Main characters
Before moving on to the summary of the chapter “Taman”, you should familiarize yourself with the main characters:
- Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich - the main character of the book;
- The blind man is one of the smugglers;
- Girl - her name is unknown;
- Yanko is another smuggler who delivered some bundles by sea;
- The innkeeper - not much is said about her. There are a couple of hints that she knows about the smugglers and is covering for them;
- Cossack - a man who lived in the same room with Pechorin;
- An orderly is a hotel worker.
Taman
The first chapter of this novel in the novel - the adventure short story "Taman" - confirms: the staff captain, with all his innocence, correctly sensed the character of the destroyer Bela: Pechorin is an adventure hunter, one of those senselessly effective natures who are ready to sacrifice their lives a hundred times, only to get the key to the riddle that intrigued their restless mind. Judge for yourself: three days on the road, arrives in Taman late at night, finds it difficult to find a place to stay - the orderly snores, and the master has no time for sleep. The hunting instinct and devilish intuition whisper: the blind boy who let him go “to the Vatera” is not as blind as they say, and the Vatera, even though the hut is lopsided, does not look like a family hut. The blind man really behaves strangely for a blind person: he goes down to the sea along a steep slope with a “sure step”, and even drags some kind of bundle. Pechorin sneaks behind him and, hiding behind a coastal cliff, continues observation. A female figure is visible in the fog. After listening, he guesses: two people on the shore are waiting for a certain Yanko, whose boat must sneak past the patrol ships unnoticed. The girl in white is worried - there is a strong storm at sea - but the brave oarsman lands safely. Having shouldered the brought bales, the trio leaves. The riddle, which seemed complicated to Pechorin, is resolved more easily: Yanko brings contraband goods (ribbons, beads and brocade) from overseas, and the girl and the blind man help hide and sell it. Out of frustration, Pechorin takes a rash step: point-blank, in front of the old housewife, he asks the boy where he goes at night. Fearing that the guest will “report” to the military commandant, Yanko’s girlfriend (Pechorin privately calls her an undine - a water maiden, a mermaid) decides to get rid of the overly curious witness. Noticing that she has caught the eye of a passing gentleman, the little mermaid offers him a nighttime, tête-à-tête, boat ride on the choppy sea. Pechorin, who cannot swim, hesitates, but retreating in the face of danger is not in his rules. As soon as the boat sails a sufficient distance, the girl, having lulled the gentleman’s vigilance with a fiery embrace, deftly throws his pistol overboard. A fight ensues. The little boat is about to capsize. Pechorin is stronger, but the maiden of the sea is flexible, like a wild cat; one more cat throw and our superman will follow his pistol into the oncoming wave. But still, the undine ends up overboard. Pechorin somehow rows up to the shore and sees that the little mermaid is already there. Yanko appears, dressed for camp, and then blind. The smugglers, confident that now, after the unsuccessful attempt, the gentleman officer will probably report to the authorities, inform the boy that they are leaving Taman for good. He tearfully asks to take him too, but Yanko rudely refuses: “What do I need you for!” Pechorin becomes sad, he still feels sorry for the “poor wretched one.” Alas, not for long. Having discovered that the poor blind man had robbed him, having accurately chosen the most valuable things (a box with money, a unique dagger, etc.), he calls the thief “the damned blind man.”
A very short retelling
The summary begins with the main character arriving in a city called Taman. He stayed in one of the houses. He needs to get to Gelendzhik, but the way there lies across the sea.
One night Pechorin saw a suspicious silhouette outside the window. He decided to follow him. It was a blind young man whom Pechorin had previously seen at the hotel. Having reached the shore, the boy began to talk with the smuggler and some girl. Later, the smuggler Yanko, who arrived by boat, joined the dialogue. A group of people unloaded some bags and walked along the shore.
In the morning, Grigory Alexandrovich tried to ask the blind man about what he saw at night. But he pretended that he didn’t understand anything.
A girl came to the hotel. She invited the officer on a date. Together they sailed on a boat. The girl tried to drown Pechorin because he witnessed smuggling. However, the main character managed to escape. He threw the girl into the water, but she knew how to swim well and did not drown. The main character learned that they tried to kill him, because the smugglers were afraid that he might tell the authorities about everything.
They are trying to kill Pechorin
Grigory Alexandrovich returned to the hotel and learned that Yanko no longer wanted to engage in smuggling. In the room, the main character discovered that his dagger and hat with a silver insert were missing.
Summary
In the book, the story is told on behalf of the main character, that is, Pechorin. He calls Taman a crappy city. He did not stay here long, but during this time several adventures happened to him, which he related with enthusiasm. There Pechorin almost died of hunger, and they wanted to drown him.
Grigory Alexandrovich arrived in the city in the evening. He was very tired and exhausted. Finally he managed to stay in a guest house. Unpleasant rumors circulated around the city about the place where he planned to spend the night.
A blind man met him at the house. The orderly was able to fall asleep immediately, but Pechorin was not: a blind man stood before his eyes, and because of this the officer felt anxious.
Suddenly Pechorin noticed a shadow outside the window. He went outside, where he saw a blind man: the boy was walking towards the pier, and the main character decided to quietly follow him. He noticed that the blind man had met with the girl and the smuggler. The woman was concerned that a storm had begun at sea and some Yanko had not yet arrived. But the blind man had keen hearing and said that he heard the sound of a boat. The main character didn’t notice her right away, and couldn’t hear anything. Then he saw a man arrive on a boat and the whole group of people, taking some kind of load from it, walked along the shore.
