Skip to main content

Short Fiction: Lights

Short Fiction
Lights

  • Show the following:

    Annotations
    Resources

  • Adjust appearance:

    Font
    Font style
    Color Scheme
    Light
    Dark
    Annotation contrast
    Low
    High
    Margins
  • Search within:
    • Notifications
    • Privacy
  • Issue HomeInaugural Issue
  • Journals
  • Learn more about Manifold

Notes

table of contents
  1. Titlepage
  2. Imprint
  3. Foreword
  4. Short Fiction
    1. Easter Night
    2. A Saghálinian
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
    3. Sketches of a Siberian Tourist
      1. I: The Cormorants
      2. II: “The Hollow Below the Devil’s Finger”
      3. III: “The Slayer”
      4. IV: A Voltairian of Siberia
      5. V: The Exterminator
      6. VI: Yevséyitch
      7. VII: The Inspector
      8. VIII: “Iván, Aged Thirty-Eight Years”
      9. IX: The Investigation Continued
    4. The Blind Musician
      1. I: The Blind Infant—The Family
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
        4. IV
        5. V
        6. VI
        7. VII
        8. VIII
        9. IX
      2. II: The Sources of Musical Feeling—The Blind Boy and the Melody
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
        4. IV
        5. V
        6. VI
        7. VII
        8. VIII
        9. IX
        10. X
      3. III: The First Friendship
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
        4. IV
        5. V
        6. VI
        7. VII
      4. IV: Blindness—Vague Questions
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
        4. IV
        5. V
        6. VI
      5. V: Love
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
        4. IV
        5. V
        6. VI
        7. VII
        8. VIII
        9. IX
      6. VI: The Crisis—An Attempt at Synthesis
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
        4. IV
        5. V
        6. VI
      7. VII: Intuition
        1. I
        2. II
      8. Epilogue
    5. In Two Moods
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
      10. X
      11. XI
      12. XII
      13. XIII
      14. XIV
      15. XV
      16. XVI
      17. XVII
      18. XVIII
      19. XIX
      20. XX
      21. XXI
      22. XXII
      23. XXIII
      24. XXIV
      25. XXV
    6. The Shades, a Fantasy
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
    7. Lights
    8. The Last Ray
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
    9. The Old Bell-Ringer
    10. Makar’s Dream
    11. The Murmuring Forest
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
    12. In Bad Company
      1. I: The Ruins
      2. II: Queer Characters
      3. III: My Father and I
      4. IV: I Make Some New Acquaintances
      5. V: My Acquaintanceship Is Continued
      6. VI: Among the “Grey Stones”
      7. VII: Tiburtsi Appears on the Scene
      8. VIII: Autumn
      9. IX: The Doll
      10. X: Conclusion
    13. The Day of Atonement
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
      10. X
      11. XI
    14. Birds of Heaven
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
      10. X
    15. Isn’t It Terrible?
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
    16. “Necessity”
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
    17. On the Volga
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
    18. The Village of God
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
  5. Endnotes
  6. Colophon
  7. Uncopyright

Lights

A long time ago, on a dark autumn evening, I happened to be going in a boat up a gloomy Siberian river. Suddenly, beyond a bend of the river, a tiny speck of light flashed ahead, at the foot of some dark mountains.

It flashed brightly, clearly, as though it were very near …

“Thank God!” said I joyfully. “Now we are near a place to spend the night.”

The man at the oars glanced at the light over his shoulder, and then resumed his apathetic strokes.

“It’s far away.”

I did not believe him. The light seemed to be so close by, standing out against the vague darkness. But the oarsman was right; the light was really far away.

What a peculiar property do these night lights possess! They approach you ever so closely, conquering the darkness and burning in its midst, beckoning to you and alluring you with their nearness. It seems that two or three strokes more, and you will be at the end of your journey … And yet, that end is far, far away.

And on that autumn night, too, it was for a long time after we noticed the light that we were going up the river, black as ink. Rocks and gorges sprang up before us, seemed to be moving towards us, and then floated away, lagging behind and disappearing in the darkness, while the tiny speck of light was still standing before us, there, ahead, twinkling and beckoning, ever near, yet ever far away …

And even now, I often recall this dark river, with the rocky cliff’s crowding upon its banks, and the tiny speck of light burning far ahead. Many a light has thus allured me and others with its apparent nearness. But life flows, on, between its gloomy banks, and the lights are far away. And again we must ply our oars …

And yet … and yet, there are lights ahead! …

Annotate

Next Chapter
The Last Ray
PreviousNext
Related Works
The source text and artwork in this ebook edition are believed to be in the U.S. public domain. This ebook edition is released under the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, available at https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. For full license information see the Uncopyright file included at the end of this ebook.
Powered by Manifold Scholarship. Learn more at
Opens in new tab or windowmanifoldapp.org