Short Fiction

Short Fiction

By Aleksandr Kuprin.

Translated by S. Koteliansky, J. M. Murry, Stephen Graham, Rosa Savory Graham, Leo Pasvolsky, Douglas Ashby, The Living Age, B. Guilbert Guerney, Alexander Gagarine, and Malcolm W. Davis.

Table of Contents

1. Titlepage
2. Imprint
3. Foreword
4. Short Fiction
   1. The River of Life
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
   2. Captain Ribnikov
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
   3. The Outrage
   4. The Witch
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
      10. X
      11. XI
      12. XII
      13. XIII
      14. XIV
   5. A Slav Soul
   6. The Song and the Dance
   7. Easter Day
   8. The Idiot
   9. The Picture
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
      10. X
      11. XI
   10. Hamlet
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
       7. VII
       8. VIII
   11. Mechanical Justice
   12. The Last Word
   13. The White Poodle
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
   14. The Elephant
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
   15. Dogs’ Happiness
   16. A Clump of Lilacs
   17. Tempting Providence
   18. Cain
   19. The Bracelet of Garnets
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
       7. VII
       8. VIII
       9. IX
       10. X
       11. XI
       12. XII
       13. XIII
   20. The Horse-Thieves
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
   21. Anathema
   22. The Laestrygonians
       1. I: Silence
       2. II: The Mackerel
       3. III: Poaching
       4. IV: White Sturgeon
       5. V: The Lord’s Fish
       6. VI: Bora
       7. VII: The Divers
          1. I
          2. II
          3. III
          4. IV
          5. V
          6. VI
          7. VII
   23. The Park of Kings
   24. An Evening Guest
   25. A Legend
   26. Demir-Kayá
   27. The Garden of the Holy Virgin
   28. Sasha
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
       7. VII
       8. VIII
   29. A Sentimental Romance
   30. The Army Ensign
       1. Prologue
       2. I
   31. Autumn Flowers
   32. Emerald
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
   33. Happiness
   34. How I Became an Actor
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
       7. VII
       8. VIII
       9. IX
       10. X
       11. XI
       12. XII
       13. XIII
   35. “Allez!”
   36. Black Fog
   37. The Murderer
   38. Measles
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
   39. The Jewess
   40. Le Coq d’Or
   41. Sulamith
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
       7. VII
       8. VIII
       9. IX
       10. X
       11. XI
       12. XII
   42. The Piebald Horses
   43. The Little Red Christmas Tree
   44. Monte Carlo
   45. Roach Hole
   46. The Disciple
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
   47. The Old City of Marseilles
       1. I
       2. II
5. Endnotes
6. Colophon
7. Uncopyright

Imprint

This ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.

This particular ebook is based on a transcription produced for Project Gutenberg (The River of Life, and Other Stories, A Slav Soul, and Other Stories and Sulamith) and on digital scans available at the Internet Archive (The River of Life, and Other Stories, A Slav Soul, and Other Stories, Sulamith, The Piebald Horses and The Little Red Christmas Tree) and the HathiTrust Digital Library (Le Coq d’Or and Gambrinus and Other Stories).

The writing and artwork within are believed to be in the U.S. public domain, and Standard Ebooks releases this ebook edition under the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. For full license information, see the Uncopyright at the end of this ebook.

Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces ebook editions of public domain literature using modern typography, technology, and editorial standards, and distributes them free of cost. You can download this and other ebooks carefully produced for true book lovers at standardebooks.org.

Foreword

This edition of Alexsandr Kuprin’s Short Fiction was produced from various translations. “The River of Life,” “Captain Ribnikov,” “The Outrage,” and “The Witch” were translated by S. Koteliansky and J. M. Murry and originally published in 1916. “A Slav Soul,” “The Song and the Dance,” “Easter Day,” “The Idiot,” “The Picture,” “Hamlet,” “Mechanical Justice,” “The Last Word,” “The White Poodle,” “The Elephant,” “Dogs’ Happiness,” “A Clump of Lilacs,” “Tempting Providence,” and “Cain” were translated by Stephen Graham and Rosa Savory Graham and also originally published in 1916. “The Bracelet of Garnets,” “The Horse-Thieves,” “Anathema,” “The Laestrygonians,” “The Park of Kings,” “An Evening Guest,” “A Legend,” “Demir-Kayá,” and “The Garden of the Holy Virgin” were translated by Leo Pasvolsky and originally published in 1919. “Sasha,” “A Sentimental Romance,” “The Army Ensign,” “Autumn Flowers,” “Emerald,” “Happiness,” “How I Became an Actor,” “Allez!,” “Black Fog,” “The Murderer,” “Measles,” and “The Jewess” were translated by Douglas Ashby and originally published in 1920. “Le Coq d’Or” was translated by The Living Age and originally published in 1922. “Sulamith” was translated by B. Guilbert Guerney and originally published in 1923. “The Piebald Horses” was translated by Alexander Gagarine and also originally published in 1923. “The Little Red Christmas Tree” was translated by Malcolm W. Davis and also originally published in 1923. “Monte Carlo,” “Roach Hole,” “The Disciple,” and “The Old City of Marseilles” were translated by B. Guilbert Guerney and originally published in 1925.

Robin Whittleton

Malmö, Sweden, October 2021

Short Fiction

The River of Life

I

The landlady’s room in the “Serbia.” Yellow wallpaper; two windows with dirty muslin curtains; between them an oval squinting mirror, stuck at an angle of forty-five degrees, reflects a