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Burkin
Pelageya is Alekhin’s young maid. When Ivan and Burkin arrive at Alekhin’s country estate to take shelter from the rain, Pelageya is the one who greets the men at the door of the main house, and they’re stunned by how beautiful she is. Pelageya doesn’t play a particularly active role in the story, simply completing domestic tasks and serving the men with whatever they need. Nevertheless, her youthful beauty is mentioned several times, which characterizes her as an embodiment of the youth and potential that Ivan wishes he still had—and that he urges his friends not to waste.
Pelageya Quotes in Gooseberries
The Gooseberries quotes below are all either spoken by Pelageya or refer to Pelageya. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Gooseberries
Quotes
Ivan Ivanych’s story satisfied neither Burkin nor Alekhin. With the generals and ladies gazing from gilded frames, looking alive in the twilight, it was boring to hear a story about a wretched official who ate gooseberries. For some reason they would have preferred to speak and hear about fine people, about women. And the fact that they were sitting in a drawing room where everything—the covered chandelier, the armchairs, the carpets under their feet—said that here those very people now gazing from the frames had once walked, sat, drunk tea, and that the beautiful Pelageya now walked noiselessly here, was better than any story.
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They were both put for the night in a big room with two old, carved wooden beds in it, and with an ivory crucifix in the corner. Their beds, wide and cool, made up by the beautiful Pelageya, smelled pleasantly of fresh linen.
Ivan Ivanych silently undressed and lay down. "Lord, forgive us sinners!" he said, and pulled the covers over his head.
His pipe, left on the table, smelled strongly of stale tobacco, and Burkin lay awake for a long time and still could not figure out where that heavy odor was coming from.
Rain beat on the windows all night.
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Pelageya Quotes in Gooseberries
The Gooseberries quotes below are all either spoken by Pelageya or refer to Pelageya. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Gooseberries
Quotes
Ivan Ivanych’s story satisfied neither Burkin nor Alekhin. With the generals and ladies gazing from gilded frames, looking alive in the twilight, it was boring to hear a story about a wretched official who ate gooseberries. For some reason they would have preferred to speak and hear about fine people, about women. And the fact that they were sitting in a drawing room where everything—the covered chandelier, the armchairs, the carpets under their feet—said that here those very people now gazing from the frames had once walked, sat, drunk tea, and that the beautiful Pelageya now walked noiselessly here, was better than any story.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
They were both put for the night in a big room with two old, carved wooden beds in it, and with an ivory crucifix in the corner. Their beds, wide and cool, made up by the beautiful Pelageya, smelled pleasantly of fresh linen.
Ivan Ivanych silently undressed and lay down. "Lord, forgive us sinners!" he said, and pulled the covers over his head.
His pipe, left on the table, smelled strongly of stale tobacco, and Burkin lay awake for a long time and still could not figure out where that heavy odor was coming from.
Rain beat on the windows all night.
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