Mr. Prokharchin by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Short summary

5 seconds

The humble official Proharchin lives very poorly. He sleeps in rags and saves even on food. But when Proharchin dies, huge money is found in his mattress.

1 minute

The elderly Semyon Ivanovich Prokharchin is a petty official. He rents a corner from a compassionate landlady. The woman knows he is poor and charges him less than the other tenants.

The young tenants do not like Proharchin because of the landlady’s kind attitude, avarice, and uncommunicative nature. They scoff viciously at him. One day the young tenants, knowing Proharchin’s fear of change, tell him about innovations and changes in the official world.

Out of fear, he loses his mind and does not show up at home or at work. He wanders the streets in the company of the drunkard Zimoveikin in disarray. He is haunted by strange visions.

The landlady, troubled by the absence of the old tenant, forces the youth to find him. Prokharchin in a delirious condition is brought home. After a while he dies. A large sum of money is found in the old official’s mattress.