, but the Pole threatened to have him arrested if he refused. They bought a goat, and Ivan began nursing the baby with goat's milk. He grew attached to the pathetic child, washing her and taking her to the estuary. The baby developed rickets, and a doctor prescribed sitting in warm sand. Ivan spent days at the estuary with the baby and goat, often falling asleep. In his dreams, he heard voices calling his name and saw confused visions. Once, he saw the monk he had killed, who appeared as a cloud and showed him visions of the steppe, wild people, and a white monastery surrounded by angels.
Chapter 5. The ladys return; fight with the uhlan officer; giving away the child
One day, Ivan woke to find a lady kneeling over the baby, weeping. She revealed herself as the child's mother and begged Ivan to give her the baby. He refused, saying the child had been entrusted to his keeping. The lady returned daily, bringing toys and gifts. She complained that she had been forced to marry Ivan's master but loved the remount officer. She offered Ivan money, but he refused. Finally, the uhlan officer appeared, offering a thousand roubles. Ivan tore the money from his hand and spat on it. The officer rushed at him, but Ivan overpowered him. When Ivan's master arrived with a pistol, Ivan gave the baby to the lady and officer, saying he would have to go with them. They took him to Penza, where the officer gave him two hundred roubles and sent him away.
Chapter 6. The horse fair; Khan Dzhangar and the magnificent mare; the flogging contest between Tartars
At the Penza fair, Ivan witnessed a Gypsy deceiving a peasant in a horse trade. Ivan exposed the fraud, earning the peasants' gratitude. He began working as a horse consultant at fairs, helping poor people and earning income. A remount officer offered him money to reveal his secret, but Ivan explained it was a natural gift. He taught the officer how to examine horses and detect dealers' tricks, but the officer still bought poor horses. Ivan agreed to work as the officer's horse consultant. At another fair, Ivan saw herds of horses and Tartars. Among them sat a tall, dignified Tartar.
Khan Dzhangar examined a small white mare with expert precision, then had a boy demonstrate her speed. Gentlemen and remount officers began bidding, but two wealthy Tartars, Bakshey Otuchev and Chepkun Emgurcheev, competed most fiercely. Unable to outbid each other with money, horses, or even their daughters, they agreed to settle the matter by flogging each other. They sat facing each other, clasped left hands, pressed their feet together, and took turns striking each other with whips. Chepkun won by flogging more methodically and biting his lips. Bakshey collapsed unconscious, and Chepkun rode away on the mare.
Chapter 7. Ivans own flogging contest with Savakirey; winning the horse; killing the Tartar
Khan Dzhangar then produced a dark bay colt of extraordinary lightness. A Tartar named Savakirey challenged anyone to flog it out with him for the horse. The gentlemen backed away, but Ivan's remount officer wanted the horse. Ivan offered to sit down with Savakirey in his place. During the contest, Ivan kept a copper in his mouth, bit it to distract from pain, and counted the strokes. He deliberately hitched his back under the whip so the skin tore at once. After two hundred and eighty-two strokes, Ivan lost count but continued. Finally, Savakirey swung for the last time but couldn't strike anymore and fell dead. Ivan was accused of murder, but the Tartars concealed him and took him to the Ryn Sands.
Chapter 8. Fleeing to the Ryn Sands with the Tartars; the fate of missionaries in the steppe
The Tartars told Ivan to be their friend and help with horses and women. When he tried to escape, they caught him and bristled up his heels, cutting open the skin and stuffing chopped horsehair inside. The pain made it impossible to walk normally. Ivan lived with Chepkun Emgurcheev's horde for five years, then was stolen by Khan Agashimola. During his captivity, two missionaries arrived to preach. Ivan begged them to rescue him, but they said they couldn't threaten the infidels or pay ransom. Later, Ivan found one missionary's body by a lake, skinned from the knees and elbows down, with a cross cut on his forehead.
Chapter 9. Ten years in Tartar captivity; bristled feet; Tartar wives; longing for Russia
Ivan spent ten years in captivity, serving as a doctor for the Tartars' horses, cattle, and women. He had four Tartar wives in total and fathered many children, though he didn't consider them his own because they weren't baptized. He constantly longed for Russia, especially in the evenings when he gazed at the endless steppe.
