Stories 20 through 22 Summary

Story 20: The House with the Mezzanine (An Artist's Story)

An artist lives on the country estate of a friend, Pyotr Petrovich Belokurov. He and Pyotr visit neighbors for dinner and amusement. The house has a mezzanine floor with windows that look like eyes when lit at night. Lydia and Zhenya are the young daughters who live there. Lydia is interested in local politics and urges Pyotr to get involved to fight against the party of the current government officials. Lydia considers the artist to be frivolous and non-serious. She pursues civic improvements and charitable causes while he is but a landscape artist. The artist is more in tune with the younger sister, Zhenya, who is as idle as the artist is. Lydia helps the poor and sick while the artist thinks hard labor causes illness and the solutions to all of...