Hero by Alexander Pushkin. Short summary

5 seconds

A poet is talking to a friend about the fickleness of fame. The friend wants to know which of the illustrious possesses the poet’s soul. The poet says it is the alien before whom kings have humbled themselves.

1 minute

The work consists of a dialogue between the poet and his mate. The friend speaks of the fickleness of fame. It flies through selected chapters and, having disappeared from one, appears in another. The man over whom her tongue has flashed becomes sacred to others. He asks about which of the glorious men has dominion over the poet’s soul.

The poet answers that his soul is ruled by an alien, chosen by glory, before whom kings humbled themselves, a free warrior who disappeared like the shadows of the dawn. A friend wonders when it struck the poet’s mind. He suggests that it happened when the warrior gazed from the Alps to the bottom of Italy, or when he grasped the dictator’s rod and won a series of victories.

The poet objects, saying that participating in the battle and occupying the throne played no part. He sees a long line of beds, on each of which lie plague-infected men. The warrior walks between the beds and shakes hands with those who are sick, giving birth to a cheerful vigor. The poet says that the warrior played with death to encourage the dying.