On a hot summer day two carpenters, Gerasim and Lyubim, sit in a pond, floundering about in the water under a willow tree, beside the unfinished bathing shed they were supposed to be working on. Blue from cold and wrangling, they struggle to drag a large eelpout by the gills, from under the root. Read in Russian, unabridged.

Yegor the huntsman, walking down a country road accidentally meets his estranged wife Pelageya whom he's been married for twelve years but visited just several times, and even then, drunk and violent. She weeps and, fawning before him, implores him to visit her more often. He tries to explain why he, the best sportsman around, 'a pampered man', enjoying good tea and 'refined conversation', could not bear to live in a village.

"Fathers and Sons" is not only a portrait of individual characters but also a reflection of the broader societal changes taking place in 19th-century Russia. Turgenev's narrative captures the tension between traditional aristocratic values and the rise of revolutionary ideas that would shape the course of Russian history. He offers a poignant critique of both generations, showcasing their strengths, weaknesses, and their struggle to adapt to the shifting...

The Government Inspector” - is a famous play by an outstanding writer of the Xix centurynikolai Gogol, which is compulsory for all the schoolchildren. The readers are used to perceiving the official company and Khlestakov's adventures as a satiric play from the pre-revolutionary Russia. However, few people know that under the figure of real government inspector Gogol was trying to lead out to the scene not only suddenly appeared capital inspector,...

The Griboyedov Prize laureate, the play «the Lower Depths» is legally considered to be the pick of Maxim Gorky's creative work. The dramatical piece was the result of almost twenty year author's observation after the impoverished people. The heroes of the play - are the inhabitants of the doss-house, people of hard destiny, who by lots appeared to be on the very bottom of the society. The author's absolute achievement is his try using this ambiguous...

"Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green" is a collection of 18 essays by Jerome Klapka Jerome, an outstanding British writer and humourist (1859—1927). In an ironical form, the author tells about ordinary people, conventional manners, ups and downs, about outstanding individuals and common herd, in which a reader will be able to see himself or his acquaintances.

The title of the book is translated as “ten-day period”. Exactly for ten days Boccaccio's heroes, ten young men and girls, who left their native city because of the epidemics of plague, tell each other anecdotal, magic, fascinating, didactic, tragic and erotic stories.

Brand” - is a work by a Norwegian playwright, founder of the European «new drama», poet and publisher H. Ibsen (1828-1906). This drama was written in 1865. A priest Brand - is the preacher of human freedom and religiosity. He is a maximalist, he does not go back a step in face of any sacrifice, does not agree to any compromises, tending to fulfill the thing he considers to be his mission. He lashes the people's moral flabbiness and the defects...

“The Pit” - is the most scandalous work of the great narrator Alexander Kuprin. The author decided to show a life of powerless and miserable creatures in its true colors - women of easy virtue from a small town in Yamskaya Settlement. Their hopeless existence and desperation make people think about reasons that begot such phenomenon in society.

Fairy Tales and Fables” - is a work by the founder of Romanticism in Polish literature, poet, political publicist, activist of the national liberation movement Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (Polish: Adam Bernard Mickiewicz, 1798 - 1855). The characters in this work are created as those full of nostalgia and humor, but historically doomed tempers. Among the other author's work such works as: «forefathers' Eve», «mr. Thaddeus», collection «poetry»,...