Two Hussars

The narrative, set around 1828, introduces Count Fyodor Ivanovich Turbin, a hussar, who encounters his comrade Mikhail Vasilyevich Ilyin. Ilyin, having gambled away 15,000 rubles of state funds to a landowner named Luchnov, faces ruin. Turbin intervenes, forcibly reclaiming the money from Luchnov and returning it to Ilyin. The story also features Turbin's unconventional response to a wealthy widow, Anna Fyodorovna Zaitseva, who insults him by offering financial assistance; he "punishes" her with an ardent kiss and embrace.