Lunchtime read: The Cossacks

There is going to be a turning point soon and the irony is that it is going to come from the influence not of the Cossacks but from the world of Moscow that Olenin thought he had left behind.

After being taught how to hunt the young aristocrat wanders the woods by day and is exhausted by night but seems to have some sort of road to Damascus moment understanding as he lies down in a stag’s hideaway that life is about giving back not taking.

He starts by giving a horse to the brave Cossack Luka who wants to marry the daughter of Olenin’s landlord.

But with the arrival of more officers from Moscow the atmosphere changes and rather than seeing his duty as helping Luka get together with his sweetheart Olenin starts to wonder whether or not he can love her for himself.

More tomorrow…