Short Fiction · Chapter
In Exile explained
On a cold, damp riverbank in Siberia, old ferryman Semyon 'Canny' and a young Tatar sit by a campfire.
What happens
On a cold, damp riverbank in Siberia, old ferryman Semyon 'Canny' and a young Tatar sit by a campfire. The Tatar, ill and homesick, longs for his wife and home in Simbirsk. Semyon, who has been in exile for twenty-two years, preaches a philosophy of wanting nothing as the path to freedom and happiness. He tells the story of a gentleman settler who was ruined by hope and desire when his wife visited and then abandoned him. The Tatar is left alone, tormented by poverty, cold, and the impossibility of his wife joining him.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Compassion
The Tatar's physical and emotional suffering is contrasted with Semyon's callous indifference, highlighting the lack of compassion in the exile community.
Isolation and Loneliness
Both characters experience profound isolation: the Tatar yearns for his distant family, while Semyon has deliberately cut himself off from all human attachments.
Illusion vs. Reality
The Tatar clings to the illusion that his wife might join him, while Semyon's story of the gentleman settler shows the painful reality of shattered hopes.
Characters to notice
- The Tatar
A young, ill, and homesick Tatar ferryman, longing for his wife and home in Simbirsk, struggling with the harsh realities of exile.
- Semyon (Canny)
An old, toothless ferryman who has embraced a philosophy of wanting nothing, claiming to be free and happy in his exile.
Key passages
“You will get used to it!”
Semyon tells the Tatar that he will eventually become accustomed to the hardships of exile.
Semyon's repeated refrain reflects his belief that resignation is the only way to survive.
“I want nothing, neither father nor mother, nor wife, nor freedom, nor post, nor paddock; I want nothing, damn their souls!”
Semyon declares that he desires nothing from life, rejecting all attachments and ambitions.
This is the core of Semyon's philosophy of freedom through detachment.
“Better one day of happiness than nothing.”
The Tatar believes that even a single day of joy with his wife would be worth any suffering.
This contrasts sharply with Semyon's rejection of all desire.