"The Feat" by Vladimir Sirin, summary Automatic translate

The work was published in 1932. The émigré student Martyn Edelweiss, consumed by a thirst for travel and a desire to overcome his own fears, secretly leaves the borders of Soviet Russia, stepping into complete obscurity without any apparent political motives.

Childhood and Loss

Martyn’s grandfather, a Swiss named Edelweiss, moved to Russia and married the daughter of a landowner, Indrikov. In his grandson’s memory, his grandfather remained a corpulent old man who died of a stroke right on a garden bench. Martyn’s father worked as a doctor and enthusiastically collected antique pistols. The young man’s mother, Sofia Dmitrievna, raised her son on English fairy tales. A watercolor painting hung above the boy’s bed: a dense forest and a winding path leading into the distance. Martyn often imagined jumping out of bed and right onto this painted path.

After a falling out with her husband, Sofia Dmitrievna leaves for Crimea with her son. In 1918, Martyn’s father dies. The young man grieves the loss, harboring a hidden sense of guilt. In Crimea, Martyn befriends his brother and sister, Kolya and Lida. He constantly struggles with his own shyness. One night, on a rocky road, he is stopped by a man with a revolver. Suppressing a shudder, Martyn walks straight toward the stranger, who turns out to be the dead-drunk actor Zaryansky.

Emigration and first love

Due to the Red Army’s advance, Martyn and his mother flee Crimea on a Canadian cargo ship. The sea voyage hardens the young man. On board, he meets the poet Alla Chernosvitova. During a stopover in Athens, a whirlwind romance begins. While Alla’s gloomy and slovenly husband is away on business, Martyn experiences his first sensual encounter with her. One day, Chernosvitova suddenly returns to the room during their rendezvous, but, absorbed in commercial papers, he notices nothing.

Soon, mother and son move to Switzerland to live with their uncle, Heinrich Edelweiss. Kind but sentimental, Uncle Heinrich finances his nephew’s education. Martyn leaves for England. Before Cambridge, he spends a week in London with the Zilanov family. Mikhail Platonovich Zilanov is an energetic public figure, always carrying a briefcase. His youngest daughter, Sonya, constantly criticizes Martyn. The offended young man rents a hotel room and spends the night with a prostitute, who runs off with his money the next morning.

Student life

Cambridge amazes the student with its ancient architecture and unshakable traditions. He buys an academic cloak, lights a fire in the fireplace, and reads a lot. His closest companion is the Englishman Darwin — a portly, unflappable war veteran, an excellent boxer, and an essayist. Vadim, a Russian student with a passion for the navy and a penchant for swearing, joins their company.

Archibald Moon stands out among the professors. The professor possesses a brilliant knowledge of Russian literature, but treats Russia as a complete historical masterpiece. Martyn admires his lectures, but later distances himself, sensing Moon’s cold aestheticism. The young man actively plays tennis and serves as goalkeeper for the college football team. Meanwhile, he begins an affair with a waitress, Rose. Rose falsely claims she’s pregnant, and Martyn panics, but Darwin calmly exposes the impostor.

Fantasies and duels

Martyn falls in love with Sonya Zilanova. Darwin also falls under the spell of this capricious, slanted-eyed girl. During Sonya’s visits to Cambridge, Martyn is tormented by jealousy. Sonya rejects Darwin’s formal proposal. The Englishman accepts the rejection outwardly calmly, but the inner tension between the friends erupts into a fistfight. Selecting a secluded clearing, they engage in a brutal boxing match, smashing each other’s faces until they bleed, after which they peacefully wash their wounds in the river.

Trying to get closer to Sonya, Martyn and she create a fantasy of the northern country of Zoorland. It’s a harsh state where shaving heads is a legal requirement for absolute equality. Residents burn violins on bonfires and forbid caterpillars from turning into butterflies. The fantasy of Zoorland gradually replaces Martyn’s image of the real Russia, transforming into an obsession with illegally crossing the closed border.

Preparation and testing

During the summer in Switzerland, Martyn learns that Uncle Genrikh and Sofia Dmitrievna have married. His stepfather persistently offers the young man a commercial career in Geneva, but Martyn categorically refuses. Wanting to test his will, he climbs a mountain and walks along a narrow, crumbling ledge over a precipice. Mortal fear gives way to cold pride at his endurance.

In the fall, he travels to Berlin, hoping for Sonya’s affection, but encounters complete indifference. Earning a living by giving tennis lessons, he endures her ridicule. After receiving a cruel postcard from her, Martin abandons everything and moves to Provence. In the village of Molignac, he finds work as a farm laborer. Hard labor under the scorching sun, loosening dry soil and irrigating orchards strengthens his body. He sleeps in a barn with the farmhands, proving his ability to survive in any conditions.

Border and farewell

Having finally given up on his marriage to Sonya, Martyn returns to Switzerland. There he meets Yuri Gruzinov, an experienced illegal immigrant crossing the Soviet border. Martyn tries to extract safe routes from Gruzinov, using the story of an imaginary friend as cover. The perceptive Gruzinov quickly grasps the essence of the matter and ironically advises the imaginary young man to stay home.

Martyn borrows money from Uncle Genrikh, pretending to have lost at cards. His farewell to his mother is painful. Sofia Dmitrievna, unaware of her son’s plans, asks him to dress warmly. In Berlin, Martyn receives a Latvian transit visa. He visits the Zilanovs to see Sonya one last time. The apartment is in chaos before the move. Irina, Sonya’s mentally disabled sister, rushes to Martyn, sobbing loudly. The young man awkwardly kisses Sonya at the door and leaves forever.

That evening, he meets with Darwin. His British friend tells him of his upcoming wedding to an Englishwoman and his successful career as a journalist. Martyn hands him a stack of postcards, asking him to send them weekly to Sofia Dmitrievna. Darwin initially dismisses Martyn’s words about crossing the border as a silly joke. The young man quietly slips out of the room, leaving his friend perplexed. Only a late-night phone call from the train station convinces Darwin of the reality of what is happening.

Several weeks later, Darwin begins his investigation. He reports everything to the Zilanovs. Sonya is hysterical, realizing that Martyn has gone to his death. A search in Riga yields no results — the student has disappeared without a trace. On a damp autumn day, Darwin arrives at the Edelweiss family’s Swiss estate. He walks a winding path through a dark pine forest to bring his mother news of her son’s disappearance, retracing the very path Martyn had dreamed of since childhood. The events end there, leaving the hero’s fate hidden in the forest’s darkness.