Kasakat: Kaukasialainen kertomus

The story opens on a silent, snow‑bound Moscow night, where the city’s lanterns have gone out and the streets lie empty under a heavy frost. In a dim tavern, three young men sit around a table scattered with wine and crumbs, their conversation drifting between idle jokes and deeper confessions. One of them, a slender, restless officer, begins to voice an unsettling doubt about his own capacity to love, while his companions listen with a mixture of amusement and concern.

His inner turmoil hints at a yearning for something beyond the confines of civilized life, a longing that will soon pull him toward the rugged Caucasus mountains. As the winter night deepens, the narrative juxtaposes the oppressive stillness of the capital with the promise of a wilder, more honest existence on the frontier. Listeners can expect a richly drawn portrait of a man caught between duty, desire, and the search for a genuine self.