The steppe... Scorching hot, a cruel sight; the expanse boundless... and there's no bottom to the depths of your anguish... You gaze off somewhere, and suddenly... a monastery... appears.
Life on the salt marshes near the Caspian was even worse, with nothing but glitter. In winter, the Tartars sat smoking in their yurts, and the horses grew so weak they could barely dig through the snow for frozen grass. Ivan ate smoked horse ribs and dreamed of home. At night, he would crawl outside the camp to pray, weeping so hard that snow melted under his knees and grass appeared where his tears fell.
Chapter 10. Life on the salt marshes and steppe; the murdered Jew; meeting the god Talafa
An old Jew arrived in the steppe to preach about his faith. He told entertaining stories from the Talmud about the learned rabbi Jovoz ben Levi. The Tartars liked the story but didn't believe the Jew had no money. They spread hot coals, put a horsehide over them, and shook the Jew on it until he turned black and died. They buried him up to the neck in sand. Later, wolves dug him out, and seven coins were found in the soles of his boots. Two men arrived from Khiva to buy horses. They urged the Tartars to drive herds to the Darya River and threatened them with the god Talafa's fire. That night, fire shot across the steppe, exploding and scattering in colors. The horses bolted, and the Tartars fled in terror. Ivan examined one of the boxes and discovered fireworks. He set them off, terrifying the old Tartars. They begged for mercy, and Ivan baptized them all in the river. He found caustic earth in the fireworks and used it to irritate his heels until the bristles came out. Once healed, he set off the biggest firework and escaped.
Chapter 11. Return to Russia; the last great drinking bout; meeting the magnetizer
Ivan ran across the steppe for three days and reached water. He saw people cooking food and crossing themselves—Russians. They received him warmly and gave him vodka. He told them his story, but one crewman warned him that without a passport, he would be thrown into the water when he died. Frightened, Ivan left and came to Astrakhan, where he earned a rouble and went on a drinking binge. He woke up in jail and was sent under escort to his home province. The count ordered him whipped and sent to the priest for confession. The priest forbade him communion for three years because he had kept Tartar women. The count released him on quitrent. Ivan went to a fair and met a disheveled nobleman who claimed to be a magnetizer.
Chapter 12. The magnetizers treatment; beauty natures perfection; following him into the night
The magnetizer ate glass and claimed he could remove Ivan's drinking passion. He waved his hands over glasses of vodka and made Ivan drink them. They drank until evening, and the barman threw them out. In the darkness, the magnetizer kept appearing and disappearing, speaking in French. He transferred his magnetic power into Ivan by feeling in the hair on his nape. Ivan saw vile mugs gazing at him from dark corners. The magnetizer led him to a house where light shone from open windows and music played. He gave Ivan a tiny piece of magnetic sugar, then vanished. Ivan decided to enter the house.
Chapter 13. Entering the Gypsy house; first sight of Grusha singing; throwing swans at her feet
Ivan entered a spacious room filled with tobacco smoke. A young Gypsy girl was singing with a voice like a mellow bell. When she finished, everyone jumped up clapping. She walked among the guests with a tray of champagne glasses and money—gold and banknotes. An old Gypsy ordered her to serve Ivan. She bowed and offered him wine.
Ivan was bedeviled by her beauty. He had only small change in his pocket, so he thrust his hand into his breast pocket, took a hundred-rouble swan from the wad, and slapped it down on the tray. The Gypsies seated him in the front row next to the police chief. Another Gypsy woman went around with champagne, and Ivan gave her only twenty- and twenty-five-kopeck pieces. The gentlemen laughed, but Ivan waited to hear Grusha sing alone. Finally, they all shouted for her to sing 'The Skiff.' She began, and Ivan melted away. Each time Grusha sang, he gave her a swan. She went around with wine again, and he pulled another swan from his breast pocket.
