White Nights (short story) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

White Nights (short story) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia White Nights (short story) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the Dostoevsky short story. For other uses, see White nights (disambiguation). "White Nights" is a Russian short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, originally published in 1848, early in the writer's career. Film adaptations have been made by Italian director Luchino Visconti, by French director Robert Bresson (as Four Nights of a Dreamer), by Iranian director Farzad Motamen (as Shabhaye Roshan) and by Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali (as the musical Saawariya). The story opens with a quotation by Ivan Turgenev "And was it his destined part Only one moment in his life To be close to your heart? Or was he fated from the start to live for just one fleeting instant, within the purlieus of your heart." The narrator describes his experience walking in the streets of St. Petersburg. He loves the city at night time during which he feels comfortable in the city. He retells the story of his relationship with a young girl called Nastenka. He first sees her standing against a railing and waiting. There is something special about her and he is very curious but she walks away when she sees him. When he hears her scream, he intervenes and saves her from a man who is harassing her. The girl would tell him her story and be with him provided that it does not lead into romance. When the time comes to an end and she has to go home she tells him she will be waiting tomorrow in the same place. She too is as lonely as the narrator. "But that I should feel any resentment against you, Nastenka! That I should cast a dark shadow over your bright, serene happiness! ...That I should crush a single one of those delicate blooms which you will wear in your dark hair when you walk up the aisle to the altar with him! Oh no — never, never! May your sky be always clear, may your dear smile be always bright and happy, and may you be for ever blessed for that moment of bliss and happiness which you gave to another lonely and grateful heart ... Good Lord, only a moment of bliss? Isn't such a moment sufficient for the whole of a man's life?"