White Nights (English Version)

"White Nights" is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, originally published in 1848, early in the writer's career. Like many of Dostoevsky's stories, "White Nights" is told in the first person by a nameless narrator. The narrator is a young man living in Saint Petersburg who suffers from loneliness. He gets to know and falls in love with a young woman, but the love remains unrequited as the woman misses her lover, with whom she is finally reunited. Synopsis First Night The narrator lives alone in a small apartment in Saint Petersburg with only his old maid Matryona to keep him company. While walking, he sees a young woman, Nastenka, standing against a railing and crying. He considers asking her what is wrong, but continues walking. He then hears her scream, intervenes and saves her from a man who is harassing her. Nastenka holds his hand, but he has never known a woman and feels timid with her. Nastenka reassures him that ladies like timidity and that she likes it, too. He tells her that he spends every minute of every day dreaming about a girl who would talk to him, who will not repulse him or ridicule him. He says that he thinks of talking to a random girl timidly, respectfully, passionately – telling her that he is dying in solitude and that he has no chance of success with her. He says that it is a girl's duty not to rudely reject or mock a man as timid and luckless as he. As they reach Nastenka's door, he asks if he will ever see her again. Before she can answer, he adds that he will be at the spot they met tomorrow anyway just so he can relive this one happy moment in his lonely life. She agrees, stating she cannot tell him not to come, and she has to be there anyway. Nastenka would tell him her story and be with him, provided that talking does not lead to romance. She is as lonely as the narrator.