Chapter 14. The wild dance; squandering five thousand roubles; delirium tremens
The Gypsies struck up a dance. Everyone rose and danced wildly. A hussar captain dropped his hat at Grusha's feet, shouting for her to step on it. Ivan jumped up, pushed the hussar away, and broke into a squatting dance before Grusha. He flung swans under her feet, shouting for her to crush them. When only a dozen swans remained, he crumpled them all into a bunch and threw them under her feet. He took a bottle of champagne, broke the neck off, and drank it to her health. Ivan didn't remember how he got home. He woke up disoriented, having broken the prince's crystal cabinet. The prince asked for money to win back his losses, but Ivan had none left. He had spent five thousand roubles on the Gypsy girl. Ivan came to his senses in a hospital, having suffered delirium tremens.
Chapter 15. Working for the prince; the prince buys Grusha for fifty thousand; witnessing their love
Ivan went to work for a prince as a horse consultant.
They lived excellently for three years. When the prince lost at cards, he would ask Ivan for money for the revanche, but Ivan never gave it to him. The prince would announce that Ivan no longer worked for him, but within an hour he would thank Ivan for standing firm. One day, the prince told Ivan he had given the Gypsy camp fifty thousand for Grusha. Ivan was shocked by such a sum. The prince said he couldn't spit on her because she had stung him with her beauty and talent. He resigned his commission, mortgaged his estate, and brought Grusha to live with him. The prince led her in, seated her on a sofa, placed a guitar in her hands, and sat on the floor by her feet. Ivan sat by the doorway. They waited in silence. Suddenly Grusha began to sing very softly, weeping. She cried out about being sold, then flung the guitar away and fell facedown on the sofa, weeping. The prince took up the guitar and sang, sobbing. Grusha took her hand from under her face and tenderly embraced his head. Ivan quietly left.
Chapter 16. Eavesdropping on the prince and Evgenia Semyonovna; the plan to marry for money
The prince's heart was changeable. He kept clinging to Grusha, then started yawning and inviting Ivan to keep them company. Grusha herself started reminding him to invite Ivan. The prince became more troubled. He told Ivan he had become poor and needed money. He wanted to buy a fulling mill but had no money. Ivan went to town and stayed with the prince's former lover.
She told Ivan the prince had been in town for two weeks. He had sent her a letter asking to see his daughter. Ivan hid behind wardrobes in a dressing room and eavesdropped. The prince asked her to mortgage the house he had given her for twenty thousand roubles. She agreed. He explained he would use the money to buy a mill, then send Ivan to the Makary fair to take orders. There would be talk that his affairs had improved, and he would marry the marshal's daughter for her dowry. She asked what he would do with Grusha. He said he would buy her and Ivan a house, register Ivan as a merchant, and they would marry. She warned him that Grusha wouldn't forgive anything. He replied that Grusha and Ivan were great friends.
Chapter 17. Grushas mysterious appearance by the river on the princes wedding night
The prince sent Ivan to the fair. Ivan gathered orders and money and returned to find everything changed. The wing where Grusha had lived was torn down. Nobody knew what had become of her. An old serving woman said Grusha had left in a carriage with the prince ten days ago and hadn't returned. Ivan couldn't look at the preparations for the prince's wedding. On the wedding day, he wandered in the forest until evening. He sat on the steep riverbank. Across the river, the house was lit up and music resounded. Ivan felt so sad that he began to speak with the invisible power. He called out to Grusha three times. Suddenly something came shooting at him and hung onto him. It was Grusha's face. She was alive but had escaped in order to die. She said she might destroy the prince's innocent young wife because her jealous heart couldn't bear it.
Chapter 18. Grushas story of imprisonment and escape; her desperate request
Grusha was awfully changed. Her beauty was gone. She was all skin and bones, her face was clenched like a fist, and strands of black hair hung on her cheeks. Her dress was in tatters, and her feet were bare in her shoes. She told Ivan how the prince had taken her for a carriage ride. They arrived at some beehives in the forest. Three strapping peasant wenches met them and called her 'lady.' The prince said she would live there now. She wept and kissed his hands, but he pushed her away and left. She languished there, guarded by the wenches. Yesterday she pretended to be merry and suggested they play blind man's buff. She tied their hands behind their backs and trussed them up, then ran through the forest all night. An old man covered with wax gave her water and a cucumber with honey. He told her to call to Ivan with the wind and against the wind. She did, and they met. She embraced Ivan and said he was the only one who loved her. She asked him to swear by the most dreadful thing. He swore. She made him damn her soul if he didn't obey her. Then she asked him to strike her through the heart with a knife.
