A History of Yesterday by Leo Tolstoy. Short summary

5 seconds

The author got up late today because yesterday he was playing cards. But it was not the game that caused it, but the mistress of the house. The author was timid in her presence, and at the same time there was an intimate conversation between him and her.

1 minute

The author wonders what if to describe a day as a flow of a person’s experiences and thoughts. Take yesterday’s day, for example. There was nothing special or momentous about it. But the author got up later than he had made a vow to wake up.

And all because yesterday he was a guest and stayed up late playing cards. It wasn’t the game or the excitement that kept him up. Just cards give the right to be silent, not make small talk, where the decorum weighs more than his thoughts. The author was preoccupied with his feelings, which he wanted to feel fully.

Among those playing was She, the hostess of the house. The author was madly in love with her, and the fact that she was married made no difference. She flirted with him in a clever way, and it pleased and embarrassed him.

He tried to leave, but she stopped him and offered to play three more games. The author did not even notice how, after these words, he took off his hat and moved to an armchair.

When the lady’s husband left the living room, there was a double conversation going on between the author and Her: loud and profane; and mute, expressed in smiles and looks.