Poor Lisa (collection) Nikolay Karamzin
(No ratings yet)
Title: Poor Lisa (collection)
About the book “Poor Liza (collection)” Nikolai Karamzin
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (1766–1826) - writer, historian and educator, creator of one of the most significant works in Russian historiography - “History of the Russian State”, founder of Russian sentimentalism.
The book includes the stories “Poor Lisa,” “Bornholm Island,” and “Sierra Morena,” as well as a collection of essays, “Letters from a Russian Traveler.”
On our website about books, you can download the site for free without registration or read online the book “Poor Liza (collection)” by Nikolai Karamzin in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and real pleasure from reading. You can buy the full version from our partner. Also, here you will find the latest news from the literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For beginning writers, there is a separate section with useful tips and tricks, interesting articles, thanks to which you yourself can try your hand at literary crafts.
Quotes from the book “Poor Liza (collection)” Nikolai Karamzin
She threw herself into his arms - and now her integrity had to perish! - Erast felt an extraordinary excitement in his blood - Liza had never seemed so charming to him - never had her caresses touched him so much - never had her kisses been so fiery - she knew nothing, suspected nothing, was afraid of nothing - the darkness of the evening nourished desires - not a single star shone in the sky - no ray could illuminate delusions. - Erast feels awe in himself - Lisa also, not knowing why - not knowing what is happening to her... Ah, Lisa, Lisa! Where is your guardian angel? Where is your innocence?
Lizin's father was a fairly prosperous villager, because he loved work, plowed the land well and always led a sober life.
“You must, young man,” he said, “you must inform me about the events of the world that I left behind, but have not yet completely forgotten. I have been living in solitude for a long time; I have not heard anything about the fate of people for a long time. Tell me, does love reign on the globe? Is incense burned on the altars of virtue? Are the peoples prosperous in the countries you have seen? “The light of science,” I answered, “is spreading more and more, but human blood is still flowing on earth—the tears of the unfortunate are shed—they praise the name of virtue and argue about its essence.” – The elder sighed and shrugged.
In order to vividly feel all the audacity of the human spirit, one must be on the open sea, where one thin plank, as Wieland says, separates us from wet death, but where a skilled swimmer, spreading his sails, flies and in his thoughts already sees the glitter of gold, which in another parts of the world will be rewarded for his bold enterprise. “Nil mortalibus arduum est” - “Nothing is impossible for mortals,” I thought with Horace, lost in the infinity of Neptune’s kingdom.
The poet preaches the philosophy of “painful joy”, calls melancholy a sweet feeling, which is “the most gentle overflow from sorrow and melancholy to the joys of pleasure.”
Karamzin’s heroes are like shipwrecked people, thrown onto a harsh and wild shore, alone in a deserted land.
Belinsky wrote: “Karamzin was the first in Rus' to write stories that interested society... stories in which people acted, the life of the heart and passions was depicted in the midst of ordinary everyday life.”
Karamzin is deeply convinced that humanity is moving along the path of progress, that it was the 18th century. Thanks to the activities of great educators - scientists, philosophers and writers - he brought people closer to the truth. Misconceptions do exist, but they, like “alien growths, will sooner or later disappear,” for a person will definitely come “to the pleasant goddess-truth.” Having mastered the educational philosophy of his time, Karamzin believes that “enlightenment is the palladium of good morals.” Enlightenment is beneficial for people of all conditions.
The story “Poor Liza” by Karamzin is based on the story of the unhappy love of a peasant woman for a nobleman. The work, written and published in 1792, influenced the further development of Russian literature - here for the first time “people acted, the life of the heart and passions was depicted in the midst of ordinary everyday life.” The story has become an example of sentimentalism: the images of the characters in the story and the author's position are ambiguous, feeling is the highest value, and the inner world of a common man is revealed first of all.
The story “Poor Lisa” is studied in the 9th grade literature course. In order to familiarize yourself with the plot and characters of the work, we suggest reading a summary of “Poor Lisa.”
Main characters
Lisa- a peasant girl who selflessly loves Erast. Mentally rich, open, sensitive nature.
Erast- nobleman. He is kind, but weak in character, unable to think about the consequences of his actions.
Other characters
Narrator– a sentimental person, empathizes with his heroes. He loves “those objects that touch the heart and make you shed tears of tender sorrow.”
Lisa's mother- a simple peasant woman, dreams of a happy marriage for her daughter.
The narrator, on whose behalf the story is told, knows the surroundings of Moscow very well. His favorite place is the mountain where the Simonov Monastery is located. From here you can enjoy an amazingly beautiful view of Moscow.