Chapter 19. Pushing Grusha into the river; becoming a soldier; heroism at the Koysa River; absolution
Ivan turned aside and backed away, but she embraced his knees, weeping and pleading. She said if he didn't kill her, she would become a shameful woman and that would be her revenge. Ivan started trembling. She took the knife from his pocket, opened it, straightened out the blade, and put it into his hand. She said if he didn't kill her, she would raise her hand against herself. Ivan told her to pray, and didn't stab her, but just pushed her over the steep riverbank. Ivan ran away, beside himself. He came to his senses somewhere on a high road under a bush of broom. An old man and woman overtook him in a cart. They were grieving because their son was being taken as a soldier and they had no money to replace him. Ivan offered to go for them without pay. They took him to another town and handed him over as a recruit instead of their son. Ivan started asking his superiors to send him to the Caucasus, where he could die quickly for the faith. He spent more than fifteen years in the Caucasus, serving under the name Pyotr Serdyukov. One day, their colonel asked if anyone had a mortal sin on his soul and would wash his iniquity away with his own blood. Ivan stepped forward and swam across the Koysa River under Tartar fire, pulling a cable.
As I was swimming I saw Grusha flying over me... her wings were enormous now, bright, stretched across the whole river, and she shielded me with them... nobody says a word about it.
The colonel embraced him and praised him. Ivan told him all his sins. The colonel sent to find out whether Ivan had killed the Gypsy girl. The paper came back saying there had never been such an incident, and Ivan Severyanovich had died in the house of the crown peasants, the Serdyukovs. They made Ivan an officer for his bravery and retired him with the St. George Cross.
Chapter 20. Life in the monastery; struggles with devils; prophesying war; yearning to die for the people
Ivan went to Petersburg with a letter to a big personage but had no luck with a career. He was appointed as a consultant in the address bureau, responsible for the letter theta. It was the most insignificant letter, bringing no income. He tried to get hired as a coachman, but nobody would take a noble officer. Out of desperation, he became an actor in a show-booth on Admiralty Square. He played the devil and had to dance, turn somersaults, and be beaten with hollow sticks. A collegiate secretary who played a prince kept contriving pranks. He badgered a young girl who played the goddess Fortuna. Ivan felt sorry for her and thrashed the prince. The Senate boys refused to have Ivan in the company, and the owner threw him out. The fairy fed him, but Ivan felt ashamed. He went to the monastery. He liked monastery life very much. It was peaceful, like in the regiment. He was a permanent coachman. He told the passengers he had suffered much from the devil. An elder taught him to resist by kneeling and making bows until exhausted. Ivan overcame the temptations of the big devil, but little devils still pestered him with nasty tricks. Once, a Jew hanged himself in the forest near the monastery. One night, Ivan heard somebody sighing at the stable door. He tried to drive the Jew away, but he kept returning. Ivan traced a cross on the door with coal, but the Jew still came. The bell ringer gave Ivan an old church door with the apostle Peter painted on it, holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Ivan hung it on secure hinges with a heavy pulley and cobblestone as counterweight. That night, something pushed the door, and the pulley knocked it back. In the morning, Ivan discovered he had hacked the monastery cow to death with an axe. The father superior gave him a blessing to stand by the screen and light candles. On the Wet Savior, during the blessing of bread, candles kept falling. Ivan got angry and knocked all the candles off with his hand. The father superior wanted to try him, but a blind elder interceded. They put Ivan in an empty cellar without trial. He sat there all summer, grinding salt for the kitchen. He began to prophesy war after reading about St. Tikhon of Zadonsk and newspapers. The father superior transferred him to an empty cottage with the icon 'Blessed Silence' and told him to bow down before it until the prophesying spirit fell silent. A doctor visited and said to chase Ivan somewhere far away to get some air. They released him with a blessing to go to Solovki and pray to Zosima and Sabbatius. Ivan was on his way there. He said the spirit kept exhorting him to take up arms. He wanted very much to die for his people. When asked if he would go to war in his cowl and cassock, he replied he would take the cowl off and put on a uniform.
I want very much to die for my people... the spirit wins out... He keeps exhorting me to 'take up arms'... I want very much to die for my people.