A Hero of Our Time Read online

  CHAPTER II

  "YOU see, sir," said the staff-captain, "I was quartered, at the time,with a company in a fortress beyond the Terek--getting on for five yearsago now. One autumn day, a transport arrived with provisions, in chargeof an officer, a young man of about twenty-five. He reported himself tome in full uniform, and announced that he had been ordered to remain inthe fortress with me. He was so very elegant, his complexion so nice andwhite, his uniform so brand new, that I immediately guessed that he hadnot been long with our army in the Caucasus.

  "'I suppose you have been transferred from Russia?' I asked.

  "'Exactly, captain,' he answered.

  "I took him by the hand and said:

  "'I'm delighted to see you--delighted! It will be a bit dull for you...but there, we will live together like a couple of friends. But, please,call me simply "Maksim Maksimych"; and, tell me, what is this fulluniform for? Just wear your forage-cap whenever you come to me!'

  "Quarters were assigned to him and he settled down in the fortress."

  "What was his name?" I asked Maksim Maksimych.

  "His name was Grigori Aleksandrovich Pechorin. He was a splendid fellow,I can assure you, but a little peculiar. Why, to give you an instance,one time he would stay out hunting the whole day, in the rain and cold;the others would all be frozen through and tired out, but he wouldn'tmind either cold or fatigue. Then, another time, he would be sitting inhis own room, and, if there was a breath of wind, he would declare thathe had caught cold; if the shutters rattled against the window hewould start and turn pale: yet I myself have seen him attack a boarsingle-handed. Often enough you couldn't drag a word out of him forhours together; but then, on the other hand, sometimes, when he startedtelling stories, you would split your sides with laughing. Yes, sir,a very eccentric man; and he must have been wealthy too. What a lot ofexpensive trinkets he had!"...

  "Did he stay there long with you?" I went on to ask.

  "Yes, about a year. And, for that very reason, it was a memorable yearto me. He gave me a great deal of trouble--but there, let bygones bebygones!... You see, it is true enough, there are people like that,fated from birth to have all sorts of strange things happening to them!"

  "Strange?" I exclaimed, with an air of curiosity, as I poured out sometea.