Next to the monastery, there is an empty shack, crumbling. About thirty years ago, Lisa and her mother lived there. After the death of his father, a wealthy peasant, his wife and daughter lived in poverty. The widow grieved over the death of her husband, became weaker every day and could not work. Lisa, who was only fifteen in the year of her father’s death, “sparing not her rare beauty, worked day and night.” She wove canvas, knitted, picked berries, flowers and sold it all in Moscow.
One day the heroine, as usual, came to the city to sell lilies of the valley. On one of the streets she met a young man of good appearance and offered to buy him flowers. Instead of the five kopecks that Lisa asked for, the young man wanted to give a ruble for “lilies of the valley plucked by the hands of a beautiful girl,” but Lisa did not take the extra money. Then he told the girl that he would always like to be her only buyer. The stranger asked Lisa where she lived, and the girl answered.
Arriving home, Lisa told her mother about the meeting.
The next day, having collected the best lilies of the valley, Lisa went to Moscow, but never met yesterday’s stranger.
In the evening, sitting sadly at the yarn, the girl unexpectedly saw a recent acquaintance under the window (his name was Erast) and was very happy. The old mother told him about her grief and “the sweet qualities” of her daughter. The mother really liked Erast, and she dreamed that Lisa’s groom would be just like that. However, Lisa objected that this was impossible - after all, he was a “master”, and they were peasants.
Erast, a nobleman by birth, “with a fair mind and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty,” thirsted only for entertainment. Lisa's beauty and naturalness amazed him so much that the young man decided: he had found his happiness.
Lise slept restlessly at night - the image of Erast disturbed and excited the imagination. Even before sunrise, the girl went to the bank of the Moscow River and, sitting down on the grass, watched the awakening nature. Suddenly the silence of the morning was broken by the sound of oars, and Lisa saw Erast sailing in a boat.
A moment later, the young man jumped out of the boat, ran up to Lisa, took her hands, kissed her and confessed his love. This confession echoed in the girl’s soul with delightful music - and Erast heard from her that she was loved too. The young man swore eternal love to Lisa.
Since then, Lisa and Erast met every evening, talked about their love, kissed, “their embrace was pure and immaculate.” The girl aroused Erast’s admiration, and all past social fun seemed insignificant. He was sure that he could never harm his beloved “shepherdess.”
At Lisa’s request, Erast often visited her mother, who was always happy about the young man’s arrival.
The young people continued dating. One day Lisa came to her beloved in tears. It turned out that the son of a rich peasant wants to marry her, and Lisa’s mother is happy about this, because she does not know that her daughter has a “dear friend.”
Erast said that he values the happiness of his beloved, and after the death of his mother they will live together, “like in paradise.” After such words, Lisa threw herself into the arms of Erast - “and at this hour integrity had to perish,” the heroes became close.
They still met, says the author, but “how everything has changed!” Platonic love gave way to feelings that were not new to Erast. Lisa, for her beloved, “only lived and breathed.” Erast began to come less often, and one day he did not appear for several days, and when he finally came for a date, he said that he had to say goodbye for a while - there was a war going on, he was in the service, and his regiment was setting out on a campaign. On the day of parting, saying goodbye to Erast, Lisa “said goodbye to her soul.” They both cried.
The days of separation were filled with bitterness and melancholy for Lisa. Almost two months passed, the girl went to Moscow to get rose water for her mother. Walking down the street, she noticed a rich carriage and saw Erast in it. At the gate of the house where the carriage entered, Lisa approached Erast and hugged him. He was cold, explained to Lisa that he was engaged - life circumstances forced him to get married. He asked her to forget about him, said that he loved Lisa and loves her, wishes her well. Having put one hundred rubles in the girl’s pocket, he ordered the servant to “show her out of the yard.”
Erast really was at war, but did not fight, but lost his fortune at cards. To improve matters, the young man decided to marry a rich widow who had long been in love with him.
"I'm dead!" – this was the only thing Lisa could think, walking wherever she looked, after meeting her beloved. She woke up, finding herself on the shore of a pond, where she and Erast often saw each other. Memories of a happy time “shook her soul.” Seeing the neighbor’s daughter Anyuta, the girl gave her money and her apologies for her mother. She herself threw herself into the waters of the pond and drowned. The mother, unable to bear the death of her beloved daughter, died. Erast, who learned about Lisa’s death, blamed himself for her death; he never found happiness in life. Shortly before Erast's death, the narrator met him, and he told him his story.
Conclusion
In his work, Karamzin proclaimed a timeless idea - any person, regardless of origin and position in society, is worthy of love, respect and compassion. This humanistic position of the author deserves attention in modern life.
A brief retelling of “Poor Lisa” is only the first step towards getting to know the story. The full text will allow you to comprehend the depth of the author’s intentions and appreciate the beauty and brevity of the language of the work.
