Terror by Vladimir Nabokov. Short summary

5 seconds

The hero recounts instances in which he experienced fear. It happened when he looked at his reflection at night after work, or before going to sleep he remembered that he was mortal, and in a number of other situations.

1 minute

The hero tells how sometimes he would sit at work until deep into the night. He would turn on the light and see himself in the mirror. Over the course of his work, the man became weaned on himself, and he never left feeling as if he had met a very familiar person. A couple of times the narrator stared into his reflection for so long that he became frightened and turned out the light. In the morning, when he shaved, the reflection did not surprise him in the least.

It happened that at night, falling asleep in bed, the hero remembered that he was a mortal. The light in his soul was suddenly extinguished, and a blind storm was brewing. The man tried with all his might to overcome the horror and comprehend death, to understand and accept it. He persuaded himself that it was still far away and that there would still be plenty of time to reflect on it.

Once the hero experienced the ultimate horror. He had a girlfriend at the time. Once they were alone in a room, he was writing and she was darning a stocking. Suddenly the hero was terrified of her presence, of having another person in the room with him. When the girl looked up and smiled, his fear disappeared.