Summary

It is an overcast day when Ivan Ivanovitch, a veterinary surgeon, and Burkin, a high school English teacher, take their dogs for a walk in the country, a landscape that is familiar and beautiful. They can see the windmills of Mironositskoe when the rain begins to fall. Burkin suggests they take shelter at a friend's house.

Alehin lives in nearby Sofino, a wet, muddy and desolate place where the sound of the watermill drowns out the sound of the rain, and the dam shakes as if it will break. Ivanovitch and Burkin find their friend, a tall, stout man of forty with long hair, in his barn winnowing. He is filthy and his clothes are in disrepair, but he greets them warmly and takes them into his home. A beautiful young servant, Pelagea, supplies them with towels and soap. In the...