Story test
The test will help assess your level of knowledge of the summary:
Retelling rating
Average rating: 4.1. Total ratings received: 3764.
In the outskirts of Moscow, not far from the Simonov Monastery, there once lived a young girl Lisa with her old mother. After the death of Liza's father, a fairly wealthy villager, his wife and daughter became poor. The widow became weaker day by day and could not work. Liza alone, not sparing her tender youth and rare beauty, worked day and night - weaving canvases, knitting stockings, picking flowers in the spring, and berries in the summer and selling them in Moscow.
One spring, two years after her father’s death, Lisa came to Moscow with lilies of the valley. A young, well-dressed man met her on the street. Having learned that she was selling flowers, he offered her a ruble instead of five kopecks, saying that “beautiful lilies of the valley, plucked by the hands of a beautiful girl, are worth a ruble.” But Lisa refused the offered amount. He did not insist, but said that in the future he would always buy flowers from her and would like her to pick them only for him.
Arriving home, Lisa told her mother everything, and the next day she picked the best lilies of the valley and came to the city again, but this time she did not meet the young man. Throwing flowers into the river, she returned home with sadness in her soul. The next day in the evening the stranger himself came to her house. As soon as she saw him, Lisa rushed to her mother and excitedly told him who was coming to them. The old woman met the guest, and he seemed to her to be a very kind and pleasant person. Erast—that was the young man’s name—confirmed that he was going to buy flowers from Lisa in the future, and she didn’t have to go into town: he could stop by to see them himself.
Erast was a rather rich nobleman, with a fair amount of intelligence and a naturally kind heart, but weak and flighty. He led an absent-minded life, thought only about his own pleasure, looked for it in secular amusements, and not finding it, he was bored and complained about fate. At the first meeting, Lisa’s immaculate beauty shocked him: it seemed to him that in her he found exactly what he had been looking for for a long time.
This was the beginning of their long dates. Every evening they saw each other either on the river bank, or in a birch grove, or under the shade of hundred-year-old oak trees. They hugged, but their hugs were pure and innocent.
Several weeks passed like this. It seemed that nothing could interfere with their happiness. But one evening Lisa came to a date sad. It turned out that the groom, the son of a rich peasant, was wooing her, and her mother wanted her to marry him. Erast, consoling Lisa, said that after his mother’s death he would take her to him and live with her inseparably. But Lisa reminded the young man that he could never be her husband: she was a peasant, and he was of a noble family. You offend me, said Erast, for your friend the most important thing is your soul, a sensitive, innocent soul, you will always be closest to my heart. Lisa threw herself into his arms - and at this hour her integrity was to perish.
The delusion passed in one minute, giving way to surprise and fear. Lisa cried saying goodbye to Erast.
Their dates continued, but how everything changed! Lisa was no longer an angel of purity for Erast; platonic love gave way to feelings that he could not be “proud of” and which were not new to him. Lisa noticed a change in him, and it saddened her.
One day during a date, Erast told Lisa that he was being drafted into the army; they will have to part for a while, but he promises to love her and hopes to never part with her upon his return. It is not difficult to imagine how hard it was for Lisa to be separated from her beloved. However, hope did not leave her, and every morning she woke up with the thought of Erast and their happiness upon his return.
About two months passed like this. One day Lisa went to Moscow and on one of the big streets she saw Erast passing by in a magnificent carriage, which stopped near a huge house. Erast came out and was about to go out onto the porch, when he suddenly felt himself in Lisa’s arms. He turned pale, then, without saying a word, led her into the office and locked the door. Circumstances have changed, he announced to the girl, he is engaged.
Before Lisa could come to her senses, he took her out of the office and told the servant to escort her out of the yard.
Finding herself on the street, Lisa walked wherever she looked, unable to believe what she heard. She left the city and wandered for a long time until she suddenly found herself on the shore of a deep pond, under the shadow of ancient oak trees, which several weeks before had been silent witnesses to her delight. This memory shocked Lisa, but after a few minutes she fell into deep thought. Seeing a neighbor's girl walking along the road, she called her, took all the money out of her pocket and gave it to her, asking her to tell her mother, kiss her and ask her to forgive her poor daughter. Then she threw herself into the water, and they could no longer save her.
Liza’s mother, having learned about the terrible death of her daughter, could not withstand the blow and died on the spot. Erast was unhappy until the end of his life. He did not deceive Lisa when he told her that he was going to the army, but, instead of fighting the enemy, he played cards and lost his entire fortune. He had to marry an elderly rich widow who had been in love with him for a long time. Having learned about Liza’s fate, he could not console himself and considered himself a murderer. Now, perhaps, they have already reconciled.