In the morning, Pechorin noticed a blind man in the house. He wanted to ask the boy where he last went at night, what kind of people and cargo they were. But the blind man pretended that he did not understand anything. The owner of the house also pretended to be deaf. Even though she was preparing breakfast, she did not offer the guest any food.
Pechorin stopped in this town because he had to get to Gelendzhik by sea. However, there were no ships around. After talking with the commandant, the officer learned that a mail ship was due to arrive in three days.
After some time, a girl entered the house. She was active and quite beautiful. They could not understand the girl because she spoke in riddles. She invited Pechorin on a date.
During the date, the girl offered the main character a boat ride, and he agreed. When they sailed far enough, she tried to drown the officer. Pechorin saved himself, but only because he was able to predict her plan in advance. In addition, he was physically stronger.
Pechorin grabbed the girl by the neck with one hand and the hair with the other. After the girl weakened, he threw her into the water. Gregory took the broken oar and swam towards the shore. Arriving there, he found that everything was fine with the girl, she was already standing on the shore and wringing out her hair: like all the inhabitants of the seaside town, she swam perfectly.
When Pechorin was still on the boat, he found out that her accomplices were afraid of him, because the officer had learned the secret and could tell the authorities.
After the meeting, the man returned back to the house, where he stopped. There he witnessed a conversation between the blind man and the smuggler Yanko: the latter said that he was going to leave his master because he was paying him too little for such a dangerous job. In addition, he told the hotel owner that he was going to take the girl with him.
Pechorin saw how the blind man began to cry, while Yanko sailed away on a boat. He began to regret that his curiosity ruined the business of honest smugglers. Returning to his room, Pechorin discovered that his dagger had disappeared, as well as his hat with a silver frame. He took out his frustration on the sleeping Cossack, who worked as an orderly. Pechorin realized that it would be stupid and shameful to tell his superiors that he was robbed by a blind boy and almost drowned by some girl.
Summary of the chapter “Taman” (based on Lermontov’s novel “Hero of Our Time”)
The summary of the chapter “Taman” conveys the main events of the fragment of the novel, which reveal Grigory Pechorin from a new side. In "Taman" the hero demonstrates a penchant for adventurism, which almost brought him to death. It is in this chapter that Pechorin first thinks that by his actions he is disturbing the calm flow of other people’s lives. At the same time, he is driven solely by a thirst for adventure and curiosity; he is indifferent to people and their destinies.
Grigory Alexandrovich arrived in the small seaside town of Taman at night. From here he had to leave for Gelendzhik. Pechorin had difficulty finding accommodation for the night in some hut on the outskirts of the town. He didn't like the place right away. There was no one in the house except a blind boy of about fourteen, who said that he was an orphan, his mistress was not at home, and her daughter had run away from home with a Tatar. Pechorin thought that a strange grin flashed across the boy’s face.
The rooms in the hut were sparsely furnished. Pechorin noticed that the icons were nowhere to be seen. This seemed like a bad sign to him. It was impossible to fall asleep. Noticing a shadow flashing outside the window, the hero went out into the street. The blind boy was heading towards the pier, and Pechorin decided to follow him. He noticed that the blind man could navigate well in the dark and easily made his way along the steep path. The boy met with some girl, and from their conversation Pechorin realized that a certain Yanko should arrive. Soon he appeared, and all three left, taking with them the cargo brought in the boat.
In the morning, the hero learned that his departure to Gelendzhik was postponed for a few more days. While the owner of the apartment, pretending to be deaf, was preparing dinner, Pechorin decided to ask the blind man where he went at night, but he never got a clear answer. This angered him, and he decided to find out about it in any way. After a while he heard a song. This was sung by a girl who stood on the roof of the house. All day she appeared and disappeared, as if teasing the young man.
The girl was no more than eighteen. She could not be called a beauty, but something in her appearance fascinated the hero. He managed to talk to her. The girl spoke in riddles and was not afraid when Pechorin threatened to tell the commandant about her nightly adventures. In the evening she unexpectedly appeared, kissed Pechorin and made an appointment on the shore. Grigory Alexandrovich went to the appointed place, grabbing his pistol. He warned the orderly to immediately follow him if he heard shooting.
A mysterious stranger was waiting for Pechorin. She took him with her to the river where the boat stood. They swam from the shore, and the hero became wary. Hearing a splash of water, he discovered that his pistol had disappeared. Having gotten rid of the weapon, the girl tried to drown Pechorin. Tom managed to wriggle out of the mermaid's embrace and throw her into the water.
Not caring about the fate of his companion, Pechorin climbed ashore. The girl was already there. Yanko arrived and they began a conversation. Then the blind man came and put the bag he had brought into the boat. Yanko gave him money. He explained to the boy that he would no longer appear in these parts and would hunt elsewhere. Pechorin realized that he had scared away a gang of smugglers. Yanko and the girl swam away, and the blind man, left alone on the shore, cried for a long time.
Pechorin returned to his place. There he noticed that he had been robbed and realized that the blind man had brought his things in a bag. In the morning the hero left this “bad” town. He did not complain to anyone, since it was his own fault that the blind boy had robbed him, and the young girl almost killed him. He disturbed their peace, like a stone thrown into still water, but he almost sank to the bottom, like this stone.
