Short Fiction · Chapter
LIV explained
In a moonlit glade, Natasha sings the revolutionary hymn 'Arise, ye branded with a curse!' at the request of her mother and grandmother.
What happens
In a moonlit glade, Natasha sings the revolutionary hymn 'Arise, ye branded with a curse!' at the request of her mother and grandmother. After the song, the mother calls for Borya, but Elena Kirillovna confirms he is gone. Natasha cries out that Borya has been hanged. The three women weep together in despair, their wailing echoing through the woods and stirring a dog at the forester's hut to bay at the moon.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Mortality
The hanging of Borya dominates the chapter, with the women's wailing and the dog's howling underscoring the finality and horror of death.
Innocence and Corruption
The natural beauty of the moonlit glade contrasts with the brutal reality of execution, highlighting the corruption of innocence.
Nature and the Supernatural
The moon, mist, and birches are personified as indifferent witnesses to human grief, while the dog's baying creates an eerie, almost supernatural atmosphere.
Characters to notice
- Natasha Ozoreva
Sings the revolutionary hymn in the glade and cries out that Borya has been hanged.
- Elena Kirillovna
Replies to the mother's calls, confirming that Borya will not come and that there is no Borya.
- Borya
Referenced as having been hanged; his absence is the focus of the women's grief.
- Sofia Alexandrovna Ozoreva
Listens to Natasha's song and joins in the weeping.
Key passages
“Natasha, do you remember? How warmly they all sang ‘Arise, ye branded with a curse!’ Natasha, will you sing it again? Do. Is it a torture?”
Natasha is asked to recall and repeat the revolutionary song they once sang together, despite the pain it may cause.
The request to sing the hymn evokes memory and collective defiance.
“Borya has been hanged!”
Natasha announces that Borya has been executed by hanging.
This revelation is the emotional climax of the chapter, confirming the fate of a central character.
“The dog at the forester’s hut is restless. Trembling with all his lean body, his short hair bristling, he has pricked up his ears. Rising, he stretches his slender limbs. His sharp muzzle, showing its teeth, is uplifted to the tormenting moon. His eyes burn with a yearning flame. The dog bays in answer to the distant wail of the women in the wood.”
A dog at the forester's hut becomes agitated and howls at the moon in response to the women's wailing.
The dog's reaction mirrors and amplifies the grief and despair of the women, blending human and animal mourning.